[<3]You can't spell slaughter without laughter.

[Emuhlee]

&&the mind only sees what it wants to believe;;

Ah, nighttime. A personal favorite for Velia Silvermoon. The forest was silent, and pitch black, and the steady pulsing of Velia's purple necklace was the only light present. That necklace was, in fact, the only reason she was still alive. No one knew this... as far as she knew. Velia didn't want anyone to ever know, either. If she was to be stabbed in the back in the future, she wouldn't want her enemy to know her only weakness. It just so happens, that years ago, Velia was given a 'gift' as they had called it. Instead of death, she was given a second chance. Velia was given a necklace with power. It would keep her alive for as long as she wore it. Sadly, she can't take it off herself, so someone else would have to take it off of her. At this point in time, she had no reason to die, and therefore would be very upset if it was taken from her.

After all, after the necklace comes off, she only has twenty four hours before death. That wouldn't be so nice.

For some reason, this night didn't seem like the others. Velia came into this forest almost daily, always at night, but it was just... too silent. This put the normally cool and laid-back wolf on edge. Even the snap of a branch could set her off. Velia wasn't normally like this... tonight just seemed so... different. The female wolf acted more calm than most. She was always being sarcastic or being quiet, just listening to her surroundings and those speaking to her. If you payed attention though, when she stared at you, you could swear she was reading your mind. It's weird, because later she'll tell you exactly how you were feeling at the time. She's not a mind reader though, she's just good at finding what you've hidden in your eyes, even when you look completely different.

The female herself didn't consider herself beautiful, but she knew she wasn't ugly. Velia was about average when it came to size, she stood at two foot six, and was lean and long. Her coat was thick, very shaggy, but very interesting. It was a dark, smokey gray base color with random red swirls in it. Her eyes were purple, as were the two feathers in her ear and the jewel that hung from her neck. Unlike a lot of wolves, Velia had always been very good about concealing her emotions. So if she was sad, you'd never be able to tell, even in her eyes. She could just cover it up, like nothing was the matter. Even in the worst situations, you'd never know something was wrong if Velia didn't want you to.

Her mind wondered to different aspects of her life, different points in time and events, whether or not they were good or bad. She wasn't sure why all of this was coming back to her, but it was. For some reason, she remembered a young male, when she was little. Thunder Butt, no, Tuesday's Back, no, that wasn't it either. Thunder Back! That had to be it. He had fallen in love with her, and Velia, at the time, had rudely rejected him. She wasn't always a sweet little thing... actually, most of her life she was. Just... not at that point in time, she hadn't been. She shook her head at the memory, grinning softly. She remembered the night as if it were yesterday.

It had been a clear night, like tonight, and warmer than this, it was in the summer. It was after Kaige, that much she remembered. Velia remembered the poor wolf coming up, and the two talking. Velia had never really taken a liking to the fellow as anything more than a friend. However, he apparently felt different. He had told her how he felt, and Velia merely looked at him quite confusedly, saying something along the lines of, "Are you being serious? Me and you? Thunder Back, never, no, there is no way and there never will be a way." She remembers her amused chuckle, and walking away. Could it have been any colder than that? She wasn't sure, but if it could she was glad it wasn't her who had done it.

As she pulled herself out of her memories again, Velia looked around at her surroundings. She was nearing a clearing, so she walked the rest of the way to it, entering the grasses that were nearly as tall as her. Again, the feeling of nervousness washed over her. What was it about tonight that just made her feel so... jumpy? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't fond of it. Looking up to the sky, there was hardly a cloud. It was a black night, but soft moonlight shined down on her, as well as starlight. It was perfect, Velia thought anyways. Why could one never remember nights as beautiful as these?

[nicole]

The days seemed to be growing cooler as the fall season made its appearance for the coming months. The trees were slowly but surely becoming stripped of the leaves that clung to their branches, which twirled in a series of loops and circles as they made their way down to the cold, hard ground waiting below. The few flowers that once lined their way along the many paths throughout the force drooped lifelessly, missing many of their colorful petals. The deer that usually kept to secrecy were seen more often than not, moving throughout the vast forest in search of food like the squirrels, who moved quickly and aimlessly as they ran from the forest to their homes, storing whatever they could for the harsh winter that would come too soon.

Dry leaves crunched under the massive paws belonging to a particularly large wolf, disturbing the peaceful silence that once hovered over the darkened forest. Twigs snapped easily into pieces under the weight of the wolf, a wolf who was the sworn leader of this part of the woods, a wolf who had just about seen it all. He had been around for over a century now and he couldn't say it had been the time of his life. Things went up, then things went down. Things went up again, then things went down again. As the saying goes, you win some, you lose some. He was more on the losing side, but he had grown used to it by now. After all, he had over a century to adapt to such things.

The forest was dark, darker than it normally was, but that was because it was now well into the night. It may have been hard for some wolves to navigate their way through the many twists and turns, but it was rather simple for Kaige. He knew this forest, and this part of the land, better than anyone else. He was the leader, after all. He needed to know these things. His bright crimson red eyes were some of the sharpest around, lighting up the area he was walking through quite considerably. To some who didn't know that these eyes belonged to Kaige, they may have assumed they were just two eerie orbs floating soundly in the air. The thought of this caused Kaige to laugh briefly, a laugh that was deep and rumbled in his chest.

Silence soon fell again as he made his way through the loops and holes, his movement being more stealthy and cat-like than anything. He was unaware of the fact that someone else was in the area not too far from where his figure was. Of course, if there was a sudden breeze or something of the sort, he would surely know, but there was none. Perhaps if he wasn't so oblivious, he would know as well. If only he knew he was about to run into someone right about... now.

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