Don't believe it. [[Open.]]

[Le Mad]

Calm would have been the word to describe that night. It was chilly, but not freezing, and a slight breeze caressed fresh spring grass that grew around the highlands. The sea of green rippled, dazzling the eyes of many a night-creature. The skies were clear, the bright stars standing out against a blue-black sheet of night. Spring had drifted over the land in the past few weeks, and though it was slightly early, none of the creatures minded.

Unfortunately, the Koori Highlands weren't exactly the most pleasant of places to be at night. An elk female had wounded herself on accident, having slipped on a rock and gashed her hind leg to the bone. Now, she lay in agony, calling out for a herd that had long since deserted her. Her breath steamed in the night as she called once more, her voice growing hoarse. Her eyes closed and she huffed in despair. Her head flopped to the ground and she lay there, seemingly dead, for a few minutes. It then jumped, startled by something, and called out louder than before. Madrid rolled her iris-less eyes. The vixen spirit lay on a rock, staring at the elk and waiting for a predator to slink out to take this wonderful opportunity of a meal.

The ghost fae was quite the intriguing sight. Sure, she was in the shape of a fox, but she appeared to be made of smoke. This smoke whisped off of her tail tip, claws, whiskers, and ear tips. She was colored a pale yellow, a shade of annoyance, as she glared at the dying creature. Madrid was dead too, but you didn't see her screaming about it. Well, not before the elk opened her mouth again.

Before the large herbivore could bellow for its herd, the ghost fox let out an ear-splitting screech. The wounded animal turned its head sharply, staring straight at the paranormal femme. Madrid stared back, and their eyes remained locked for a long while. The fox opened her mouth to scream once more, but the elk's head turned quickly, its attention drawn to something else. Slowly, Madrid turned her head. Certainly, there was something there, but she didn't know quite what it was. Her smoking ears stood at attention and her head cocked slightly.

"Who's there?" She murmured, her windchime voice piercing through the air.

[Moon_Song]

Esras had smelled the blood of the cow from the trail he was on about a mile away. He stealthily made his way through the already tall grasses of the now thawed out highlands. It was unusual to see this land not covered in a blanket of snow. Although, one wouldn't have to wait long for that. Spring and summer were notoriously short so far north.

Esras closed in on the scent of blood. His jet fur concealed him him well in the inky blackness of the night. His wings shifted silently and his three tails swished together. He would have made no noise at all if it weren't for the chain around his neck and the shackle on his leg. That didn't really matter to him, though. He wouldn't need silence here.

The clank of his chains made the she-elk start, and she became extremely alert. She cried out pathetically, and to Esras, it was not a cry for it's herd, but a pleading for death. One he was happy to satisfy.

He would have darted out right then and there had it not been for the ghostly apparition that both he and the elk noticed simultaneously. He could care less for the spirit of a long dead fox, but it served as a good distraction. Before the cow could make another noise, Esras darted out from where he was, quick as lightning.

With a terrifying growl and a powerful leap, he latched onto the throat of the beast, bringing it to the ground with the force of his momentum.

As he stood there, his jaws clenched tight around the windpipe, feeling the life slip away from the beast in his jaws, Esras stared at the smoky shape of a fox. It was a curious sight, true, but he honestly could care less. He was enjoying the power he had over this elk far too much to care.

[Le Mad]

It wasn't long before she could feel a presence approaching. Her emotionless eyes narrowed as her smoke-fur turned a deep shade of blue: Suspicion. It didn't answer her call, and the creature seemed to be coming up fast, a distinct clink, clink, clink, tinkling in the night to an unheard rhythm. She assumed it to be the paws of a predator.

As if on cue, an incredibly demonic looking wolf sprung from the darkness, only to latch its jaws onto the throat of the elk cow. She thrashed a small bit, but was too surprised to really do anything before her life flickered out, snuffed like a flame by the jaws of this demon. Madrid looked him over, nose twitching. Her fur began to change color once more, starting at her nose and running like ink over her body until she was entirely lavender.

Her tail twitched, allowing smoke to wisp in a spiral into the air. This demon was massive, standing over four feet tall easily. He was incredibly muscular, and she could see deadly horns sprouting here and there about his head. He had large bat-like wings, and three tails, both stereotypical demon trademarks, though it had been quite a long time since she had seen one with these limbs.

The spirit watched the wolf drain the life from the elk, his eyes locked on her. She felt no fear; what could he do to her? She stared back at him, her lavender form shifting. She stood on the rock, her form's smoky essence lengthening. She darted to the right, her ghastly form acting like an elastic band. She slowly began to walk around the wolf, her tail and ears leaving trails of smoke. If she were able, she would have drooled. The ability to taste was probably the only thing that she lacked in death and she missed it terribly.

"What are you looking at?" She spat, though there was a slight toying edge to her voice. She liked the power that she saw in this beast. Her mind began to plot out how the next events would go. Perhaps she would irritate him, maybe she would make a friend. For now, she would let him eat.

[Moon_Song]

Blood now coated his muzzle and and dripped from the massive curved horns whose tips ended around the ides of his face. He knew that certain spirits could be less than cordial upon meeting them, but he didn't sense much threat from this long dead fox.

Even so, he didn't enjoy her presence. His lips remained half curled up in a toothy sneer, making his saber-like k-9's painfully obvious. His hackles were half-raised and all three tails remained parallel to the ground. It was only a warning stance, but Esras was not in the mood to deal with petty spirits.

Unfortunately, as he had ripped out a pound of flesh from the belly of the beast, the fox spoke. She had shifted her color, he assumed with her mood. That was certainly going to make this fun. Reading her would be easier than taking down the elk.

With blood still splattered on his face, he smirked. "Run along, kid. You don't belong here."

[Le Mad]

The lavender colored apparition shifted. The wolf did not respond at first, proceeding to stare at her and then to dig into the elk cow. Her ears swiveled back, her eyes narrowing in a glare. She slowly began to circle the predator and its prey, tail twitching like a cat's and leaving trails of smoke in the air that dissipated quickly. Her eyes traveled over him once more, noticing other things as she circled. She noticed the cuffs around his neck and forepaw, hinting that he had been shackled at one point.

She was beginning to draw her circle tighter, to get a little closer, when the beast spoke, telling her she didn't belong here. She made an irritated clicking sound, her fur turning a light shade of yellow. Now she was amused.

"Says the demonic wolf taking a kill from the wolves who inhabit this territory. Listen to me, ThugWolf: You belong here about as much as I do." She purred, her voice calm but holding holding a morbid, almost threatening tone. She watched blood drip from his features. It made him look menacing, and she let a smirk dance across her muzzle.

A short yip sounded from her jaws, and she leapt into the air, her form catching a slight breeze and floating there. She stared at the wolf, dangling as if she were held by the scruff. She didn't care if he was uncomfortable. She would watch him eat.

[Moon_Song]

This little vixen was not too bright. Then again, dead didn't mean smart. Esras resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he replied. "You obviously misunderstood my meaning of "belong", fox. Think it through before you answer."

Earas latched onto the neck of the beast, growling a bit with pleasure at the taste of the blood and flesh in his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the spirit-fox floating as if held by the back of the neck. Stupid creature.

[sinn]

Viktor shuffled from tree to tree as he followed close behind the nimble gazelle with Kukri in hand. Normally he would have simply shot the beast and been done with it. But with his high-powered M107 broken, and his low count on .45 ACP rounds wouldn't justify a kill that could be made with a knife and quick thinking. He got close, close enough to jab his bent blade into the beast. But as sson as he reared his arm, he caught a branch and fell to the dirt with a loud thud. He kicked up as he heard an ear-piercing scream that caused him to stumble back in pain. Then another shook his eardrums as he regained his footing. He finally found his prey, but there was a problem...A wolf had snagged it as he recovered himself.

The wolf was large and covered in blood, his prey's blood. He contemplated simply sneaking behind it and running the curved blade along it's neck. Instead he brought his M1911 level to the back of the wolf's head. He pulled the slide back and took aim through the sights as took a deep breath. His mind went through the usual paces, 3..2...1..Smoke em`. He sighed as he raised his side arm, deciding to save the ammunition and spare the wolf's life. He sat at the base of a tree as he scooped clumps of dirt and threw them at the wolf, "God I hate wolves. Always stealing what isn't theirs." he holstered his sidearm as he spun his Kukri, "Now I have to track another one." Suddenly something caught Viktor's eye as he followed a stream of smoke above him, a small smoke-like spirit in the shape of a fox hovered above him. He spoke to himself as he brought his Kukri abroad, "What the hell are you?"