Most of the insects of the summer and autumn seasons had died off, a sharp chill to the air. Her ears could catch nothing but the sound of her own footfalls as she padded away from Ichika's border in the darkness of pre-dawn. The light of the moon made her able to see bits and pieces of the lands that lay before her, familiarity taking over where her sight lacked; the grass and leaves were covered in a light sheen of frost, making them sparkle and glitter before her gaze. Wretch wasn't sure why she had chosen to head out for Ichika at this hour...she had tossed and turned in bed for hours before deciding to get up and go out for a walk, and hours later she was still going.
The quiet of the night surrounded her as she walked along through the darkness. Nothing out here but her and the night...or so she thought.
Suddenly, a flurry of movement caught her attention. A luperci was walking through the woods in Secui, a canine slightly larger than herself. Something looked to be wrong with it, though...it stumbled every few steps. She gasped as it turned in her direction, reaching into her purse and gripping the long knife that she'd taken from a shop in Trenton. She stepped behind a tree as the figure came nearer, growling beneath its breath. I smell someone nearby...some little puppy. The luperci snarled, looking from side to side, nostrils flaring.
It was on her before she realized it, discovering her hiding place and pushing her down to the ground. Her hand was clasped around the knife's handle and she nearly dropped it as she was slammed into the soil. She could remember the last time that something like this had happened, but now she was ready. Wretch had been training with Gideon every day before he had left, and she remembered his lesson. She realized that one arm was free and grabbed the other canine's ear, pinching the tender area between her clawed fingers. It howled in pain, rearing back for a moment, and she took that opportunity to roll out from underneath them.
In another second she was up, leaping forward onto the creature's back and grabbing hold around its neck. In another she had brought the knife around, yanking it toward herself. A spray of blood surprised her, gargling sounds coming from the Secui's mouth as it tried in vain to detach her from its back. It fell forward and she let go, stepping quickly back to observe its behavior as her lungs heaved and heart raced. She watched it for what felt like hours, too frightened to move from her spot for fear that it would awaken and come after her once more. When the sun began to rise over the horizon she could see that it was truly dead, and she fled quickly back into the safety of the packlands.
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