[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/norchester.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> set in the forest of nod
Two hearts, beating at one time, though one heart intended fully to silence the other forever. Hidden by the dark forest, predator observed prey. One false move and an explosion would occur, but it was not yet time. Instinct-driven, no time for wandering thoughts or emotion. Only time to acquire what was wanted, needed. The rabbit's head rose from the grass it had been nibbling on, its nose twitched, and Norchester could have sworn its eyes widened a little, but before it had time to act upon what it had just realized, Norchester did.
The leaves beneath her feet flew up in a flurry, marking the spot where she had once been hiding carefully. Her perfectly poised body leaped fully into the air, no need to take the few steps to get closer. A blur of grays and browns and whites and then silence, the snapped neck causing the rabbit to hang limply from the jaws of its attacker.
Norchester laid the rabbit down before her, observing the life she had just ended in order to prolong her own. The rabbit's face was in a contorted sort of grin, as if recognizing it was defeated and couldn't help but laugh at the fact. The feet, once cherished for their luck by humans, now lay unmoving and seemed to be acknowledging the fact that they'd come so far, but now it was over. One last glance at the shell of a creature now gone, and Norchester tore into the meat, satisfying her hunger.
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[html] There had been a brief lull in the rain, which to Hezekiah was more of a relief than anything else. Having either been drenched to the bone or holed up somewhere, he hadn’t been too comfortable with what felt like a bizarre, constantly downpour. Though he certainly wasn’t the only one; the grumbling over the rain hadn’t gone unheard of in the vast caverns at the heart of Inferni. Everything was muddy, everything was soggy, and Hezekiah found that he wasn’t enjoying having to try and cross the swollen creeks that etched their way all over the landscape. All in all though, he was spending more and more time in the forest and in turn had become somewhat familiar with it. Usually it provided decent enough cover from the constantly shifting elements and more than once he had dozed off beneath the heavy boughs of a pine tree, concealed away from view from anything that could have lurked. Anselm’s words about the wolves that occasionally streaked through the forest hadn’t gone unheeded; Hezekiah had yet to fully consider making a home there and had for the most part, continued to return to the caves.
But for the time being, he was content to keep to the daylight prowling of the forest, snaking his way between the trees as though he were more cat than coyote, halfway lost in a childish dream world that was as lucid and vivid as his dreams. But something was subconsciously pulling him through it, something nagging him through his cacophony of thoughts and memories. Blood. He could smell it and the closer he drew towards it, the more he could taste it. But it didn’t play into a certain need; he wasn’t hungry in the slightest, but the scavenging notion had draped itself over that area mapped out in his brain. If it were a dead wolf, then he would find Anselm to see about having the skull removed like the last one (who steps had been slightly forgotten, because he hadn’t seen them that clearly to begin with), a coyote would merit warning and adrenaline to punch the panic button, and something edible would be buried for later.
But such wasn’t the case when he happened upon a coyote in the middle of its own meal and neither of the options would apply. Instead, he hung back from where his tawny clan member was, watching her momentarily as she pulled flesh from bone. He wouldn’t intrude on her now, not wanting to provoke a fight or seeming needy for something that he didn’t need. But he did make himself known by crossing through her line of sight, briefly casting a glance in her direction as he passed through, his subdued shade of blue eyes seeming more steely grey against the damp, dark wood. Though he kept his distance reasonable, he still knew there was always the chance of provoke any way he looked at it; he could either get harped at or she could simply be up and upon him in a flash. They were territorial creatures, after all, and even he understood the possessiveness over food. [/html]
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