Snow. Ruiko lowered his muzzle to the pale substance, noting the tracks that lay before him in the Thicket. The scent that clung to them was vaguely familiar, and the tawny wolf soon recalled the dark stranger who had remained a shrouded mystery to him. Her eyes had been the most intriguing aspect, spare her careful words and the need to hide her emotions from all others – something he could relate to. He had never learned her name, for he had not lingered very long after the pack had arrived. A stranger among those mourning, Ruiko had slipped quietly away and back to the Wildwood where they had first found the boy, trying to link anything to what had happened to him. He had found nothing.


The darkness coiled through the trees viciously, though the gleam of white snow was like a beacon of light. The regal River wolf trailed after the female’s tracks, soft flurries floating through the air and clinging to his pelt causing a small but welcome chill to settle upon the male. While winter endangered all of them, there was still something to be enjoyed about the quiet midnight snowfall.


He knew a good part of the Thicket, for he had spent most of his time in the land with Ranger when he had courted her back in the day. Following the path set before him, it was not long before he found the dark she-wolf, but the sight that came before him was not one he expected. Slumped to the ground in defeat it seemed, tears escaped the female’s eyes, her muzzle buried to her legs. Ruiko paused now, uncertain what to say during such an interruption.

His muzzle swung over his shoulder briefly, debating whether or not to simply vanish once more in the foliage of the thicket. About to do so, the dark she-wolf stirred, her wariness of his presence becoming announced through body language alone. She shifted back sharply, tensing as her gaze raked over him in surprise to his presence.


Ruiko spoke nothing – uncertain how to console a grieving woman, especially one who did not welcome his presence in the first place. Her words stirred his ears to slide back to his skull, and as he was about to bow his muzzle in acceptance to her request, the sudden lift of her body stopped him momentarily.


The snap of her jaws was what caused his fur to bristle; the sudden shout of her demand stirring his lips to pull back and reveal a silent snarl. He had respected her heartache, but he was certainly not going to roll over and expose his belly to her in submission.


A low snarl erupted from his throat just then as his large figure raised to his impressive full height. His tail lifted dominantly, while his muzzle swung down slightly lower to protect his throat should she launch herself at him. “Careful, girl,” he warned dangerously. “I might be a friend to Jaysyek but that doesn’t mean I will allow her subordinate to use me as her punching bag.”

Her anger was spat out in words – accusations that he did not quite know where they came from, as until this very moment Ruiko had been nothing but kind to her. Or, as kind as Ruiko could be with a stranger. She lifted herself in a challenge to him, and his jaws loosened slightly, preparing himself for the battle that was inevitably about to come. Yet still she continued, raging about how insignificant his rank was. Still, he said nothing, not countering her words with an argument – as far as he was concerned, Second was no better than a subordinate position. He had been Indru’s Second for the majority of his time at Swift River and had left to better his life. To gain what Rihael, his father, had prepared him for as a yearling.


Her final bellow of expletives ended the hypocritical rant from the lady in his mind, and as the large Tainn wolf was not one to fight with words but tooth and claw, he chose then to lead the attack. She had challenged him outright – she had insulted him when he had done very little to her.


Swiftly he dove forward, his ears slick back against his skull to protect them while his nape remained scrunched. Dirt flew from the ground as his paws hit, and Ruiko chose to simply barrel in to his challenger rather than swerve and psyche her out. His shoulder rolled forward to try to connect with hers; his immense size used to attempt to push in to her and knock her to the ground in submission while an echoing snarl finally erupted from his jaws. A snap of his teeth was sent to the direction of her cheek --- not to main, but to deliver a final warning to the arrogant she-wolf who had tried to do nothing but play him a puppet since he had first met her. All he had come here for was to learn her name and see if she was okay.. After this, Ruiko Tainn would scorn himself for bothering with such an emotional female and be done with it.

She was quick on her paws; his attempt to overthrow the she-wolf with a rough shoulder-to-shoulder force was not lost upon her and so the daring stranger moved back a pace to avoid him. It was an unexpected maneuver, but not one he had not encountered before. The large male stopped short of brutish barrel, his paws digging harshly to the dirt as clumps of mud and snow flew around them in a light shower. His own hefty figure curled now, twisting away from her so he face her.


Her grab to his muzzle was swift – but the twist of his figure had caused her to grasp at his cheek, though her attack was not entirely useless. Her fangs bared to his flesh, pushing past the protective fur and drawing blood. A snarl of outrage escaped the beast, and as his paws shifted to remove himself from the danger of her teeth, his pelt bristling dangerously and his teeth bared furiously to the girl. Yet as his bright eyes studied her, trailing across the streaks where tears had kissed only moments earlier, his snarl faded.


Keeping his defenses, Ruiko dipped his muzzle slightly, a silent sigh just barely escaping his tainted lips. “You are upset. You were upset the day I met you, and it seems I have stumbled upon something you wish no one to bare witness to, and for that reason alone I should not have attacked you. You’re tongue is far sharper than your teeth – trust me, I have now witnessed both to know.” There was a small pause in his words, his eyes flickering over her briefly. “You’re an enigma. And it seems you need an outlet to release your anger for your grief. I will be that outlet.. because for the strangest reasons I find I do care, and not because you are Jaysyek’s.”

She took his offering without hesitation – the anger seeping from her was something Ruiko himself had felt only twice in his life; the death of the Hidden Tree pack, and the presence of Weldering… especially when it concerned his three little sisters and Weldering. The rogue had corrupted Ioni completely, while luring Junai and Borlla into thinking he was worthy to befriend. It had sickened him at the time, and when he recollected all that had happened, it still made his blood boil.


Elettra moved then, her words lost upon the male as his paws slid further apart to brace himself. Her jowls aimed toward his chest, the she-wolf’s teeth ripped to flesh just near the joint of his left shoulder. The pain was almost welcome, despite the sadistic reasons behind it. Her heave was great, but he was still larger than her and stronger. Not willing to be pushed over to his back by what could be a female out to seek his offer and turn the tables to his death, Ruiko pulled back from her, her weight and strength still causing him to lower to the ground, though he kept his underbelly protected beneath his own weight. She was partly atop him now, and the tawny male kept true to his word, unwilling to think of how he had just literally become the punching bag of a she-wolf.