The ghostly moon slipped higher and higher into the night sky whilst the snowflakes fell like stars to the ground in a silent dive. Within the pale moonlight, the flakes glittered and sparkled with each twist and turn and against the jet black sky it was a beautiful sight to behold. At the edge of the wildwood, where the trees grew less dense and the air could blow freely, sat the brooding male. Almost invisible against the shadows, he remained unmoving with only the hollow hue of his grey eyes as any sign he was even there. He’d been there since the sun had set; just being, just there. Taking a moment alone, away from what his life was within the wood, away from the thoughts which crept up on him whilst he lay within his den, away from the trouble of his life. Rhysis felt so much on his shoulders, so much pressure, such a want to succeed in everything he did that it wasn’t often he found a moment to just be. To sit with an empty mind, with no analyzing, no acting or playing a part which just wasn’t him; within the light dusting of snow and wrapped in the cold of the winter he felt himself. At peace with himself and even if it was not to last, he felt better knowing that he had been who he was, despite how short the time might be.

It was times like this when the dark male would think of the past and not the future; of the faces he had seen, the sights he had witnessed, the family he had once had. His childhood had been sordid, tainted and disturbed which had resulted in the cold, calculating beast he was today but there had been one wolf; one whom he had never forgotten and never could- his mother. He barely remembered her name, her real name at least. He had forgotten her scent, the colour of her fur, the texture of her body as she curled around him to shelter him from harm. He remembered her eyes though, those beautiful, warm and loving eyes; they were a mixture like his and whilst his sister Volkan had received the most beautiful of blues, he had maintained the grey of his mothers eyes.
Rhysis didn’t know her well, she came and fed them, cared for them and encouraged them to walk. She had provided food, warmth and been the first to smile at his existence. For all he knew, she might have been as wicked at the rest of his pack; perhaps she encouraged their growth for the sake of an heir, perhaps she smiled wickedly, instead of kindly, at the thoughts of destruction which her children could bring, perhaps she fed them so well that they would grow up to be the warriors they were destined to be, but no matter what the truth was, Rhysis missed her. Of everything they were forced to leave behind upon their exile, he wished he had at least been able to see his mother one last time; she’d probably forgotten him by now...

The thought mad him angry, so angry that a deep, evil snarl escaped his closed lips and pushed his canines to show. In an instant, the handsome male had transformed to a deadly and rather fearsome sight. Plagued by the memories of betrayal, loneliness and torture he felt himself getting worked up- the peace inside him had shattered.

He had to run... he needed to run.

So, he ran. With no direction in mind. He allowed his leather pads to eat the ground below him and he tore off back into the Wildwood, purposely coming too close to a tree or thickets so it would tear at his skin and fur- he needed to feel pain, buried deep within his mind, pain reminded him of home, it was so normal for him and he needed a dose of normal. On and on he pushed, slipping in and out of shadows, hidden within the darkness to break free into a moonlit clearing and back into darkness.

He ran. He ran.

It was such a beautiful evening not so unlike the one where he had first met Jayse. He had been given a lot to think on recently so he had decided to leave his temporary home in the Cedarwood Forest to seek the council of the young dark male he considered his friend. He paused here and there to sniff at the trees and listen to the sounds of the night. It was a relief to be alone for once. Completely alone without Hawke or one of his pack mates on his tail.

Someone was crashing through the undergrowth, darting dangerously close to the bases of trees. He scented him before he saw him and a smile crossed the silver brutes face. It would seem Rhysis was having one of his moments. Perfect. While the dark males path was mostly random, Valiant took a guess at where he was likely to pass and settled into a crouch. As the Rhysis moved to pass Valiant's position he launched, tackling the male with a snarl. If it was a distraction he wanted, surely a friendly scuffle couldn't hurt...

With red tinted vision, the large beast continued to consume the terrain beneath his strides. His long, loping gait pulled him quickly across the terrain and with his mind swirling with images, voices and memories which made no sense, he was almost running blindly; it was only instinct that stopped him from running head first into a tree, though he had a few close calls as he welcomed the explosion of pain which each thorn, thicket and branch tore into his fur and skin.

His mind was so preoccupied that he didn’t even hear the female chasing after him, and it certainly didn’t register as his fluffy puppet broke free from the shadows and tackled him to the floor. Valiant knew the risk he took when he was on a run; Rhysis couldn’t control himself until he was calmer and with the adrenaline running through him, burning his veins like fire he didn’t recognise the male.

He tumbled to the ground, but hooked his paws around his assailant and took him down with him. He landed on his side but continued to roll until he was on his back and from there he kicked upwards with claws exposed to beat the soft, fleshy stomach of the other senseless. He hadn’t even felt his dark lips curl into a snarl and was almost unaware of the fact he was snapping towards whatever flesh of the other he could get hold of. All he saw through the red hues of his gaze, was a dark, fuzzy shape... and the snow falling.

He knew it had been a bad idea, but they silver wolf was feeling reckless. He hit the snow hard as they rolled and both struggled to gain control of their tumble. It was purely the luck of the draw that saw Valiant finish up on top with the darker wolves claws digging into his stomach. A searing pain burned across his flank from where his friend had caught him to pull him along for the tumble and as he lashed out, clawing desperately he could feel more small gashes opening up on his soft underside. If it hadn't been for his ridiculously fluffy coat he was sure he would have been eviscerated by now.

As he leapt back he became vaguely aware of their audience but that wasn't what was important now. He had beaten the hornets nest and he now had to deal with the consequences, taking a defensive position against the younger male, tucking his chin to protect his throat and growling low as he began to circle. If he had just let the young male run he never would have caught him. Best to scuffle until he broke from his rage and deal with what needed to be discussed than spend days searching the woods for the dark wolf.

The fuzzy shape threw himself backwards and slipped from his grasp, but with the wet feeling trickling down his paws he felt satisfied with the damage he must have inflected. Rhysis didn’t remain on the floor a second longer then he had to; he rolled onto his stomach and glanced over his shoulder to look once more through his blood veiled vision to the wolf he had yet to recognise as his only liege. With a deep, hollow snarl he snapped his teeth at the air whilst turning to face the other head on. His own head lowered once more, whilst his hackles rose to protect his neck. Talons shifted the hard ground beneath him as he felt for grip.

His brain was on survival mode; unable to register his surroundings just yet, let alone the faces of the two wolves present. The behaviour was beaten into him from such a young age that when he got like this, he found it hard to bottle his rage and stop himself; he was a tall mass of power, of untapped force just waiting to explode and whilst these brief episodes were good for him, he was certain that one day an outburst like this was going to be his demise. The thought made him pause a moment... but only long enough to shake it away from his brain before he kicked off the terrain and threw himself full force towards the other male once more.

At the last moment he changed his head on strike and instead bolted as if he was going to run right past him; as soon as his head was past the large blur he dug his front paws into the soil and threw his rear and tail around, breaking like a car as he spun to pull himself side on to the wolf and with snapping jaws, he ducked his head once more and tried to snap upwards at that injured belly.

He was grateful for his previous association with the dark male or otherwise his guts would now be on the floor as he shifted slightly, the males teeth pulling at his fur rather than his skin. It was still painful, but the thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as another dark blur tried to throw itself at his shoulder, slightly grazing him enough to draw blood but not taking the chunk it had originally aimed for. His nose picked up on female scent, but judging from the laugh she was clearly insane. For a moment he thought it may have been Rebecca, but it wasn't her scent, and he wasn't sure she had survived the wounds inflicted by that bloody cat...

When his friend was in these rages he often wondered why he didn't assume the leadership for himself. While he had a deep suspicion it had something to do with the required dichotomy to form a pack, he was sure the younger wolf would eventually overcome his aversion for the female race... but this crazed woman wouldn't help that cause. It would take a gentle wolf of patience to melt that core he was sure.

These had been previous pondering's because he certainly didn't have the time for them now with two wolves both trying to tear him to shreds. Leaping a short distance away, he just had to hope Rhysis was growing close to the end of his rage, or calming enough to realise they were under attack from an outside source. His head lowered protecting his throat, hackles up, facing the dark duo head on, his eyes flicking from one to the other, wondering who would move first.

Rhysis had been slowly calming; with each snap of his jaws towards Valiant’s belly he found his nose tingle with the scent of remembrance. They had done this a few times before, Valiant was aware of how Rhysis would react and yet still intervened, risking himself injury to stop his master from damaging himself further. In some ways, they really were the best of friends, but with their cold, macho minds they would never admit the truth. Rhysis had grown to rely on the fluffy fool and whilst he may not yet realise it, he would be somewhat lost without him.

That scent tugging on his nose, he knew it and for a moment the red in his eyes began to fade as his brain kicked into gear, focusing on that smell rather then the chaos which was rattling round in his brain. His teeth had stopped snapping and he had began to pull back, just a tugging of his neck and a step mind, but from no where a black blur barrelled into his rear, forcing him forwards and under Valiant who had been moving out of the way. His face collided with the ground, taking a mouthful of snow and debris as he went and just like that, his mind flung itself into battle mode.

It appeared the cackle of a female was enough to turn his clearing vision back to a bloody hue and with a deep, ugly snarl he thrust himself up from the floor, turned upon the spot and threw himself and his glorious height straight at the female who was circling. With jaws agape, talons at the ready he aimed to snatch her maw within his own; were he successful he was going to bring her down to the ground, pinning her by the face. He was in no mood for another crazy bitch... he had met enough of those to last him a lifetime, taking one out of the equation would only be a blessing.

From no where, the female ran and vanished. Utterly confused by the motion Rhysis took a moment to reflect on what just happened like that that, his mind over threw his instincts and clarity began to return. With a snort to himself, he simply looked into the thicket where the female had bolted, utterly unaware for a moment that Valiant was nearby and injured thanks to his little outburst. It wasn't until his nose twitched, detecing the scent of blood mixed with a familiar fluffy beast.

"Oh shit..." he said before he even glanced over towards the male. He had done it again hadn't he... lost himself for a moment and thebulky idiot thought it was his place to calm him down. It was sweet really, but Rhysis couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. All Valiant did was end up getting hurt just to calm down the hot headed black beast. He felt somewhat guilty about it all but didn't acknowledge the feeling. "Why can't you just leave it when it happens." he asked rhetorically as he began to saunter over and inspect the wounds he had inflicted from a distance.