Random Event - A coyote wearing a deer’s skull is stalking you.
~Kill the ghost that hides in your soul~
The Dream.
"You are no longer a Scarlet Crescent wolf, leave." The words were spat venomously into Vesper's face by his gang of siblings, a snarl rumbling from deep within their chest and a snarl of his own pulling back the black lining of his lips to bare his canines at his brothers and sister. No, they were no longer his siblings, they were traitors in his golden eyes now for turning against him and ending his rise to leadership. He was so close, so close to overthrowing their father from the throne and taking his place as the king of the pack. His plans were burned to ashes now as he stood at the boarder of the territory, guard hairs raised defensively. "Damn you, damn you all to hell!" he spat back with an equal amount of venom to his words before his oldest brother, Valfred, stepped forward with a snap of his mighty jaws. Vespertio knew it was pointless now to try and pull one last trick to regain his place among the pack and with one last snarl he reluctantly turned his back on his family, his home and ran. Ran with every ounce of speed he could muster as his brother gave chase to run him off their lands.
The Reality.
Cream colored paws kicked and twitched at the air as Vespertio slept under the cover of a gnarled tree who's roots twisted and bent to form a safe nook for the night, a light fog slowly stalking its way across the forest floor like an eerie cloak. His mind once more was plagued by the nightmare of his past. The banishment from his home. "No..traitors..all of you!" He whimpered in a weak fashion, barely able to lift the flesh of his lips to mimic the actions in his dream while he endured the mental punishment. His sides heaved in quick repetitions as his body continued to twitch to the lucid images inside his head. "You are not one of us Vespertio. You never were, never belonged here." Valfred snarled as his heavy paws fell with each stride that brought him closer and closer to his prey and brother. "I will kill you if it's the last thing I do. You will never know what home feels like. Never..." His mighty jaws that spoke of death and hate now clamped against the nape of his neck.
With an abrupt jolt he awoke from the nightmare, frantically attempting to rise to his feet but found himself unable to. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, thudding against its walls and if he could sweat would have beaded down his forehead in little trickles, panic taking a hold of him as it caused the blood in his veins to run cold. He screamed out to nobody around him. "No. I don't want to die, you can't take me!" Not quite awake and lost in the thought that his dream was real in that fact that his brother was sent to kill him, Vespertio struggled to break himself free from his prison of roots that had become entangled around his legs from his squirming. That was until he found himself scrambling up and haphazardly bounding through the darkness around him, the low settling fog wafting apart where his body tore through. It was early morning, the sun already low in the sky, but no source of light penetrated the black abyss of the trees. Not even a sound could be heard except for the pounding of his heart and the steady colliding of his paws to the soil beneath them. There was no sense of direction as he kept running deeper and deeper into the forest of Umbra Copse, a dark shadow following in his footsteps.
The snap of a twig finally brought the Vuesain man to a halt, the fog whirling around his paws as if trying to coax the paranoid brute to play with it. The rise and fall of his chest was beyond visible as he took deep breathes in his state of hysteria, sweeping his crown in every which direction to searched for the cause of the sound. A twig didn't break on its own. 'He's here. He's come to do me in like I deserve.' His wake induced lucid dreaming taking control of his thoughts. A whimper erupted from his lips as he slowly backed up one step at a time, ears flat against his skull in a pure state of weakness. "Where am I?" Vesper mumbled to himself, unaware of his own surrounds due to the ever looming shadows of the trees that seemed to go on forever. Trapped. That was how he felt now. Like a trapped animal in a cage, but instead of a cage he was trapped by trees that held him captive with their leaf bare limbs. A maniacal laughter(his own delirium and imagination) echoed off to his right, no to his left. It came all around him as he continued to creep backwards, his body crouched as he did so. There was someone following him. Someone was out there, he knew it. It was a mistral that deceived the man...or was it?
A faint glimmer of white; stark against the black shadows that rose in every which direction, caught the corner of his eye and he spun his body in its direction. The white orb was stayed still, a ghost in the realm of shadows. Golden eyes squinted to try and gain a better focus on what he was seeing, but the fog around him and the little light that broke through the canopy above did him little justice. Creeping forward he took one step forward, the creature or whatever it was took one step back. He paused and watched for a moment, but as soon as he blinked the shape was gone. "I must have just been seeing things. Ghost don't exist." Vesper reassured himself, though his own words lacked the confidence he wished to portray. In all honestly he was spooked out of his wits and barely truly waking from his nightmare. But as he took another glance around him, the entire world seemed to be his nightmare. A permanent purgatory. A rustling and more broken twigs caught his attention. There it was again. This time his gaze settled on his right side on the mystery creature, but it was closer now. Still unidentifiable to his golden eyes yet it held more shape to it. A faint gleam of tapetum lucidum glaring at him. Now there was no mistaking the two points that jutted out from the sides, ragged and pointed like tiny daggers ready to tear at anything that came near.
Neurosis paranoid. That was the perfect way to describe Vespertio in that moment as his heart rate picked up again and his muscles grew tense. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that whatever the hell this thing was, it was stalking him. Was it Valfred waiting for the perfect moment to strike and end his life? That thought alone did little to sooth his fears and calm his pounding heart, lungs becoming breathless. "Who are you?!" He called out to the beast(if it was a beast at all and not a figment of his imagination) while trying to keep a sense of confidence and power behind his voice that ended up sounding as paranoid as he felt. The 'thing' moved as his words reached its ears, once more disappearing into the safety of the shadows and ghostly fog with silent ease. A chill ran up Vesper's spine as another wave of uneasiness washed over him. 'Just keep moving and maybe it'll leave you alone.' His thoughts cooed, forcing his locked legs to finally relax enough to allow motion to be had. Stepping quietly, he moved on. Now would be the worst time for someone to sneak up on him.