Kieth growled in frustration as his fur snagged onto yet another one of those darn branches. This is growing tiresome! he thought angrily as he pulled it out with his teeth. Shaking his head, he continued on his way, but was more careful of the wispy branches that sought to snag his fur. Pausing, he looked around him to check if there was anything behind him, but all he saw was that his paws were creating small dents in the soft soil behind him, making a trail that other wolves would be able to follow. He had noted before that the thick undergrowth hid all of the dips and lumps that wolves would fall susceptible to. Unconsciously, he rubbed his left back leg with his other one. A few hours before, he had tripped over a lump in the ground, landing on his side. Imagine if his family had seen that; they would all have laughed. Smiling to himself at the thought of his family, he turned to face the front and continued on his trek.
This place, the Ghastly Woods, gave him the chills. He had hoped to find a way around it, but that would mean he would have to backtrack over the mountain again. And that was hard enough doing it once, nevermind twice. So he made up his mind and decided to go through the Ghastly Woods, whether he liked it or not. The thick canopies shut out almost all of the light, making it even harder to see where he was going. No birds were singing, everything was silent except for a rustle every now and then. It seemed that even the birds got the creeps in this place. As the wind shifted, he caught a whif of a deer herd. Lifting his nose up into the air, he also caught scent of a wolf. He followed the direction of the scent, hoping to find thr wolf before night fell. If it was friendly enough, of course. It was bad enough walking through the Ghastly Woods alone during the day, but what about night? The more he thought about it, the less he liked the notion of being alone.
Suddenly, a bird squawked and Kieth flinched, almost tripping over another pothole. He looked around quickly, for any sign of danger that the bird might have seen, but only saw a blackbird rise up from a branch and fly away. Getting to his feet, he gave a quick glance in every direction before continuing. In doing so, his actions reminded him of Jade. The sweet, young wolf he had met in the Drooping Willows and again on the mountain. He missed her, and dearly hoped of meeting her once again. But she must be very close to Steel, so he would probably never see her again. Nevertheless, life goes on and you should never dwell on the past.
Trotting at a fast pace, he looked around and lifted his nose to the air. The scent was much closer now, and so was the deer herd. But it was still quite a distance away. He shifted into a slow lope, and gave a soft howl. Hopefully it was not too loud as to alert the whole of Ghastly Woods to his presence.
Kieth continued until he came upon a large tree. The scents were very close now, so he decided to wait for the wolf to show up, if it did at all. He had to be content with lying next to the root of the huge tree. Sitting in a sphinx-like position, he kept his eyes open and ears listening for any danger while he rested his tired body. But a ridge on the tree trunk's surface dug into his back, so he moved his position, accidently putting pressure on a stick and snapping it. A loud crack resonated throughout the woods. He heard the flapping of multiple wings, and looking around, he spotted the retreating backs of a flock of birds. Cursing silently, he scolded himself for being so careless. Usually he would have been more careful, but living alone had taken its toll on him. His thick coat and muscly body had grown thin, thin enough so that you just see the last point of his ribcage. At that point, a rustling sound coming from the brush. "Hello?" Kieth called out as he glanced in its direction, waiting to see what it would reveal.
You can run, but you can't hide