m-m-m-mad as a hatter. {open}

[webby]

Usually, if you asked a wolf if he'd ever had to kill another wolf, you'd probably see one of three things. The most common option would perhaps be a slightly confused look at such an odd, out of the blue question, or perhaps relief, and their mouths forming the words 'thank heavens, no'. The second answer you might recieve could come in the form of haunted eyes and shamed silence. The less common reply would probably be Kinaki's. Depending on his mood, he might answer cheerfully, 'not quite sure. 3? 5? 10?' Or he might take offence at the fact you were disturbing him by talking to him and maul you, too.

He hadn't always been so bipolar, or fragmented, or messed up. As a young wolf he'd had a pretty hard phase of his life in which to grow up, and he'd seen some horrible things. But that wasn't the reason for his state of mind now - he'd managed, like most wolves, to move on from situations like that with the help of five other steady, reliable, wolves who all fitted together like pieces of a puzzle. When the earthquake made those five wolves dissappear, that was when Kinaki had decided he couldn't be bothered with restraint anymore. If anyone else looked too happy, he'd fix it.

As he stood on the edge of the clearing, shaded from the crisp sunlight that appeared all too frequently in the lead-up to Spring, he found that he couldn't quite bring himself to walk into the centre of such a wide, open space. Instead, he preferred the remain in the shadows where his dark pelt and dark mind blended in perfectly. He stood perfectly still, until a thought popped into his mind and he found himself barking with laughter. How many wolves might he hurt today?

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[[Midnight]]

Kinaki wasn't the only lurking in the shadows that day. The clearing here in No-Man's-Land had all too many hiding places.
His pelt was so silvery white that it could be compared to starshine. But that didn't stop Ryoker from keeping hidden in the underbrush as he scoured the landscape with his emotionless eyes and his never-faltering smile. There was something off about this place right now. Of course, it was exciting to someone like Ryoker, who lived for thrills and commotion. So he waited patiently in the shadows for something interesting to happen. Oh, it would come soon.

And that's when he saw her; a pretty little female strolling through the blankets of white and the occaisional stalks of dead grass shooting upwards. She was quite a ways away and unfortunately for Ryoker, she wasn't coming his way. But it was interesting to watch her as she seemed to carry herself so carelessly, and yet... His eyes narrowed with glee as he picked out the way she would stop to sample some scents, look up at the beautiful sky and watch the snowflakes fall. She looked dreamy- lonely was more like it. If only he could show himself out in the open and approach her. She'd be such an easy target to mentally torment. But he couldn't shake the feeling of the darkness that was approaching. Better sit tight and enjoy a show.
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Taya wasn't particularly going anywhere. She was just aching to get away from the Stars territory for a bit, explore some unfamiliar lands...have an adventure! Meet someone new, come back home after a long day and have a story to tell.
Pfft, who was she kidding, though? What kind of adventures lay hidden in this place? Heck, if she really wanted some excitement in her life, she should cross borders into Falling Moon and preach to Duke about banding together with Caden. But like she would ever do that.

So wandering for nothing and hoping to find something interesting it was.
She stopped for a moment, delicately placing a paw into the snow while she lifted her head against the breeze. She thought she caught a whiff of a wolf's scent, but it was choppy. The hard wind made it almost impossible for her to catch it again. But as she took a couple of steps and sampled the breeze again, she locked on it. So Taya tried scanning the edge of the clearing, just a couple hundred feet away or so, and saw nothing. It was too shadowy over there. It almost gave her the creeps. But someone was definately hiding in there, somewhere.

"Hello?" she called out softly but clearly, peering into the darkness hopefully. Maybe she would get excitement today after all.

{You can have him attack Taya if you want to get it over with and I'll make up some weird excuses stuff to make sure Ryoker has no clue who does what to Taya. :>}