The faint, haunted warnings of a wolf in the night sounded through the trees as Romul crouched down against the leafy forest floor. The approaching footfall had not eluded me, but I knew that the snapping and growling my companion felt was so necessary would not elude them either. In an attempt to catch wind of our “guest”, I tilted my muzzle upwards into the slight breeze that drifted easily through the desolate woodland. However, the creature that emerged from the impending darkness was not one I’d been expecting. In some ways I wanted to apologize for Romul’s crude behavior (as well as his crude appearance), but could not find the words nor the care to do so. The young female clearly had no reason to be stalking us in the night, so I had no reason to act contrite for being wary.

She’d called to us before inviting herself to our company, which was amusing in and of itself, given she had no idea who I was or what I was capable of. I supposed it was no fault of her own, but only her young age and complementary ignorance that made her so bold. In a way it made me respect her, even if I simultaneously wanted to scold her for her brazen actions.

“Are you alright?”

Of course I was alright… I was more than alright. I was living, breathing, and moving around was I not? Whatever ailed my mind was no business of hers- of course that never stopped anyone before. “As alright as I’ll ever be,” I responded curtly and without explanation. Since she’d come all this way just to annoy me, I figured it was enough to allow her a moment of my time… Though, I couldn’t figure out what made her believe I’d be good companionship anyways… I had a bad habit for bad behaviors.

At first I’d almost missed the plume of inky smoke that coursed from her lips when the young mare spoke, but the scent of fiery ash did not fall short on me. Upon closer inspection I could see the shadowy whisper of smoldering slag as it dissipated shortly after being expelled from her presumably gabby jowls. I had to give it to her though, she appeared genuinely concerned and (since I felt somewhat bad for her after wanting to let Romul take a chunk of her leg) that was enough for me to bear her presence.

The girl was a creamy shade of beige with a horn that nearly split down the middle. She was interesting to say the least and the longer she stood there, the more I wanted to know about her. Why was she so strange? Why was she here alone so late in the evening? Why did she care what was wrong with me? (Not that it was any of her concern anyways.)

“Sorry, Romul needed to hunt…” I stated tersely while glancing back toward the red-jawed wolf. I didn’t like to allow him to hunt in the Throat since we’d only just returned and besides, the forest had more edible game. He preferred rabbits and mice. “Who are you anyway?”


Essetia & Romul