Home 27: Ward-bound

[Arkhosia]

Aetheric Assistance

Anastasia tenses stock still, staring transfixed. The creature before them seems almost the size of a large wolf as it comes to a stop at the opposite side of the brook a few healthy paces away. It's close enough that the duo can pick out some curious details - for one, the fox has a set of two tails. The color of its fur is also a perfect match for Anastasia's hair... and its claws look wickedly sharp, vicious curves of black keratin glinting dully in the moonlight.

"W-what did I do here?! Why did you- why would I even hurt anyone??" The girl steps firmly forwards. Her sneakers sink into the grass.

"Kits shouldn't stray from their dens." The words come out in a snide, contemptuous growl. "Shouldn't prolong the hunt."

Ana balls up her fists. "This- this needs to stop! Wh-whatever you're doing to me, it just needs to stop!"

"And let you keep wasting away? Simply sit there surrounded by prey? Let prime cuts of meat like this one just stand placid? You should take her throat in your jaws and tear her apart! Sup on her blood, devour her flesh! Seize the very strength of her spirit and claim it for your own!"

The fox turns and begins to pace. The cool stone stays at their backs and yet she starts moving as if to circle around them, probe them for weaknesses.

"I've lasted a lifetime already, done things far greater than the sum total of your miserable, wretched little life. I refuse to just let us wither and fade into the black waves of the aether."