Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
At least, those are the words Zaphkiel knew from stories when he had been on his grand adventure. Time had slipped away without thought as of late for he had fallen back into that cycle from before. The cycle in which nothing mattered by the dream world that was filled with stars and mystery. It was the only thing he could do to keep his head in order. Gaia had disappeared and his soul screamed for her company, yet it felt like each day she grew further away from him and he was conflicted. Because his soul demanded she return or he to her - demanded that he see her, comfort her, cherish her, and yet his heart cried out for the company of another. The brave queen she-wolf dubbed Astrid, a powerful figure in her own right even if she did not have some official title to go with it.
So he had paced in his den and let himself lapse into the etherworld until he knew not the rise of the sun or the fall of stars. If he had allowed himself he would have wandered away from Molodian once more in the vastness of the unknown to once more hunt stories and tales. Yet he refrained because he couldn't leave this land, this earth, that had given birth to his twin desires and twin pain. Father had said that not all wolves would want to be with their imprints and it made sense when faced with this real dilemma of a split being. It wasn't as if he even had any intentions in such a manner for either Astrid or Gaia, yet he felt such a sense of wholeness when he was with Astrid.
She challenged him with her fangs, with her temper, and with the way they fell into sync together despite such flagrant differences. What he did was a bit circumspect now and it was quite out of the norm for him. Finally he found himself drifting down to the real world like a feather atop a breeze and he blinks often while simultaneously moving away from Diveen once more. Yet he did not head towards the mountainside and when he realizes this he knows that he has made a decision. Knowing this eases things.
His stride lengthens and he trots across the fall landscape with his nose to the wind, changing course every so often until he heads towards the very beginning of the story he shared with Astrid. Her scent is strong here, fresh, and it awakens a burning in his blood and an electricity through his fur. His good right eye scans in sweeps for her alabaster body as he draws closer to the sounds of deer grazing and moving amongst themselves. Of course she would be near them, for that is her nature. She is a hunter, the top of the food chain, and he knows she gets a thrill from it just as he does.
Even though he does not spy her amongst the thick foliage her scent is strong in one direction so he takes a wide route to circle around to the other side of the deer, thinking of how surprised her face will be when he breaks through the stampede of hooves. It brings a wild grin to his maw as his darkened body shifts beneath the still dark vegetation; she is somewhere on the other side.
Like a spring loaded rifle he leaps forth straight into the midst of the deer. They freeze in horror for but a second before scattering - left, right, and some straight towards Astrid as he had planned. He chases behind them with his ears flat and a low growl rumbling from his chest and a few snaps at their legs.