Couldn’t the lad catch a break? All he seemed to run into was wolves that somehow always managed to disappear. First the wretch of a wolf who’d merely entertained the fire and spat insults in his face, then the mad wolf who’d tried to rip him apart! The only exception had been Celeste… Now there was a lady that the fiery demon hoped to see again. Their little trade of stories had brought some form of elation that the brute hadn’t felt in years. He missed the sound of her voice and laughter tickling his audits, just as much as he missed the playful excursions during his travels to Blossom Forest. Because even for as much as Horizon hated the way he had left the Plains and disgraced himself and his family, there was no denying the sense of relief and freedom he got in exchange. It was as he had told his dearest Celeste,

The land from which I have escaped is a harsh and unforgiving place. The earth is scorched, the grass as dead as the souls which inhabit it—kalaks. Packs made solely of the fiery demon which you see before you. We were banished and cursed to serve the penalty of past treasons committed by fellow wolves. Our fur and bodies were once like your own, normal. Our burned palates are the mark of treason. Our stilts colored to match the black blood which we carry with us and our red fur to mark the life which we have stolen. But our eyes were the one thing that reminded us of our good deeds. Pure chocolate pools, each intricately shaded to uniquely single out every kalak for their quest of goodness. The royals had the most magnificent pools of mahogany, umber and sorrel. Nothing could match these distinguished colors.

Even if it was only tales to scare the pauper pups into behaving there seemed to be some truth in it. Horizon was an outcast in the castes of wolves and kalak’s alike. It didn’t matter where he went, there would always be someone to turn him away or attack him.

Horizon could feel himself lulling to sleep in the evening light, the darkness creeping from the depths of the trees threatening to pull him into their breadths. He wouldn’t have minded the shut eye but Horizon had spent most of his afternoon lazily lying around the field. The blackened stilts lifted the bloody boy from the ashy ground and stiffened as he shook out the soot, enshrouding himself in the reminiscent smoke. Horizon padded out of the cloud and proceeded to wander out of the barren wasteland towards a place better suited to calm his soul. A place where the gods gifted love, peace and solitude, but not all together. That would spoil the treasures of each characteristic, but Horizon could only hope he’d be blessed with a an inkling of… He paused slightly trying to pinpoint what he wanted. Not solitude… no, that would be too lonely. He rather liked the idea of peace. Find ease of mind and body, a place to rest but still enjoy what surrounded him.

Horizon drifted with a purpose towards the cliffs not paying much mind to his surroundings, too focused on reaching a place that might heal his nerves. The steep face rose into the dreamy clouds, obscuring the glittering cliffs above and daring the passerby’s to join in the jovial scene above. Stilts of black leapt and bound across the flattened surface. Once false step and the boy would fall to his death, but with luck such as his it seemed a likely possibility. Not that anyone would care. Horizon groaned as he crested the ledge. The rocky edge diverged into multitudes of places: caves, small groves and even a few patches of grass with creek babbling through them. He did have the daring charisma to stand by the edge and dare the world, so he took up a bed of moss by the creek side. His mismatched pools watched the glittering water trickle by. Would any visitor trickle by and decide to stop by his side, even for just a minute..?