Nothing seemed to disrupt a pleasant life in the shelter of the forest. Anything that happened in the rest of the world seemed to clash with the trees, and the trees sent it back to where it came. The chaos and madness that had been brewing along the shores of Moladion had little effect on the golden girl as she ran through the thickets and forests of Taviora. Pink tongue poking from her lips, she chased after a certain little fuzzy friend.

Wrapped up in fun and games, Veli dashed into a log. When Solstice followed an entire family of rabbits scattered in every direction. Each of them cloaked in their soft white winter furs, the pup scrambled after all of them. Chasing a single set of prints she raced through the forests and into the surrounding woodlands. It was not until the snow started to fall heavily did the girl look up to realize she had ventured far from her own. A shiver of worry lanced through her. She looked up to the sky. The sun had been completely blotted out from the sky. A soft whine and she started down a trail she thought would lead her home.

Each step brought her deeper into thinning forests and panic urged her forward faster. Soon she was lost in the storm and running blindly.

There was one misstep and she fell through a hidden crevice. Her head smacked against a frozen stone, jarring her senses and scraping against her cheek. Instant fast she was in a rocky hole, her legs twisted and turned underneath her, taking away her ability to move. Whimpers of fear echoed from her lips, lost in the wind. Her fear consumed her.

Please… she whispered into the shadows around her.

Blazing eyes peered through the darkness of the storm. There was a silent hunger that met Solstice’s mismatched eyes. So similar, and so different. He placed the body of a mangled rodent in front of her.

Lips twisted. Paws dug into the stones and launched the body forward. His muted jaws were agape, reaching bloodily toward what could be the beginning of his glory.