I stared with sullen blue eyes through the immensity hot blue sky and yellowed sea. The sun cooked at my skin, though I paid it little mind. In lands far away, I was notorious for my iron will; a lot of that came from her...She had always been a great inspiration in my youth. Though, inspiration mattered very little to me now. I knew what I wanted, and I would achieve it at any cost.


Needless to say, I was a survivor since day one. It was all I knew at my very foundation. There had been a handful of times where I had looked death in the face and defied it. I had begun to fancy myself a god; Oh, how disturbingly wrong I had been! I chose not to venture into those dark times. At least, not right now. I cannot afford to be disengaged while I wandered into a territory that reeks of another male. I knew it was the breeding season and my kind tend to be on edge – I know this from experience. I felt the very same urges, and it did not matter if a pretty face belonged to another stallion or not. Even if I was in no condition to fight right now, very little stood in the wake of my resolve.

Arrogance was something that had cost me dearly a number of times...And it was that very same arrogance that usually got me what I wanted. As I closed in to closer range of the family that resided here, I could practically hear them chattering in the distance; doing whatever it was they saw fit to do. I lowered my head to a set of droppings nearby. I quickly familiarized myself with the scent and relished in the information it fed me. It confirmed my suspicions, too. Lifting my head, I looked pensively out, wondering if I should continue onward. This stallion was healthy. Strong, too. I never run away from a fight, but I was not stupid enough to charge head first into an adversary. I was too old and too experienced for such a bold, brazen entrance. I was a pitiful sight really.. Tall, lanky, and nearly every rib poked out of my sides. A husk. That is what I am.

I could feel my crimson tail lick around my right red and white splotched leg from the breeze that sighed through. The days had not been kind to me, and there was little I could do to conceal that from others. I wore it like a uniform. Even in such a pitiful state, I know I'm still a wolf who has teeth. So I wait. The dunes were particularly drafty today, and I knew it wouldn't be long until I was met face first with the very stallion I knew who resided here.

Or perhaps I wouldn't – but I highly doubted it.

BLOODMANE

i'll not bow down;
i'll rise through the sun