Hours before the encounter.

In the dark of the night, an even darker shadow roamed through the dense trees. This shadow belonged to none other than kyou, a female wolf. She had been roaming for days, no goal in mind. Right now, she remains in a dark place. Anger and betrayal coursed through her veins as thoughts of the past continued to haunt her.

The female darted speedily through the dense trees with ease, Her paws burning with every step taken. It almost seemed as if she were running away from something. But truth be told, nothing was chasing her, no, she ran on her own term of rage. This was her way to vent. To let go of all the pain temporarily, and to just be able to feel the burn on her paws, and the adrenaline that courses through her body.

Kyou had been running for a while now. since the sun set, till now; the middle of the night.Her paws were raw from hitting the ground, numb from the repeated contact. Kyou knew her paws would hurt later, but she didn't care. Pain was something she was used to. As she ran, she could feel her adrenaline pass, replaced with sheer exhaustion. She had pushed herself past her limit.

Her legs quivered under her weight, eventually giving out under her. Kyou tumbled forward viciously, unable to halt herself. sharp rocks and thorny twigs did not let her pass by unharmed, and a tree just so happened to be in her path. Abruptly her tumble was halted and the female's head hit the tree with such force that she was knocked unconscious. There her body lay, angled upward against the tree. Her paws drifting over the large roots.

#

There she was, a pup. Her coat all fuzzy and black, softer than rabbit fur. She was the smallest one out of all of them. Her brother and sisters were bigger than her, by much. Kyou was born the runt of her litter, the smallest one. Her fur was also black, and in her pack, black was bad. It was an omen, death, disease. Her life was not an easy one.

As Kyou grew, her brother and sisters would torment her about her color, and size. She was the blame for every bad deed that happened, and would take the punishments as well. She never understood, she had always tried her best to change their minds about her. But as it turned out, doing everything they asked worsened it. Her father ignored her. Pretended she never existed, and her mother would only become angry, and tell her to go away.

Eventually, Kyou became distraught. Desperately trying to gain the respect of her pack, as a pup of 8 months, she attempted to catch a fish, but not just any fish. Her older brothers had told her of the "gold fish." Rare to find and catch. They had said; "If you bring us one gold fish, we will acknowledge you as a pack member." Kyou believed this, so desperate to be accepted. So she took it upon herself to bring them one gold fish.

Unfortunately, the day she had decided to be a good day, turned out to be the worst.

As kyou headed out, she realized that she had never swam before. But being who she is, she didn't care. She walked towards the river. The river that hour was calm. Smooth and still, a deceiving challenge to the young pup. Kyou eased herself into the water, and practiced in the shallow water. Letting herself get used to the weak pull of the currents. As she did, she advanced farther, slowly. In merely a half hour, she had felt that she had gotten used to it. But her judgment was not precise.

Yes, she easily swam through the river at that moment. At moments panicking slightly, but still managing. Although little she knew, that the still currents of a normally active river, only meant one thing; A storm was brewing.

The longer she looked, the darker it seemed to get. But kyou was so focused on the task at hand. Storm clouds lingered above, covering the warm sun and blue skies. Rain came down in torrents, and suddenly the river seemed alive. Waves splashed the little pup out, knocking out the air in her. She gasped, using whatever energy she had to call out for help. But nobody came, nobody seemed to care.

Eventually her strength drained, and she could no longer fight the strong currents.Her heavy eyelids shut, her body giving up. The passed out pup was then carried away by the water.

#

It was the bright light fluttering through the cracks of the trees that woke her up, the warmth of it seemed too peaceful, compared to the haunting memories she just had. Everything was bright and painful, not excluding the big splitting headache that she gained from last night's crash. Her whole body ached excruciatingly. Her paws throbbed, but were numb. The sun rays illuminated her pitch black pelt. It was clear to her now that it was day time.

Kyou's eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and she began taking in her surroundings without moving an inch. She was in a moderately dense forest with vibrant colors. Everything around her seemed alive with constant motion. The wind blew the leaves of the tall oak trees, birds sang out loud, and insects chirped. It was serene, a sort of calm had washed through her. She sighed and closed her eyes. Taking a moment to herself before moving.

As she moved, Kyou groaned loudly as her aching bones protested in pain. The first attempt to get up was a failure. Her exhausted legs trembled under her 50lb weight, and Kyou collapsed with a "oomf". A whine of frustration escaped from her mouth and she growled angrily. Trying again, this time fueled by anger she pushed herself up, forcing her legs to hold under her weight. Once she felt that she was sturdy enough, she began to slowly walk forward.

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Her stomach began growling slowly, reminding kyou how little she had eaten the last few weeks. It was a wonder she was still alive.. After all she had been through alot. Kyou lived as what one would call a "Rogue." Although she didn't care, in fact she believed the title fit her quite well. Kyou lived by stealing prey from territories, which usually ended up in a chase or fight with a patrol. Kyou, with her unnatural speed, could easily outrun her enemies. However, if she had gotten caught, that's where she would have been screwed.

But lately, there seemed no need to have to run from packs. She had noticed that many wolves were beginning to... disappear. It had been a wonder to her, but she honestly didn't care. After all, she hated other canines. But even more so she hated packs. She despised them. But she had also, not only were canines disappearing, so were the prey she had so desperately been looking for.; the reason her stomach was practically eating itself.

Eventually Kyou figured, if she just ran somewhere, anywhere, then maybe she'd at least catch a whiff of something. Now, she would put her theory in action. She raised her head high, sniffing the air for a scent of prey. For a minute, she could smell nothing but the crisp cool wind. But then, with the change of wind, a familiar scent drifted right in her path. Deer. Kyou's Stomach growled, even louder this time. She could feel the anxiety build up in her body and an eagerness to get her claws on some tender meat.

Without a thought, kyou began running again.Ignoring her quivering legs and pushing herself. The dense trees without a warning opened up into a large clearing. Skidding to a halt, she panted and crouched close to the ground. Her belly touching the dew-wet grass. She could see the deer from here. It wasn't only one though, a whole herd was there to eat. Kyou impatiently thought of a plan for herself. Hunger keeps clear thoughts away.

Eventually Kyou figured that if she ran in, Began attacking randomly she would eventually catch one, right? Feeling confident in her plan, she licked her maw impatiently, and dashed out into the clearing, following through with her plan. As she neared the deer, she realized the mistake she had made. These deer were much larger than her. From afar, they seemed at least a bit smaller. Still though, she kept her ground, and began lashing out with her wickedly sharp claws.

She could feel warm blood seeping through her claws on contact. Her mouth watered as she imagined herself biting down onto their juicy legs, ripping them apart. Her hunger had distracted her temporarily, allowing a buck to kick her off. Kyou flew into the ground, dazed, and by the time she had gotten up, the whole herd had disappeared. Kyou blinked the dirt out of her eyes.

The pain in her side was severe, and her hunger could match. She whines, upset. She wasn't able to even take down one deer... Her ears flattened as she stared at the ground. A flutter of negative emotions filled her and she fought herself mentally. So upset was she that she had not realized a new presence was approaching her.

"You seem awfully distracted." A Deep scruffy voice had boomed behind her.

Kyou tensed and immediately turned around to face the approacher. Her teeth bared viciously and she snapped her jaws at the male. He took a few steps back, to avoid contact with the sharp canines. Kyou studied the male wolf. All her senses on high alert. He seemed healthy, strong. And he also looked like he could easily win in a fight. Kyou did not care though, because right now she was willing to die.

The male was a dark brown., his fur a medium-short fuzz. His tail was thin, and less fuzzy, patches of fur were missing. A sure sign of stress. On his face, The dark brown continued, however over his right eye, a white ring pattern existed. The wolf seemed middle aged. Old enough to be kyou's father if need be. Kyou growled at him, warning him to stay away.

"Keep away or I'll rip your face to shreds." She threatened.

The male looked at her, obviously sizing her up. He huffed and just sat down where he was. "Where is your pack, little one?" He asked, his voice now tender and soft, as if speaking to a pup. This angered kyou, she was not a pup. She was at least 2 years old... Her ears flattened and once again she flashed her sharp canines.

"Little pup? Okay old mutt. I might be small, but I am Damn well not no pup."

The male sat there staring at her, and then let out a laugh. " I am sorry miss. You are just unusually small, and your hunting skills seem to be severely out of date." Kyou glared at him, her eyes staring daggers into his very own. Was he mocking her? She opened her mouth, to retort. But before she could speak, the male spoke again.

"You don't have a pack do you?" He asked her again. Emphasizing the importance of the word pack. Kyou laughed with sarcasm.

"Hah, a pack? I'm a Rogue, and I will tear you up. I haven't seen any packs in months."

The male took a few steps forward so casually, his snout up in the air, sniffing getting a whiff of Kyou's scent. Kyou jumped and stepped back growling loudly. "I said back up, go away. I'm not scared to fight you." The male sighed and backed up again, a frown appearing in his eyes. Obviously he was getting nowhere with this.

"Perhaps it would help if I offered my name. I am Orion, I am the alpha of the blue moon pack in the northwestern ridge. I'm looking for my pack. Most importantly my pup and mate, they had disappeared without a tra-" Orion began explaining himself, in hopes it would get the female to open up. But kyou rudely cut him off.

"I don't care who you are, or what you are looking for. It's none of my business." She stated. Of course he was an alpha, after all he had the aura of one.. hatred filled kyou and she dug her claws into the ground. Her stomach growled loudly once again but kyou ignored it. Orion however did not let this pass by unnoticed.

"You seem very hungry... when have you last eaten?" He asked her, the tenderness back in his voice. Kyou ignored him, her muscles stiff from being tense and in a defensive position. She could feel the sheer exhaustion come once again. Anger is replaced with an ill feeling. She knew she was eventually going to fall out. But her pride would not let her do it in front of this mutt.

"I had enough." She gave Orion one more glare and growl, and then took off . Using her last bit of energy to run from him. She could hear him chase her, but already she knew he would not be able to catch up.

Easily she lost him, and when she did, only then did she stop, and let herself fall down onto the leafy ground.