secrets, they stilled the lips and cautioned the mind; the black wolf purred, a convincingly odd sound that thrummed out of her throat and rippled in the air. the vibrations toyed with her sight, had the dark outline of life erected around her before the earth stilled and things went black. was it morning? day? or night? she wasn't sure she cared and it was that which bothered her, had her awake in the darkness of the dens.

that the ground was saturated with Kiri's scent, went unnoticed for the time, her nose having grown used to it over the past few days. she had kept her attention on him, if only indirectly, making sure to keep tabs on his livelihood. if anything, she supposed, he could have become her next meal. the thought hadn't repulsed her when it occurred, and it didn't now, though a tingling of regret pulsed in her chest.

sprawled on her side, with her back legs tucked into her body, Llura was lying like a pup content on the warmth around her - her tail even moved. a motion that rocked with her heartbeat, a gentle pounding inside of her. she was calm. her mind simply drifting from one thought to the next, idling almost pensively in a state of immobility. her mind stretched, followed the lines of her power far as she drifted on the winds, her physical body still held drowsily in the dens.

it was how she felt it, a prick that pinched her psyche. a sudden tightening of wind, of air that seemed to explode. very light, almost ineffectual; but a life died. curiosity flared as she jolted awake, her shoulders rising off of the ground as if jerked upright. paws curled below her, pushed her up as she lifted her muzzle and sniffed - she drew in Kiri's scent as she hopped out from the darkness of the dens, her mind rippling.

the winds whipped with the sudden excitement that coursed through her bones. he was using the powers, she thought. after days of him just sitting there, struggling with pain, with the new sight she had granted him, he was finally using it. her ears twitched, perked high over her head. perhaps it was time to teach him. her nose rose high as the outside world greeted her, wind wrapped itself about her muzzle affectionately in a soft caress before sliding on its way.

her stride was easy, a light lope that opened her sight, each paw pressing against the ground vibrated, had air rippling, brushing against the insides of her skull. she knew from where it had lead. Wellyn's Point - something she found to be quite humorous. called to this point, like all wolves must at a howl - she was drawn by the slightest unnatural movement of her land. the closer she came, the heavier the scent drew her. magic lay curled under a tree, wrapped around Kiri. it was almost as if he glowed with in, in her own non-sight. a blot in her vision where the air moved unnaturally. her smile grew grim. how interesting - would he be able to tell where she way by simply the unnatural movement of air? would she always know his where abouts by such things?

Llura's head tilted, black triangular ears risen up over her head, an almost pup-like expression, though turned slightly morbid. her gaze turned, air probing the eaten carcass. "killing birds, are we?" she thought, her tone holding back judgment. there was an easiness in her stance, unlike the first time he had met her.

he noticed her - Carnallure's ears perked up over her head the moment she felt his muzzle move in the air. the tickling vibrations that rippled against the soft fur of her maw had become second-nature to her. she did not have to think, she simply knew, which is why her condition disoriented many wolves who did not know the power she wielded. to them, she was a witch, explained away by the scars where eyes should have been.

lips curling, the black wolf, who many believed to perform black magic to synchronize with the coat of her fur (no matter how preposterous the allegation was), smiled. her fangs were as sharp and dangerous as any other wolf with sight, and she made a habit of proving it, a heavy reminder every time her face stretched into a gruesome smile. as Kiri stood, Llura's muzzle followed, the currents in the air swirling around him, unfelt as she conjured no wind to see. his outline was weary - the muscles in his body seeming to sag where a few days before he had strode in with such strong confidence. the burden of power, she mused, thinking almost pensively.

"it would be poor judgment to let you die after I've put so much effort of re-birthing you into this world." her smile was sickly, a dark humor that defined this wolf. she moved forward, paws sure on the ground she tread, the Terra she owned, and kept to herself. "eventually i might have gone through the effort of bringing you food if you had been unable." though when said this, there was a certain tone that made you wonder how long the eventually might have been. to Carnallure, a wolf must learn to strive on their own. she would lead, and mold, guide so to speak, but they must learn and suffer on their own before power could be given.

"but that is all rubbish, really." her smile was back in place, a cast to her expression that made her appear almost rejuvenated and puppy-like. "could you do it, again?" she nodded her muzzle over to the bones as she delicately sat down a little ways away from it, front paws moving forward as she neatly slid into a prostate position, resting on her breastbone. ears perked.

she wasn't watching him, though one would never know that by the way her muzzle was trained on his white lurking form. no, Llura's mind was focused entirely on the air that was pulling from the air. he did not feel out with it, he was lumbering around, searching, using his eyes. annoyance, quickly stifled frazzled the fur about her shoulders, black stiff fur rising over her spine as her tail lashed. the female didn't move, though she ached to. she wanted to take over, to show; however she stopped herself, held herself still over the ground, probing the air for his movements.

the winds tightened, currents drawing toward and then expanding, slowly, almost painfully. a fluttering vibration rose up high over the manipulation, something she felt only because she always had her senses stretched wide in all directions. it was negligent twitch easily overpowered by the pulling of air from lungs - of the organs collapsing in the small chest, inverting as nothing was drawn. heart burst as the creature fell - sudden movement.

she surged forward, quickly jerking herself back as it fell to the ground, approached by Kiri, but untouched. scents curled around her noise, tantalizing. everything had stilled, the currents that defined her world stabilizing, allowing her a moment of respite as she took complete control. had Kiri reached to use the currents he would find resistance. he was still a pup, she knew. the powers were too new for him to be a threat. still, she wanted someone to teach, to show. someone else to understand her madness.

the smile that cracked her lips was grim, easily gone as Carnallure stepped forward, moving with uncanny ease. the bird lay at his feet untouched as it should be with her in his presence. she approved though she did not say such - instead her jaws gaped open, lips splitting in a vicious smile as her maw closed around the feathery bird, gripped it hard and swung her weight. though an awkward motion, it held a certain amount of grace as the bird was flung to the side, out of reach of the wolf in training. food would come later. first the hunt.

"now." her voice cut through the silence that had settled. the wariness he seemed to be holding was palpable, delicious to her senses. moving forward she stood beside him, close enough to be heard, but not enough to be touching. her fur, lying smooth against her flesh remained untouched, alone. as it should be. "stop watching, you must feel it. in this, your sight might be a hindrance, you have to look past it." she paused, tilted her head, "like any hunt, you don't use just your eyes, you use your nose, your ears, your pads against the ground, the trees and the wind. you use more than just one sense. likewise, in this. if you must, close your eyes. close off all of your senses and open up the one that is buried in your blood."

and she wrenched the air toward her, a sudden explosion of air drawn to them both, swirling around them in tight circles. there was no wind, just a pressure that wrapped around them, tighter and tighter. "feel it, familiarize yourself with it, so that when you -- " the air pulled in tight before racing out, little tendrils that roped into the currents already in place. "you know where you are. you are a spider, and the currents are your web and you wait, patiently." her body lowered, belly brushing against the earth, tail stretched out behind her, claws digging into dirt.

all tension eased from her, draining out with surprising efficiency. open sockets were trained ahead, ears flicking at idle sounds as she spoke, "so when you wait, you feel the tingling of movement, a little flutter -- right there," and she enhanced the feeling, wanting him to feel it against him. a sudden vibration as a bird flew through the web she had stretched out. "do you feel it?" she murmured, hackles rising as her muscles tensed, ears trained ahead.

her left ear flicked over to the side, catching the sound, and the subtle vibration she had attuned to, even in the midst of manipulated currents. she survived off of her power, it was not something she used at her leisure but something that became the line between life and death, the thing that had food in her belly and sight in eyeless sockets.

did he understand that this was not simply a hunt, this would save him one day, or allow him to kill, to murder at his leisure. this would be the tool which will make him a god. she doubted he was catching on. ears flattened, stifling the surge of annoyance that sliced through her. she wanted him to understand, to see connections before they were drawn; she had waited for him to grow stronger, to recover from his rebirth into this world. waited. and waited, even if it had only been a handful of days. to have his scents seeping into the ground she tread on, into the warm dens she curled up in had been torturous. she had let the wolf into her home, if not her trust.

knowing she could kill him any moment restrained her from outrage. it was not audacity, it was simple means. it is a different circumstance she reminded herself, trying to sooth the instinct to drive him out. shaking her fur out, the black wolf acknowledged Kiri's vocal affirmation. he felt what she had intended. "all that is left is to simply kill, a task you seem to understand." with ease she reached into the creature's lungs, but instead of drawing air out like she had with him a few days prior, she wrenched the air from its lungs. the cry from the bird stifled as the lungs inverted and choked him. like a rock, the bird fell from the sky without a twitch.

her will stretched like a giant fist, manifesting in a swirl of wind that cupped the feathered corpse in its grip and came forward at her bidding. there was no bobbing of feathers, but a simple grab and reach as the bird was lowered several feet from their paws, the air unwrapping itself around it and resuming its natural tendencies. without even looking at the bird, or at the wolf beside her, Carnallure said "go get your meal, Kiri." scenting the anxiety in his pores. he wanted to eat, he was not truly watching, not truly understanding, merely surprised by the feat.

turning from the wolf, the black female curled her haunches under her, sitting beneath the same little cove that he had been resting prior to her arrival. she sat there, nudged the bird he had killed almost absently. hers would look distinctly different. this one simply died, hers was completely ravaged by air. her smile was fleeting as her mind lurched back in time, seasons when she had been forced to learn this skill, not taught, but blundering through fierce winds that ripped at her own flesh. she had done herself more harm in her desperation, she mused.

still, she was adept at what she did, had managed to survive where no wolf would have been able. her sight went black as she thought, folding away as she let go of the winds and the air. the little shell she had over herself, a barrier that let her see died, in its place was ease. her chin rested on her paws, a solemn expression warping the contours of her visage as her ears idly flicked for Kiri's approach.

her mind was wandering, idling, almost unaware of the world that turned around her. the dark hole became her, sucked her into its gullet and imprisoned her there, floating in the stasis of non-existence. darkness she was used to, the black velvet of death that wrapped its blanketed embrace around her. Carnallure's expression stilled, movement seeming to go absolutely still as if her own breath had been stolen, though it was mere illusion. she breathed, soft inhalations of air that eased open her lungs. if not for that, one might assume her dead, so far inside did she withdraw.

the reins of her control had loosened and died, the easiness of the currents no longer wrapped around her, but the softest touch of wind almost seemed alive in its caress of her ear, of a tuft of fur that it toyed with. affection, almost preconceived. she rolled into the motion of the wind touching her face - the only touch she granted herself before her own rebirth. gentle in nature, her soul fluttered against the cages of her body, trapped and yearning for the freedom the wind offered her. if only her kin had wings, she mused. imagine, wolves with the power to fly through the sky!

Llura pondered, ears slowly lowering down against her skull as if in sleep. if she could wrap the wind about objects, about life - if she could easily force trees with the wind's might - couldn't she herself be lifted into the sky? oh, a grant death, she mused and found the thought heartening. "that is how it will be done," she murmured so softly it was barely audible. she will plummet to the earth, encased in the womb of the wind, a fitting end for an alphess of Aria. "but not yet," she spoke, almost breathing it out, no, not yet. and the wolf lifted her nose at Kiri's second approach, and the bird that laid at her paws.

head tilting, ears perked up atop her skull in a puzzle display, she let the wolf do as he pleased, listening to him wander off. she did not arrest the winds, did not try to feel his every move, trusted her hearing as nose picked up the delicate scent of bird. no words were spoken betwixt them as she shifted forward, crawling forward a half-step on her belly to wrap her jaws around the bird before resuming her position.

the first crunch of flesh and feather brought heat to her heart - a fluttering beat that soon steadied as she ate. gnawing on the quickly disemboweled fowl, Llura turned her attention to Kiri. there was no need for ranks. she was simply superior. arrogant, perhaps; still true. without her, his death would be merely that.

the winds shifted, grasped in his control as he did what he pleased, experimenting. approval radiated from the black female, her fur wrinkling along her shoulders as she felt his work moving the air. she did not search out and feel his exact motions, but simply became victim, to see how strong his confidence was. her plans unfolded in her mind. her training was not what might be expected. connections would be needed to be made - she would not have a stupid wolf as her pupil. watching Kiri with the very flesh of her pelt, Llura knew he was not stupid