They stalked through the woods in the way only teenagers could, their shoulders hunched towards the leaves and their hands shoved into the pockets of their dirty pants.
The squirrels scurried up the trunks of fat trees as the trio made their way through the forest. A boy with fair hair spit at a trail of black ants who's only miss deed was marching in the same general direction as the three young men.
"Where are we going?" The shortest said in a high, nasally voice. He ran his fingers through his oily hair. The boy, Saxon, thought that only bathing twice a week made him look tougher. And it wasn't that his friends hadn't had the heart to tell him otherwise, they thought it was funny.
"Don't worry about it," The leader, a blond boy named Zeroun, said with a cool ease. Despite his friend's smooth words, or maybe because of them, Saxon bristled visibly.
Cadman, the tallest boy, reached a hand up and violently snatched innocent leaves from towering trees.
"Oh," Cadman and Saxon bumped into Zeroun when he stopped suddenly. "What's this?" They dent down to examine a small critter in a hunters trap.
The look of pure cruelty that crossed Zeroun's handsome face made his companions pale.
"What a cute little fox!"
A rust colored fox had his delicate leg stuck in the teeth of bear trap. Saxon monetarily felt sad for the poor animal. The blond boy pulled out a knife.
"Hold it down, Cadman,"
The tallest boy and the shortest boy shared a look before Cadman shrugged and held the fox down.
Saxon watched in horror as Zeroun slowly cut the tod's belly open.
"W-what're you doing?" He asked, hand clutching his shirt over his heart. Saxon's friends glanced up at him, one ashen faced and one smiling wickedly.
"Just having some fun." Zeroun said simply, as if the animal crying under his hands wasn't there at all.
Saxon glared at the taller boy. "You're disgusting," he said, backing away from the other young men. Cadman turned his back on the screaming tod, and threw up his lunch into the nearest bush.
Zeroun shrugged, stabbing the fox in the hip. "It's not my fault you two are such failures."
"No!" Cadman protested, raising shakily to his feet. "We're not failures! You're a zero!"
Saxon lunged for Zeroun's knife, tackling the blond boy in the process. After a brief squabble, Saxon gripped the knife in his hand firmly. He ran from his panting friend to the tod. Saxon squeezed his eyes shut and plunged the knife into the fox's head. Immediately he stopped writhing in agony.
Saxon sighed in relief before opening his eyes.
The animal lay in the leaves with his underside sliced open, blood still pouring out. Saxon stared down at his bloodied hands.
There was silence between the boys. The only noises being the squirrels chatter and Cadman's labored breathing.
Saxon felt Zeroun glide up beside him. He felt him retrieve his knife, then place it ever so casually against his throat.
"Saxon, you bitch. Don't ever go against me again. You will regret it."
Zeroun smirked as he stared into the other boy's terror stricken eyes. He drew the blade away from Saxon's neck, but slid it against his left arm, leaving behind a trail of glistening red blood.
Cadman gasped.
Zeroun spun around on his heels, his back to the other lads. Using his shirt to clean his knife he hummed. "Although, I do like Zero. As a name. You should call me that from now on." He said while walking away from his friends without looking back.