Vile, once again, stood in front of a portal to the Hunting Grounds. He saw it was the same place as before. In that grassy opening by a shrine of Hircine with the forest surrounding it like a fence. It looked almost more tranquil than before with a slight breeze rustling the trees and an ever-growing dusk colored the place with a purple-orangish hue. The only difference was that Vile had a different purpose to be there and he felt sick for this new reason.

He took and deep breath and whispered, "I need to know if it's true…"

He stepped through the portal and felt that hot, muggy air hit him once more. The sound of beasts was strangely absent in the air with only the sound of the breeze hitting leaves could be heard. The shrine grew a large shadow that touched Vile as he fully stepped into The Hunting Grounds. Vile stayed silent as he walked to the shrine. He was a bit away from it but he stared right into it, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms slowly. He wanted to know now if Hircine had Barbas or not.

"Come forth Hircine!" He hissed.

Summoned, Hircine appeared with his spear in hand. He looked a bit confused to why Vile looked upset at him.

"Why did you summon me? I was just about finished with what I had planned to locate your hound." Hircine questioned.

"I got something new from Barbas…" Vile said calmly, but still looking upset at Hircine.

Hircine raised his chin and looked down at Vile, responding, "Oh? And that is?"

"He hears howling. Wolves howling…"

"..."

"So I've come to ask you one thing…" Vile coldly spoke, leaning forward.

"..."

"Do you have Barbas, Hircine?"

Hircine didn't answer. He just looked at Vile with a blank look. Vile couldn't tell what he was thinking or what he was gonna do. He just stood there staring at him. His eyes burning in Vile's, expressionless. No emotion was displayed at all and not even a slight twitch to show even the littlest of response.

Finally, Hircine answered, "No, I do not have your hound, Vile. Why would I help you track him if I did?"

"Well… I don't know! But no other prince has wolves howling then you!" Vile snapped.

"Other daedra can howl you know!" Hircine snapped back.

"Like wolves?! Besides, I don't think Barbas would lie to me!" Vile growled, annoyed but clearly stressed.

Hircine shook his head and sighed, "Vile, you're clearly too stressed out and can't think straight. You need-"

"A nap? No, I don't think so! I want my dog Hircine!" Vile hissed, tapping his foot annoyance now.

Hircine was once again in silence and he continued his blank stare at Vile. Vile stared back, angered and annoyed, but he could practically see a smirk in that boney closed his eyes as he started to shake with a chuckle till it grew into a full born laugh.

"And here I thought we could do this chase till all of oblivion was scoured by my manbeasts and your Skaafin!" Hircine laughed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Vile tilted his head, his eyes still narrowed.

Hircine's smirk turned wicked as he shot his eyes open, giving Vile a cold gaze. He felt a sudden chill up his spine as he backed up. Hircine walked slowly forward to keep their distance the same.

"It means, I thought with you that we could weaken the other prince's armies with the combination of our armies of servants on this hunt~! Enough so for me to make the same deal I made with you~! Granted maybe not to help find a dog but hoho~! What spectacular hunts could've awaited me! But at last...! Guess that was not to be... still..."

Vile shook his head slightly, his anger turning slowly in fear as Hircine's gaze never broke. He was still slowly approaching Vile till he stopped and raised his chin. The glow of a rising red moon behind him shadowed his face, making his wicked grin turn sinister.

Hircine continued, his voice growing dark as he spoke, "...Not what I originally had planned, but you came to me with such desperation to have me find your dog… that I couldn't turn down such an opportunity~!"

Eyes of beasts started to show in between the trees behind Hircine's shrine. Growls and howling of beasts started to fill the air as the red moon rose higher. Vile stopped backing up when the sounds morphed behind him. He glanced over his shoulder quickly as saw that eyes also peered through the bushes behind him.

He looked back at Hircine and mumbled, "So then you really did tak-"

"Yes, Vile! I tracked and snatched your hound up from Nirn! Like an eagle snatching a fish from the water!" Hircine interrupted harshly.

"So you were playing me… this entire time…"

"It was a hard facade to keep up at times but you're quite oblivious when you're stressed… And what fun it was to fool the Prince of Trickery~!"

"But.. why? Why did you take my Barbas…!" Vile whined softly.

"I would tell, but we have little time… and I believe you owe me for my deal~!" Hircine looked behind him at the red moon.

"But this wasn't part of the deal!" Vile raised his voice.

"The deal was that I find your hound, and I did! I just did before we made the deal~! You never said anything about that! So you still owe me my portion!" Hircine raised his voice back.

"So… you want me to hunt with you then…" Vile muttered, gulping.

"Yes~! I do~! My newest hound has a new found hunger for blood and wished to hunt for his new master~!"

Hircine grabbed the tuff of fur from his brace and turned it to the left of him as he rubbed it, letting it break apart into pieces. Vile watched it as his heart wrenched itself to pieces. As it dropped to the ground as behind it, a silhouette of a scruffy dog with a chained collar came into view. Vile turned pale as the dog came into the light of the moon. The silhouette was Barbas.

"...Bar...bas…" Vile spoke brokenly as he stared at his once faithful hound.

He was snarling and sniffing the air in front of him. He had a thick, chain collar and his fur was all matted up. One of his front paws looked crooked and so did his tail. He stopped right next to Hircine, earning a cold chuckle from him. As he stepped into the moon's glow, he gained a dark reddish aura around him.

Vile took a deep breath and looked at Hircine, speaking nervously, " ...Then we are to hunt…"

Hircine started to laugh as the eyes moved from their tree line to the grassy opening, gaining bodies of different beasts. Their growling and snapping her jaws were loud as their bodies gained a red glow from the moon's light as well.

"Yes~! It is time for MY hunt..!" Hircine shouted in a cruel delight.

"Wait.. y-you said…" Vile tried to interrupt.

"..with my new hound..!" Hircine continued over Vile, placing a hand on Barbas's head.

"..we were supposed... to hunt together..." Vile trailed off, realizing now what Hircine meant.

"And you Vile, are to be our prey~!"

As the red glow finally came to Hircine, as he pointed his spear at Vile and raised his other hand to his beasts to halt, yelling, "Now run my prey! My moon rises high in the sky and my horn is ready to begin the hunt! And all of my hounds crave a fest of daedric flesh~!"

Vile ran to his left as he heard Hircine counting down. He burst through the treeline as he ran through the woods and thick underbrush. He crashed through branches of shorter trees as he ran. He didn't want to give Hircine the satisfaction of catching him so he wasn't going to making this easy. He lifted his head as he heard Hircine sound his hunting horn. The sound of beasts swarmed around him as he picked up his pace.

"I should've seen this sooner…! I should've known what he meant by hunt…! I'm so stupid!" Vile whispered to himself.

He looked to the sides of him as grey-furred werewolves were running his pace a bit away. They growled as their glowing orange eyes glared at Vile. They ran closer and closer till they launched themselves at him. Vile suddenly stopped and turned his body a hard right then began to run deeper into the forest. The werewolves ended up crashing into each other and stumbled around dazed.

"Dumb dogs! Pft! And Hircine thinks highly of THEM! Ha!" Vile mocked with a laugh.

He saw to the right of him that clearing where he made this regrettable deal at. Werevulture's were there, feasting on the rotting corpse of that snake. They looked up at him, curious at first, but they're bodies suddenly glowed red as they screeched out. The flesh of the snake was trapped at the sides of their faces and in between their talons.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Vile spoke, disgusted at the sight.

They were flying fast at Vile fast but he quickly ran behind a tree. He heard a thud against it and continued to run. He looked back and snorted, as they all crashed into the tree on one another.

"Stupid disgusting birds…"

Vile continued to run, gazing at the red moon as it was halfway through the sky. If this was Hircine's hunt then he had nothing to worry about. Ahead of him seemed to be some bushes with berries on them but between them was oddly crushed with a brown furred ball in it.

"What the..?"

Vile soon found out what it was as he ran closer as a large brown werebear stood up from them. It roared as the aura of the moon enveloped it. It swung its large clawed paw at Vile who ran too close. He barely was able to duck, feeling some of his hair was snipped from it. He quickly geared himself left and ran as he felt the werebear's other paw slam down behind him.

"That was too close… but it's almost done! And Hircine hasn't even caught up!"

As if he read his mind, a spear flew by Vile's head, hitting the tree in front of him. He looked behind to see that Hircine actually had caught up to him. Barbas was right behind him, staring at Vile with a snarl on his muzzle. As Vile ran, he saw Hircine ran past the tree grabbing his spear and taking aim once more. Vile whipped his head back in front of him, panicking on what to do now. He couldn't outrun Hircine! Let alone Barbas! Vile felt the spear slice the side of his right ankle, earning a trip from him. He quickly got up and kept running as he lost some ground on the two hunting him. He looked back to confirm it but saw a different sight.

Hircine pointed a finger at Vile and yelled, "Go my hound! Take down the prey for your master!"

Barbas ran from behind Hircine and started picking up the pace. Hircine slowed down with a smirk as he watched. Vile was now being hunted by his once loyal friend and other half.