His footsteps were heavy, even in the grasses of the snow covered Armellian fields as he pushed through the planes. Fang's snarl brought a huff of hot air, forcing aside some of the dense cold in front of him as his one good eye roamed about. It was as he expected, barren wasteland in between the settlements now, as was so much of Armello. The exile was used to it by now.
He continued into the laden mounds of white, his axes gripped tight in his paws as he looked for shelter. The land had been harsh all day, and the once Prince now felt the weight of snow very keenly among his scarred and matted fur. He stumbled with a growl, hitting his knees as he slammed an axe down to keep himself from being bowled over by a strong gust.
After the violent air passed, Fang's eye adjusted to something in the distance. A light? Not the strange purple that he was accustomed to, the light in the distance swayed and shifted with the snow. Maybe it was another hero for the slaughter. The thought caused a grim smile on his face as he pushed forwards, spurned on by the new promise of a kill.
As he approached, the light seemed to stop moving as his quiet yet heavy footfalls crunched the snow underfoot. There was a long moment, Fang's muscles flexed in anticipation for an ambush as he snarled softly. Then, a voice rang out, but it was not the voice of a hero.
"Hello?! Is anyone there?!"
Fang's adrenaline died in an instant, leaving him to snarl softly to himself. The promise of a kill was unfulfilled, but these did seem to be settlers. The Primal Ex-Prince stepped from behind his snow-covered spot and closer to the light. His axes lowered, they dragged through the snow as he came into view.
His eyes settled on the two beings. Wolves, not of his clan, but they shared the same similar traits of the Wolf clan as a whole. These two were both thinner in body, coarse in their fur and shorter tailed. One seemed to be a kit of no more than 10, perched atop a sled in a coat that gave a front against the cold. The other was a young male, younger than Fang, who dragged the sled along. The older of the two strangers spoke above the wind.
"Uhm… hello there! Do you need help?"
Fang's eye looked over the two of them, head tilted to keep the rot infused one from showing. No weapons were carried by them, except for one large logging axe that rested near the kit on the sled. Upon a closer look, the sled also seemed to be holding a substantial supply of wood. Fang nodded, satisfied with the lack of threat they posed. His voice growled out in the raspy, feral way that he had grown used to in his time in exile.
"A shelter would be pleasing. The wind is picking up, and I have yet to come across a solid barrier."
It was always strange to be speaking to another Wolf. His own clan had exiled him long ago, and the tightness of his jaw, even with these strangers, made sure that his hatred still burned. The young male gave a nod.
"O-Oh! Me and my brother were returning home! You're welcome to come with us to escape the cold, sir!"
So young, so trusting. Fang nodded a bit as he stepped closer, slipping his axes to his belt as he followed the two. For their smaller size, the older brother must have been used to such conditions. He navigated the snow of this land with an ease that Fang had only seen in Rangers. It didn't take long for them to fight through the bitter cold and sleet, reaching a simple wooden shack. The younger brother slipped off the sled and ran towards the door, giving a few tugs as snow and sleet had bunched below the door. It barely budged, and Fang walked over, roughly yanking the door open and pushing the younger wolf back. The kit ran in after giving a look towards Fang, the older brother following suit after grabbing a stack of wood from the sled.
Fang watched them enter, growling a bit as he pulls the sled to sit near the door before going in himself. He paused in the threshold, stopping to tear a bit of cloth and use it to cover his purple eye. He was greeted with a very warm interior: a small crackling fire sitting near the back of a small room. A wood-fire stove sat to the left, where an older female wolf stood and stirred a pot of a simple stew. The feral wolf felt his nose twitch at the scent. It had very little meat in it. The woman seemed to start at the large, hunched wolf in the room as she finally noticed him.
"O-Oh… h-hello there…" She broke into a coughing fit, which made Fang raise a brow. "A-Are you lost o-or…?"
"We found him in the snow, mommy!" The little kit ran towards her, shaking now from his fur as he hugged her around the waist. The older wolf gave a nod and pet his head softly, looking at Fang with wary eyes.
"I-I see that. Uhm… w-we don't have much. But, I-I uhm… I suppose you could rest until the wind dies down…"
"I don't intend to stay long." Fang said in a low growl, giving a gruff, garbled noise at her suggestion. He merely walked about the shack now, his eye wandering a bit as the woman gave a somewhat stifled nod and returned to her stew. The Wolf Clan Exile stomped slowly around the room, noting the small room in the back where the two brothers must sleep. There was a ratty piece of furniture in the main room with a blanket, much like a couch or futon. It was likely the mother rested here, close to the fire. On his second glance, she did seem quite sickly, even as she gave a small hum.
"C-Can I ask your name, Lord…?"
For its irony, the title put a slightly crooked smile on Fang's muzzle. "Fang. Just Fang."
"I-It is nice to meet you, Lord Fang. I am Madri. My older boy is Trei and his little brother Fen. I hope you at least found them welcoming. May I a-ask what you're doing out here in the plains?" She gave a short burst of coughs, turning away to keep it from the kit still hugged to her side. Fang saw the boy's eyes light up in worry as he looked on at his mother.
The Ex-Prince at least had the decency to let her stop coughing before answering. "I am going to the palace."
"O-Oh! I am sorry that you have become sidetracked, m-my lord. It must b-be important business to have you wandering through the snow like this."
Fang's crooked smile only grew into one of mirth at the woman's misunderstanding. He didn't care to correct her. Everyone would soon know who the real king would be soon. He only nodded a bit in return to her words instead. At the silence that stretched afterwards, the woman grew a little bit uncomfortable, but she merely pet her kit's head until the stew seemed sufficiently done.
"T-Trei! Come and help set up the table!" She pulled the hot pot from the fire, resting it on a cooler surface as she let it simmer. The older brother came into the room quickly, now free of his heavier outdoor clothing. He quickly went about setting up a small, scuffed and almost broken table. Tin bowls and ratty cloth were placed on each side of the table, a fourth even being provided as Fang watched with disinterest. He was suddenly pushed on the haunch by the younger kit, who smiled even as he gave a soft growl before sitting on the floor of the shack.
The soup was ladled out in portions for each, and the family was already happily and quietly eating as Fang looked down at the bowl. He tested it a bit with his tongue, finding the heat and flavor satisfactory before sipping from the bowl like it were a cup. Fen watched him in interest as Madri merely kept from saying anything. It was a quiet scene, something Fang felt at least comfortable with even if he despised the lack of meat and blood in his meal.
They ate in relative peace until a strange dimness seemed to enclose over the shack, making Madri's ears perk atop her head. She looked around softly, her eyes flicking back and forth as she suddenly stood. "Trei, Fen, get your bowls and go to your room."
The two kits seemed perplexed for a bit, about to protest. The older Wolf cut them off easily, her voice steely in a way that even Fang found interesting. "No arguing. Now, young kits."
The two immediately picked up their food and left, going into their room quickly and shutting the door. Madri went over to a large slant of wood on the wall, picking it up with a relative ease that Fang didn't expect. She quickly darted to the front door of the shack, shifting the piece of wood across the threshold into two iron clasps that he had not noticed before. Her eyes went to the Wolf, his muzzle still dripping with soup.
"I-I'm terribly sorry. Uhm… you're welcome to stay within my room for the time being if you like."
Fang cocked his head, his purple eye shining a bit underneath the cloth covering as a familiar tug on his mind. The Rot. His head straightened as he looked at Madri. "And what seems to have you so troubled, Madri?"
"I-It's nothing, Lord Fang. It's a precaution during the heavier storms. I-It…" She suddenly devolved into a coughing fit, and it was then that Fang could see it. Lines of purple cut down the lower part of her neck and into her chest, glowing a bit with the same corrupting energies that so held his eye. Well, this is very amusing now.
"Does it not have to do with the Rot pulsing in your blood?" Fang sneered a bit, looking her over as the woman stopped coughing long enough to give a gasp. She came and fell at his knees, hands placed on his thighs as she whispered in the dim of the shack.
"P-Please don't tell anyone, Lord Fang! Please, I beg of you. I am all my children have left-"
"Silence wench. I care not for your condition. But, I want to know what caused it." He snarled out, glaring down at her as he had to refrain from shoving her off him. Physical contact, even with a lass of around his age, it sickened him now. He firmly removed her hands instead, sitting back with his bowl of soup half-spent.
Madri sat back after a moment, wringing her cloth shirt in her hands as he stared her down. She looked about before letting out a quiet, pained sigh. "I… I got this scar when… I lost my husband."
Fang just watched her features as they contorted into sadness then anger and finally pain. "H-He… he was a good man. He cared for our family. But, he always wanted to go out into the forests alone. He wanted to provide for us the best he could."
She sobbed quietly in front of the once Prince, and Fang's ears twitched as he picked up the soft shifting of the kits' door. Yet, he didn't say anything to the woman. "Well, what killed him then?"
The woman stuttered a bit at the question. "A horrid black beast, one with great wings of corruption and purple eyes. It had already slain my husband when I found him, and I tried to take him from the creature. But…"
She felt around her neck, her face contorted once again into a pained one as the Wolf just waved off the rest of her story. "Augh. Weak, all of you. Banes can be killed like any creature. It just takes someone strong to deal with them."
Fang growls a bit as he felt a pulse in his head, a heavy scratching starting on the outside of the home. It didn't sound like the wind this time, however. He stood quietly, shifting his axe from his belt into his hand. His single visible eye glaring down at the female Wolf.
"How long has it been here?"
She looks up at him, shaking as she gave a soft sob. "It doesn't leave. It waits for me to leave, but I can't. I can only sit and grow weaker…"
Another scratch came, leading to a crashing noise outside. Fang snarled and started for the door, both axes out. Finally, another kill. His ears perked as a loud whine came from his left, Fen running out. "Mommy!"
He leapt into his mother's arms as she sobbed. "I-It's okay sweetie. All it is is t-the wind, just the s-snow…"
The sound that came next was like a crack of lightning, a frightening caw with the beating of wings as wood tore from the outside of the shack. The barrier was beat against, almost buckling in as Fang looked on with a growing bloodlust. "The wind seems rather angry now, does it not?!"
He snarled as he gripped the slat of wood, tearing it from the door. His axes already drawing out as he smiled in a rage filled glee. His large paw slammed into the door, booting it open into the snow as the woman cried from her corner. "Lord Fang, no!"
Sharp pain. Claws hooked into Fang's side and dragged him out, throwing him across the threshold and to the ground as blood flecked across the still churning snow mounds. He gave a roar of anger, eyes locked to the creature as the cloth covering his purple eyeball fell. The Bane curiously brought its foot to its mouth, a long, purple tongue sliding along the blood slick talons. Like all banes, this one was coated in Rot, dripping purplish blood from its eyes as it leapt from the top of the shack to the white ground.
Fang's first blow came quick. His hand arched to the side, axe blade slamming into the raw, rotted flesh of the creature as he cried out in pain itself. His other axe found its stomach, cutting up as he snarled in a battlefield glee. Yet, the bane was not as soft as others. The shadow-coated avian gave a screeching cry as it suddenly shot up, pushing snow aside as it lifted into the air. Fang had to sink his axe to hold on as he suddenly was pulled more than 20 feet above the shack.
With a spin, the bane shot straight down, hooking its feet up under its body and turning. He shoved with all the raw anger of a feral creature, slamming right into Fang's body with the force of a wagon hitting a fence. The Ex-Prince heard cracking, his ribs pushing in as he let go of his axe and plummeted towards the shack. His form hit the wood hard, tearing a board or two from the roof as he rolled and tumbled back into the snow.
The ringing in his ears was deafening as he coughed a puddle of crimson into the dirty snow; his form shifting as he pulled to his feet unsteadily. He swung his axe wildly as the creature landed, but the bane shifted backwards backwards as he did so. Fang roared again, leaping and striking into the creature's neck as he latched onto it with his claws as well. It waved him around, shifting and screeching as it clawed at Fang as well. The two feral combatants tore away at each other, blood and rot spilling into the snow around them as they gave out cries of anger mixed with pain. Their mangled and tangled forms fell to the snow, Fang panting wildly as his torn open arm was coated in the same seeping purple of his opponent.
His leg buckled as he pushed himself up, falling into a kneeling position as the bane began to rise once again. Fang growled out as he tried again, this time going to his knees as both of his legs fell out from under him. He was spent; his grip on his axe loose as he snarled. The bane continued to rise, talons flexing as its beaked head tilted down at the Wolf. The Ex-Prince swung at the creature, but the talon pressed down and deflected the blow, axe skidding into the snow as Fang clawed a chunk of meat from the creature's leg. Damn it. Damn it all! Rot take you!
The bane reared back it took the slash, its head primed to stab forth with its maw now. As it reached its peak, it suddenly cried out, jerking forth to the side of Fang instead. A lumber axe was lodged into its back, Trei holding onto the handle as he cried out in surprise with the bane's movement. Fang took this chance. His teeth sank into the bane's neck, tearing open the flesh between his teeth as his claws cut and dug into the creature as well. Trei fell as the creature hit the ground, rolling in the snow with the dislodged axe in his hand as he stared, wide-eyed, at the large Male.
Fang continued to tear into it, a renewed vigor hitting him as the taste of rot landed on his tongue. Mixed with blood, it ran over his jaw and down his throat, the warm corruption filling him as he pulled more and more meat from the creature. When he was done, the neck was completely torn open, chewed to bits and ribbons by teeth and claws. He pulled back, dripping purple from his maw as he licked at his hand. The Rot swirled around him, pulsing in his being as he absorbed the corruption of the creature with a smile.
He turned to the cub, who looked on wide eyed at him. "Good work boy. That was a very nice distraction."
Trei nods a bit, holding the axe in his hands as snow started to cover him. "T-Thank you, Lord Fang."
Fang looked at him a moment, eyes narrowing a bit as he watched the boy shiver in the snow. He was sated for now, his adrenaline dying as the pain started to set it. His teeth bared a bit as he tilted his head towards the shack. Without another word, he walked back in, Trei trotting behind after a moment.
Madri looked over the two, holding the slightly shaking form of Fen as she stared at Fang. "You're… y-you're corrupted. N-Not just sick, y=you're truly corrupted…"
Fang's purple eye seemed to focus on her, but he didn't say anything towards this. He merely walked over, a card slipping from the pocket of his torn tunic. It burned away in his hand as he focused a moment, the woman gasping as she clutched at her neck. She gave a gag, watching in horror as purple slime rocketed onto the floor before burning away. Her eyes quickly shot to Fang, who merely stood there.
His snarl was replaced with a crooked smile. The wounds on his body closed as the rot sutured his body back together. He closed the gap between them easily; his head cocked to the side as he knelt near the family. "Thank you for your hospitality. The meal was good. I was hoping for something like it to appear. But, I must be going now. Do try and stay alive long enough for me to revisit."
With that, he stood, walking out of the door with the eyes of the wolf family following him. He looked towards the west as the snow died down a bit, flakes no longer beating against his vision in the outside. There, the castle sat in the horizon, making him smile. "It seems I was closer than I thought after all. Well then, let's go collect my prize."