The Nulle Forest was not alone in receiving the first snow of the year.

All across the region, a thin blanket lined fields, roads, and rooftops. It was a notable event for the town of Villenulle; a promise of picturesque winter scenes before the more unfavorable aspects of the season arrived. It was also just before the time when tourists began to arrive for the skiing season, and with the sun shining and the trees still full of leaves, it was the perfect day for the locals of Villenulle to be out and about on the streets. Main Street bustled with pedestrians, most of them out simply for the sake of it.

As the snowflakes settled over cobblestone sidewalks and along the shingles of rooftops, hardly anyone took notice of the jackal striding along the sidewalk, a black coat pulled around him closely as he moved through crowds of people like a phantom. For those who did spare the jackal the odd glance, they just as soon averted their eyes, not wanting to be caught staring at his most glaring feature.

Thick bandages stretched across the jackal's face, wrapping around his ear and covering one eye. The edges were caked with grime, indicating they likely hadn't been changed in some time. Barely healed scars traced across his upper muzzle, and an eyelid drooped below the gauze ever so slightly.

It was somewhat of a grisly sight, but if anything, this worked in the jackal's favor. It ensured that no one would look at him for too long, and the last thing he needed to deal with right now was the prying eyes of the commons.

It had taken weeks for the jackal to recover to this point. Weeks since he had blindly torn through branches with a comrade in tow, horribly wounded and on the brink of exhaustion. The fear in his veins was the only thing that kept him running that day, and against all odds, he had made it out alive.

Alone, but alive.

For all intents and purposes, Infinite was the last remaining member of the Jackal Squad. Following the incident in the woods, most of his subordinates remained missing. If they had made it out alive, none of them had contacted yet, and he was beginning to doubt they ever would. Among the ones that Infinite did know the whereabouts of, the universal decision among them seemed to be to abandon the mission. Even the limp body Infinite had dragged out of the woods himself took off shortly after he could move again.

Ungrateful cowards.

His muzzle twitched at the thought. He may have been alone now, but that was fine. In fact, it was preferable. During his entire career of mercenary work, Infinite had always worked with a pack, but now, there was finally no need to share the cut of the reward with anyone.

Of course, that also meant Infinite no longer had sets of eyes watching his back at all times. Now, he couldn't help but shoot glances over his shoulder any chance he got, fur perpetually on end as he kept suspicious eyes out for anyone who could be watching him.

Luckily for him, the streets had cleared out as Infinite finally approached the ends of the town. He passed by the abandoned warehouse, and then came to a stop just before the woods. Infinite stood motionless, taking a moment to stare off into the darkness of the woods ahead. With a deep breath, he stepped forward, disappearing into the trees.

—

Whatever he had stumbled upon that day in the forest, it wasn't natural. It was something that shouldn't have existed. And yet, he had seen it with his own eyes.

He had been unable to move for days following the incident, both body and mind at their limit. His dreams were wracked with visions of gnashing fangs glistening with hunger, and razor claws ready to rend asunder anything in their wake. Piercing howls vibrated through his head, sending shivers down his spine and haunting the corners of his mind.

The image was seared into Infinite's mind. But unlike what one may have expected, the experience had not changed Infinite's resolve whatsoever. If anything, it was a revelation. The encounter with that creature offered up a crucial piece of information, one that he had not been expecting to find. His injury had been a setback, but he was still standing. Infinite's objectives had not changed, and now that he had recovered, there was nothing that would stand in his way.

Of course, there was also a more pertinent reason for trekking back into the woods. Infinite clenched his jaw until his teeth began to ache: the memory of mocking red eyes, the sheer passivity in which that hedgehog regarded him as he utterly humiliated and disfigured him.

The sole thought keeping Infinite's rage in check was the hope that the bastard had met a slow and painful demise at the claws of the creature. But it remained that he did not know for certain what had happened after he left the scene, and therefore, Infinite decided he would not rest until he found some proof of what became of Shadow the Hedgehog that night.

If there was one thing Infinite had the utmost faith in, it was his tracking abilities. There was a reason why he was known as the ultimate bounty hunter: once he caught wind of his prey, he would never lose it again. It didn't take long for him to pick up on the trail the Jackal Squad had taken weeks ago in their pursuit of the hedgehog. And then, he came upon a familiar sight.

Infinite stared down at the frozen tree trunk lodged into the ground, broken and splintered on one end where it lay just on the edge of the clearing. He placed a hand over long gash marks in the wood, deep indentations that no regular animal could have made.

This was definitely the place.

Infinite stepped into the clearing, taking a quick survey of the area. The temperature had dropped considerably, but at the very least, the snowfall had stopped, no longer adding more coverage to the ground. That made it easy for Infinite to map out where he had stood that very night.

This was the last place he had seen Shadow the Hedgehog, and it was immediately clear that something was amiss.

If Shadow had perished here, it wasn't necessarily unreasonable to expect a lack of remains. Even in the case that the creature hadn't eaten him whole, scavengers certainly would have taken care of the rest by now. However, what left Infinite perturbed was the fact that there were no remains of fabric, fur or anything of the sort. In fact, there appeared to be no signs of a mauling whatsoever.

Infinite was convinced of it: Shadow the Hedgehog hadn't perished out here, after all. At least, not in this spot. He had been tranquilized at the time, so he couldn't have run away on his own. The only other explanation was that the creature had dragged him off to another location. But even then, there were no signs of broken branches or drag marks in the foliage surrounding the clearing. In fact, there were no tracks whatsoever.

It didn't make sense; it was almost like the creature had taken careful movements to avoid leaving behind a trail. But that was impossible. What kind of feral animal would be capable of something like that?

He used the toe of his boot to kick up patches of snow, continuing to search for any hint as to what occurred in the clearing after he ran away. And then, a shine in the snow caught his eye.

Infinite leaned down, elbows resting on his knees as he brushed some of the snow aside. It was a sharp spine, stuck in the mulch below the snowfall. Carefully, Infinite plucked it up. He rotated the quill between two fingers, watching as light reflected off its length. It was a dark blue, nearly black in color, and Infinite was certain it did not belong to Shadow.

For a while, he stared down at the quill with vindictive eyes. And then, he rose to his feet, staring out in the opposite direction of where the rotting tree trunk lay.

He had everything he needed to track his target, and now, nothing would stand in his way. Infinite took off out of the clearing with the quill in his grasp, tearing into the vastness of uncharted territory.