Every Tree Falls

Ominous Lands

     Why are these mountains painted with darkness of  killers that thrive in their selfish ways? Soon these canines will be dictators over the valley; hell, make that all of the forest. The sound of paws pounding upon the snow echoed along the towering mountains as the red fox trotted hastily. For critters eyeing the fox suspiciously it was a rare sight to see him in any kind of urgency. Niall would've normally shaken off the thought of others watching him but at this time he was under immense pressure; over the horizon the sun was seen lowering slowly as shadows grew greatly. Each edge appeared to be highlighted with a yellow saturated tone causing the landscape to become golden. Every second the golden tint fell into a velvet color making all black objects stick out like a sore thumb. Snow kicked up abruptly as Niall stopped long enough to gaze longingly at the sunset, lost in the rhythmic percussion of winds being blow towards the North. His emerald eyes glowed with content as clouds beckoned stars to come out and play. Oddly, as the stars danced they left dust behind them sparkling against the navy blue sky similar to how fireflies stood out in front of molding logs. With an inhale the fox began running once again leaving a beautiful world behind him as he entered a patch of Downy Birch.

     Low tree branches whipped Niall as he thrust himself towards an oversized rabbit hole. Particularly this specific rabbit hole had been dug out enough for foxes to get in- but not out. While in development Niall had wondered if an exit would deem useful or just be an alternate entrance for intruders. Either way his sister was very paranoid so he never brought up stressful matters especially when involving the safety of their lives. Niall huffed his chest rising and falling as a tiny heart beat violently against a fragile ribcage,  pads under his feet where frozen from the cold. The hole was musky with a scent of possible badgers which caused the fox to curl up his black nose in disgust. A gag reflex was activated in turn the fox's fleshy tongue was forced out of his mouth. Chilly air passed through stirring up decaying leaves at the entrance as it caused a hollow echo of dead silence to occur. Dark with little light the lop sided, odor filled den shook as a large gust of wind passed by. Bitterly the fox scooped up grass with dirt setting it along his body hoping to get warmth from the grassy blanket. Night had fallen upon the animals quickly this day-with little to no daylight harsh breezes blew in from the South much like the muckfire's smoke did during Plentiful Times. The sky was splattered with glitter resembling how chipmunks frantically moved in search of nuts. Must time had passed since Fireflies had come out, last time one would've seen them was right after the Golden Plains had been sprayed with a peculiar scent. All  insects fled from the West to the North after that no one fully knows why but what the animals did know is that as soon as snow started falling they all died. Most had no time to gather food or bury themselves underground so they just froze to death just like last rounds of Fledgling eggs did.

     As drowsiness surrounded the creature the air felt as if it was swaying to a lullaby. Comfort suddenly sparked inside as he snuggled beside grey stony den walls slowly curling his graceful tail around his chest Niall's content expression faded. For everyday spent running, or doing something out of the norm was an issue. Like simplistic changes corrupted his internal clock as well as his schedule. For this fox mundane tasks were the least he could do. Nothing special really happened- at least not to him. Niall was a fox with no true emotions, not that they weren't there, more of an absence in his conscious similar to gleams of emeralds when dug out of the ground. Once light trickled away Niall drifted into a deep slumber with one occasional jerk of a sudden muscle spasm. Normally he'd lay wake staring blankly at the roof were his reflection dared him to do something, anything. In the distance nocturnal animals stirred restlessly but the most busy of them all was an artful raccoon digging at snow above Niall's empty den. Bhaltair hopped up and down shaking the unsteady frozen entrance while slightly peeking down at the large fox hidden in a mixture of grass plus some twigs. A crooked smirk formed crinkling the fur under icy blue eyes almost making the slender animal resemble a chipmunk with food in it's mouth. Pointy white teeth outlined an edgy smile; greedy eyes were the only other feature shown causing a sinister figure to appear. Except for a horrid outline Bhaltair was a good-looking raccoon which was not what an average rouge coon looked like- most of the time coons would have a torn ear, half of a tail, ragged fur a particular wild glint in their eyes some even had rabies. Black oval's covered his icy round orbs, smoky fur covered every inch leaving a few splotches of white on his chest all the way to his underbelly. A lean muzzle with silky whiskers next to a blackish brown small triangular nose, two pointy ears always on alert with slim jet black legs ready to dart away.  As this fine fellow messed with the den's structure Niall was grunting attempting to block out the constant sound of thump thump creek. From above snow fell through the cracks, if it had been entirely solid Bhaltair wouldn't have been able to disturb Niall. Angrily Niall snapped his open getting up with ruffled fur and a scowl on annoyance.