It was strange to think that, earlier in the day, Winter had never seen more than a slither of someone else's blood before. Nor had she ever heard a real scream of genuine terror. Now, the image of red splattering was carved like a knife wound into her mind, the sounds of screams echoing like a ghost pacing aimlessly within her brain.

It wasn't just the wait for those grotesque sounds, the signal of his demise, that made each second feel like she was suffocating -- it was also knowing that so much had been sacrificed for her own survival, yet she was still unable to carve her destiny with her own hand.

She wondered what it was she should do. She was at least smart enough to know that throwing herself between the two wolves would accomplish nothing but break Tamer's heart after all he'd done to keep her safe. She wondered if instead the best option was to run, to at least try and continue on with his desire rather than just stand there and do nothing.

Snow began to drift peacefully from the sky, speckling her dark hair with glitter. Ironically, the Maiden of Ice Flowers was frozen, eyes clenched as her nails dug into her skin. It took a lot of effort just to open her eyes. Face the gruesome scene she'd let play out before her. She heard the sound of blood trickling onto the snow; she was convinced Tamer was dead by now -- perhaps her own dissociation had blocked out the sounds.

Putrid nausea stuck in her throat, she separated the cracks in her fingers.

Red. It was dripping on the snow, splattering like a bloodied sun. It poured down his fist; he'd moved without her even hearing -- silent like a predator.

The sight she was met with was not the one she was expecting.
Still in human form, Red stood with his claws stabbed into the scruff of the black wolf's neck, yanking it so it dangled but a breath away from Tamer's face.

Tamer's face paled as blood slowly dripped upon it. His eyes were unblinking as he stared into those rows of open teeth like they were a deep, dark abyss.

"Hey." Red's voice was eerily quiet. His face was statue-esque. He gave a stiff, almost mechanical looking tilt of his head, like a puppy channelling a strange sound. The shift was almost jarring; there was absolutely no emotion on his face until a sudden fury consumed him like a solar eclipse. "Who gave you permission to kill Tamer, Xavier?" The gentle tone of his voice didn't match the anger in his eyes. "Father would be upset with me if I let you kill your brother without interfering."

Red flung the great beast aside with the strength in his human arm alone.

"Besides..." Red's tongue trailed slowly over the blood over his hand as there was a great crash behind him. He heaved a lavish sigh and his lip curled to a crooked grin, fang sticking out on one side."If you killed Tamer when he was in a weakened state, it wouldn't be any fun now would it?"

Tamer remained frozen. Even with the threat of death removed before him, a new wild-card took its place. The harsh tremours of breath escaping him were no more at ease.

Red extended his arm towards him. He beamed, sharp teeth as white as the moonlight twinkling behind him. He shifted from anger to supposed kindness way too quickly; she could very clearly see that anger still lingering pointedly in those eyes. Despite how endearing it was, the kind of smile she could lose herself in like a pleasant dream, it did not reach his eyes.

"Here, let me help you," Red said quietly.

Tamer growled as Red went to touch him.

Anger scrunched Red's features and irritation flashed in his eyes. His stare lingered with Tamer's for a second before he gave a very long blink as if trying to draw attention away from it.

Red forced Tamer to his feet in what looked like a painful yank.

It's like he's... trying to hide how he really feels. His actions and reactions don't match with his words.

Red seemingly became mesmerised by the speckles of snow drifting before him. She was sure he could feel her stare, watching for any slip of body language he might make.

"Snow, huh?" he said quietly, watching curiously as snow began to drift from above.

As snowflakes tumbled into his open hand, he admired them with an almost loving stare, smiling. Then he smothered it in a ruthless clench of a first. Winter felt an odd kind of nausea in her stomach when she heard a sizzle; Red's eyes snapped towards her, piercing through her like a dagger. The once snowflakes melted into water and mingled with the red in his palm, causing watery blood to pour between the cracks in his fist.

Her heart stopped. That action had meant something. Red's yellow, glowing eyes ate up the sight of the lump slithering down her throat.

Her blood turned to ice. Why was he looking at her like that?

Returned to the shadows, the dark wolf's knees appeared to be buckling beneath it. It panted; for whatever reason, the wounds Red inflicted didn't appear to be healing. Even in the magical properties of the full moon, blood oozed from the claw marks on it's neck.

Both its and Tamer's eyes were locked on Red.

"What the hell is the meaning of this, Xavier?" Tamer spat, although for once, there seemed to be some caution in his voice. His eyes travelled up and down Red. "Are you really going to let this person who's both younger and smaller then you push you around?"

Red yawned, stretching comfortably to expose both his fangs and his torso. He wriggled his claws.

Xavier staggered about the place before finally being able to stand.
"Let me tell you something about Red," he said slowly, voice strained through his teeth, "Not only is he extremely p--"

Red blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "C'mon Xavier, don't talk about how strong I may or may not be in front of her!"

The apparent bashfulness vanished in an instant. Red's eyes flared like fire.

Xavier's eyes widened. He took a ragged, raspy breath. "You utter fucking animal!" he bellowed, hatred ravaging his stare. "Beast!"

Red's face was the unfeeling ice of a God about to smite a sinful mortal. "It has to be this way and you know it," he whispered.

Xavier bared his gums. Winter glanced quickly between the two of them. Just what were they talking about?

Red smirked. "If you don't like what I am how about you try and do something about me yourself?" he taunted.

Winter and Tamer caught eyes. She shook her head, mouthing "I don't like this." Tamer's eyes were wide; she knew he sensed something but she wasn't quite sure he was picking up on the same level of urgency as she.

Winter could feel a surpressed shift in the air. A rigid, bestial kind of electricity exploded from Red as he locked eyes with Xavier. His footsteps snapped the brittle branches beneath him as he edged closer; the light of the full moon ignited his skin with a lustrous light that cast a towering shadow over the black wolf. Mingling with the shadows of the bare tree branches, Red's sihlouette appeared to have giant skeletal wings ripping from his back. He was like some kind of death angel as he ascended toward his brother.

"You wouldn't," Xavier stated, yet he edged back a little. "You won't hurt someone you don't have permission to hurt."

Winter cowered as a cold sweat incased her skin and her heart quickened. Hurt. Did he mean her or Xavier?

Red's stare was detached. "If I'm such an animal like you claim, how can you predict what it is I'm capable of? I don't think you have a good enough understanding on me to boldly make such assumptions."

"Have you forgotten what Father did last time?"

Red flinched. He hung his head and folded his arms like a shield over his body.

"Perhaps things are different now that you're trying to kill Father yourself," Red said quietly. "Maybe you shouldn't test me." When he looked up again, his pupils thinned into snake-like slits. "if you hurt him I will kill you, Xavier," he whispered.

Xavier ignored the threat. "You know he wouldn't want you to do that."

Red growled. His claws began to drum into his folded arms impatiently, yet his eyes never left Xavier.

Despite everything, Xavier seemed confident in his own words.

"I'm going to tell you this because he's as much your enemy as he is mine," Xavier said, shifting his attention to Tamer and Winter. "He isn't human nor wolf. He doesn't have any empathy, compassion, restraint nor control when it comes to the feelings or wellbeing of those around him. And he certainly doesn't know what love is. I wouldn't wish confrontation with him on my worst enemy."

Red froze, the colour draining from his face. "Love?" he whispered.

It all happened so fast Winter nearly missed it all in a blink. Red lunged at his brother without any sort of warning; he moved with such speed and power he nearingly flew through the air. Suddenly, Red had the gigantic beast by the throat and slammed him into a nearby tree. The strength in his single arm pulverised the bark; the tree came crashing down as Winter and Tamer leapt to safety. The earth rumbled in the impact and a chill crept down Winter's spine. She grabbed ahold of Tamer, wondering what kind of horrible demon they'd been unfortunate enough to make am enemy of. Tamer's fingers dug into her arm. She could see the sheer anxiety swirling in his eyes.

Xavier was slightly concussed. Despite the brutality of the lunge, he kept his eyes locked onto his brother's. They took a moment to focus, breathing haggard.

"Xavier," Red sang lightly, but it trembled with a rage-induced insanity. "When did you grow such a spine to make an assumption like that about me? Although, that was so unbelievably ballsy I almost admire it." His eyes bulged; it seemed Red had bypassed the point of anger -- once again, his face did not match the sheer wretched malice seeping through his teeth. "Never. Ever. Say. I. Don't. Know. What. Love. Is," he hissed.

Red's voice was but a breath yet, even though she wasn't on the receiving end of it, it terrorised her heart. Xavier breathed; Red chewed on his free claw as if restless.

"I think I know more about love that than you," Red growled.

The wolf swallowed. In the end, to her surprise, the great wolf nodded. Red released him with a scowl and he gagged for the air that had been deprived from his throat.

Xavier looked him dead in the eye as he recovered.

"See? You talk a lot of talk, but you won't hurt someone you don't have permission to hurt. And even if you did have permission..." Xavier lifted his head and looked down on him. "You'll just trigger yourself into an emotional state that makes you useless and vulnerable."

Red's snarl eclipsed his face. Restlessly, he began scratching at his skin as if itching to do something. His claws raced back and forth; his upper lip twitched as if unable to resist the urge to bare his fangs.

"Make no mistake about it," Xavier said flatly. "His lack of empathy would not automatically make him a bad person at heart. He knows the difference between right and wrong. He simply chooses not to act on it because he has the liberty of not understanding how others feel."

The black wolf turned, its tail hanging low as its shining body retreated into the shadow of the forest.

"That's it?" Winter hissed, unable to believe that, after everything, the beast would simply leave.

"Of course not," the wolf said, its orange gaze capturing hers. "I'll be back in a few days when I can shake Red. I can't do anything while he's here. He's too strong. I will signal my presence with a howl, hopefully there will be enough time before he hears it. Sorry you had to be involved like this, Winter. It is beyond help now. I have to ensure my plans of success, no matter what the cost. I will try to fix this with minimal bloodshed."

With that, the beast retreated into the shadows, Winter glowering as she watched.

Red's brow twitched, fingers twisted through his hair. "Damn, what a fucking virgin!" he shouted at Xavier.

Tamer touched his temples and sighed. "Aren't you going with him?"

Red was still muttering. "Claims I don't have compassion, yet I still get laid more than he does. What kind of self-inflicted burn...? Shit, I should have said that!" Red punched a tree. "Fuck!"

"All right, could you stop speaking so crudely around a girl?" Tamer snapped.

Red's eyes flickered towards her. Winter turned away, instinctively folding her arm over herself.

"I was asking if you were going with him?"

"Ew, no?" Red looked offended.

"You're going to just leave?"

"I'm mostly just here to annoy Xavier. If he leaves I don't need to stay."

"Then how will you find him?"

"Probably by finding you." Red scratched his head. "Winter has quite a...weird smell. Kinda like flowers. Although, I'm sure you've noticed."

Tamer's lips tightened.

"Question," he said as Red made his way past. "Your Father. Do you think he was a good dad? You seem to get along with him while Xavier doesn't."

"Hmm," Red said thoughtfully, "daddy issues much?"

Tamer scowled. Red paused, appearing to answer sincerely for whatever reason.

"Xavier was born simply to be an heir. He was raised by the maids in the castle. As for me... well, when I was born, the maids were so afraid of me that Father had to raise me single-handedly. He was the only one that could handle me. As you can imagine I... wasn't an easy child to raise. I pretty much consumed all Father's time. Xavier resents me for this a lot. "

With that, Red made to leave. Winter found herself moving away instinctively, but very suddenly, Red laid his hands on her shoulders.

"Boo!" he shouted.

Startled, her body lurched at the immense heat blazing from his palms. Red was unusually warm as if everything about this person was made to oppose her ice-aligned self. Her heart raced.

Red laughed and waved his hand. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I was just playing."

He went to playfully nudge her. Without thinking, Winter grasped his hand; this wolf was far too dangerous for her to want him near her.

As soon as she'd done it, she wondered if it was a mistake. She could almost feel the nerves of Tamer bursting before her, but she raised her hand to signal she could handle this. If anything, Red looked pleased as a slow smile crept up his face.

"My, my..." His eyes travelled up and down her. Using his free hand, he closed his fist over Winter's, leaning into whisper, "you know this kind of relationship won't end well for you, right? Or is that the point of being with our kind? You like the risk?"

"You don't know us. Tamer is not dangerous," she spat.

"Oh, I'm not just guessing," Red whispered. "I can tell you from experience."

Winter froze.

Red beamed angelicly. "Either way, if  you're not going to heed my warning... there's better people for the job, you know?"

Red left, but not before bumping into the side of her shoulder as he past, whispering, "Bye, snowflake."

The blood drained from Winter's face as the image of him smothering the snowflake with his fist flashed in her mind.

Tamer leered at him. She'd never seen such hatred in his stare before. His eyes did not leave him until he was firmly out of sight.

****

Tamer was weak. She could she how psychically and emotionally exhausted he was in the detached gaze of his brown eyes. The two of them hadn't said a word about Xavier, nor about the unprecedented amount of days they had left together before he returned. She doubted Tamer could take much more stress at the moment. She didn't want to think about the future; what was important was that Tamer could use these days to recover so that the possibility of a future could exist.

Eventually, they made their way to a cabin situated by a great lake.

"Perhaps it would do you some good to wash, Tamer," she suggested. "To rid the blood off your skin."

She wanted this wretched night gone from his and her body forever.

"I was thinking the same thing," he muttered.

She watched his eyes flicker to the right in a tell-tale sign of longing. They'd reached the other side of the lake. It spread before them in an endless pool of black, glittering with silver panels of light from the moon above.

"There?" she asked. "Won't you freeze?"

He shook his head. "The scorn of the Goddess is exactly what I need to rid this wretched blood from my body."

There was nothing she could do to stop him. Winter wasn't entirely sure if he remembered she was there as he made his way to the lake. She watched him with the same longing in her eyes that he had shown for the lake as he left her. There wasn't too much clothes left for him to undress from. He slung the cloak off his back. Winter watched his lean shoulder blades flex as he eased the tension out of his neck by rolling his shoulders backwards and moving his head in a circle.

He seemed to have finally found an opponent that made him tremble. He met the lake one limb at a time, cowering as the icy water submerged his waist. He huddled up into a tight bundle as it engulfed his figure, trudging through to the most radiant patch of light. For the first time that night, he appeared small. The endless lake ate at him until he was nearly as small as a star in the sky within it. His halo of light had found him. Bronze, gold, and silver all came together in the form his his hair, eyes, and his moonlit aura.

Winter sat at the edge of the lake.
She wanted him. She wanted to be with him to comfort him so badly that the absurd urge to wade through the freezing water to meet him gnawed at her mind. She was just about to get on her feet when a sound made her turn her attention back to Tamer.

He was howling. Consumed by moonlight, his eyes were shut and his neck exposed vulnerably as he held his head back, singing to the sky.

She had no idea what it meant. Probably a scream of pent-up frustration if she was honest. She wasn't even sure if such a sound could have a meaning from human lips, but it was beautiful. His voice held that hollow weave of a flute, but just like the instrument, was a solemn sound. A vocal cry ignited by years of hurt and inner turmoil, finally condensing into a melancholy yet beautiful song

It didn't take the translation of another wolf to figure out how much pain he was in. Abandoned by his kind at a young age, she doubted he was seeking the company of another wolf. It seemed more like a release.

We could only have days, Winter thought.

Days until she got to spend the rest of her life with him, or lose him forever.