Long Road Ahead [ Shadowfax + Wolf Song] -Private-

[ScarsLove]

Her optics drew in all that there was to see of the city as she lay atop the building, lost in thought. She prepared to sing a song of solace and loneliness to the moon, but stifled herself. There was no one to join in on her song and if there was, they certainly wouldn't appreciate the simplistic beauty of howling. No, the wolves of this city were to far gone. To interwoven in human society, no traces of what truly made them wolves was left. The best thing for her to do now was head back and make the the long walk of shame home to the mountains. But a part of her wanted to stay in the city and submerge herself in human culture. To see from the urban wolves perspective and find out what made them want to stay.

Was it because they were afraid of change?

Was it because they didn't know where to start?

Or was it because they would be alone in their cause?

Xandra lifted her cranium to the sky and thrust back her head. She wouldn't just give up like that. She wanted to prove her pack mates and go the distance. Out there somewhere, was someone like her amongst the rabble and filth of the humans. That craved to go back to a time without humans, without their influence upon the world, back to what seemed like Paradise.

The she wolf let out a long, loud song. Not caring about drawing attention to herself nor the humans that gathered below, wondering what that magnificent sound was.

[Shadowfax]

He ran along the back alley way with a large chicken in his jaws. The shouts of the humans behind him only urged him on as he wove in and out of rubbish bins, cones and the odd homeless person lying on the floor. The slender wolf was young, quick and well built so very soon his pursuers were a mere speck in the distance and only called out the odd swear word and insult to the wolf who had just broken into their kitchen and taken their prize contents. The young wolf leapt up onto a roof top, his jaws still full of chicken and he slipped into an old abandoned flat, the place he'd been calling home these last few weeks.

Kili didn't belong anywhere and couldn't stay in one place for too long. It was in his nature to keep on the move and away from humans. Perhaps it was because he'd been on the move all his life. Perhaps it was because his adopted parents were also travelers and it was now embroided in his head that he too should travel. Or perhaps it was the fact that he knew deep down, nobody was like him. He was a wolf, yet he never referred to himself as one. He merely called himself 'different'. He sat up in his human illusion and placed the chicken on the ground next to him.

The boy pushed his fringe out of his eyes and took in his surroundings through his very odd eyes. One golden, one blue. The flat was dark and consisted of mouldy old sofas and the odd table. If any teenagers came in during the night, he'd quickly stand up as a wolf and sho them away. Often he got called a ghost or an omen. People seemed to think wolves were extincted, Kili being one of them. He wasn't sure what he was.

One thing he did know however is that he heard a faint howling on the wind. He wandered over to the window and looked out as if trying to spot the source of the noise.

[ScarsLove]

The she wolf sat there for what seemed like hours and sang her heart out. She was a one wolf ensemble as she howled to the moon. Her tune carrying it self on the wind, sharing the hymn of her kind with those who bothered to listen.

Will I hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?
Zero gravity... what's it like?
Am I alone?


The piercing night air wisped around her. Entwining itself around her unseen words that tore through the silence of the night. Catching itself on a drift of wind that spun around her. As if the night itself was dancing along side her.


Is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet
Still the road keeps on telling me to go on
Something is pulling me
I feel the gravity of it all

Xandra finished on the last note and put her head down. A wave of oily tears threatened to spill over. She blinked away the fogginess in her eyes and sighed heavily to herself. No one had even bothered with the howl. She disappointingly looked down at her paws and shuffled them around. She began to let the tears flow as she realized the reality of her situation.

[Shadowfax]

Kili sat there for a moment as if memorized by the distant howling on the wind. It all seemed so different, so beautiful and yet it felt so familiar to him. Unknown to Kili however, he was now stood in his wolf illusion on the window sill and let out a low, deeper howl towards the moon above him. He'd always liked the moon and how it looked on a full moon. He let out three long and low howls as the silver light shone down on his brilliant brown fur.

"Shut up! Bloody dogs" Shouted a human from below, shining a torch towards the source.

Kili slunk back into the shadows of the flat. What had just happened? Why did he howl? When had he ever howled?!

[ScarsLove]

The she wolf had gradually moved from her spot and made her way down to street level. Luckily the streets were barren with no humans in sight. The quiet night brought solace to her as she continually fought a battle of doubt inside herself. She flicked her head back and forth, observing the sights as the shadows of the night crept along the walls. As if dark specters stalking her every move. She listened in the distance as she heard a noise that sounded like a howl. It wasn't very distinct and she thought her mind was playing tricks on her.

The next time she was sure she had heard a howl. Her eyes grew wide and her heart raced with both impatience and excitement. Much like a child racing down the stairs to open up their Christmas gifts. Her slow trot had turned into a sprint. She raced down the street in pursuit of the howl. The howl wasn't as far as she assumed. The sound had brought her to an area with an abandoned flat and a few buildings surrounding it. This time she heard another howl that finally drifted off, leaving the night in silence once more. Xandra pricked her ears and knew that it had to be coming from this building. "Shut up! Bloody dogs" She heard a human shout in the distance.

The she wolf climbed into the building after making quite a jump onto some rubble that allowed her to climb onto the ledge of a crumbling balcony. It nearly gave way underneath her weight but it wasn't quite enough to do it in. Xandra sighed to herself and caught wind of another in this building. But with the lingering scent of must, garbage and the city all surrounded her. Fogging what the scent was from, however there was a clear scent trail of something she did recognize.. blood. She trotted up the remaining way, following the blood scent until she came to a room with a clear silhouette of a man.

Xandra backed into the darkness of the hallway. Letting her colors intermingle with the shadows so it looked as if she had disappeared.

[Shadowfax]

Kili's breath was deep and he backed off from the window. He stumbled backwards and fell into his human illusion once more, his hair it's usual mess whenever he transformed back. The humans voices had died down and the night air was silent once more aside the odd horn from a car. He sighed with annoyance and confusion and turned his attention back to his meal, unaware of the unfamiliar scent in the room. Kili had no idea he was a wolf, only that he was different so all his wolf wits were not apparent to him.

His chicken however was lying in the shadows next to the she-wolf in hiding. Kili began to stalk the chicken, leaping at it suddenly and had it land in-between his paws. If there was one thing he was good at, it was hunting. Though now he was nearer, he saw the faint outline of another. What and who was it? He growled and tugged his meal away from her. Taking up a defensive stance his eyes glared though the darkness at her.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He said boldly.

[ScarsLove]

Xandra backed farther away from the room and against the wall. Curiously and quietly observing the strange human in his confused state. Humans were always an oddity for her. So oddly shaped and formed with no fur on their exposed limbs. A wolf could wonder how they all survived. No protection from the cold, no food to hunt and no wilderness to adventure and roam. She didn't know how their noses could tolerate the unappealing scents of the city.

Suddenly she spotted a sudden shift in the shadows and the form of the man in front of her. She rubbed her eyes with a paw and blinked repeatedly, sure her mind was playing tricks on her. That can't be possible. I'm just tired. Her silvery eyes followed the new form around as it approached her. Taking up a protective position above a bloody chicken carcass that she hadn't noticed before. All of the sudden, a voice responded to her in a serious manner.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

All of her senses were confused. What was the thing before her? She was positive that the silhouette she saw was a man, but now it was a wolf, or what seemed like one. And now this thing demanded answers from her. Xandra broke out of her shocked state and raced forward until she was in her questioners face. "What are you!?" She emphasized on the end, looking at him with her firey eyes.

[Shadowfax]

Kili stumbled backward as Xandra raced forward. He was a very clumsy wolf and he tripped over his hind legs trying to back away so quickly. He yelped as he then proceeded to tread on his tail and fell forward into Xandra.

"What am I? Wh-What are you! You've got a strange scent...." He then put two and two together.

"Were you the one howling at the moon!?" He exclaimed. "Are you like me? Different?!"

So many questions were going through the young wolf's mind and his odd eyes were bulging from his sockets as he stood there, totally forgetting about his chicken.

[ScarsLove]

The wolf before her had managed to lose his footing and fall over himself. She stifled a chuckle as she watched the other dis-contort himself as he tried regaining his footing. Not knowing where to put his paws or his tail. Which involved yet another awkward situation that had involved them coming together.

"What am I? Wh-What are you! You've got a strange scent...."

However this time it was her own footing that had slipped up underneath her, thanks to the male falling into her with his own weight. Xanra had her back pressed against the floor with this big lummox on top of her. She bit the bottom of her lip and gave the other wolf an irritated expression before hearing these words.

"Were you the one howling at the moon!?" The male exclaimed. "Are you like me? Different?!"

Xandra gave the wolf a look of both excitement and confusion. So this was the wolf who had returned her call.

"I thought it was hopeless but you answered me! I was the one howling." Xandra felt her tail wagging and thumping on the floor out of pure bliss. Everything hadn't been in vain after all. She couldn't help but feel a smile crawl upon her. But it disappeared quickly when the other words that followed his previous ones ran through her head. This time she regain herself and looked at the wolf with confusion, furrowing her brows. "I'm a wolf just like you. What kind of question is that?"

[Shadowfax]

Kili looked at her for a moment and when she made mention of the word 'wolf' no sign of recognition crossed the young wolfs face. He sat down in his wolf illusion, looking a little lost and confused.

"What's a wolf? I thought they were extinct? I know I am different, but.. I am surely not a wolf." Kili replied, tilting his head.

He then took note of the chicken on the floor next to him and picked it up in his jaws gently. He lie down with it inbetween his paws and began to tear small pieces off it. He then proceeded to pull off one of the legs and tossed it over to Xandra.

"You look hungry" He said thoughtfully.