FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Dulled footsteps thundered through the snow, piercing the otherwise complete silence. The footsteps in the slush were momentarily present, before being covered over by a fresh layer of white powder. Clumps hung from the thick branches of the surrounding evergreens. The wood, slightly discolored by the extreme wind and cold, stood out harshly, matched only by the rest of the brush. Dense, speckled bushes dotted the ground, varying from the size of tiny stumps, to two foot high piles of green spines held together by numerous thin branches. Snow-capped mountains stood in the distance, standing out like silent sentinels, guarding the thick forested tundra. High above, blocked out almost completely by a blanket of grey clouds, the sun shone down, unable to penetrate the overcast skies. The air was frigid and silent, the two almost as desolate.

Contrasting against the surrounding browns and whites, two large furry black creatures trudged through the snow, grunting as they pushed through it. The baboons, although being covered in fur, had taken to wrapping thick layers of hide around their bodies, slowing the grip of frostbite, but also encumbering them even more. Drag marks from their lowered axes swept an outline behind them. The patrolling apes were far from their camp, having been told to keep an eye out for potential food as well as threats. Their camp lay, hidden deep in the forest, about 400 meters off to their east. Despite their decent knowledge of how to navigate wooded areas, the pair wasn't completely sure of where they were. Without any kind of tools or good maps, they could only hope the path they had taken was as circular as they thought. The tundra was deep in this part of the Realms, near the top of the planet. The forests stretched on for miles with very little breaks. Most of the tundra was uninhabited, except by woodland animals, but for the most part, ape nor dragon set foot. However, hidden in the endless woods were large quantities of iron and gold. Had it not been for them, the apes wouldn't have tredged up that far.

Tightening their coats around themselves, they pushed onward through a steep hill. Almost out of breath by the time they reached the peak, it gave them a much better view of where they were headed. The trees and brush didn't completely make it to the top, yet still slightly blocked their view nonetheless. Off to far west, several kilometers away, very high mountain peaks towered above. Among them stood Mt. Kholod. Being one of the only distinctive features of the frozen wasteland that was Frysta, it stood out like a mouse would to a large house. Violent flashes of light slithered through the clouds that seemed to perpetually surround the tip of it. The claps of thunder, even from the great distance, could easily be heard over the whipping winds. Around the ominous mountain, several smaller ones clustered around it, children to their great father. The core of the mountain was thought to have been the original place of the first Ice dragon and a home to any who could sustain the harsh climb to the top.

A plume of smoke, just barely visible, burned into the sky, looking a little like ink splattered on a canvas.

The heavy snowfall began to cease, turning into a light shower. Happy that the terrain wouldn't be the nigh impossible trek it would've if the massive snowstorm had kept up, the two exchanged a glance before picking up their pace eager to get the blood flowing in their legs. After a few more minutes of strenuous walking, the brush around them began to enclose and become denser. An almost complete ceiling of branches and pines covered their view of the sky, with only stray beams of light giving areas of limited sight in the otherwise darkening forest. Ominous creaking in a few of the branches far overhead gave them pause. They had been feeling very uneasy recently on these patrols. There had been recent reports of something hunting their patrols and infiltrating their camps, only to kill a few guards and then very quickly leave. Although they wouldn't voice it out loud, most of the apes felt it had something to do with that traitorous dragon they had captured. He had been leaking weak points in the defense of that large town the dragons had at the base of Mt. Kholod. As well as weak points, he had been smuggling resources out and to their camps for some time. Documents, storage areas, you name it. The dragon definitely knew his way around that place. The dragons most likely knew this and were trying to silence him. They didn't have much time left though. In a few days the fire dragon would be at home camp. When he made it, they would have no hope of getting to him. While they didn't like the idea of losing any of their kind protecting a dragon, the apes knew how valuable he could be.

The patrols had increased since then, circling the large encampment further into the white and brown, almost invisible from most distances. Patrols had culminated in a series of circles at varying depths outwards into the forests surrounding them. More patrols of larger amounts had been sent out in the furthering regions for the last few days of the stay. With groups of 5 being sent out among the distances exceeding 600 meters. The chief was wary of the idea of his men being hunted, especially in protection of a dragon, but the orders had been made with the idea that the information that would be leaked would allow them to raid and pillage that small city.

A prize it most certainly was. The northern regions were scarce enough as it was for the dragons, even worse for the apes who had arrived only in the past few years and were still largely unfamiliar with the majority of the terrain outside of the 100 kilometer radius they had already explored and settled around. Grabbing a nest of resources and building of that size in the otherwise barren land was too great a catch to let up so easily, so the chief had bitten down hard on the idea.

And so despite some misgivings, the patrols continued out, despite the obvious force hunting them down. This duo however was especially equipped to deal with threats, being among the earliest and most skilled at killing among the warriors stationed at the fort. However, the snow and lack of visibility was weighing down heavily on the large brutes, causing their nerves to be a little frayed once the creaking had started. Several times they had heard this cracking in the past few hours, but this time was different. Instead of being around them every once in awhile, it was Above them. Continuous and loud, with a multitude of trees swaying in the winds. Once or twice the apes and stopped and could have swore they saw movement between the trunks. After several minutes of drawn weapons and occasional snapping of twigs and branches, they continued on their march with narrowed eyes and bated breaths.

A group of apes such as them normally didn't feel much fear when it came to the idea of dragons, quite the contrary in fact. However the constant stalking was setting even them on edge, clearly whatever was following them was very patient. Without much else to do on the matter, and knowing that they were almost at the cut off that would lead them back into the path towards camp, they pressed on.

As the creaking above the duo continued, they continued to grow more on edge. Every few second the branches would creak loudly, and their pace would increase. Both knew they had to be careful; they were far from home. Unable to see through the mess of wood and pine, the apes steeled their nerves and drew their weapons. Apes never backed down from a fight. This thought gave them confidence, grins starting to form on their faces. Almost if sensing the break, the creaking suddenly halted, a slight rustle taking its place. The pair, still a bit more confident pushed on through the large grove.

The windchill still nipped at their fur so they kept their pace, and despite the circumstances, the two apes kept their hard edge of determination. After several more uneventful minutes of walking, the density of wood began to thin. As well as being less large ones, the trees also seemed to get smaller. The slightly winded monkeys perked up at the sight. The ground inclined down smoothly around a river running through woods exactly parallel to them. The two gave each other a quick look before one of them grunted and headed off towards the river. The other leaned against a tree, pulling out his small leather skin canteen. He gulped the rest of its contents before tossing it to his companion, who easily caught it. As his partner leaned down to fill their canteens in the crystal clear river, he looked down at his feet and let his mind wander as he waited, unaware of just how fatal that would prove to be.

---

A ghostly white dragon hopped from the trees as he saw his targets stop. Landing lightly on paws, digging his claws into snow and gritting his fangs at the force of the impact, Rhine crouched low, sinking into the snow up to his ankles and elbows. He had little time to waste. Carefully dragging himself through the snow, the dragon kept his damaged white wings fanned out along the ground. The brown membranes were held taut, slight vibrations running along them, as well as the rest of his body. As he closed the distance slowly, the baboon leaning against one of the trunks dipped his head, Rhine moved quicker. Pushing himself into a more upright position and began a slow hop. His hind legs stretched out, lean muscle pulling taut against his scales, and his breathing hitched slightly. Roughly 20 feet away, the ape was none the wiser. Seizing the moment, Rhine crouched for a second, bent his legs and held his eyes closed for a little longer than a standard blink. He really hoped he would have enough time to get there. The idea of getting smashed by maces didn't really appeal to him all that much. When they reopened, the spark in the earth colored irises had dimmed. Taking one last short breath, he jumped.

As soon as his paws touched down, he was off. His paws raced lightly across the ground as he weaved between trees. The light steps barely rustled the snow, and with the wind pouring through the brush, his slight pant and powerful gait was completely shrouded. Catching the ape off guard as he was less than 5 feet, Rhine gave one last jump, veering off to the ape's left slightly. Snapping his wings open, Rhine landed on his hind legs and reached with his talons. Quick as a bullet, the ice dragon dug his claws into the ape's face, pulled him forward a bit, before slamming his head back into the trunk. The force of the impact cracked the bark loudly. Without a sound, the ape collapsed into the snow, blood leaking leaking out of his facial orifices, as well as the massive rip in the back of his head.

Rhine fell as well, landing on his side, but quickly rolling himself back up. Spinning around to face his last target, who had already drawn his axe and started rushing over to his ally. Rhine lifted his left forearm, drew it back slightly, and flexed it tensley, pushing his leftmost claw out as much as he could. The sturdy leather gauntlet attached to his arm reacted instantly. A soft click, swiftly followed by a long, razor sharp blade of ice shooting out, just below his talons. The blade jutted out about 8 inches and was a few centimeters thick and wide. Transparent, partially blue ice made up the weapon.

The ape stopped his angry gait towards him at this, as if perplexed by the weapon. Keeping his eyes on the dragon, he got on one knee and dug one of his hands under his unmoving ally. Giving a mighty heave, the ape flipped him onto his back, making a soft crunching sound as the snow whined in protest. He grunted sadly at the sight. The corpse had its eyes wide open blankly staring up at the sky, red and leaking slowly. Blood seeping out of his open mouth stained his dark fur crimson. Paying a quick respect to his fallen brother, the ape laid his allied's weapon out beside him. He cast his eyes up. The dragon had moved quickly to the right a few feet, pointed towards a decently thin tree, with his side facing him and his eyes doing the same.

Grunting angrily, the baboon stood up, clenching his axe angrily. A drooling snarl split his lips. Raising his axe up, he prepared to charge. Rhine's eyes narrowed, his stare focused entirely on the enemy. He placed both front paws on the ground, clenching the snow around his claws. The seconds seemed like minutes as the two stared each other down. Surprisingly, it was Rhine who broke the stalemate. Diving forward, Rhine crossed the tree's middle, before rolling around and flexing his right wrist. As the blade shot out, he raised his arm, and swinging his body in tandem, cut the middle of the trunk. The dense blade sliced effortlessly through the bark, stopping just shy of the middle. Rhine held his paw for a second as the tree creaked loudly and tipped inward towards the ape. As the bark on the other side began to rip and break, he pushed the blade all the way through, severing the trunk.

With a sharp snap, branches high above broke as they collided with surrounding trees. Twisting himself around, Rhine moved his body quickly, pushing around as the trunk collapsed. The ape dove to the side, just as the trunk slammed into where he had been standing. Landing oddly, his ankles twisted. Crying out, he stumbled up, shakily remaining on his feet. He felt a peculiar lack of an axe in his hand and quickly looked around, starting to panic. Shivering as he spotted it, he slid down to his knees in front of the trunk. The head of the axe was wedged in under the tree tight. Getting to one knee, he wrapped his hands around his weapon and began to pull. Hard. The bark whined in protest and began to crack as the blade scraped against it. Heart racing and veins popping in his forehead, the baboon pulled the bladed weapon and parried just in time to block his opponent's strike. Although Rhine had the element of surprise, that effect was starting to wear off. The ape pushed his axe forward forcefully, catching Rhine's snout in the process. Snarling as he stumbled, Rhine rolled backwards, avoiding the axe. Planting his paws firmly, claws cutting deep in the snow, he watched his enemy with sharp, slitted eyes. The second the ape moved, Rhine was off. Shooting forward, he pushed all his weight into the baboon's gut. Despite the Ape's weakened state, the scout was still able to leverage enough strength to keep the dragon from knocking him to ground. Fiercely and savagely, Rhine bit and snarled as the ape swung his axe. Quickly letting go, the dragon attempted to roll to the side, but the edge of the blade cut through the membrane of his wing. A sharp burst surged through him, seizing his lungs and contracting his muscles. Rhine let out a ragged gasp as he fell into the snow. Blood flooded his mouth as he bit into his tongue.

The ape, seeing his weakness, kicked the dragon in his side. Rhine coughed loudly, a rattling hack breaking free of his throat. Pain subsiding, the reptile flipped around, avoiding the second, harder kick and tackled his opponent to the ground. They hit the ground hard, snarling and attempting to gain leverage over the other. The two were very winded and Rhine was crashing harder, given his lack of heavy muscle and purely relying on years of surviving in the woods. His claws however sharp they were, were unable to do much against the thick pelt the ape was wrapped with.

Before the ape could capitalize on this, Rhine rolled off and stumbled to a more upright position. As the ape struggled to lift his heavy body and weapon off the ground, Rhine pounced. He grabbed the ape by the face and sank his talons deep into his flesh. One of his claws pierced the ape's eye as he thrashed about. Roaring, the ape grabbed the dragon tight around his throat, and with a strength born from a berserker rage, tossed him against a nearby tree.

Rhine slammed into the bark with a resounding crack, one of the bones of his wings snapping awkwardly. He flopped into the snow, screaming loud enough to burn his throat. Pulsing like a drum, his sensitive wings throbbed, a fire rushing through them like a spark on a branch. The frigid chill of the snow barely touched him as heat radiated off his back. Eyes clenched hard, the young dragon whimpered as the fragile appendages on his back shattered like glass against the trunk. With a pained moan, the young dragon rolled onto his side, leaving his belly open. Subtle movements set his back on fire, and he nearly severed his tongue with the tightness of his jaw.

The sound of rushing, heavy footsteps in the snow shook him as cold determination was replaced by terror. His body, unused to the heavy pain of intense combat pulsed blood through his veins fiercely, sending heaves of throbbing throughout his sore limbs. Despite the pain, instincts grabbed hold of his body like a horse in it's reins, and tossed himself back through the thick snow with speed he didn't know he possessed. With a feral growl, the ape repeatedly tried to skewer Rhine, leaving deep imprints in the snow with his powerful strikes. One shot nearly cut his left hind leg off, only scraping the scales and leaving a bruised, bleeding scratch. Another shot narrowly missed his head, impaling itself into a fallen log.

Getting stuck, the ape was unable to yank his axe out of the log as quickly as he had the ground and Rhine saw his opportunity. Gasping in terror and pain, the young dragon kicked with as much strength as he could, claws tearing through fur and flesh. The baboon staggered back with a groan, but not without pulling the axe free and smacking it sloppily against the white dragon's skull. Rhine rolled on his side, the impact jarring his already unfocused mind and knocking his focus even further off balance. Breathing heavily, the dragon scrambled upright, throwing a clenched paw into the ape's stomach with as much force as he could manage in his weakened state. Expected the return strike to be twice as hard, Rhine rolled back quickly, twisting his body on it's side, and crouching lower into the snow. Mentally berating himself for allowing this many free shots to destroy his one strength: Speed.

Keeling over slightly, the ape tried to land a blow back on his opponent, but it seemed the white dragon was starting to get his bearings back in order. Furious at the dragon being a massive thorn, rage filled the baboon and with a roar he proceeded to swing blindly in a flurry of strikes at the juking dragon. With a startled yelp, Rhine backpedaled rapidly, attempting the throw as much space between himself and the enraged ape currently trying to cut him to ribbons. Furthering himself more, the dragon dodged around a trunk and lashed out with his tail, the spade cutting deeply into the ape's arm.

Roaring in pain and fury, the ape snapped his other arm out, grabbing the dragon's tail before he could sidestep and turn back around. Rhine scrambled on his paws, attempting to throw off the ape grabbing his tail tight enough to break his scales. Pulling with a mighty heave, the ape tossed him further back into the clearing along the river. Snow wildly kicked up around the dragon as he bounced down the narrow slope, landing in a pile of broken twigs and pines. Pricking his scales roughly, Rhine raised his head just in time to see the ape rushing him at full speed.

Thinking quickly, the dragon squared himself and rolled to the right. Unable to slow the ape rushed by him, kicking up a flurry of twigs and snow. Rhine shot himself around with enough speed the causing his sore bones to creak. Swinging his tail the ape tripped heavily over the sudden limb, the spade cutting into his shin roughly. Baboon and dragon both were dragged roughly into the madly rushing river.

Rhine's body was jolted when the freezing water rushed over him, tumbling over and over in the rushing onslaught. It felt as though ice was forming in his veins, slush turning his blood to thick, frigid water. Screaming as he was tumbled underneath the rapids, water filled the panicking dragon, drowning him with both sheer terror and icy water. His claws scrambled roughly on the stones below, tearing shallow gashes in his paws and coloring the water around him a light red color, blood from his wounds spilling into the river.

Tumbling over a small fall in the river, he impacted hard on a shallow bed of rocks as the river began to slow. Gasping and crying in terror and pain once he surfaced, the young dragon pulled his rigid body over to the shoreline. His claws struggled to find purchase in the steep snowy incline. Sloshing around in the water and unable to drag himself up, tears pricked his eyes, rolling down his face, and he trembled from cold, fear, and pain. A strangled, howling cry, that of an animal desperate to escape tore free from his throat.

"C'mon you bitch!" He cried out in anguish, throwing himself up onto the bank, fighting his body to escape the freezing prison of the river. Ice dragon or not, his body could only drop it's temperature so much before it started to shut down. Groaning and growling, Rhine's anger and stress gave him a sudden burst of strength. Despite the ripping and tearing of his wounded limbs, the white dragon forced himself up onto the bank. Gasping for breath, his lungs burning, Rhine lay for several minutes. Wet coughs ripped through him, spitting up excess water that flowed into his lungs. A sharp groan following several coughing fits, and he moaned in pain as he rolled onto his stomach, avoiding pressure on his damaged wings.

A sudden alarming thought broke his trance, sending a jolt of momentary panic down his spine. Snapping his neck around, Rhine's unfocused eyes scanned around the river, watching the water like a hawk, ready for something to burst out of it at any moment. Despite his steady vigil the water remained in the same state as before, the dull roar drowned out by his pounding heart and the sound of his blood rushing in his hearing. After several minutes of observation and careful listening, the dragon let out a sigh of relief. Easing himself up, Rhine sat back on his haunches, raising a paw and rubbing his eyes, wincing at the strain on his muscles. Without a word the young dragon slipped off one of the gauntlets attached to his forearms.

Deep brown leather with several strips of metal and heavy string crisscrossed the heavy bracers. Several splotches of red stained the leather in places, though he wasn't sure just how much of it was his own or the ape's. Flipping it over, his eyes narrowed for a moment, while he lifted his other paw and tersely ran a claw down the indent running the entire length of the armor. He carefully moved a latch about halfway down the indent, switching it to the side and pulling a string on the other side. Instantly the gauntlet jerked in his grip and a blade of hard Ice slid out of the indent on the bottom, stopping several inches out from the leather device.

Sighing in relief, the dragon let go of the string and it snapped back into place, along with the blade pulling itself back into place deep within the bracers. Flipping the latch back into place, Rhine pulled the bracer back over his forearm, slipping his leftmost claw around a second string held by the side. The string slid around the toe and claw, pulling itself taut. Lifting the paw outwards from his body and curled the same toe and claw. Again, the blade of ice shot out with a sharp scrape. Frowning slightly, Rhine uncurled his claw, letting the blade rest inside the interior of the bracers.

Getting off his haunches, the young dragon placed a paw over his still racing heart, his claws scratching the deep hickory colored smooth scales covering his belly region. Wincing as the fresh wounds on his body stung and burned, Rhine smothered the pain as best he could. Stretching his hind legs, the drake moaned lowly at the fantastic feeling of being a bit more free to move. Steeling his mind, Rhine turned his attention back to the forest surrounding the other three sides. Raising his head all the way up, he grimaced. The sky was massively overcast, but a small bit of yellow light breaking through alerted to him his time frame was slowly diminishing.

"If I get caught out this close to their encampment, I'm dead." Rhine whispered to himself, feeling the direness of the situation. Mentally going over what he knew, they apes he had followed had moved in a semi circle for a few hours, so that could only mean that their camp was somewhere ahead, deep in the woods. Waiting for him there would be the hardest part of this entire mission, killing a fellow dragon. With a disgusted swallow, the young dragon began to walk, trudging through the snow as best he good, his injuries weighing him down more than he anticipated. Red gems were unlikely to be found this far out her, but he hoped to find even a samall cluster, the pain would be eased considerably by even a few crystals.

As the thicket began to get more dense, the dragon took once more to the trees. Finding a thick, low-hanging branch, he ran at the tree. Jumping at the last moment, he pushed his claws deep into the bark, sliding his hind legs up, he looped his free forearm around the branch, and once he was secure let go of the bark in his other paw and looped it around the same branch. With a grunt, he hauled himself onto the branch. Testing it's thickness and stability for a moment, the dragon got on his hind legs, balancing precariously on the branch. Digging his claws into the bark once more and repeated the process on the next branch.

Another jump later had him around 30 feet off the ground, and about halfway up the tree. Setting his eyes on a branch much further up the trunk, and much thicker than the previous ones, he flexed his claws and dug his ice blades into the trunk while stretching his hind legs and throwing himself up, about halfway the distance. Despite troubles hanging against the side, he pull one of his blades free and threw it into the trunk a higher ways up. Pushing his legs up against the tree more, he looped his free forearm around a smaller branch hanging next to him. Using it as support, he heaved himself up a little ways more, shoving both of his blades into the tree deeply, while digging the claws of both his hind legs and his forelegs against the trunk.

One last repetition of the climbing maneuver had him sitting on a thick stump near the top of the tree, around 60 feet off the ground. His stomach turned just the slightest bit as he looked down, though it didn't bother him much. Crouching down, the dragon set his eyes on a length of branches a few feet in front of him, stuck to another tree. The branches didn't even shake as Rhine propelled himself off the stump and into the air. Keeping his damaged wings taut against his back, the dragon landed roughly again the opposing branch a moment or two later. Shaking himself off, Rhine observed the branches he now had to scale. Just about the majority of them were within a jump and were easy to land on and jump from. Sitting for a moment and closing his eyes, Rhine concentrated.

Flicking his tongue out, he let the air move around and settle on it for a minute. Among the many scents and the fierce winds throwing off the his senses, the drake could still make out the faintest of ape scents coming from...a little ways off to his left. The dragon found this strange as there was no way he was that close to the camp already, he hadn't even gone very deep into the woods. Setting his tongue back into his muzzle, the dragon reopened his eyes and sat for a moment, attempting to make sense of the mysterious smell. Several cracks and muffled shouts came from the same direction, and his breathing halted.

"It's him..." The dragon cursed his luck. Of course the ape was alive. Taking off without a second thought, Rhine raced his way across the branches, throwing caution to the wind. He knew that if they heard that he was that close to the group transporting that traitor, then he wouldn't even have the shot. The closer her got, the more he could make out the shouting. Stepping on the side of a branch he hit, Rhine propelled himself down onto lower hanging branches and trees, causing the trees to shake and branches and pines to fall all around him as he closed on his target. The snapping of branches and the howl of the wind was throwing off his balance considerably, though he used his downward momentum to slide between the branches. Wincing as he tore holes in his paw pads and scratched up his forearms. The dragon hopped to a tree closer to where the shouting was coming from.

He finally saw the ape. Hobbling through the snow, shouting indiscriminately in anger and alarm. Cursing once again, Rhine could just make out the smokestack in the distance. His eyes widened and a snarl ripped free from his throat. Jumping fast, the dragon hit a trunk, throwing his claws deep into, he turned himself slightly and forced himself backwards into the air. Spinning once in the air, he latched onto the bark of the thick evergreen. The halt was momentary, and once again he latched onto another branch and threw himself downward, reaching out for the next limb. The impact was far from smooth and the branch slipped through his claws. Plummeting with a shout of shock, Rhine opened his cripple wings.

Agony tore through his back as the damaged appendages caught the wind, nearly pulling the thin bones through his scales. Gritting his teeth tightly, Rhine flapped once hitting a branch that slowed his descent enough to glide slightly. Using the momentary slow down, he slipped his wings to one side and nosedived towards the nearest tree. Curling a claw of both of his paws, he slammed the blades into the thin tree. The catch was solid and the sudden loss of speed nearly pulled his forearms from their sockets.

The solid fall hurt, badly, but the sight of his prey escaping set Rhine off. With a growl, he heaved himself up onto the nearest branch, for only a split second. Throwing himself off onto the lower branches of the forest. He lithely stepped on the dense collection of branches at the lower level, the ground only being several feet below him. The branches cracked only slightly as he ran and jumped across the trees expertly.

---

Closing in on his prey the ape could only listen as the cracking of the pines around him grew louder and more frequent. Still shouting loudly, he desperately tried to push his way through the thick blanket of snow. The increasingly loud cracks and snaps behind him gave him a sudden burst of adrenaline and with a roar of rage at the dragon that had caused him so much trouble he turned and drew his weapon, blood still coating it's blade. The ape used his one remaining eye to scan the dark trees, looking for a flash of white and brown against the trunks and pines.

The cracking got ever louder, and with a steely grin the ape adopted a position, tracking the sounds of ever heightening intensity. Rustling of trees caught his eyes and the movement got ever more violent, clashing with the howling winds that already surrounded him. A branch landing right next to him made him jump, startled badly. Breathing with an increasing intensity, the baboon gripped his axe with shaking hands, keeping a steady vigil and preparedness for the white dragon to suddenly appear.

Just as the branches cracked louder than before, they stopped and the rustling of the trees quieted. The shaking continue, but for for all the shaking the branches snapped no more. More on edge than at ease by this, the baboon spun around rapidly. As even the rustling stopped completely, nothing more was heard around the trees, only the howling of the wind and his own heavy breathing. Taking a step backwards, the simian swallowed loudly. A gasp of air soon followed as he took a breath he had been holding.

Snap!

Pressure followed immediately after, a crushing sensation on his windpipe as two sharp pains speared through them. All that the ape could release was a strangled gurgle as blood flowed free from his throat, two blades impaled right through them. Red fluid spilled into the pureness surrounding the baboon laid out on his back and the silent white drake perched on his chest, claws gripping his chin as two blades of ice tore into the ape's throat. His struggling was cut off as the dragon's hind legs kicked down hard on his groin.

Slipping the blades of ice from the ape's throat with a wet slurping noise, Rhine stepped back, watching with a grimace as the ape bled out in the cold snow, eye dead and hollow, a look of shock plastered on his face. Rhine slid his blades back and got off his hind legs. Eyes set in the direction that the ape had been running, the drake began his march, aware of the the darkness beginning to set upon the entire forest.

The ape had been running in this direction, and assuming it wasn't some panicked run in a random direction, this would lead him to their camp. Knowing this, he felt like his sense of direction was pretty accurate in this case and that he was heading in the right direction. A quick flick of his tongue caught the present scent of a dragon besides himself. He was correct, this was it.

A feeling of nausea suddenly hit him forcefully. He groaned, stomach heaving as the image of himself hovering over a dead dragon, lifeless eyes boring into his with a hollow sorrow, throat cut almost completely to the point of his head being severed. Standing there for a moment, he fell back onto his haunches, breathing heavily. He shut his muzzle stubbornly, not going to puke here. His limbs shook a bit as he thought of what he was going to have to do in the next few hours. The thought gave him a feeling of anxiety deep in his core, something the likes of which he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Clenching his teeth and eyes closed, he shook his head roughly, refusing to let the powerful memories worm their way to the surface. The teachings of his father about self control flooded his head. Whispering to himself over and over again, Rhine sat for several minutes, collecting his nerves and setting his mind on the right track. Deep breaths, clear head, fluid posture. Once more he placed a paw over his heart, feeling the nausea start to pass.

"Calm, calm, calm, calm..." He whispered the word to himself over and over, repeating the mantra he had adopted fro his time in the wilderness. The focus he normally had out here was being challenged by the more trying circumstances and his own nerves punishing for the slightest mistake. "Stay focused, stay forward." He breathed the words softly as the nervousness and panic left his body, instilling a feeling of weakness in his muscles.

Getting back on the path, Rhine took one last look behind. With a snort, the dragon proceeded on his march to the camp. The smoke stack poking through the overcast nest of pines and snowfall continued to get closer and closer, while the trees started to take on a more gnarly appearance. Every Now and again, there would be a tree marked with a red 'x' Unsure of their purpose, Rhine just shook his head and continued to sneak through the forest, the evening starting to descend upon it.

As more and more tree stumps appeared on the ground, Rhine felt his apprehension grow, knowing that with every step, he came closer to murder. The thought jolted him, but with a savage growl he samcked his own head roughly. Grumbling to himself, Rhine did his best to steel himself. It wouldn't be long now.

---

Nightfall drowned the forest in almost pure darkness. The snow hadn't stopped falling and halting of the wind gave the illusion that white fireflies were occasionally skimping between the trees. In the distance, light shone through the treeline, illuminating all around it in a brilliant orange glow. The camp's walls were mounted with large torches, crackling with flames and embers burning into the air.

The small encampment was almost dead silent, the only sound coming from the soft footfalls of the guards patrolling the walls and the interior, along with the steady crackle and pop of embers. Occasional conversations would occur, though they were brief and spoken in hushed, low tones.

Steady, crunching footfalls followed the small patrols that went about their ways in the camp. Circles surrounded by makeshift huts aligned the path taken by the torch wielding apes. In between these buildings were narrow pockets of darkness, enveloped by stack snow. The more open areas of the camp had been shaved down in amount of snow taking up the paths, however most of the buildings were still piled high with the white powder.

Around the blackness of the camp was a canopy of large trees that hadn't yet been logged, their low hanging branches already cut off, with the higher elevated limbs occasionally dropping a mound of snow to the ground. These trees were much taller than the camp itself, but the canopy did not extend past the walls, instead the high limbs merely tapered off around 6 feet above the highest sector of the wooden walls.

The guards, despite their vigil as the paced along the circular perimeter were none the wiser to a figure lying along the branches of a tree. Blissfully unaware of the dragon hiding not 5 feet away from them, they patrolled without much thought.

Mindful, that he would only get this close under the cover of the onyx surroundings he found himself in, Rhine carefully climbed along the treeline, navigating it as the Sun set. The slow and arduous task took around an hour, every pawstep carefully planned out as to not click his claws along the frigid hard bark of trees. Every movement made with lithe steps as to not creak the trees. In his mouth he chewed on a chunk of snow, hoping to eliminate the steam trails from his breathing.

Night had fallen, and once the coast was clear, he would make his infiltration. Over the last hour, Rhine had been clearly tracking the patrol movement s of the guards, planning how exactly he would get inside without complications. From what he had gathered in that time it seemed that the guards didn't swap out shifts, as the same ape patrolled each sect, around 6 in total. The ground patrols looped around the base in a shell, as the encampment was essentially a long oval. The outside perimeter, just before the walls was around a 35 minute patrol route, this was the easiest to get by, simply going when the guard wasn't around.

The wall was trickier, though he was hoping his height advantage would allow him to swiftly take out one of the guards and hide himself anth body before anyone took notice. There looked to be around 8 guards along the perimeter of the meter high walls, with each occupying a single spot, without rotations. This could prove a challenge as any guard seen missing might provoke a response. Rhine had guessed that the only real way to get over these walls undetected was to jump onto a guard without making a sound, take him over the wall, and hide his body in one of the narrow alleyways. Once this was done, Rhine assumed he'd be on a variable clock of when the missing guard was noticed.

The inner shell was by far going ot be the hardest. Rhine figured that the dragon he was after would be close to the interior, when he had scaled the tree this had been proven right. From his vigil he had seen the traitorous bastard as prepared to go to sleep. He was located inside of a hut near the center pavilion, a raised platform of which the young drake was not sure of it's purpose. The shifts of the guards in this narrow space was much shorter, comprising of 5-10 minute time windows from what Rhine had observed.

The guards in the center sector would be nearly impossible to avoid, for despite the many alleyways to hide around, the entire area was well lit, and his white scales would be practically glow in the dark unless he was hiding around in the snow, for which there was not much. Once this part of the plan was enacted he would have to jump into that interior space and make his way to the target's lodgings and waste no time dispatching him.

Rhine shivered uncomfortably. The idea of murdering this dragon still wasn't really sitting well with him. SHaking off the apprehension was paramount however. He could not let this dragon get away and put his home further at risk from these barbarians.

Preparing to set his plan in motion, Rhine carefully crawled his way to the edge of the thick branch he lay on, observing the guard he was planning to take down. The plan would require the ape to be unable to make a sound. Thankfully these walls were lit up by mounted torches so these guards didn't carry a torch that he would have to account for. Despite this, the sound was a problem. A heavy ape crashing down off the wall would surely make a sound. Rhine only hoped he would have enough force to knock him into one the more densely packed down areas of snow.

Cracking his neck, Rhine backed up to the spot where branch met trunk. Clenching his hind legs, and squaring his body, the white dragon took several deep breaths. 1...He took a breath, and clenched his forearms into the bark. 2...He released the deep breath and relaxed his muscles, channeling all of his focus. 3! Shooting off like a rocket, Rhine threw himself forward, shaking the branch wildly as he dove.

A metallic click sounded as his forward shot forearms produce his blades. He was in the air for less than a second, traveling at immense speed onto the unaware baboon. Unable to make even a squeak as the dragon rammed into with the force of a train. The blades cut through the ape's neck like it was water. Without a sound, both of them fell backwards off the wall into a pile of snow. The impact slightly jarred Rhine as he accidentally headbutted the ape, hard.

The ape, somehow still alive tried to struggle, making small gurgles as his throat continued to rip from the blades impaled in them. Rhine, panicking slightly that the ape was even able to move after the force of the impact, dug his claws into the ape's face. Without even thinking, Rhine pushed the blades deeped still and ripped them through the opposite sides of the ape's throat, effectively decapitating him. The struggles ceased completely and the ape fell limp, eyes rolled back in his head and throat still emanating small noises.

Panting slightly, Rhine rolled off the dead simian, blades still dripping blood and gore as he fell back on his haunches for a moment. Retracting the blades, he wiped his head with a paw, getting his breathing back into normal rhythm. The plan was now set, there was no going back, even if he wanted to. Feeling a bit nauseas at the brutality of the attack, Rhine shakily got to his bearings. Without a word, he padded over to the corpse, giving it a distasteful glare.

"Gross." He whispered simply, shaking his head a bit. Getting behind the body, he grabbed the ape's clothing in his talons, using it to get a hold on the larger being. With a clear struggle, he hastily pulled the corpse in between one of the huts. Doing his best, he swiped as much snow on the corpse as possible hoping to make it at least somewhat hard to spot. Once he was satisfied with the state of the hidden body, he slowly meandered over to the front of the alleyway, crouching down as much as possible.

The dark street was empty, but he had forgotten to keep track of when the ape had passed. Cursing his own amatuer behavior, Rhine pulled back into the cover of the ally. The hut hiding his target was around a hundred yards in the opposite direction, and he seriously doubted he wouldn't encounter another guard. Peeking once more, he hoped he had time. The street was still clear, but it was possible to spot him from the wall if he was crossing. Checking the walls to his left, he crouched down, bunching his muscles in his hind legs.

Counting to three in his head, Rhine burst free of the ally and dashed forward towards the next possible alleyway. Skidding to a halt inside the dark section, he checked behind to make sure he hadn't been spotted. All was silent and there wasn't anyone in sight. Nodding slightly to himself, he proceeded to make his was over to the entrance to the space, careful not to make much noise.

Poking his head around the entrance, he felt his face immediately light up with warmth. Before he could even think, he shot a paw forward and impaled his blade right into the face of a shocked looking ape. Gasping, Rhine pulled the blade free and just barely caught the ape before he crashed loudly into the ground.

"No, no no no!" He panicked as the torch hit the ground, spilling embers all across the ground. Still holding the ape unsteadily above the ground, he turned his head to the right and breathed a thin stream of frost across the flames, extinguishing them before anyone would notice. Grunting from holding the literal dead weight in his comparably small form, Rhine quickly backpedaled into the alley.

Crunching along the snow, Rhine lay the body down along the side, looking left and right frantically for a way to cover the corpse. The inner shell's cleared pathways led to there being much less snow anywhere, including these small pockets. The drake grumbled, trying to think of a way out of this mess. Growling in frustration as no possible solution presented itself, Rhine merely lay the corpse against the wall and tried to pile as much snow as he could against it.

Carefully stepping around the body, Rhine returned to the mouth of the gap, peeking his head out much more carefully this time. The Torches from another ape passed between the building on the far side, and around the length of the shell he could see yet another. The opportunity to get out of this cramp was draining fast. Mind whirling, the dragon, peeked one last time around the sides.

Wiggling in anticipation, Rhine dashed across the next perimeter, diving into the next building space, breathing hard. Crawling along the ground amidst the light almost surrounding him now, the white dragon quickly scrambled to check if he'd been spotted. A quick look seems to give the all clear. Despite this, he was in much more danger now. He was almost exposed on either side of this narrow space, and it was only a matter of time before someone glanced down it. Even more pressing, the guards at the wall were surely going to notice their missing comrade, and soon.

One last run was ahead of him now. He could see the traitor's hut from the mouth of the alley, but he was very likely to get spotted if he ran for it now. Patrolling this massively wide open area was a guard sitting on a chair on the platform in the center. There would be no way to get by him and no possible way to get close enough to cut his throat without being spotted. Rhine knew he needed a plan and fast; the guard to his rear was coming back around now.

An idea struck him, but it was very risky. A single spat icicle to the throat or head would do it. However Rhine's ability with elemental breaths was notoriously weak compared to most dragons. He made up for that with other skills, chief among them his stealth and hunting abilities, but that wouldn't get him anything in this scenario. To make matters worse, he couldn't hit the shot from where he was. He'd have to hit the ape while he was moving between the houses.

Cursing his own stupid luck, Rhine put that plan down, there was no way he'd ever be able to hit that shot. He needed some other way. Maybe he could scale the buildings and get the jump on him. Then again he'd be exposed for even longer, and more so. Perhaps if he distracted the guard somehow, yes maybe that. But how would he distract him without giving himself away.

Amidst his brainstorming, he caught the sounds of movement coming towards the back end of the alley. With a jolt of panic, he scrambled into a running stance. There wasn't really a choice now, he had no time to think. The closer the steps got, the more panied he became. With a final startled jump, Rhine raced out.

As expected, the ape almost immediately stood up as he saw him. Rhine's claws gripped the ground tightly, scraping holes in the dirt and snow. Before the apre could utter a noise, Rhine spun his head and snapshotted. The Icicle burst free from his throat with more intensity than he expected, and while it was small, it flew faster than any he'd made previous. Flying true with a spiral born of sheer luck, the spike flew right into the ape's head, knocking him off the platform and onto the ground with a thud.

Realizing he had no time to hide the body, Rhine rushed over to the hut of the traitor. Skidding to a halt outside the flap entrance and breathing surprisingly normally, he grabbed onto the entrance flap with a smile from the sheer luck of the shot. The smile fell from his face when he understood where he was at, the drake came to a sickening realization.

I have to kill him.

Pushing aside the flap, Rhine silently shuffled into the dark room. A small bit of yellow light from the torches outside flickered in, giving Rhine a perfect view of who he had to murder. A red drake, just a bit older than himself, lay on a small blanket, dozing peacefully. Rhine felt sick, and he sat on his haunches for a moment. Studying the face of who he needed to kill, he wanted to retch. If he hadn't known better, he would've called this dragon friend, he looked so content. With a shaking paw he reached out and lightly scratched the red rake under the eye. The red dragon smiled slightly and rolled onto his back.

Rhine trembled as he got back up, carefully stepping closer to his victim to be. Raising his right forearm, he clenched a toe of his paw. Silently the blade deployed, still splattered with a stick red fluid from earlier. The white dragon stepped over the sleeping dragon, his head rolled back, exposing his soft throat. With a trembling paw, he laid the blade against the side of his throat. Closing his eyes for a moment, Rhine gave a swift mental apology to himself, the red drake beneath him, and the ancestors. With another moment he pressed the blade into his throat and dragged it firmly across the soft neck.

Blood spurted freely onto his white scales, and with a strangled scream that was barely heard, the traitor woke up, eyes wild and unfocused. Rhine quickly retracted the blade and forced his weight down on the dying dragon prevent him from lashing out. Their eyes met and Rhine wanted to hurl. While his struggles got more and more weak, and his scales a deeper and deeper red, those orange eyes looked up at him, terrified and pained. Rhine couldn't look away, entranced and horrified by the act he need to commit.

Slowly, the dragon's struggles got weaker, until with a final squeak, he went limp. His claws raised and wildly trying to claw at his attacker, fell to his side. His eyes remained wide open and sunken, horror and fear shining out from them, while they stared directly through Rhine. The white dragon felt numb, unfocused, and unfeeling. Releasing the dead dragon, Rhine took a step back off him. The next step he took was trembling. The next step he fell back onto his haunches. With a whimper, he pressed his face into his paws, sobbing silently.

Hiccups rocked his form, sending his trembling body into spasms. Rhine's throat choked up and he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. Wiping his eyes, Rhine's sorrowful expression stared back at the dead eyes of the still bleeding red dragon

"I-I-I'm so sorry." he whimpered out, tears falling freely from his cheeks. "I'm so, so sorry." With a choked breath, Rhine forced himself back onto his feet. Despite trying to remain strong, the ice dragon couldn't keep the tears from falling down his cheeks. Walking over to a chest at the corner of the room, Rhine pried it open, searching through while he hiccuped. Near the bottom was the object he had been told to find to prove the deed was done.

Resting delicately in his paw was small plush toy of a red dragon. The stitchwork was old and torn, with spots losing color, and others with lost stitches. The blank button eyes of the doll seemed to match that of its owner. Rhine whimpered once more. Holding onto it tightly, Rhine closed the chest and weakly padded over to the entrance. He couldn't force himself to look back as he walked out.

---

The area was empty, but a commotion down the camp drew his attention. Groups of apes were gathered outside of a several huts on the second most inner shell of the camp. Several huts were set ablaze, flames licking away into the night. The apes were hooting and hollering angrily, hauling buckets in an attempt to put the flames down.

Rhine recognized them as the huts outside where he was surprised by the ape from earlier. With a grim smirk he realized that he hadn't quite put out the ape's torch completely. It seemed this was ample enough of a distraction to provide an escape. With one last look at the hut he just left, Rhine wiped his eyes and sniffled, before running in the opposite direction.

The wall came up shortly, still a meter high in the particular section. Climbing wasn't so much the hard part, but the spike at the top could prove troublesome. Extending his blades, and almost being sick at the smell and sight of the fresh blood staining the ice, Rhine hopped up onto the side, digging his blades into the wood. Crawling to the very top, he dug the blades as well as his claws into the spot just below the points. With a great heave, he tossed himself over the to, landing hard on the surface below. The snow provided some padding, but the awkward landing still knocked the breath out of him. He took a second to compose himself, to realize the gravity of the situation he had just found himself in. He need to do this, but was it really worth it in the end?

Setting himself upright, Rhine took one last look at the camp he just left, before disappearing into the forest, vanishing from sight in the encompassing black, the thought still dominating his mind.