It’s midday within the deep shrouds of the forest. A young tribal wolf sits under the shade of a tree, carving some wood to pass the time. The winds pass by him, a calm day like any other.


“Ah! There you are, brother! I’ve been looking all over for you!” 


It gets interrupted by another wolf coming along, his white fur and fine clothing standing him out amongst the bushes and shrubbery. He pants as he runs up to his black-furred counterpart, holding himself on his knees to catch his breath when he gets to him.


“You’re still weak as ever. What do you need, Autumn? I’m busy right now.”


The black wolf speaks with a slight accent, though his words are just as harsh. Autumn pouts, pointing a finger at his little bro.


“What do you mean, busy! You were supposed to help me chop wood for the cold months, Winter! I had to do it all by myself and my arms feel like they’re about to fall off.”


Autumn yaps loudly in Winter’s ear but he barely pays attention to his nagging.


“Well, it's good that you’re working hard. It makes you strong.”


“That’s not the point!”


The white wolf plops down next to Winter and sighs, laying himself across his brother’s lap.


“I was hoping we could play together.”


Winter laughs, petting his brother softly.


“Since when do big brothers ask for their little brother to play with them?”


Of course, he doesn’t miss the opportunity to jab Autumn figuratively and physically when he can, making Autumn fight back by squirming around.


“Hey! I’m the bigger brother, so you should do what I say!”


“No can do. I told you I’m busy right now.”


“Boo…”


The white wolf sits up and puffs his cheeks. He watches Winter calmly sharpen a piece of wood.


“How does that make you busy?”


“I’m making a weapon to use, dummy.”


Winter points the spiky end of the thing he’s carving at Autumn, mere centimeters from his face which causes him to shuffle back.


“Hey! Don’t point that at me!”


Winter doesn’t respond to his brother, instead, he focuses his sight behind him and reels his arm back before throwing the stake right past Autumn’s head, piercing a bug and making a crack through the tree that it lands on.


“You know, for someone who wants to be a knight like our father, you’re pretty scared of everything.”


Autumn comically shakes in fear. He always found his brother’s skill in combat to be amazing but also terrifying. It made him look up to Winter, hoping he could impress him with his own strength one day.


“You should go soon. It'll be dangerous for me to have to protect you while I’m fighting.”


“H-hey! I’m not that defenseless! I know how to wield a blade!”


Winter bops Autumn on the head with his spear, getting up from the ground to retrieve the stake he threw.


“And I don’t see it with you. Hurry up before I chase you out.”


“Wait wait! Why will it be dangerous? Did your tribe ask you to do something again?”


“Uh-huh. Another dispute with another tribe. I’m sure you know if you get involved, it will just get messier for the kingdom.”


Autumn whines a little, holding the small bump on his head, though he’s a little sadder that Winter is getting pulled into dangerous situations yet again.


“Okay, fine. I know you’ll win, but please do your best not to get hurt.”


“Hah! It’ll have to take two grown adults to take me down. But thanks.”


With that warning, Autumn scurries off to a safe place. Winter goes back to carving more stakes, waiting for his opponent to arrive. It’s peaceful and quiet for the moment. The wind had died down, letting only the sound of insects fill the forest.


“There you are, wolf. I have been looking for you.”


In a completely different language, someone else greets Winter. A hyena, wearing tribe-like gear just like him. He seemed to be the same age as him too, around eighteen years old.


“Ah. You’re finally here! I was beginning to think you have gotten scared!”


Winter responds in the same language, getting up from the ground. The hyena huffs, unamused.


“I wish you didn’t think so less of me, though I guess I wouldn’t put it past you thinking that, wolf.”


They look at each other, carefully, examining each other's strengths. The hyena frowns as he’s sure that his opponent will overpower him. 


“…So it’s going to be like that, huh?”


Winter on the other hand is looking at other things than the hyena’s strength.


“Hey. I do have a name, hyena. It’s Winter, Dark Hunter. What’s yours?”


The hyena looks thoughtful for a moment, hand on the chin before he responds to Winter’s question.


“Rain… I don’t have a title.”


Winter’s head cocks to the side as a bit of confusion surfaces.


“You don’t have a title? Usually, when you become an adult, you get one from your parents.”


Rain closes his eyes and sighs heavily.


“Well, I don’t have any. My parents died in battle when we were young.”


“Oh…”


The heavy news of hearing Rain’s parents makes Winter go quiet. It leaves an awkward silence between them and neither does a thing with such a mood in the air. That is until Rain calmly breathes in and out, preparing himself to fight, daggers ready in both hands.


“Ready to fight?”


Winter straightens himself up and shakes his head.


“Wait. Stop. We can't fight like this.”


Winter protests right away, causing Rain to become antsy.


“Are you forfeiting your life? If so, then hold still so I can make this painless.”


Rain rushes forward, quickly aiming his daggers for Winter’s head. Winter luckily is able to block it in time with his spear and quickly separate himself from the hyena.


“I said wait! Something not right here!”


The hyena doesn’t listen though and continues to pursue Winter. He’s forced to fight back and deflect the oncoming attacks for his head. Swiftly moving between the blades, dodging just shy of the edge, Winter is able to keep up with Rain. With enough time, Rain leaves an opening and Winter takes advantage of it immediately, kicking him on the side and pinning him down on his back.


“Get off me!”


“I said stop! Tell me, do you know what’s going on?”


Rain struggles to break free of Winter’s grasp but with him sitting right on top of him makes it hard to do that. Without much choice, Rain answers him.


“It’s a setup. This whole thing is just to get rid of me.”


“Wha-?”


Confused by what he means Rain explains the whole thing to him. Rain and his brother being orphans has caused a lot of problems for the tribe.


“Without someone to watch over us, we get a lot of freedom to do what we want within the tribe. It doesn’t sit well with some people that we get such freedom at a young age and they think it will become a problem when we grow up.”


“That’s crazy. Why would it be a problem?”


The hyena sighs, only thinking of one reason.


“Power. They’re afraid that a person like me will become chief.”


Winter’s eyes go wide though a little bit in him understands it. Power being a reason to off someone was not an uncommon thing to fight over. He’s seen it himself in his own tribe but to hear it from someone else still surprised him. Winter, at this point, let’s go of Rain and they sit together under the shade of the tree. Rain continues his explanation.


“I won’t lie. I have made a few problems for my tribe. One of them is hunting for food.”


“What exactly was the problem?”


“Since I’m the oldest, I hunt for food for me and my brother. I overhunt sometimes and many of the elders don’t approve of me hunting alongside them. I guess they don’t like a child beating them at their own game.”


The last comment makes Winter snicker, Rain joining in by laughing.


“Wait. If that’s the case then would this dispute…?”


Rain answers Winter’s question with a nod.


“Yes, this dispute about someone hunting on the wrong grounds, as you know, is all made up. They’ve accused my younger brother of hunting on your tribe's grounds, and as the man of the house, I have to take responsibility for it.”


The words Winter was hearing were unbelievable. How can they condemn someone like this and live with themselves, Winter thought. The anger rushes up to his head and he would go bolting to confront Rain’s accusers but Rain stops him before he gets too far.


“You can’t do anything, Winter. If you confront my tribe then you’d spark a war.”


“Then I can go back…!”


“And forfeit your life? If you go back without killing me, then my tribe will take that as a sign of cowardice and use that to dirty your tribe’s name.”


“Then… let’s run away! Both of us! I’ll protect you!”


“I can’t do that. That’ll leave my brother alone and with no resolve to his ‘crime’ then he’ll be killed the next day. He’s not in a place where we can sneak him out either. We can’t do anything, Winter.”


There was nothing he could do. Winter couldn’t think up anything to save Rain from this situation and it made him angry. No, he was beyond angry. He was livid. The anger shows through on his face and Rain becomes concerned for him.


“Winter?”


In a fit of rage, Winter throws his wooden stake as hard as he can. It flies fast through the trees so fast that the deer it was aiming for never sees it coming. It strikes the deer’s head, killing it easily. Heavy breaths slip through the wolf’s fangs as he can’t comprehend how they could do a person so wrong. He wants to kill them. He wants to kill!


“I’ll make them pay no matter the cost! I swear it.”


The wolf seems bent on avenging Rain but the hyena simply puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.


“I truly thank you for going this far to try and save me. It means a lot to have someone care so much for my well-being.”


The comment brings Winter right out of his fit and more, feeling the heat in his cheeks instead of his blood.


“Right! Well… At least let me try! You never what could happen.”


The hyena responds with a soft smile and chuckles.


“Of course not. Haven’t you been listening?”


The two of them argue about what to do, the will to fight each other subsiding. Winter makes up some schemes to save Rain but Rain rebuttals the same reasons.


“What if we leave a bomb to distract them?”


“And risk people’s lives? If you hurt anyone innocent, I will kill you for it.”


“Ugh… okay then what about…?”


The conversation turns friendly and soon it stops being about saving Rain and just becomes a friendly talk. Rain speaks to Winter about anything that comes to mind. He talks about his life, his parents, what they were like, and his little brother. The connection makes Winter talk about his own life, the two sharing stories of one another till the hours pass by.


“And then Autumn fell right into the River where I dove right in to save him!”


“Awesome story. Reminds me of when…”


The birds caw, taking the conversation to a halt when Rain realizes the sun is about to go down.


“…We don’t have much time left Winter. It looks like we’ll have to stop here.”


Winter’s ears went flat as he was honestly having fun. Rain smiles back at him, putting his hand over Winter’s to comfort him.


“Don’t worry. If anything, you made me live without any regrets. I’m glad to have met a wonderful person like you.”


Rain does the unexpected and nuzzles Winter. It takes the wolf by surprise, tail wagging excitedly behind him.


“I just wish I could do something for you.”


The hyena parts and thinks for a moment. It makes Winter curious and lean forward.


“Actually, there may be one thing you can do for me.”


Winter becomes ecstatic, tail wagging violently behind him.


“Yes! What is it?”


Rain leans forward and whisper’s into Winter’s ear. Winter nods, taking every detail by heart.


“I’ll do my very best. I won’t let you down.”


“Thank you. Now… all that’s left is…”


They both know what’s coming but neither knows how to approach it. Rain awkwardly picks up his dagger and puts it in the wolf’s hand.


“Okay… I’m ready. Just do it quickly.”


Winter looks down at the stake, unsure. The weight feels heavy in his hand, not like how it was this morning.


“No, wait. I have an idea.”


The wolf throws the dagger away and pushes himself against Rain. It takes him by surprise like before, being pinned against the tree.


“W-What are you doing?”


Rain feels the heartbeat of Winter pressed against his body, only this time, he didn’t mind how close they were together.


“It might look scary when I do it but trust me. It’ll be easy.”


Winter closes his eyes and silence soon envelopes them. Not a single sound surrounded them and that bled through the trees bent around them. A dark aura surrounds Winter, opening his eyes to a bright shade of crimson. Fear creeps up Rain’s head, telling him to struggle all that he can, but a single word escapes his mouth.


“Beautiful…”


The answer stuns Winter for a moment, the sudden change of language not helping either. It makes Rain panic a little, explaining himself afterward.


“Ah! I’m sorry. It was just that that word reminded me of what I’m seeing right now.”


Rain thinks he said something wrong but it was far from it. Winter’s heart skips a beat and he realizes what he feels towards Rain.


“No, I got it. It’s just that you’re the second person to call my eyes that.”


Winter’s response calms Rain down though another feeling replaces his panic.


“W-who was the first?”


“Ha. It was my brother. Though he just called them pretty.”


For a moment, they just stare at each other, enjoying themselves just like this in each other’s eyes.


“Rain? Would it be okay if we did it?”


“Huh? Well…”


Such a sudden request, Rain has no idea how to respond to that.


“It’s like you said, we’re out of time. I promise it’ll be good.”


Winter did have a point. He was going to die anyway so why not enjoy his final moments?


“…Okay. Let’s do it.”


Winter’s expression didn’t change but his tail was wagging behind him. They awkwardly stare at each for a while, just feeling the heartbeat of each other until Winter makes the first move to remove Rain’s loincloth. He rips it off, sliding his hand across the hyena’s dark cock. He fondles the member a little and makes Rain moan which worries Winter.


“Sorry. Am I doing it wrong?”


“No, that was good. Keep going.”


With a nod, Winter keeps going and jerks Rain off. He’s slow with it, making sure to be gentle while watching Rain make pleasureful faces. Seeing him beg for more gets Winter excited himself, a tent forming under his own loincloth. Rain notices this and forms an idea.


“Come closer to me.”


Rain grabs Winter by the hips and pulls him closer. Both their cocks press up against one another, twitching with excitement. Winter gets the idea and wraps his hand around both, jerking off each other at the same time. The two of them moan with one another, feeling the excitement of pleasure for the first time. Rain is the one to go off first, covering each other with his seed. It coats both his cock and Winter’s, panting heavily.


“Ah… looks like I can’t last as long as you.”


Rain chuckles but Winter has other ideas.


“Mind if we take it further?”


“Huh? I mean… might as well since we came this far.”


With his consent, Winter picks up Rain by the legs and holds him up with the tree behind him for support.


“What are you going to do?”


Winter teasingly presses the tip of his cock against Rain’s taint and it becomes clear what Winter wants.


“I want to mate with you.”


It doesn’t take long for Winter to shove his cock into Rain, causing the hyena to gasp and hold on to the wolf immediately. The semen around Winter’s cock makes it easier for him to thrust but it’s still tight around him.


“Hah… it feels really good inside you, Rain. Does it feel good for you too?”


Winter doesn’t seem to mind it as he goes hard on fucking Rain. The hyena bounces from the thrusts into him and he can’t stop himself from moaning loudly.


“Go harder! Faster!”


The two of them get lost in the sea of pleasure, Rain begging for more as Winter pushes himself on him as hard as he can. Once Winter was getting closer, he lifted his head to kiss Rain deeply, tongues meeting inside to exchange heat with one another. Rain gladly takes it, sharing his tongue with his, though he doesn’t realize that it was taking his life away. The longer Winter holds the kiss, the quicker Rain’s life fades away, causing him to lose the strength to hold on to Winter. But Winter knows and when Rain can no longer hold on to him, he takes his hand and entangles his fingers with his, pushing himself to keep Rain up. He gets closer, giving a few more thrusts before filling up Rain’s body with his semen. It’s warm and he pumps a full load inside of him. Winter finally parts and sees the aftermath of their mating. Rain was slumped, eyes empty with life no longer inside them. He had fallen limp right when Winter had given his seed though Rain himself seemed to give one more shot when he passed from pleasure. Even though Winter is left panting, he still had a little bit of energy inside him. He carries Rain’s body and lays him on the ground, still inside him. Looking down at Rain’s expression, he resumes thrusting into his body. He feels feral and his lust fuels his movements, plunging himself deeper into Rain’s corpse. Harder and harder he shoves his cock inside the cold body, Rain resisting none of it. Eventually, one more dump inside the body fills it deep inside, tiring out the wolf. He falls on Rain, panting heavily. A drop of water falls on Winter’s ear, clouds setting in the dark night. Rain, true rain falls upon them. Winter finds himself looking up to the sky, feeling the water wash away the fatigue.


“You didn’t need to do that. It was already raining when you died.”


A few moments pass and the village of the wolves notice Winter in the distance. They greet him with a warm welcome but keep themselves under their roofs due to the rain.


“Looks like you’re victorious! Congratulations on becoming a man!”


The people are happy to see him but Winter doesn’t reply with the same joyful tune. He just silently walks through with Rain in his arms, solemnly quiet. The other notices and leaves him alone. Winter eventually gets home and is greeted by his mother.


“Welcome home, Winter. Did your trial go well?”


Of course, when she sees her child look so distraught with a body in his hands, she immediately goes to him and comforts him.


“There there. Was it…difficult?”


Winter does not answer her question, instead, he pleads for something.


“Mother, this man did not do anything wrong, and neither did his brother. I ask that his brother is not guilty of his crime and that the cost of his brother’s soul will keep him safe.”


The judgment call for the trial was surprising to his mother, usually saved for the chieftain to hear but after seeing him like this, she simply nods and understands.


“Yes. I shall send the message over.”


“Mother, may I use the paints? I want to give him a good send-off.”


Another surprise from her child. It is a tradition that the dead are painted by their own tribe but to hear it from Winter means this situation is more tragic than she thought.


“Of course. After you’re done, come to me and tell me everything.”


With a nod, Winter goes to the back. The room is a special one, circular and with candles on all sides. It is used for praying but it had another purpose for ones who were dead. Winter lays Rain’s body down in the middle of the room, a small mat just under it. His mother comes as well with the paints he requested. She sets them down, quietly and disappears as soon as she is done, leaving only Winter and Rain. The wolf takes a deep breath and starts the ceremony. Taking a brush and dipping it in red paint, he does the first step. He takes Rain’s arms and draws symbols of wind, long streaks of red around the arm.


“A symbol of kindness. To show that you carried love in your arms.”


He draws them on each arm and moves on to the next step. He takes Rain’s legs and draws symbols of earth, hard lines with corners.


“A symbol of strength. To show that you stood your ground.”


He moves on to the next step, Rain’s face. He draws symbols of water, flowing down along the hyena’s mane.


“A symbol of intelligence. You were smart. Smarter than anyone I know.”


One more step, the torso. Winter draws symbols of the sun, radiant with rays.


“A symbol of good morals. You were a good person. I’m sure of that.”


Lastly, the back. Winter sits Rain up and changes the brush to black. This one was hard for him as the draw symbols of the moon, crescent facing down.


“A symbol of misfortune. Everything went wrong for you. You didn’t deserve that.”


With that, Winter was almost done. He takes a white powder and throws it around Rain’s body.


“Let your soul be ingrained with these symbols and give you strength. I hope you are well, Rain.”


The ceremony is complete, Winter sits back down and looks at Rain one more time. His eyes were lifeless but they were not in pain, simply empty as the body no longer holds his soul. Winter grabs Rain’s hand and squeezes it, holding back tears.


“Right. There’s still work to be done.”


Winter stands up and prepares for tomorrow.


Night falls again and a young hyena runs away through the forest as quickly as he can. He’s chased by others like him but angry and spiteful.


“Come back, you little runt! The wolves may have pardoned you but we still think you’re a criminal! I’ll deal with you myself if it’s the last thing I do!”


The hyena keeps running, panting, and nearly tripping on every branch. He finally reaches the prairie, the kingdom just in reach!


“Hold it, little guy.”


The hyena is surrounded by adults, all grinning with a sick glare.


“It’s about high time you pay the price of being better than us. Join your brother in the afterlife!”


The adults reach for the small hyena and he calls for help in desperation.


“Please! Help!”


A sudden black shadow appears before one of the adults. Everyone stops and looks at the mysterious figure.


“Who are you?”


The figure responds.


“The Dark Hunter.”


Without a second passed, the figure attacks and blood sprays across the grass, killing one of the adults. Everyone is in shock and they back away from the figure. He turns to the rest, holding a large scythe with eyes crimson as blood.


“And you are on my hunting grounds. Prepare to be my prey.”


Blood sprays everywhere, with screams of pain from the adults as they run in fear of the Dark Hunter. The small hyena backs up in fear, scared of the massacre in front of him. It’s then when a white wolf comes and grabs his hand to rescue him.


“Come quick! You’ll be safe if you come with me!”


Suddenly grabbed by the white wolf, he gets taken to the kingdom in a hurry. The hyena looks back one more time to see the figure standing there, not a single one of his pursuers was there. He wonders who he was and why did he save him, until he disappears into the trees once again.


The figure looks back and watches the hyena escape. He smiles and looks up to the sky.


“I did as I promised, Rain. Your brother is now safe from the tribe. I hope you’ll rest easy now.”


The dark aura subsides and he looks around himself, surrounded by corpses. He sighs, yet he feels a slight excitement.


“I suppose a bit of entertainment wouldn’t hurt, would it?”


TO BE CONTINUED