Autumn Twilight

Dusk.

Twilight, Early Evening, whatever. 
The sun slowly merged with the ground, causing the sky to be tinted a marvelous orange and yellow. Specks of purple found their way into the array of warm colors as the sky slowly became darker and darker. Little white lights poked out of the darkness, further illuminating the still dark sky. The orange and yellow rays of sun that still peeked over the horizon projected onto the orange, yellow and red leaves of big, strong oaks. The light caused the leaves to look like they were glowing slightly, if you looked at it right anyhow. Crumpled, dried leaves fluttered around in the wind, kicking up and slowly descending back to earth with every small gust of wind. 

If Autumn had to be a color, it would be orange. 

Winter is white, Spring is pink, Summer is green. But Autumn is orange. It had a particular smell to it, the Autumn scent was the best scent. 

Sitting with his legs crossed on an isolated bench in a park, a kitsune like creature fiddled with an empty plastic cup that once held iced coffee. Well, not anymore. His tails probed the ground for leaves, flicking every time they touched one. His natural charcoal black color stood out among the yellows and oranges. The dark red trench coat he wore draped over the bench, almost reaching down to his ankles. His legs- covered in faded blue pants- and feet occasionally shuffled, tapping often. His black leathery wings folded against his back, occasionally opening up to stretch then folding back down again. To be specific, the creature fiddled with the cup in his left hand which looked quite different against the rest of his body. It was purple and scaly, and covered in a perpetual dark energy. He tossed the cup into his more natural looking right hand and spun it around a few times. 

He looked back up at the sky, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He liked when it was just night time better. The time of day for which he was named never appealed to him. He never really took the time to dwell on it, nor would he want to. That was a different time and this is now. That's how he'd like to think. It doesn't matter, anyway.

The Autumn scent is the best scent.

If Amber ever had to choose a moment to live in, she would choose a time where the leaves turn orange and red and yellow, where the sweet scent of ripening fruit and dried flowers waft through the air, tickling your nose. Where the sun hid behind gray clouds, only sending the most peaceful of rays. The trees were glowing that day, and that was why she was there right now, standing amongst the rain of leaves. 

Her nose tilted upwards slightly, her brown scarf hanging just below her chin and blew with the breeze that swept through the park. Her bangs swayed gently, along with her low ponytail. Amber Wolfe stood still, arms held out, the color of her fur blending perfectly among the shades of autumn. Leaves swept by her arms, by her head, by her shaggy tail and slender legs. Yet the persimmon wolf felt none of it. The crisp wind and gentle leaves. Nothing. 

Her dark attire contrasted nicely with her background, black loose-cut pants with a white accent, two brown belts wrapped crisscrossed around her slender hips, a maroon and black top that revealed her white underbelly along with maroon shoes and arm guards. One would wonder how she coped with the cooler weather. But in fact, she felt nothing at all.

Her darker persimmon ears twitching, she detected odd flicking noises from beside her. Opening her amber orbs slightly, she noticed a fellow wolf sitting on bench, using his tail to play with the fallen leaves. His dark fur and entire stood out among the oranges, reds, and yellows. Yet he seemed to enjoy the autumn as much as she did. It was one of the few relieves she had in her bleak life. One of the few things that convinced her the world was still beautiful... 

A light at the end of the tunnel.

(Even from Amber's perspective I'd think that Twilight looks more fox like than wolf like. Still canine tho.)

The Kitsune opened his eyes, still looking up at the sky. It was the same color, barely anything had changed. Perhaps it got a tiny bit darker, but it wasn't very noticeable. A few more tiny white specks made their way into the group of stars already slightly showing themselves out of the darkness that existed against the sun's flaring colors. A few more leaves fell from the trees, obscuring his view of the sky ever so slightly. He blew at the leaves that were close enough to have almost touched his nose. They fluttered rapidly, then scattered. 

He sat there, wrapped in an unreality of Autumn sights and smells. His ears twitched, and flattened. His fantasy for the moment was gone at the sound of footsteps.  He looked over at the source of the noise and spotted the wolf. He looked annoyed to say the least, almost scowling, then he let up. His expression sat a neutral point, like he didn't really care anymore. He was in a park, the existence of mobians here was bound to be a thing that happened. Maybe the city wasn't exactly the best place for him to be living. At least people had the decency to leave him alone here, however. He took his eyes off of the wolf, then looked back, then looked away again. They seemed to be taking in the scenery as enjoyably as he was, so they couldn't have been that much of a bother.

((Sorry about that ^^; ))

The wolf inhaled deeply, breathing in the crisp autumn breeze that she could not detect. She put her arms down, opening her amber orbs, and began to walk deeper amongst the trees. Her feet made no sound, even as it loomed over dried leaves, shifted among them, and took a light step. Her scarf danced, carried by the breeze, and the rain of leaves engulfed her. She brought her hand up and touched her temple, felt the throb of her aching head. 'What happened?' She thought, but her mind was fuzzy. Had she burst a vein? Grown a brain tumor? No, she would've bled through her nose by then. 'Maybe just the three days without sleep.' 

Once she was deep enough among the shedding trees, she hopped into the air, landing silently on a branch. Finally, she lowered her scarf, stumbling to the log of the tree and leaning on it. Her eyelids fluttered, and they closed once again, ears sagging slightly in slight relief. 'Just exhausted...' She thought once again, almost letting out a chuckle of amusement to herself for the previous thoughts. The breeze blew past and the leaves fluttered gently. A lullaby to the ears of the silent.

Twilight watched as the wolf jumped into the tree with relative ease. She didn't even have wings, how interesting. Then again, most mammalian mobians didn't unless they were bats. He folded his wings back close to his body subconsciously and continued to relax among the autumn setting. He went back to fiddling with the cup in his hand, and soon crushed it in his hand making a rather loud crackling sound of breaking plastic. His ears perked up at the sound, then relaxed again. He stopped crushing it and simply held the cup in his hand. He didn't exactly feel like getting up to throw it away, but throwing it on the ground would ruin the scenery. He got up anyway. 

He looked up at the scarf hanging down from the tree. Looks like he wasn't the only one to sleep in trees, was it a popular thing to do? He didn't know. Either way, he jumped up and floated over towards the nearest trash can, too lazy to use his feet to get from point A to point B. After he dropped the cup into the trash he hovered back, wanting to just close his eyes and feel the crisp air. He would definitely bump into something though. He didn't, but he wanted to. He found himself closing his eyes anyway, his mind was silent for once. He needed this. 

When he opened his eyes while making his way back to the bench, he found himself almost bumping into the wolf from before. He stopped, and floated back. His wings stretched out, but never flapped. He hovered there as if by magic. He flattened his ears, as if annoyed by the wolf's presence in the tree, even though bumping into her would've been his fault.

She heard everything. From the moment he crushed his coffee cup, causing her ears to twitch, to when he got up and flew- 'Wait, flew?' Amber thought she was hearing a bird. To the second he dropped his cup into a trash can, the clanking sound causing her ears to flatten to her head somewhat. 'How loud...' Though in fact it was only her ears which were too sensitive. Despite not being able to sense heat nor touch, her ears made up for peripheral detection. As he flew closer, her ears stood up straighter and straighter on her head. Until he flew too close (6 meters was too close for her. Especially during her alone time), her eyes shot open and she jumped up to a crouch on the branch. Ears flat to her head, eyes narrow and sharp, she gazed at the black fox with heated intensity. In fact, her caution caused the temperature to spike high.


Her defense mode dropped in the instant she noticed his wings. Eyes widening, only for the shortest of moments, she stayed almost in shock. The temperature noticeably dropped, but once she recovered her resolve, it spiked up once again. An uncertain swing of heat, reflecting just how conflicted she was towards this odd creature. However this was her claimed territory, and she stood her ground. Eyes narrowing once again, she crouched lower, anticipating any attack that might be thrown at her. Her scarf hid her scowl, but her body language was clear enough.

She wanted him to get away.

Twilight retreated back when the heat spiked up, to get away from the heat surrounding Amber. He stared back at her reaction, however. He observed her surprise, the lower in temperature and the sudden rise again. Coming closer felt like being inside of an oven, so he kept his distance. After she became defensive again, he flapped once. He flapped his wings once, only to send a small gust of wind at her. He looked unamused, barely annoyed. His ears were down slightly, his eyes were slightly narrowed. His expression simply read 'Are you kidding me?' He perched himself on a nearby branch and sat, watching the wolf. His tails flicked in an annoyed manner.

He thought to himself for a second. Was this how he acted around other people? Surely in some sense it had to have been. He knew he tended to be less defensive of his space most of the time, but he still had a reaction to give and that reaction was usually annoyed snark. He snapped out of his deep thought and looked back at the wolf- to see if he had gotten another reaction out of her like he wanted.

The gust of wind hit her and she did not flinch. She merely lowered her stance more, eying him cautiously. The heat was rising drastically around her. What did this fox want? He already had a bench all to himself. 'Just go back to it...' She snarled mentally. Yet when she saw him actually sit on a branch nearby, a real snarl left her throat. Behind her scarf, her fangs were bared. Brows furrowed, ears flat to her head, her gaze turned into a glare, almost burning into his own scarlet orbs. However, she did nothing. She noticed the unamused look on his face and she really did not want a fight. He wanted to sit there? Fine. So long as he stayed there and didn't make much noise. Amber had a pride, and that pride prevented her from backing down.

She let out a huff, almost a snort, and stood on the branch. Keeping perfect balance, she walked back to the spot she sat on before and once again plopped down gracefully, only shaking the branch slightly. Crossing one long, slender leg over the other, she lift her scarf higher on her muzzle, her glare not leaving the dark fox, Amber watched him cautiously, and soon (ever so slowly) she closed her eyes again. As much as she disliked the intrusion, she disliked the pounding in her head even more.

Twilight folded his wings close and kept staring back at her as she snarled. He blinked. Then his eyes followed hers, he didn't exactly trust her not to pull any tricks. But he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in when she sat back down. His shoulders relaxed, and he took a deep breath. Darkness almost appeared to come out of the wolf and flow into him. Anger. He felt more powerful, that's for sure. After having collected the emotions for his own power, he continued to sit on the branch. He looked down at his feet and kicked them back and forth, in an almost impatient manner. He stopped kicking his feet and shaking the branch. Twilight looked back up at the sky. It was a little darker now. The sun just peeked over the horizon- it's orange and yellow colors still flaring out. It would be night time soon, though. 

Backing up against the trunk, Twilight leaned against the tree and kicked his legs up onto the branch, putting his hands on his stomach and tapping them occasionally. Tapping his hands against his fur wouldn't end up making any noise anyway. He didn't exactly feel tired, but the position was comfortable enough for him to go back to enjoying the autumn evening. Eventually, however, he felt his own eyes close. Perhaps he did end up falling asleep.

An annoyed growl emitted from the persimmon wolf. What he was doing, she had no idea. But he was shaking the branch. Shaking, shaking... She furrowed her brows again, but remained in her current position, crossing her arms this time. Her ears flattening to her head, Amber took a deep, deep breath. She just wanted some peace... However, it all just stopped suddenly (which was a huge relief to her). Yet, a strong sense of paranoia crept through her. Opening one of her eyes, she peeked at the dark fox laying on an opposite branch. Her annoyance and anger melted away, replaced instead by curiosity.

Seeing someone sleep was not something foreign to her. She had killed many of her targets in their sleep. Yet she wondered why this one seemed different. Opening both her eyes slightly, she watched Twilight sleep, an odd feeling of peace beginning to swell in her. Was this what empathy felt like?

He shuffled, not quite asleep yet. He was content with everything again, however, and didn't open his eyes either. Another crisp autumn breeze blew, rustling the leaves slightly and brushing up against his face- to which he reacted very little if at all. His tails were still moving behind him, hanging down and swaying back and forth almost with the breeze. He moved one of his tails up to cover him as he relaxed. 

The sun rays that reached the tree bathed everything in a golden light, and made it seem like everything was glowing once again. The feeling of the light against his eyes made him shiver, almost instinctively. He thought it would've gotten dark quicker but it didn't exactly matter now. He was pretty much asleep at this point.

She watched with the silence of a statue. Watched his tails, how he covered himself with one of them. She turned her head to gaze upon the rays of gold peek through the thick autumn clouds, and then the orange umbrella of leaves. For at that moment, her eyes were the color of the sky. Her fur swayed as the crisp breeze blew past, yet she felt none of it. But she remembered a time when she used to.

Oh, how she loved autumn. She was even named after it. Perhaps that was what her parents thought, seeing the color of her fur and the color of her eyes. Or maybe they were merely inspired by the name engraved on the silver locket they left her when they handed her over to the orphanage. Or perhaps it was a lucky coincidence.

Bringing her hand up, she moved her scarf over her muzzle, observing the glow of the leaves below the fading rays. "...Twilight..." She said, yet her voice was too soft. It was drowned by the breeze and rustling leaves. Yes, it was a twilight. A time of day she could rarely enjoy. Especially in this wondrous season. For a moment, everything was perfect.

Twilight shifted, pulling his tail and legs inward and exhaled comfortably as the Wolf whispered. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, for there was no way he could possibly hear her over the leaves rustling. It was indeed perfect- but he wasn't awake to enjoy the perfection any longer which was weird for him. His breathing was soft and peaceful, the slight noise of deep breathing drowned out by the rustling of the leaves. 

(I hope you don't mind the time skip, it won't be by long but we can always backpedal if you want.)

It hadn't been that long before Twilight woke up, perhaps a half hour to 45 minutes. He propped himself on the tree trunk slightly as he woke up, but pushed up a little too far and ended up sliding off of the branch not long after waking up. He let out a yell as he fell- hitting the ground with a dull thud. His fall had caused a few leaves to fly and scatter in the air, one had fluttered onto his head. He held his head as he got up, leaves scattered among his coat. He looked groggy, like he didn't want to get up. Then again, who does?

The wolf had only been dozing off when Twilight fell off the tree. His yell pierced through her ear like a knife, causing her to leap off her branch on instinct and surprise. The heat spiked up extremely high, though only for a split second. Ears flat to her head, she landed with no sound, but caused the fallen leaves around her to be blown up and scatter. She was crouched low to the ground, one leg bent and one hand touching the ground. She too was a bit groggy, her head pounding still, and her ears now ringing. 

The sky and surroundings were now dark, yet it was not a problem for her. Irises now glowing within the dark, she gazed at the male on the ground, holding his head and covered in colorful autumn leaves. Perhaps he wasn't as harmful as she initially thought... 

Bringing herself to a tall stand, she cautiously walked closer to Twilight, her feet making no sound as they shifted through the piles of leaves. However, she stopped when she reached five feet. Amber merely looked down, curiously watching to see what he'd do, or perhaps she wanted to ask if he was alright. She's seen children fall out of trees before, but not grown mobians.

Twilight removed his hand from his head and blinked. He looked up at the Wolf that had come closer to him and adopted an annoyed gaze. He did that with mostly everyone though, so to him it was just normal behavior. He looked away, perhaps thinking of what he could do in this situation. "I meant to do that." He muttered, just loud enough to be heard by the Wolf. 

Then he stood up- even taller than the Wolf. He was only taller than her by a few inches, however he knew he could make himself taller and even look older if he really wanted to. He liked this form, however, and chose to keep it. In one moment, he even seemed to be imitating the face that she was making at him. He stopped though, and simply went back to his resting jerk face.

Despite his voice being soft, her ears heard it just fine. As he got up, Amber took a step back, ears flattening a bit in slight alarm to see he was bigger than her. She stuffed her hands in her pocket, eyes observing his face. What was he doing? Brows furrowing somewhat, her amber irises remained glued to the facial expression he was pulling, until he apparently decided to return it back to its default state.

She felt no fear, no worry, nor annoyance. Not even the chilly autumn evening breeze that blew by in a tease. It was simple curiosity. Questions, many questions, churned in her mind. Why did he have wings? Why did he decide to sleep on a branch? (She was doing the same thing but that's a different case) Who was he and what did he want? Yet none came out. 

Amber only stood there in silence, hidden away by the shadows yet given away by her own glowing orbs. A gust of air blew again, this time carrying her scarf with it, and it extended towards him even from the distance she stood in. Her hair swayed gently, yet not a word left her.

Twilight raised an eyebrow- seemingly in confusion, yet a strange interest. He wanted to walk around the Wolf to get a good look at her, but given her previous hostility he didn't think that would get to happen. His scarlet eyes let off a faint glow in the darkness, allowing him to see the Wolf- no matter how hidden in the shadows she may be. Trying his best to ignore the scarf blowing towards him, he tried talking again this time with the intention of getting a response out of the wolf. 

"Not talkative?" Now that his voice was louder, it was easier to hear what he really sounded like. His voice was deep and cool. Yet it didn't sound as deep as voices could be- it was at least a true indicator of his physical age. It had a rather teasing tone behind it at the moment. "Usually every mobian out of every mobian I see has something to say to me whether I want to hear it or not... I usually don't." He put his hands to his hips and eased back slightly- a small smile appeared on his face as if he seemed amused by that fact. He stretched his wings out to their full wingspan to catch the breeze. They weren't actually too big- not as big as some other's wings.

He spoke again, this time louder, and finally she could pick up the distinct characteristics of his voice. Ears twitching, her eyes found his and locked gazes. There were no foul intentions in her mind (or at least, not yet) for as far as learning goes, she had the curiousity of a small child (though obviously it rarely showed). Most would only see her coldness, her stoic and expressionless demeanor. But then again, the season of autumn had always managed to bring out the best in her. She listened to his statements one by one, silently glad he wasn't as loud as his movements, and merely tilted her head slightly to the side (she was acting so childish it even surprised herself).

However when he opened his wings, all of that disappeared. Her pupils dilating, the heat once again spiked up, and she jumped back. The leaves scattered upon this action and when they once again settled, she had taken cover behind a tree. Her body barely hidden behind it, and she probably didn't mean to hide, her eyes only glowed brighter in the darker surroundings. Sure she'd seen some odd things on her missions like horrible genetic experimentations, and she knew well just how dangerous they were. She really didn't need acid being spat in her face. Although she wouldn't actually feel it.

His eyes were locked on hers as she observed him. He tried looking her over too, but his chance disappeared when she jumped back and hid away at him opening his wings. At first he seemed shocked by the, yet again, sudden change- then his expression changed to one of realization. He closed his wings and walked around, trying to see her behind her hiding place. He kept his wings close, then he opened them again- this time slowly. 

"I don't know what you're thinking now." He started. "But I'm kind of a freak, so..." He seemed laid back again, but this time with his wings outstretched, he didn't seem to want to fold them close any time soon again. "I guess that's not too bad though." He didn't really say anything more, nor explain himself. He felt no reason to be so open with someone who wouldn't be open with him. Then again, he was probably talking rather nicely compared to how he usually is.

Amber only shrunk back behind the tree when he approached, brows furrowed in caution as her ears twitched with every step he took. When he got too close, she once again hopped up onto a tree branch, making no noise and hardly even shook the branch. She crouched on it and gazed down at him, her fur causing her to almost blend with the autumn leaves. Yet she remained perfectly calm, slowly figuring out that maybe, just maybe, this mobian meant no harm. 'But that can't be true.' She thought. 'Everyone has the ability to harm another.'

'But would they?' This sudden thought surprised even herself. She wondered where it came from, and how it even entered her head. Eyes observing his open wings. Upon closer inspection, they didn't seem so menacing... But you never know. However, when she heard his statement about being a freak, something seemed to click inside of her as her eyes seemed to soften somewhat. Alright, no harm in communicating...

She lift her hands, readying them to do sign language (which was a useful skill she picked up in order to avoid speaking. She really disliked speaking), and signed to him, "I'm a freak too."

Twilight lowered his ears at the signing, but payed attention when she did so. He looked away, and put a hand to his chin to signify that he was thinking. He seemed to be thinking really hard about something though- but then he was able to figure it out and looked back at Amber. At first, he seemed un-amused as if he thought she was lying or trying to mock him. Then he figured that if she was mocking him, it might have been more likely for her to say rather than sign. 

"Really now?" He replied in disbelief, but he did not sound shocked nor surprised. He simply sounded like a jerk- but the jerkiness lifted as he continued. "You look normal to me. What makes you a freak?" All Mobians looked different, and he knew that- but she at least looked more like a normal mobian than he did. Even the multiple tails thing would be considered at least kind of normal from the kitsunes he's seen running around. The wings, the clawed hand and the.... no, forget that. He wasn't near normal though, to say the least.

At first, his tone was not a pleasant one. Yet on the next sentence, it became more genuine. Then it lingered in her mind whether or not she should reply again. He'd invaded her territory and disturbed her rest. Why would she ever talk to someone who did that? Yet she lift her hands once again, and signed, 'I feel no pain. No heat. No touch. Numb.' True he may have wings, but he at least still had the ability of touch, did he not? It was such a basic ability. Yet she didn't have it.

Sudden cracks, like breaking bones and snapping rope, caught her ears, and she paused to wonder where it came from. And she was just finishing up the signing, when suddenly the branch beneath her gave way, catching her completely off guard. The wolf plummeted, trying to reorientate her body position but too little too late. She was plummeting right into Twilight and there was not enough distance, not enough time to dodge.

Twilight appeared shocked at first, he definitely wasn't ready for this, but he held his arms out as fast as he could. He was able to catch the Wolf, but almost fell over in the process. His stumbling back at least saved them both from getting clocked in the head with a tree branch. He put her down and pulled away slightly, staring into her eyes for a few seconds as if mesmerized. He quickly snapped back into reality he backed up from the wolf completely surprised at what had just happened. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets and attempted to close his coat as much as he could. He looked away, trying to appear indifferent to what happened and failing horribly. "... You're welcome." He mumbled.

She'd expected to fall. Hit the ground and feel that buzz in her head in the place of pain. Or at least hit the fox below. However, none of that came. To her, it felt like a sudden suspension, a sudden halt. And then came the hard ground, but in a way that she had been placed down carefully. Only when she saw Twilight that she realized what happened. Blinking slowly, she spoke for the very first time, "...Thank you." Her voice a gentle whisper, soft and silky like a breeze blowing past wind chimes.

Twilight jumped, looking back at the Wolf, feeling a little flustered and uncomfortable from the incident that happened like 5 seconds ago. His ears twitched as he heard the wolf speak- then he tried to return to his normally sassy attitude starting with an amused grin. "So you do have a voice in there, huh?" He said, in a weak attempt to cover up his previous flustered look with a heavy amount of sass. "I was beginning to think you couldn't speak." 

"But it's good that you can, I suppose." He raised his hand halfway up his chest, and made a little wiggly 'so-so' motion with it. "Ehh, I'm not exactly the best at signing." He quickly steered the subject back to where it once was. "What were you saying before?"