Leo flinched slightly as he saw the lightning flash overhead, soon followed by the deafening thunder. He turned his eyes to the skies for a moment, his eyes nervous, and then down to his hands as another flash of light showed the blood that covered them. He winced for a moment as the memories flooded his mind, but he quickly pushed them away as he gave a quick glance over his shoulder. Leo glanced down at the dagger that sat in one hand, the sweet red blood glistening for a moment as the clouds cleared to show the silver moon. He let out a slight sigh before he placed the dagger at his belt once more.

Leo’s eyes settled on the house that stood nearby, just outside of the forest that he stood in. The night’s silence was broken only by the storm and Leo’s heavy panting; the residents of the homes in the valley were all blissfully unaware of anything out of place. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the cloudy sky, the moon covered once again. Another sigh escaped his lips as he started to turn away from the town, but he hesitated and stood silent for a moment.

After a few moments of standing in silence, Leo jumped as he heard a crashing, his heart pounding once more. He soon realized it was only a feral cat that had streaked through the night in fear before crashing into someone’s window. He let out the breath that he’d been holding and started to relax until he saw the slight light that came from a candle flickering in the window of the house closest to him. Leo cursed under his breath as lightning struck once more, illuminating the silhouette of a well-built man talking to a thin, delicate looking young woman. The two people he didn’t need to run into.

His heart gave a slight jump in his chest as if he’d been jolted with electricity as he saw the man emerge from the house within a few minutes. Instinctively his hand flew down to the small dagger that was at his belt, but he stood silent, barely daring to breath. He stood almost catlike as his eyes followed his father as he walked towards the forest, and part of Leo’s body told him to run, and for a slight moment he started to act on it.

As Leo took a step back to avoid being seen by his father, his foot caught the middle of a branch, causing it to snap just when the storm was starting to quiet down and the sound echoed throughout the night. Instead of freezing when his father quickly turned around, Leo couldn’t help himself as he started to turn and run, instead tripping over something and landing face first in the dirt. His head whammed against a rock, and his breath temporarily left him. As he stood up, his vision blurred slightly and he ignored the cut on the side of his head and the blood that flowed from it. He stumbled slightly, but he tried to shake it off as he saw his father quickly coming towards him. Leo put a hand to his throbbing forehead for a moment before he came to his senses and quickly pulled out his dagger, pointing it straight at his father.

His eyes narrowed in a cold glare at his father as he stopped walking. No words were exchanged between them as they stared each other in the eyes, the moment seeming to be frozen in time. After a few moments, Leo’s father eventually took a few steps back and stood silent, his eyes seeming hesitant for a moment before they turned emotionless. Leo watched him carefully as he took a step back, pausing once more before he turned quickly on his feet and started to run through the forest, just as the lightning flashed again.

The lightning seemed to almost be an electric trigger in Leo’s body, and he rushed through the trees and the brush. The wind rushed into his ears, whispering words of encouragement to him as he tuned out the storm, his thoughts jumbled. The dagger flew out of his hand as he ran, but he ignored it, he didn’t give it a second thought. He was finally free. Freedom; a word he’d never before known, a new notion to his mind. Occasionally he thought of the electricity that had passed between him and his father in that moment that their eyes were locked, a moment of almost understanding. A moment unprecedented for them.

As he rejoiced at his freedom in the rain that poured down, his thoughts started to wander to what he had had to do to gain it. The act he committed was still undiscovered to his knowledge, his one friend still lying on the cold hard ground, bleeding because of Leo. Dead because of Leo’s dagger. His heart sank as this thought hit him, but he didn’t miss a step as he continued to run, ignoring the tree branches that cut into his arms. Leo had known all along that freedom came with a hefty price, and he had been ready to pay it. He knew that he would be sought after by everyone in the town for the rest of his life, but he was ready to go far away from there. He would go to the ends of the earth to find a new life, because he knew that he couldn’t stay behind. He didn’t fit in, the facts were as simple as that. Leo was different, Leo was an outcast. He could never live out a fulfilling life in the town. As he ran, his eyes seemed blind to the world around him, blind to the nature he passed by. Leo paid no attention to what direction he was headed, nor did he want to. He was just a wanderer, there for only a moment before he moved on to new experiences. Just like the lightning that flashed through the sky on that peaceful night.

The sun’s rays beat down upon the stone of the gorge, making it hot to the touch underneath Maya’s paws. While it would bother most strays, Maya somehow found it easy to endure the heat waves that struck in the summer, despite her long black fur. What appeared to be a smile sat on her muzzle as she felt the warmth of the rocks beneath her feet. Her normally dull brown eyes now had a slight tint of enjoyment and happiness to them as she walked through the gorge that stood outside of the town where the strays wandered. The humans would all be inside their houses with their fans going full speed, their lap dogs laying at their feet, trying to keep from the heat. Most of the other strays would either be scrounging around in the dump for food or lazing in the shade. No one else would bother taking a leisurely stroll, even the other strays that enjoyed the heat had stayed behind.

There was little shaded areas in the gorge and it was void of most life, those who did live in the gorge had mostly taken shelter or were reptiles that lay on rocks to sunbathe. Maya glanced over at a lizard she hadn’t experienced before and padded silently over to it, pausing slightly before she started to sniff it. As she did so, it stood up in irritation from both the heat and having its sleep disturbed and it hissed at her, managing to bite her nose slightly. Maya let out a yelp and jumped back, quickly tucking her tail between her legs as she quickly moved away from the lizard that was crawling back into its home in the ground. The Belgian Shepherd glared slightly in its direction before she turned and trotted off, ignoring her throbbing nose. As soon as she was out of its sight though, she quickly sat down and rubbed at her nose with her paw, just barely able to keep a whimper from escaping her maw. She stopped rubbing it after a moment and let out what sounded like a sigh as she looked up at the clear sky, cloudless, the only thing standing out in it being the burning sun. She lay down on the rocky ground and closed her eyes to let the warmth soak into her fur and she soon dozed off.

A few hours later, she was still asleep there as the air around started to cool off, the heat wave finally losing its grip on the town. Her eyes slowly opened as the sounds of a vulture calling from overhead reached her ears, which twitched slightly. Her eyes floated to the sky, where the sun was starting to set slowly. Maya stretched and yawned, knowing that it was about time that she should head back to the town before the creatures of the night came out. She knew the heat wave would be back again the next day, could feel it in her bones and she told herself that she could come back then.

As she started to turn around to leave the gorge, her body tensed up with the sense that something else was nearby. It was then that she saw the eyes. The eyes that burned through the ever-growing darkness and pierced into hers. The eyes of a creature of the night. Maya felt a shiver as it crawled down her spine, her eyes intently focused on the scarred dog that stepped into her view. His lips were curled back in a fierce snarl and his eyes were cold and hungry. He stepped toward Maya slowly as she was still frozen with fear as he started to pace in a circle around her. Finally, Maya came to her senses and her hackles raised as she started to growl, crouching low to the ground and starting to back up slightly until she hit the rock wall of the gorge. She tucked her tail between her legs as she realized she was cornered and the other dog was closing in on her.

~~~~~~~~

The next morning, birds were up chirping away and pecking at the bird feeders that sat in yards before the heat wave could hit. Dogs ran after Frisbees thrown by early risers, those who wanted to avoid the heat of the later day. Strays watched the lap dogs from the safety of being downwind and out of sight, hidden in the bushes. Some watched with disgust in their eyes, while others talked tough but secretly yearned to be the ones that would go inside to sit by a nice, cooling fan for the rest of the day. It was a normal routine for a summer day where they lived, rarely broken and always favored. This morning, though, it was broken by a stray Belgian shepherd, who limped through the city dump with blood dripping from a jagged gash in her left hind leg.

Other strays wondered what had happened, seeing as if there was a fight between the strays, everyone knew. They knew she’d gained the wound in the heat of the gorge of the previous day. She ignored the whines and sounds the others made asking her as she walked out of the dump and away from where she slept. As she reached the entrance of the gorge, she was stopped by a cocky stray only a year older than her, a vigorous mutt who would do anything to win a fight. Maya growled out a warning to him but he ignored her and started to walk towards her, teeth bared. She crouched low to the ground as he approached her and when he was only a few feet away, she lunged forward and sunk her teeth into his neck before quickly jumping back, her eyes emotionless. Maya ignored the stunned strays that quickly moved out of her way as she walked forward, leaving the male dog to suffer in the sun.

She walked toward the gorge in silence, her fur matted and her eyes dull. The heat soaked into her fur, but she ignored it, only giving a slight glance at the sun. Maya continued onward silently, not noticing the life she passed by, the lizards that were startled by her sudden presence and hissed at her. Maya walked onwards until she noticed a large rock that provided just enough shade for her to rest in. She quickly limped over, the heat wave finally starting to bother her, irritating her wound. She sat down in the small section of shade, and then started to like her wound for a moment. Maya stayed in the same spot for several hours before she finally stretched and ventured out into the growing heat wave once more. She ignored the pain she felt coming from the pads of her paws that were being cut from the sharp rocks she limped over.

As she walked, Maya heard the calls of various birds from overhead and she gave a slight glance up to see a hawk as it swooped down to snatch up one of the smaller lizards. She watched it eat for a moment before she continued onward, only hesitating for a slight moment as she realized she was about to go further into the gorge than any of the strays had been before. The feeling was soon replaced with curiosity and she pushed onward, sticking close to the rocky wall and jumping at any unexpected sound that reached her ears.

After walking for a while, the path started to widen and revealed a large field that lie in wait just beyond it. Maya stopped walking for a moment and looked out into it, a place where she could bask in the sun or rest in the shade of the trees. She glanced over her shoulder back in the direction of the town, but something inside compelled her to move forward. As she took a step forward, feeling the grass beneath her paw, the heat wave seemed to lift from her and she no longer felt it. Her mind was focused on other things as she started to limp quickly into the field, finally managing to break into a full run to the middle of the field, panting slightly. She ignored the calls from the vultures that flew overhead as she rolled around in the tall grass and flowers. She finally lie down in the grass, unable to hear those who called her name. Their voices were lost to her ears in the mist of a heat wave.