Disclaimer: Everything and everyone in this story is mine, all mine.

By Carbo

This story is a part of the DARK-series which tells the story of a dark hearted wolf with a vendetta against the world and a sensitive novelist hyena. Through peculiar events the two end up together, and that\x92s when the fun begins. This is the prologue, or the first part if you will, and describes how the main characters first met.

Glossary: Canid = the term I use for a canine morph. (wolf, dog, fox\x85)

Ratings: PG

Category: drama

Warning: Stories in the DARK-series have homosexual content.

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It was one of those nights when the shadows seemed longer around the streetlights, when whole Ladarla seemed to brood in heavy silence, as if waiting for something important to happen. Even the moon was too nervous to stay out in the open and instead decided to observe the city from behind the safety of a thick cloud.

Kaldera could sense it too. The entire buss drive from the press building to his apartment he couldn\x92t help but feel a slight uneasiness deep in his gut. He didn\x92t really understand why he felt so tense, everything seemed absolutely fine. Cars were going by as usual, the night was calm and there were no signs of any storms, everything seemed completely normal. But still the feeling wouldn\x92t leave him alone.

Trying to relax himself he took a deep breath, he ran his brown palm through his short, fawn hair \x96 something he always did when nervous \x96 and pressed the stop button. As he stepped out, a chilly breeze sneaked up on him and made him instinctively tighten the light jacket around him. It was surprising how quickly the temperature seemed to drop. He was quite sure it hadn\x92t been this cold when he\x92d left his office.

In spite the fact he knew there was probably no sane reason for his still lingering uneasiness, he quickened his pace, not wanting to stay on the street any longer than necessary. He had a feeling that if he was ever going to get mugged, tonight would be a probability.

He felt a slight feeling relief when he finally closed the door behind him and trotted into his small but cozy living room. No bogeyman was going to get to through five sets of locks. Flicking on a table lamp on he made his way to the stereo that was placed by the window that gave a fine view over the nightly city, and indulged himself in the music of Jean Sibelius.

But in the midst of high singing violins, he lacked to notice the soft shuffling noises coming from the direction of bathroom, nor did he realize the cool breeze coming from the balcony door, which oddly enough was slightly ajar.

But just as a dark figure was silently attempting to cross the room in the safety of shadows, and disappear unnoticed through the open balcony door, Kalderas sixth sense kicked in. He swirled around just at the right moment - or the wrong one, which ever way one sees it - and ended up staring into the eyes of a tall dark figure that hovered over him with a long sharp knife in his hand.

Kaldera froze in shock, his heart literally jumping into his throat. Completely frozen, his heart thundering loudly in his ears, the hyena stared terrified at the figure towering over him. Kaldera knew very well that in this city, making a move with a burglar was as efficient as signing your own death certificate, especially with ones that looked like this. Besides, he was in too much shock to think straight enough to get into proper defense.

Since it was all he was able to do, Kaldera simply stared blankly at his uninvited visitor, waiting with his heart in his throat for an attack or something of the sort. But strangely enough, as seconds stretched on, nothing happened. For some reason Kaldera couldn\x92t fathom, the fiend had most obviously decided not to make a move either, and settled to calmly stare back at the hyena instead. Seconds slowly stretched into minutes as the two men stared at each other in heavy silence.

When the intruder didn\x92t seem as aggressive as he had expected, Kaldera allowed himself evaluate the burglar further. Like he\x92d noticed before, the canid -one that he\x92d now identified as a wolf- was quite tall, at least five inches taller than he was. The intruders fur, as much as he could see from under the tight clothing, was pitch black, medium length and slightly wavy. But the most distinctive feature about him were his exceptional eyes, those captivating orange tinted, brownish orbs that seemed to bore right through him. And strangely, something in those eyes struck a familiar cord him, as if he had seen them somewhere else before, in another time, another place. But for the life of him, he couldn\x92t bring up the memory. It was too far away and too faded.

Concentrating back on the present, Kaldera continued his observations. He could see great intelligence behind those eyes, he could tell by the way the wolf observed him: calm, intense and self-assured. There wasn\x92t a flicker of fear or apprehension there. The canid had full control over the situation and knew it.

The two kept up their staring contest for a few more long seconds that seemed to stretch on forever, neither one moving a single muscle the entire time. The only thing that indicated the two were still alive was the heavy breathing that could be heard over the music.

Then suddenly the faint, far away sound of sirens made it\x92s way to their consciousness. Starling Kaldera half to death the intruder suddenly sprung into action and before Kaldera had fully time to comprehend it, the tall wolf had disappeared through glass door with unbelievable speed and agility, leaving him standing utterly mystified in the middle of the empty room.

Once he got his senses back and allowed himself to breath, he forced his slightly shaky legs to walk over to the window. No signs of the wolf could be seen anywhere, all he could see were flashing of blue lights, as a dozen police cars rushed passep speeded past his apartment building.

Watching the cars go by, questions started to form in his head. Had the police been after his visitor, and if so what on earth had he done to get so many on his tail? And the biggest question of all, what on earth had he been doing in his apartment? It all intrigued him immensely, but right now, there was no way for him to find out. Kaldera had given up television years ago, and that besides the fact that he had no money, was the reason for his lack of the great black box. He\x92d just have to wait for the morning newspaper, assuming the paper boy wasn\x92t "sick" again.

Deciding it was time for bed, even though he knew probably wouldn\x92t get much sleep tonight, he went to the balcony door, closed it properly this time \x96 he didn\x92t understand how\x92d he\x92d managed to leave it open in the first place \x96 and after one more curious glance to the empty street below, he walked over to the stereo and turned off the music.

As he\x92d expected he had quite some trouble falling asleep that night, as thoughts of the mysterious burglar, or what ever he was, haunted his mind. The canids eyes had burned themselves into his brain and every time he closed his eyes he could see the orange orbs burning in the dark, staring at him with brooding silence, hypnotizing him with their intimidating beauty. But after a big glass of warm milk and a few pages of Mikeel Criihtoon, he managed to banish the intruder out of his head and finally and made his way into the land of Nod.

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As he regained his consciousness, the very first thing he felt was the dull ache of pain. His head felt like someone had driven a hammer into it, and though he normally enjoyed the morning serenade of birds, right now he just wished they would be quite.

Thanking Osiris he didn\x92t have to go to work today, he got out of bed and wobbled his way into the bathroom to get some aspirin. Seeing his reflection from the bathroom mirror he flinched. "I look like a fucking hedgehog!" He mumbled as he tried to get the fur on his head to settle down. It was no use though, his hair had obviously decided on sticking up and there was no gel thick enough to change that. Well at least there wasn\x92t in his cupboard.

After a quick shower he made himself some strong Expresso and fetched the morning paper. The paper boy had obviously recovered from his illness. Heart beating slightly faster than normal he went quickly through the paper hoping to find something concerning the visit he\x92d received last night. It didn\x92t take long for him to find it. There it was, right on the fourth page, in relatively big print: "Robber strikes again"

Apparently, this guy, who ever he was, wasn\x92t a first timer. Or at least that was what the officials were guessing by the multitude of bigger scale burglaries done in the last few months, all by a gang of three fitting same subscriptions. Last night they had robbed the house of Senator Baisle, taking all his most expensive antique artifacts. This time they had almost been caught, the leader, described as a tall, dark-furred wolf, had been shot by one of the house guards \x96 whom Kaldera guessed was the visitor in question. The other suspects didn\x92t really fit the picture, one described blonde, the other brown furred.

As he read on, an interesting thought suddenly struck him. Drinking up the rest of his coffee he quickly made his way back into the bathroom and opened the bathroom closet.

"Eureka!" he smiled as he examined the closet. His first-aid kit was missing along with his dressing supplies. So that was what he had came for, something to bandage his arm with. His apartment was pretty low to the ground, the lights had been out, his balcony door had been open\x85it had been the golden opportunity.

He supposed he should notify the Police about the incident, but a strange feeling in his gut made him decide against it. He picked up the phone several times that day in attempt to make report, but every time he\x92d tried to dial the number, the familiar orange eyes appeared before him, accusation shining in them, and every time he\x92d placed the receiver back down. It wasn\x92t like the man had hurt him in any way, neither had he taken anything valuable. Besides, what good was the information to anyone. It was hardly going to help in the investigation, after all Kaldera hadn\x92t even seen his face.

Satisfied with his reasonings, Kaldera had cut the article out the paper and plastered it on to his refrigerator with one of his apple magnets. He had a feeling he would find some use for it in the near future.

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