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In the Shadow, In the Light (M)

Started by Lion, March 16, 2012, 03:56:16 PM

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Lion

It wasn’t going to be a full moon tonight.  Clouds were brewing thickly over the tree tops, their spear-tips threatening to tear through the soft, downy bottoms of those clouds.  There was a high chance of rain; he could smell the water in the air wafting like smoke from a fire.  He had to admit, he liked the idea of rain.  Everything was greener in the rain, and for that, there was no better place to be than in the forest.  And this forest—Jerec could think of no place he’d rather be.

Here, he opened all his senses up to the world around him.  Ears perked up to every rustle of every leaf.  Skin was caressed by the cool embrace of the wind.   Eyes set to each movement around him.  Nose taking in every scent as it honed in on one.  Tongue ready to taste the blood and meat of the pretty one hundred yards from him.

A white-tailed stag with a long, slender neck perked up in attention to survey its surroundings.  A bird was singing in the trees and the stag went back to its feeding.  Jerec dug his clawed toes into the soil as he tightened his legs to pounce on the animal.  In his hybrid form, he was faster, stronger than normal, but he knew that if he jumped too soon or waited too long or miscalculated a single step, it could cost him his prey that could escape on a single leap and bound.

Jerec let out a breath, a slow smooth exhale and the stag’s head went up again, twitching an ear behind large antlers.  It looked all around and shuffled its hooves uncomfortably.  This was it.  If he waited a moment longer, it would all be for naught.

In a flash Jerec sprang up from the soil, in a powerful leap, all the muscles in his body snapping like a spring tightly coiled.  Jerec flew up into the air, claws on his hands grown out and ready to tear into the hide of the anima.  But in that moment, the stag too reacted with lightning reflexes.  It bounded off and the chase began.  Together they ran between trees, threading through them like a cord of fabric on a master weaver’s loom.  Jerec beat the ground on all bours, clasping into the dirt at breakneck speed.  One second he would be a three feet closer and the next the stag was just three feet farther away.  Underbrush was upswept and taken on the wind.  But he knew the chase couldn’t go on much longer.  The door would tire long before he did and all he needed was to press the distance and soon he would close in for the kill.

They headed past a clearing and going further into the thickness of the trees, Jerec began to close in.  As the stag began to lose breath, giving one grand mighty leap, Jerec suddenly heard a snap.  The sound violently resonated in the air and he found himself roughly having lost his footing, the earth shooting out and away from him, suddenly embraced by something unseen, as if the wind itself snatched him up from the ground.

The trees bent and swayed from the addition of his weight and they creaked from the encumberance.  Jerec yelped as he felt himself entangled in a barbed mesh net.  He grunted and cursed in anger, but he soon found that struggling only made the net cut into him.  He stilled himself, his fingers gripping onto the net around him, eyes shooting to the barbs strategically placed here and there.  He felt them piece mildly into his back but he was far from comfortable as it were.

“Stay calm, Jerec,” he told himself.  But his heart was racing in the last dregs of adrenaline.  And his breath was coming sharp, short, quick ventilations.  Slowly his hair diminished as he returned to his human form, claws shrinking and his body leaner. Jerec felt his canines receding and he felt his face clear up.  He wiggled around in the net, trying to break the clasps from the tree it was hung on, but to no avail.  His movement only pierced the flesh of his back further.  He tried again and still nothing.  But the more frustrated he got the more he felt the barbs carve into his flesh.

He was becoming desperate, but he knew that his struggle would only cause more pain.  At this realization, he unleashed a great howl than rang loudly in the air.  A wolf in distress.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

A small, pink, human tongue lapped at the cool stream water before the creature's head shot up to listen intently. Dropping down again to all fours, Ariel drank her fill until she was interrupted by a unnatural snap. Frightened, she fled to some underbrush and hid within. The silence of the woods disturbed her greatly, but her curiosity could not be contained.

Slinking cautiously to the source of the sound, she came to rest with her belly pressed flat against the earth beneath a berry bush. High up in a tree was a net and in the net was- 'what is that? Human!' A soft, pathetic, human growl began to emit from her throat as she watched the struggling man. 'Serves 'im right. Gets what 'e deserves!' She let off a very animal-like huff before moving to go.

A bone-chilling call sounded from behind her causing Ariel to drop back down. 'The wolf's howl.' Instinctively, she answered back, the sound dragging from her throat was sad and low, more of the pining sound of a pup than that of an adult's answering call. She was shocked though when she looked back to find that the initial sound had not come from another wolf but from the human. In the distance she heard other wolves, real wolves, answer the call as well. Divided on whether to stay or go, her decision was made for her when the crashing sounds of human hunters approaching forced her to stay put. 'Filthy creatures!' her mind hissed as she bellied down again.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

"Oi, Jon!  Come, look at this.  We got a live one," a stout, bulky man said as he bumbled through the trees.  He wore a thick curly beard and a bearskin cap on a balding head.  His face was pale and pinked at the cheekbones from the cold as he wandered into view.  Behind him appeared another man, whom Jerec presumed to be Jon, and he was a good head taller than the first man, lanky but no less built with a shaggy head of black hair that clearly had not been washed in a week or two.

"I told you the plan would work, Elwyn," Jon said, grinning nasty teeth at the prize they had found.  He stepped forward and Jerec visibly stiffened.  Even with just the two of them, he knew their intentions were not good.  "Though I can't say, I expected to get a man in that net.  A goddamned naked one at that.  Where are your clothes, boy?"

Jerec said nothing and watched them with cornered eyes.  He didn't move a muscle.  Off behind them he knew there was more than just the two of them.  It wouldn't make sense to approach a broken trap with just a pair of hunters such as these.  He could make out at least three or four more in the background, another coming to step forward along with Jon and Elwyn.  Yet Jerec's attention was turned back when Jon addressed him again: "What's the matter, boy?  Can't you speak Common?  What are you doing out here alone?"

Still he said nothing until they were in reachable distance.  "Don't you come any closer!" Jerec boomed at them, snarling and showing all his teeth, though he could only damn himself that he'd left his canines ungrown.  "Or I swear, I'll kill you faster than you can blink."

The hunters laughed at him and Jon ordered the man coming behind them to cut the net loose.  As he did so, Jerec let out a grunt as he hit the ground with a thud.  But just as he did so, he tried to react with lightning reflexes, to scramble out of the net and to lunge at the both of them.  But the hunters had quickly seen this coming.  Jon pulled out his sword and Elwyn was surprisingly fast for his size.  Elwyn shot forward and grabbed the loose ends of the net, pulling it close and tight, sealing Jerec inside the net.  Jerec managed to get up in a crouch, but the tugging of the net knocked him down into the barbs, piercing him yet again.

"Let me go!  You bastards!  Let me go!"

Jon laughed and nudged Jerec with the flat end of the blade.  "Yes, boyo, we'll let ye go.  To the highest bidder of course," he said.  "Even if we didn't catch a good fine stag.  We got something better.  Let's go back to camp boys.  We might come rich out of this hunt just yet."  Jon laughed again as Elwyn dragged the net off with the rest of the hunters in tow.

By the time they reached camp, the clouds had begun to thicken further and Jerec opened his eyes to the sheer number of hunters surrounding them.  There weren't just these five... but as many as fifteen all grouped together to make their hunts more efficient.  The other hunters were curious as to what they were dragging in, but it was clear none of them cared about the man in the net any more than they might care about any other animal caught in the trap.

Jerec continued to struggle and pulled at the net, but his body was tired from the struggle and the small but numerous cuts had left him feeling more than drained of both blood and energy.   The hunters conversed amongst themselves and discussed what to do with their fine and sooner rather than later more or less came into general agreement.  Jon ordered their fine to be pulled into a cage made of steel.  It was pretty fancy for a bunch of ragtag hunters and Jerec was starting to get an idea that perhaps their group was more of a sports club looking for some extra gain out here in the forest, than hunters hunting for survival and skins.

Jerec was more than happy to be free of the net, though his body still bore the marks of its passage, but he couldn't be any happier about being behind bars.  "Let me out of here!" he shouted at them all, though his words fell on deaf ears.  He cursed and shouted at them and fell limp against the bars.  He knew if he wasn't so exhausted he could change and break out of his confinements.  But he had no food and no water, and no way of escape.

The cage was rather large and sat the edge of the camp.  Jerec huddled toward the back of the cage, the feel of the metal on his bare butt brought unpleasant shivers up his back.  Slumping his back against the steel and cringing where his back had been nicked open.  His heart was pounding in his ears and he cut his eyes off to the distance, he could have sworn he saw another pair of eyes staring back at him.  Eyes that didn't belong to one of the hunters.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

From the safety of the shadows she watched the cruel hunters and felt the cruel fire of rage grow within her belly. 'No respect.' She had begun to lose interest with the whole matter until a spark of curiosity about the camp drove her to follow. 'I could salvage something from 'em. Would serve 'em right for scaring off the game!'

Wary and skittish Ariel followed on swift, silent feet. The sight of the camp frightened her. 'So many. Too many.' The treatment of their prisoner had no affect on her though. She was not interested in him but in the rack of fresh deer meat they currently hanging from a tree out of the reach of bears and wolves. 'But, not from me!' For the first time since she had woken that morning she allowed a small smirk to creep across her lips.

The cover of night could not come soon enough. Impatiently the little hunter waited for the camp's members to each doze off until a small watchguard remained. Slowly, Ariel slunk into the camp, pausing at each sound to dart watchful eyes about the camp. To get to the coveted meat she had to first cross to the other side of the camp, past their sleeping bodies and lit fire and then climb the tree to the prize.

This option was quickly stolen from her as some startled birds took to flight behind her, snapping the guard to alert awareness. Ariel dropped to the ground and rolled to hide in the shadow of the cage. The fat man's heavy breathing as he ran past almost made her laugh aloud. She waited a few moments after she could no longer hear him crashing through the underbrush before she moved to rise up.

Her eyes widened as she came face-to-face with the cage's sole occupant. Bending her elbows, she lowered her torso in a defensive posture. She refused to lower gaze though and her lip rose in a silent snarl. A look up revealed that just above the cage was a branch to the very same tree that held her much sought after food.

'He's bigger than me; he can call the guard against me. He's in a cage, he's not going to want to alert them. He's human! Liars the lot of 'em!' She had just decided to forget about the whole thing when the snap of twigs alerted her to the returning presence of the first guard. Eyes wide and nostrils flaring she moved to climb the bars, cutting her hands in feet in the process.

By now the camp knew she was there. Their drunken shouting was enough to send her head spinning. 'I can do this. Just get to the branch. I'll leave. They can't catch me!' Ariel was too confident though and never saw the arrow sent her way. The painful shock of it piercing the back of her shoulder sent her reeling. The minute she hit the ground the wind was knocked out of her and they had her surrounded. Unable to breath but still on the defensive, it took every bit of strength in her little body to curl in on herself for protection. Hiccuping and gasping for air she mentally cursed them for all she was worth as they jeered toed her with their boots.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Drinking had commenced and night had fallen and after a good long time of loud laughter and bawdy talk, the hunter troupe had finally fallen asleep.  And it couldn't have been soon enough for Jerec tired of hearing them.  Every word they uttered, occasionally referencing jokes to him, made him more and more upset with every passing second.  But it was an impotent anger and he knew the thickness of the bars was fashioned for the intent of an animal that refused to cooperate and the weakness in his muscles only made matters worse.  He hadn't eaten in two days and his bloodloss had made him weary.  He looked at the lock, a massive brick of a bolt-lock on it, strong enough to take whatever abuse he could dish out, which wasn't much at this point.

He leaned back against the bars, skin shivering in the coldness of the wind and actually dozed off against the metal, rather in an awkward position so that his neck was twisted and his arms were loose on his lap.  As they slept so did he and he awoke with a start at the sound of someone coming closer to the camp.  Someone that didn't belong.  He looked around, not murmuring a sound as he saw the figure draw nearer.  Jerec looked around him and saw that the sleeping hunters had yet to awaken, but his ears, keen as they were, had caught the sound of the creatures approach.  Whatever kind of creature this was.  Soon that question was answered for him when it came up face to face.  Jerec took his head back and peered at her directly in the eyes with a furrowed brow and flashed his teeth at her just as she did him.  But there were more questions and a strange curiosity broiling in him than the need for fight or flight.  He was in a cage, exactly how much damage could she do to him there.  Still he was on the defensive and when she climbed the bars, he just watched her with caution as she climbed to get the meat above his head.

But he didn't have long before suddenly the hunters were awake and they surrounded her.  Many were still quite buzzed from their alcohol and they laughed as they nudged her with their boots.  "Well, well, well," Elwyn said as he pushed through the crowd.  The men jeered and grabbed at the girl, but Elwyn shoved through them and knocked a few to the ground.  "Now, hold on a minute boys!  You all stand back!  You drunken fools."  He leaned down and yanked up the girl by the collar.  "Oi, what a wild thing, you are.  BAH!  And you smell like one too."

"I don't care how she smells, Elwyn, I'll take 'er off yer hands, fer ya," a man named Emri said.  Booze was heavy on his breath and he went ahead and wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face against her neck, splaying heavy breath there until Elwyn yanked the girl from him and back-handed him right in the jaw.  "No one'll be laying a hand on this one.  Ye're mother birthed the dumbest son-of-a-bitch, if I ever saw one and if you think Jon'll have it, ye're dead wrong."

"Have what?" Jon asked, stepping in.  The crowd quickly parted and stepped away from the woman.  She was small enough that Jon had to actually look down at her to inspect her.  He was a good head and a half taller than her and grabbed her chin roughly before forcing it up to look at him.  He gripped her entire jaw with his other hand and turned her head side to side to get a better look at her.  "She might be another good prospect.  Don't know who she is.  Don't care.  Clean her up a little though, and she'll look like new.  I'm sure somebody somewhere would pay good money for her, I wouldn't doubt.  Don't you think, boys?"

Emri was the loudest to hoot and holler in agreement but Jon gave him a dirty look.  "You put a wrongful hand on her and I'll cut your dick off, clear?" Jon said and smiled at him.  Emri's expression sobered and he looked at him with an apologetic gaze, and he nodded hastily, though he did cast a glance at the girl with a languid gaze.  "Emri, you dumb bastard, you look about the other's size, get him a pair of trousers and a shirt will ye and make it fast.  Elwyn, you can put her in with the other one, but first."  Jon twisted around the girl and grabbed the arrow that was dribbling blood.  Without issuing a warning, he snapped the shaft of the arrow in half and yanked the object out of her roughly, regardless if she screamed or what damaged it might have done.

"Now get her in there," he ordered, giving her back to Elwyn.  Emri returned with the trousers which he took with him, as Jon approached with a key around his neck and unlocked the cage.  Jerec had receded to the back of the cage and he looked at them with speculative cautious eyes as they shoved the girl in there with him, along with the trousers.  Before they closed the gate all the way, Jerec flew forward yet again, intent on getting free, regardless of the other one they shoved in there, but they shoved the cage door close and Jon locked it shut quickly; the impact struck Jerec in the face and gave him a brief headache, but one that was short lived as he called out to them again.

"Let me out of here!" he screamed, pulling on the bars in rage, but feeling his grip wasn't what it used to be. "Open this goddamned gate!"  But still nobody listened.  Jerec slammed a fist against the bars and pressed his body against the corner of the cage, curling his legs around him and pulling the given clothes in close to him.  He squared his eyes at the smelly, wild girl they tossed in there with him, looking worse off than he.

He slipped on the trousers and knotted the ties at his waist, and slipped on the shirt, though mindful of his sore back.  "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snapped, giving her a dirty look.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

Ariel ignored the men as they talked about her, more focused on escape than what they planned to do with her. 'I won't be around long enough for that to happen.' It came as a complete shock to her when Jon man-handled her. Furious, she yanked her face out of his grip and bared her teeth again.

The only pride she could take in the whole affair was her silence during the cruel removal of the arrow. She did not show a single sign of weakness, save for the whistling sound that escaped her nose instead of the scream she wanted to give. 'I will remember your face,' she thought staring the hunter down. 'One day soon I shall be the one who ensures that mine is the last you ever see.'

They threw her into the cage like a sack of potatoes, uncaring of whether or not it was even a safe idea to put their prisoners together in the same tight enclosed space. Her body slid across the floor as the stranger began screaming and banging at the door. Ariel's hands clapped down hard over her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut in fear. She was not one for loud noises.

Wary of this large man, she looked up at him meekly and said nothing. She sat cross-legged in the opposing corner and leaned forward to rest her body on her forearms like a cat. A prodding at her side had her swiveling her head around to see a bath sponge thrust in her face. It dropped from the hand holding it and bounced off the floor of her new prison to roll back out.

"Scrub off woman. Jon wants you all cleaned up," the owner of the hand barked at her, thrusting the sponge back through the bars. Ariel stared at the hand disinterestedly and decided to ignore the buzzing in her ears. It would have been a success if the spongeman's other hand had not come up to yank her back against the bars by her hair. Her head made a dull clang as it smacked into the cold metal. "Listen you little whore, you'll do as your told or I'll-"

The little hunter never got a chance to find out the end of the ultimatum as she bit down on the arm in front of her. The moment she was released she whipped around and punched the yelling blob of a face as hard as she could, enjoying the spurt of blood that bubbled from what used to be the man's nose. Cheerfully, Ariel scooped up the sponge and chucked it as far as she could outside the cage.

Having had her fun, she turned to settle down again when she was reminded that she was not alone in this tiny cell. She curled back down into her previous position and went back to watching the stranger nervously. 'I can't fight him, not even with these close quarters to hinder him. There is no way to run, no way to escape. He has to see me as nonthreatening, a wolf in sheep's wool.' She reflected on the events that had just occurred and mentally winced. 'Could be a little late for that.'
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Jerec observed with dagger eyes as he kept his space.  It didn't help that the cage wasn't bigger.  It wasn't exactly tiny, but they were clearly invading the other's space without meaning too.  Jerec didn't care, however, and if he was forced to be stuck with her in this cage he wanted to make it clear just who was the alpha and who was the omega.  He stared at her until another of the hunters approached her to sponge her off, a part of which Jerec was thankful for since the girl didn't seem to have taken a bath in weeks, months even.  Even he who lived here in these wilds, made it a habit to keep himself clean as often as possible.

He gauged her as she fought the sponge-keeper, and might have jumped even a little as she punched him in the face and he sat up, pulling his feet under him to crouch on his toes in a pouncing form as his arms braced the bars around him.  He could tell she was wary of him, as he was wary of her and for a long time, there was nothing said.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked her carefully, his bare feet tensing as they shifted his weight from one side to the other.  "Do you know why they threw you in here with me?  Because if you don't, you're stupider than you look.  But intelligence really has nothing to do with it.  Do you have something you go by?  A name, perhaps?"




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

"I may be small but I am not dumb," she finally spoke. Ariel's voice was soft and slow, as if the words came to her through a great ball of wool and cotton on their way from her brain to her mouth. She was not taking too kindly to his displace of dominance. His overbearing presence meant to make her feel small and pathetic was working to some extent. On the other hand it was also working to bring her fighting fire to the forefront.

Ariel sat up and leaned back against the bars, appearing to be as relaxed and comfortable she was most certainly not feeling. "I know why I am here. It is the same reason the man who got himself caught in a deer trap is here," she jibed feeling a bit reckless. "I was hungry and they took from me a kill that was rightfully mine. Your own hungry belly can understand that even you cannot."

A dirt-covered hand raked through her tangled hair, making the wooden beads rattle as they collided together. She fell silent, closing her eyes and just focusing on her breathing as she tried to find a solution to escape. But, everything around her was made to distract her. The hard floor of the prison, the ribald comments coming from the hunters, her companion's forbearing presence. Sighing, she gave up and opened her eyes again.

"You don't have to stalk me like some prey that is going to run at any second. There is nowhere for me to go unless you have some brilliant idea on how to escape. Then again, you might actually be as stupid as you look." A smirk formed at the last quip. At last Ariel lowered her gaze from the stranger, giving up the challenge to stare at her hands. "I call myself Owlet. Who are you?"
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Jerec gave her a small smirk of approval of her own wit, but he still eyed her like fresh meat.  And she used that wit for the better part of herself, she remained calm.  But he was starting to find that he could not.  The open wound the arrow gave her put blood in the air and he could smell it on her despite her stench.  His nose honed in on it, hungered for it and though he was well aware now that she had a fire all her own, that did not deter him from wanting that blood...and the meat that came with it.

"I'm not a man," he said after a moment.  "Not exactly."  His hands gripped the bars as he felt his stomach rumble much more.  He didn't know when they would feed him, but the stench of blood was betting stronger with each second.  Jerec balanced on his haunches and tried to concentrate for a moment, as she made a very valid point.  They would have to escape at some point.  Not together, but if he could use her to get away, he had absolutely no problem with that.

But his brain churned round and round at the smell and before he knew it, he pounced on her and aimed to throw all his weight on her.  His teeth came out then, canines extended slightly as he attempted to pin her to the floor.  "I am Jerec," he said, flashing all his teeth at her and attempting to take a bite out of her.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

She was not prepared at all for the crushing force of his weight slamming into her and pinning her smaller frame between the wall and floor of the claustrophobic prison. Instinctively, she threw the heel of her hand upward, crashing it into his jaw. Her hand followed through to try and punch him in the windpipe. Ariel was well aware that she had nowhere near the physical strength this Jerec snapping at her face did. Her only advantage was her speed, a quality that was greatly hindered by her current residence.

"Hey!" she growled lowly, scratching at whatever part of him she could reach in self-defense. "If you kill me then they will have no reason to keep you alive. They'll stick you while you're in this cage where they don't have to fight you to kill you. You want to make it out of this thing alive you need to keep me alive. You have strength and I have speed. Between us there has to be at least half a brain even if I'm the one with most to all of it. Pull yourself together Jerec! I'm not the enemy here."

Pale grey eyes stared up above her. She desperately wanted to turn and look outside the cage, to see what was happening in the camp. 'Was it this quiet before? Or am I about to die? I'm not going down without a fight. I'm not about to be this chump's dinner!' It was only fear that kept her from growling and resorting to her more feral nature. Her mind warned her that as much as she might hate it, he was a true alpha and more than capable and willing to kill her just to put her in her place.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

The fool.  She thought he was on her because she was his enemy?  Even if that was half true, really, Jerec could only laugh inside.  He didn't know her, he didn't want to know her.  He didn't even care if he got out and she didn't.  He had no obligation to her, and she had none to him, so why bother trying to play the symbiotic survival card?  They were two fools had just happened to find themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Jerec only laughed at her and pulled her up into a sitting position.  "You have a hasty mind for over assumption, 'Owlet,'" he responded with every bit of sarcasm he could muster, and twisted around her to lap at the blood that seeped from her arrow wound.  It was warm and sweet and he didn't care about the dirt around it or how she smelled and once the warmth of that blood seeped down his throat, taking in valuable nutrients there, he finally put his face up close to hers, her blood smeared across his mouth and chin.  He didn't tear into her like he'd initially planned, because really, despite her best interests, she had a point.  And he wasn't quite as stupid enough to ignore that.  But if she thought he spared her just because she had any real value to him, she was wrong.

He got up off her and retreated back to his corner and sat down in a more relaxed fashion before licking his lips and cleaning the blood off with his hand.  He felt a little more rejuvenated then and cut his eyes around them.  Most of the men had gone back to sleep, their drunkenness finally having taken its toll.  Spongeman was nursing his broken nose and the guard on duty was falling asleep, his heady heavy and dozing off.  More or less, nobody had heard the scuffle, which was quite hard for Jerec to believe.

But he turned his head back to her and furrowed his brow.  "The truth is," he began.  "They won't kill us as long as they think they can make good coin on us selling us as slaves.  Look at these men?  Do you think they really care if we tear each other apart?  Only if it detracts from our value, but what's a slave without a few nicks and cuts and bruises on them?  But I tell you one thing, I'll tear these bastards to pieces as soon as I'm strong enough.  You're blood only sated my hunger for a moment.  I suppose I should thank you, and I do...but it's not enough."

He bit his lip for a moment and sighed.  "I can tear out of here with my bear hands if I was strong enough.  If you think you want to follow, you're free to do so, if you really want to work together to survive.  I might be inclined to accept your offer.  Because I know something that they don't."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

"Yick," she protested loudly, struggling a bit in his grasp. "I'm not some puppy you can just go licking. Go find someone else to mother hen. Or better yet, go chew on one of them!" Her entire face displayed disgust as she brushed at her shoulder. Yet, behind that mask were keen eyes that spoke of the beginnings of understanding. Ariel could care less what he thought or what he was saying. She was more focused on his actions, his body language and what he was not saying.

When he finished, she remained silent and observant. "Now this would be the time you would have me ask what it is you know that they don't. Thing is, I don't care." Ariel let her words trail off as she turned to stare out the cage. "There is one thing about you that I can't quite understand." Smirking, she suddenly belted out a clear wolf-howl. It was nothing like the pitiful one she had made earlier in the night. This was no cry of pain but a song of the hunt, a call answered by others.

"You and I, we're not like them," she said jerking her chin in the direction of the hunters. We're wild but, we're not the same either. You're not wild like me; you're-" a loud burst of wolfsong interrupted her before the pack settled. "It's as if you're wild like them."

Ariel smiled very briefly before lowering her head in respect. She even went so far as to lower her gaze completely, a feat she would never have done before his earlier powerplay. If it had been anyone else, she would have fought tooth and nail. Yet, something about this stranger that shared her fate kept her grounded and in place. It had been a long time since Ariel had been able to converse and remain calm like a human. She had forgotten what it was like. The impatience of the hunt had been coursing through her blood for too long.

"Goodnight Jerec," she whispered barely louder than a butterfly's wingbeat before curling up into a tiny ball in the corner. The little hunter doubted she would get much sleep but, she was going to try her hardest to at least rest her body long enough for the escape attempt she would make tomorrow. 'They want me clean, they're going to have to do it themselves. Fools!'
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Jerec chewed on his lips for a good long moment, sucking what remained of blood on his teeth.  Honestly, he couldn't think of anything to say to that, even if she'd given him half the chance to do so.  And he wasn't sure he wanted to say anything.  But he furrowed his brows in thought, starting to see that she truly was wise beyond her years.  He wouldn't underestimate her, but furthermore, she seemed to show him respect though he did not ask for it.  

The sound of the wolves crying put a severe pain in his heart and a longing that intermixed with molten anger that lay dormant for a long time.  He felt himself tremble all over, but he contained it so well.  Their cry, was his cry and he had half a mind to return with a howl of his own.  She knew without knowing.  Maybe she didn't understand, maybe she did.  Before he thought he might explain it to her she was asleep.  Maybe it was something that didn't need explaining.

In the deepest set truth, Jerec could not sleep for his exhaustion.  His mind wandered and was set on the on sorrow that the wolf's call had summoned in him.  But even then as dawn began to rise on the horizon and Jerec felt his tired eyes fall here and there, a sudden rush of cold water had him awake and on his feet.  A hunter with a wooden bucket splashed them both with icy river water.

"Good morning, freshies!"  It was the Spongeman, with his nose bandaged up and a sneer on his face.  Jerec kneeled down on one knee as the cage did not allow him to stand.   "Rise and shine.  Tell the whore to use the water to clean that dirt from her face."  He walked off as the hunters began to awaken one by one.

Jerec shook off the water from his head, tossing his head back and forth until he got a good deal of it off and looked back at Owlet with a scowl.  "Since you're the mastermind with all the brains, just what do you think might be a good start of an escape?  So I can start killing these fools," he said to her in a hushed tone.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

Some time during the night Ariel had managed to nod off and sleep. Her dreams were all filled with running and chasing. Every one featured her as some sort of wild beast on the hunt with the faces of the enemies superimposed on those of the prey. But, this sleep was not meant to last. Icy water shocked her into awareness, startling her into an unsuccessful flight backwards. Ariel was very much not a morning person and it showed in her childlike grumblings. She slowly blinked owlish eyes repeatedly as she scowled at the offending bucket.

Her stomach interrupted her though, reminding her of her unfulfilled hunger and now growing thirst. Shoulders slumped and her expression altered to one of defeat. Crossing her arms of her belly, Ariel crawled on her knees over to the bucket and peered disgustedly into it. Driven by thirst, she leaned down and lapped up a few mouthfuls of water before dropping to lay on her stomach. Her cheek pressed into the cool floor distorting her facial features, while her legs bent up at the knee and her arms latched onto the bucket, holding it close. It was almost as if she did not trust it to not drench her again.

"Ish too early," she whined petulantly in reply. Ariel scrunched her eyes closed and tried to bury her head into her arm in an attempt to go back to sleep. Once awake though, it was impossible to return to slumber. Disgruntled, she shoved the container away from herself, huffing and shaking her head when water sloshed over the edge and into her face. "I'm hungry," she moaned again, flipping to her back.

Whatever keen intelligence she had displayed the night before was not to be found now in the wake of her unhappy child's face. Looking up at the grey sky above, her eyes widened in realization. 'I think I can fit through that!' Ariel lifted her head slightly as she calculated the possibility and distance. 'Even if my head fits I'm still too short.' Her head thunked back down heavily as she let out a pitiful cry of frustration. 'Not fair!'
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Jerec made a puzzled expression towards her for she seemed so dazzled and dazed in her attempt to wake from sleep.  How one could possibly be in such a delirious half-awake state of mind while after being drenched with a bucket of fresh, icy water, he had no idea.  But he crept towards her, sliding on his knees and leaning over her.

"Hey," he whispered, shaking her shoulder a little bit.  "Did you hear what I said?  You gotta get up.  They're coming back.  C'mon," he said.  He nudged her again, and looked up around them and sure enough a group of five hunters were coming along with a long stick with a leather tether looped at the end of it.  The stick was made of a strong wood, but hollowed out to allow the length of the tether to be pulled to tighten the loop.  It was an odd looking weapon to Jerec as he peered out from the bars.

All the while, he stared at one of them, he did not see another tether-stick shoved through the bars and managing to loop the tether around his neck.  A hunter pulled the loop snugly on him, but Jerec, startled, struggled to breath against it and gasped as he tried to pry his fingers underneath it to allow room to breathe.  Another hunter arrived with the key and unlocked the door.  Though it was through the bars, the hunter that tethered him, managed to pull it through and yank him out.  The hunters yelled and wooped as he hit the ground with a heavy thud, but the loop was eventually loosened enough to allow Jerec to breath a little, but it was still too tight to pry his fingers under.

But at this Jerec felt himself fly into a rage, and flew at the hunter with the tether, using the stick against him.  He bashed the stick against the hunter's chest and eventually his chin, giving enough force to knock the man to the ground and filling his mouth with blood.  He unlooped the tether from his neck and took on the other hunters as they piled on him.  He spun around and threw two off him that clung to his neck.

In the midst of the commotion, somewhere he managed to yell to Owlet: "Get up!  Get out of there!  Run!  Now!"




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

The moment the cage was opened, Ariel was on her feet and moving. The hunters were so distracted by Jerec's flailing that they nearly forgot her in their efforts. She managed to make it out and a few paces away before they noticed. Her brief companion's cry had her freezing in place. 'I'm not alone in this.'

She hesitated, unsure of whether to obey or to stay. That moment's pause cost her valuable time, for when she at last decided to flee, she took pursuers with her. Ariel dashed off into the woods, running as fast as she could. 'I am like the deer swift and sure-footed. Nothing can fell me, for I am the hunter. I am the wolf who prowls on padded feet. I know no fear. I am the lioness who-' Her mental encouragement ended as she foot caught on a root and she fell.

Pain flared through her as she grazed her hands and knees. 'Get up, get up, get up!' her mind screamed. Ariel burst to her feet and took off again. She ran until she her ankle would carry her no further. Heaving for breath, she allowed herself to stop. 'I made it. They're gone.' As her heartbeat slowed to normal, her mind turned to the man she had left behind. 'He told me to run and I did. I shouldn't have left him behind though. He's wild, he can take care of himself. He's like me and I abandoned him. I need to go back!'

Her resolution to go after him did not work out as planned. The moment she went to turn back, Ariel felt a sharp crack on the back of her head before she passed out. One of the hunters had managed to circle ahead while the other two continued to chase her from behind, she never had a chance. "Let's get this one back before Jon throws a fit," the one who had clubbed her said, slinging her over his shoulder.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
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Lion

Jerec didn't pay attention to the whether or not she had gotten out of the cage, or whether she started running.  Perhaps in some part of him, he trusted her enough to be able to make that decision for herself.  She had intelligence, cunning, bad hygiene habits; she could take care of herself, there wasn't a doubt in his mind about that.  So he focused on his current attackers, who weren't fending very well themselves, despite their numerical advantage.

He grit his teeth in strain as they piled on him, but despite their efforts, they couldn't bring him to the ground.  Despite his weakness, his rage gave him strength and before he knew it, he felt himself transforming into his hybrid form.  His claws grew in, his body grew thicker with muscle and hair and his canines came out as he slashed his claws across the neck of one of the hunters, bleeding him out like a stuck pig.

He threw them around, cutting down a few before their realization as to what he turned into began to take hold.  The hunters instantly backed away, though one was not so lucky.  It was Emri's voice that screamed out as Jerec's teeth sank deep into his shoulder and bit off a good hunk of meat.  The other hunters watched in horror one of their own fell and nursed his torn shoulder and their prisoner swallowed the raw meat whole.  Jon was their too, and his eyes were wide in astonishment.  Jerec growled angrily, showing his red, sharpened teeth, and he knew he saw a hint of fear there.

But it was fear quickly uncared for as Jerec took off into the direction of the forest.  It was easy to follow the direction Owlet went in due to her heavy scent, and it was then that he knew she had made her escape.  His nose picked up something else though and he sniffed the air as he ran and the adrenaline flared through him: there were others in the area.  And they weren't animals.  He beat the ground harder on all fours and soon caught up to their tracks.

Owlet had made it far into the woods, it seemed, and Jerec was starting to worry he would pass her up, but he resolved to trust his nose and in doing so, soon he caught them in his sight.  With a growl, he ran harder and when he was close enough, he caught the other hunters by surprise, lunging at them with claws lengthened and burying them into the chest of the man carrying Owlet.  The man yelped in surprise, dropping his load on the ground beside him and coughed up blood as Jerec's claws opened up his chest.  Within seconds he was dead.

The other hunters were only momentarily prepared to face the beast before them, but they had time enough to pull out their swords and take aim at Jerec.  Though they were not silver weapons, their edges were keen and whistled through the air as they swung down in arcs.  Jerec narrowly dodged one aimed at his shoulders and chest, stepping back and then ducking under another as the blade nicked the edge of his ears.  Flesh met steel and he stepped back again, clutching his ear, but feeling nothing had been severed, he charged forth again and caught the flying steel in one hand before clawing the neck of the hunter holding it.  He fell without much resistance and Jerec took the sword from him, holding it by the blade.  The second hunter froze in fear, watching as the wolfman took the sword and snapped the blade in his hands, and tossed both pieces uselessly to the side.

Before Jerec could attack however, the last remaining hunter fled and Jerec watched him go, letting him run back to his group.  He knelt down tiredly beside Owlet, and plucked her up like little more than a small sack of flour and began to jog deeper into the forest, careful not to dig his bloodied claws into her.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

A jostling movement woke Ariel several times as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her mind was plagued by delirious dreams that made recognizing reality very difficult. A snake ate her whole and she turned into a butterfly. She was enclosed in warmth and a loud ticking clock by her ear made her brain rattle about in her head. A great big owl the size of the sun flew her through the forest as wind tried to tear her off his back.

Pain constantly tore through her head, driving her back into the recesses of her mind where she could escape it all. Unconsciously she burrowed deeper against the comfort she was finding resting against warm fur. Every thought she attempted to conceive made her head and eyes scream in white-hot pain.

She let out a soft high-pitched whining sound as her hands came up to clutch at her head. Ariel was beginning to awaken and wishing she would not. Fear and pain drove her to find out her surroundings. Opening her eyes did nothing for her, all she saw was complete darkness. She closed her eyes again and pressed cool fingertips against her pulsating eyes. Her body tried to curl up tighter in self-defense against the assaulting pain. "Make it stop, make it stop," she quietly sobbed, shaking and shivering like a leaf.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
[close]

Lion

Jerec carried her in his arms like she was a lost child.  For the better part of the morning , he found a halfway point between jogging and walking as he attempted to put more distance between them and the hunters.  He doubted they'd come after him right away, not after taking three of their number as a result of their underestimation.  But he knew the pride which dwelt in most men's hearts and estimated their eventual resolve would reslt in their continued pursuit of him, if not both of them.  Hecould only imagine what sort of satisfaction they'd get if they could stake their claim as werewolf hunters.  Jerec was sickened at the thought.

He peered down to the load in his arms as she stirred fitfully in her unconsciousness, but he paid little attention to it as he moved.  The truth was, if he thought about it, he would begin to wonder why he'd picked her up in the first place.  Every instinct bade him to leave her, he should have left her.  She was like the others, she reeked of humanity and it showed in the her fleshy coil.  She was not his own.  She was not his kind.  He should have left her.

...He couldn't leave her.

No, she was not his own.  But she was not a threat.  Not at the moment at least.  She was of frail fresh, but she was of the Wild.  The Wild did not have sorrow for the weak, had no patience to mourn the dead.  It was what it was, and Jerec knew there could be no god or king or ruler that could be as cruel - or as kind - as the Wild.  And if she survived..

He paused.  She stirred again, speaking this time.  He was at a loss and knew not what to say.  Ultimately, he took a short break and knelt beside a tree, placing her down as well, resting her beside the trunk.  Though his hybrid form afforded him extra strength, it did not make him a perpetual machine.  Turning and squatting so that his back was to her, he wrapped her amrs around his neck and hoisted her on his back.

"Hold on to me, Owlet," he managed to say.  "Just close your eyes.  We'll be able to rest soon enough.  Hang on to my neck."  He made sure her grip was secure and held her legs around his waist before walking off again, starting to run this time and soon finding the shelter that he sought.  As he walked on, he found the strewn stonework opening of an abandoned den.  He could the smell the presence of wolves here, but that was long ago.  And whatever drove them out, that was gone too.  He smellted nothing more than damn moss here, fresh with falling rain and he soon found his face was growing wet too.

Looking up, he saw the rain, at last, that the sky had promised the day before and the sky darkened with fire-smoked clouds, outpouring above.  Jerec stooped and crawled inside the den opening, which was wide enough to fit them both simultaneously.  Being narrow at the entrance, the den naturally widened and gave birth to a natural cave that did not go very far in any particular direction.  When securely inside, Jerec coaxed her arms off his neck and shook her lightly to gain her attention.

"Owlet," he began.  "Hey.  Stay here.  I'll be right back, okay?  I'm going to get us some food.  Don't wander anywhere.  Stay put.  I mean it."  And he left without waiting for another response.  He returned not too long after with two squirrel tails in one clawed hand and batch of dry wood under his other arm.  He crawled into the whole, light falling in through the entrance only.  By now, he was well and thoroughly tired, and slowly began to feel himself change back to his human form, hair, claws, and teeth receding as easily as they came, the light playing across his face from where he took a seat against the wall.

"Owlet?  Are you still here?"




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

GoblinFae

Ariel did not take to being put down at all. The moment he guided her arms back to him, she comfortable latched on and snuggled close against his back again. The confusion of her concussion still held a firm grasp on her mind but she had enough presence of mind to know that for now with this warm, soft figure she was safe and that she was too weak to take care of herself alone.

She quickly dozed off again only waking when he began to extricate her from him. Whimpering, she fought to hold on but he was stronger and more in control of himself than she was of herself. Her arms fell uselessly to her sides and she would have fallen back asleep if it had not been for Jerec's shaking her. The extreme nausea and dizziness that overtook her with the movement made her stomach clench and her eyes snap shut again. She barely heard his words and understood half of them.

The moment he was gone she was blindly dragging herself to a dry spot deeper within the den. The soft squish of wet moss beneath her hand had her realizing her thirst. Ariel racked her fingernails across the stone floor, searching for more moss which she carefully extricated. Holding the springy plant above her mouth she squeezed it and drank the water it had absorbed. She took up more moss and used it to gently wash off her face and arms in an attempt to make herself feel better. Some but not all of the grime was able to be washed away this way. However, the little hunter quickly lost interest with what she was doing.

Feeling extremely nauseous again, Ariel laid down on the cold floor letting it cool her burning forehead. Little whimpers escaped her mouth as she rocked her body back and forth in a self-soothing manner. Her weak human ears never heard his return, so it came to a surprise to her when he spoke again. She flinched and whimpered before recognizing the voice. Little by little she crawled back out of her small hideaway and back over to him.

Even on her hands and knees she weaved about, occasionally running into a boulder or wall because of her temporary blindness. As she drew closer she pulled up another patch of water-filled moss and painstakingly carried it over to him. Offering him the only gift she had to give, Ariel laid the small plant down beside him and collapsed. The effort of so much movement made her sick and exhausted. She just lay there, praying to whatever powers that be that she would live through the night and that the pain of her head would recede for who knew how long Jerec would care for her. 'He's going to eat me,' her brain decided, perhaps illogically.
,___,
[O.o]
/)__)
-"--"-


"No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us"
~ Micah Bazant ~

Spoiler
Leaderships
Tirial Province (Serendipity)

Talu Territory (Adela)

Ninja Flamingos

Guilds - Under Construction and Revamping
Blood of Ash || Cleara Verdad || The Creoptera || The Reaper's Chalice || The Runner's Society || Vigilant Shadows

Characters
Agapito Perlaceo Calogero-Marcello da Lume || Ainsley Muir || Alanna Mercer "The Lioness" || Amleah Dvorak || Ariel "Owlet" Sowa || Artorius Winterbottom || Aurora "Makani'kai" Wiater || Autumn Laurel || The Bad Barkers || Benjamin Hase || Cally Foster || Cornelia Grey || Dagrun Baarda || Derrick Elthif || Donovan Cabello || Eireann Lehr || Elmira Sassafrass || Emma Fiore || Emyr Kasabian || Ferra Bestley || Fintan Kfir || Gilroy Bleddyn || Hanalei Keets || Hilarius Winterbottom || Imogene Khale || Incana Winged Blaze || Inteus Wapapow || Iorwerth/Ylli || Ithel Conlaoch || Justina Allons || Jypsei Danzer || Kailee Glint || Kaliko || Keegan Phillips || Kendall Wendle || Kenneth Kent || Kesrel Torv || Kharn Segal || Kirsikka Solvi || Ladybird "Petal" Hornwort || Lassassasya Ashaugh Seocss || Logan "Kotori" || Lorcan Dempsey || Malakai || Margot Lemaire || Maverick Alinari || Morgan Loone || Naomi Kita || Navarre Esken || Ocarern Farwind || Oddmund Greatdrool || Oliver Cabello || Pannoowau || Peregrine Liebling || Primrose Dragoslav || Pyske Daas || Qaletaqa || Quilla Anobe || Rene Zephra || Riley "Minnow" Bellerose || Ro'or Dvorak || Rosie || Rowan Alvar || Rylan Silvanus || Segari "Errum" Ggorf || Shamira Kashi || Solanacae || Sor Avi || Squeaker || Starbright Skye ||  Tiraris Silverd'art || Tighearnán High Eoforwine || Theodore Archer || Tyler Brice || Una Ornell || Vanora Partholon || Waman Pertinacity Sewati || Weilen Brunbek || Wilbur "Wilby" Smalls || Yalwa al-Kahinah || Yasmine Fairchild || Yura Elek || Zhirai Ver || Zurna Nali
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