Venom practiced her sigil in the soft rock beneath her sharp claws. The comforting image was carved lovingly into the rock wall above where she slept. Her most cherished pelts were laid out beneath the sigil and the young Klein Abraxas puppy felt closest to her father here. She’d done her best to etch in the sigils of her siblings and parents around her own larger one, but getting the designs from a couple of her siblings was difficult.

She sighed heavily as she placed a cats paw over her father’s sigil. dark ears fell to her skull as she felt his loss again. It never went away did it? She removed her paw and leaned forward to kiss the image before lifting herself to her paws and heading towards the entrance of the cavern. Maybe the sun would come out today. Her forked tongue flicked from her mouth as she lingered in the entrance and looked out over the twisting corridors of the rocks.

Motif had been in the pack for a little bit of time now, she had arrived shortly before the volcano chaos, and her confusion had given way to depression after the realization of the death of her family. She had tried to be good, and fall under the rules of this pack - because she didn’t know where she could go or who would take her in, even if she could escape this place. At least here Sirius fed her, and she had shelter, even if she didn’t always understand the rules.

The young girl was moving through redwater rocks, not totally sure what to do with herself. She should probably be finding someone to be helpful to, but she just didn’t have the heart for it. These wolves weren’t like Abaven, they intimidated her, and sometimes scared her.

She looked up, just in time to see Venom, at the entrance of her den, forked tongue flicked free of her fangs. Motif squeaked in alarm, what in the devil!

Bright lilac gaze fell on the form of the tall girl as she approached, she was obviously distracted. The girl’s eyes didn’t fall upon the puppy until she was nearly on her, and with that she caused a start. Venom narrowed her gaze and felt the corners of her dark lips pull up into an amused smile. She liked how good it felt to cause discomfort to the yearling that happened upon her.

”A big girl like you, scared of me?” She blinked heavy lashed eyes and flicked her tongie again while stepping towards the slave with a giggle. Her dual tones tail flagged behind her as she watched Motif with a critical eye. What kind of reaction would this elicit? Had the older girl just been startled?

Motif shrank back from the other girl and her taunts. She smelled like Deathbelle, which told her this girl was the Empress’s daughter. That made her an important person. She remembered the way Sirius had attacked the other slave he had brought home, because he hadn’t shown proper respect to the Empress. Would it be the same with this girl?

She eyed the area around them cautiously, expecting the big hulking giant to be lurking in the distance, waiting to ambush her. She didn’t see the scary man, but the dark toned strange wold with a snake’s tongue was still there, watching her. She had stepped closer to Motif, pushing herself into the girls personal space. Motif might be physically bigger, but Venom was more imposing, and Motif shrunk in on herself. “Uhhh..” Motif said, clueless how to respond or what to address the girl as. She was still scared of putting a foot out of line.

It seemed the tall girl was indeed intimidated by the smaller pup, Venom’s confidence in herself was leagues higher than the broken Destruction’s. The Klein Princess wore a crooked smirk as she advanced further and the yearling sunk further to the ground. This was turning into a fun game. Her brows narrowed and she lifted her head high above her shoulders. Motif was so unsure of herself.. what could Venom get away with.

Venom edged closer to Motif’s dark form, her forked tongue flicking in amusement. She pushed her hackles up and the quills on her back followed. She’d make herself look bigger as she spoke. ”Roll over and let me see your belly.” Was this what weakness looked like? ”Slave.” The puppy sneered as she aimed to stand above the yearling girl. She added a growl for good measure, this was fun!

She didnt notice the quills until the girl raised them, making herself bigger and scarier as she towered over the mentally battered girl. She spoke meanly, and made her demands. She added in a growl for good measure, this child of the Empress, and Motif was struck suddenly by the memory of Noir attacking her after she played a bad joke, and Poem leaping to her defense. Poem had always kept to her defense, always looked after her, and Motif had left her behind to go on an adventure in search of Canni. If Porm had come with her, she would have survived the volcano, and then gotten them both out of this mess. Poem had always been amazing like that.

Struck as she was by the memory, and the realization of just how much she had lost, the girl was shaken out of the stupor that had carried her through the last few days, and burst into heart wrenching tears. Deep, heavy sobs burst from her cheat as she buried her head in own shoulder, and mourned the loss of a sister, a sister and the whole rest of her world. She didnt even care if Venom punished her for disobeying, she was too lost in the pain of her memories.

Venom puffed herself up as the girl stared at her blankly for a long moment. The puppy opened her mouth to repeat her order when the yearling began to sob uncontrollably. Venom scowled in distaste and back a few paces away as she watched the older girl unravel. Forked tongue flicked with irritation as she debated about what to do. With little empathy she aimed to close the distance between them. Unsheathing her sharp claws she raised a dainty paw and aimed to swipe it across the bridge of Motif’s nose. The sudden pain would hopefully cause her to come to her senses again and listen to the tiny princess. ”Quit it.” Venom demanded as she stared down at the captured girl. ”I didn’t even give you a reason to cry.” The pup added in one of her mother’s favorite saying when she was barely out of the den.

The princess got her mid-sob and Motif hiccuped in surprise and looked up at Venom, smaller then her in her huddled position. She blinked, sniffed, and her lip trembled just a little like she was about to burst into tears again.

Venom pointed out a lack of reason to cry, and Motif sniffed, thinking of her supportive sister, hell, of the entire Abaven pack, who would have supported her in all things, and then this 'tough, I dont care' attitude of the Princesa. In dawned on her she might get into trouble unraveling as she had in front of Venom. It was hard to care, when all she thought about was who was gone. "Y-you have everything. I beg you never lost no one. My whole family died when the volcano erupted. All of them, my sisters, my parents, my pack, dead. S-so dont you stand there all high and mighty! Motif said, raising up her superior height a little, and looking down at Venom. "My parents taught me compassion, I bet all you learnt was how to be an ass!"

In that moment it could have been mistaken that Venom was the older more mature , while Motif was the smaller pup. However, size didn’t always dictate attitude. Venom was a princess and held herself in high esteem. Motif was a broken slave, cursed to believe she had no one left in this world. She still had a little bit of spunk left as Venom pushed at her.

The young puppy narrowed her gaze and shot daggers at Motif as she assumed much about the pup. She didn’t play the victim card but she had lost a lot. Her father, her home! ”Well if compassion is what’s making you so weak. I don’t want to know about any of it!” Venom retorted heartlessly. ”I’ll show you!” She didn’t enjoy being called an ‘ass.’ She had eaten wild ass before and she certainly was not one of them.

With little more warning Venom jumped at Motif, her cat claws unsheathed she aimed to claw at Motif’s eyes and the soft skin of her face.

Venom Klein Abraxas vs Motif for Dominance
Round 1/2
Age: <6mos
Size: Extra large (pup)
Build: Light
Mutation: Cat Claws (attack)
Mutation: Quills (defense)
Fight Skill Level: Intermediate

She froze, just like she had when Noir had attacked her, and the shock had washed through her, immobilizing her. She stared at Venom, surprise on her face, and this time there was no Poem to intervene. No big sister to jump in the line of fire and get them both out alive.

Her hesitation never cleared, and as Venom came towards her she would do nothing, and the younger girls attack would land just above her eye, scratching the soft skin there and immediately drawing blood. The red sprung free immediately and gushed downwards into her eye. Motif cried out in shock and alarm, finally ripped free of her hesitation as she curled inwards. “I’m blind, you’ve blinded me!” she cried in horror.

Deathbelle made her way towards the temporary den after a patrol. The place was hardly a hovel compared to the palace she once inhabited. The pack would be returned to their home soon, she had to believe that. Those thoughts raced through her head as she walked, when would the lake and ravine be ready to support them again? How long would the volcano torment them before they were allowed to continue with their lives?

She sighed heavily as the sound of voices was carried towards her through the maze of caverns. Mismatched ears perked as she heard Venom speaking with a voice she didn’t recognize without the face. Belle couldn’t help but quicken her pace at the sounds of sudden distress.

When she appeared before the young wolves she was taken aback by the scene. Venom stood before the poor slave girl with blood covering her face. ”Venom, that’s enough.” She’d tell her daughter as she aimed to put herself between the two children. She didn’t chastize her daughter as she looked to Motif’s wounds. She couldn’t tell yet but it was likely the girl only had blood in her eyes. Venom knew not to cause undue damage to the lesser population.

”Calm down,” she said softly to the panicked yearling. ”We’ll get you fixed up, don’t worry.” She offered gently as she coaxed her back to placation.

Venom was nearly as surprised as Motif as the attack landed and the older girl did nothing to protect herself. This was too easy, and Venom vowed to never be as weak as this girl was. The young godlet stepped back before her mother’s voice surrounded her. She already knew there was no sport to this one. She could talk all she wanted, but Venom still managed to do damage. She hadn’t even been given a chance to touch her eyeballs. The slave girl was a baby.

”Yes, mom.” the puppy muttered as she stepped away from the two of them. Why was her mom so soft on her? Venom would have banished her to her den without supper at this point. ”Is she really blind?” Came the afterthought as she peered over Deathbelle’s shoulder to her patient.

she felt the deep hatred that began to bloom in her heart, the darkest emotion she had ever felt in her young life, as she stood there, helpless and blind, utterly at the mercy of those around her. She could appreciate, truly, the feeling of helplessness and rage it brought her. The realization that these wolves could end her life, and she wouldn’t even see it coming.

She didn’t know how to cope with these feelings inside of her, and, as was her normal response these days, she shut down instead of dealing. She curled in on herself, blood in her eyes, wondering if she would ever see again, as the Empress spoke to her. At least this wolf sounded gentle, not that Motif could be certain she meant it. She sniffed, a sound of stress and not dirision as she uncurled herself, likely surprising those around her with her height, for how effectively she curled in on herself when she wasn’t standing. Head bowed, and helpless to see her surroundings, she waited for the Empress to lead her where she would.

Deathbelle could clearly see how broken the child was, not all in thanks to Venom but if the pup had so easily cowed her… The Empress sighed inwardly but remained quiet and gentle on the outside. The girl had enough fun with the kids today. ”Not if I have anything to say about it.” She told her daughter softly as she brushed her shoulder against Motif’s taller one and made as a guide to the den they were only paces from. She had some cleaning supplies, and a room that led to the outside so the light filtered in. She’d be more able to see what she was cleaning.

She led Motif inside where she wanted her after sending Venom on her way. The girl didn’t seem to show much interest in healing or poisons. ”Alright lay down here,” she instructed aiming the girl’s face towards the light. ”You won't have to open your eyes until I tell you.” She continued before grabbing a container of saved water and some dry moss to clean up the blood. Already it seemed to have stopped. Venom’s claws were sharp but she lacked the power to back them up for now.

SHe listened to the banter between mother and child, it sounded almost innocent without the context. It was a hundred worlds away from what it would have been like, had it been in Abaven. She remembered Noir getting punished, of being constantly watched by an adult, with no chance to make mischief. So different from the gentle dismal Deathbelle gave her daughter as she sent her on her way. Perhaps it wasn’t just because they were cruel, perhaps slaves meant she was barely even a person to the eyes of the wolves here.

She let Deathbelle lead her into the den, settling down on the floor when Deathbelle moved away to grab what she needed. The slave girl sunk to the floor, breathing soft, deep breaths to keep herself from panicking. She wanted to go home, she wanted home, home, home. She wanted Epitaph and mummy, and puppa, and Poem and Canni. She wanted to be surrounded by love again. “Miss Deathbelle, I don’t understand, why did she attack me?” she whispered, curious if Deathbelle would give her a straight answer, wondering if she even wanted to hear that answer at all.

The empress settled in front of the tall slave girl. Carefully she cleaned off blood with the dampened moss. The girl gave a question and Belle did her best not to react. ”I don’t know. What do you think she attacked you for?” She returned the question honestly, she hadn’t heard the words the girl’s exchanged. The Empress lay the piece of moss on the ground in favor of some dried horse tail. She soaked it in the water for a long moment before applying the plant to Motif’s shallow cuts. As long as they didn’t get infected the girl would be fine in a few days. ”Can you blink your eyes?” Belle asked, grabbing a clean moss with water to hold at the corner of Motif’s eye to help flush the blood. The practice wouldn’t be comfortable, but it was better than the blood.