First spilt blood [Champion]
04-02-2013, 08:33 AM
~*~ (ooc: words cannot describe my excitement about this post) ?I never understood why they thought we could be pacified.? This is what the grey lady said. And Champion blinked. We. Normally the traveler from the Far North was immune to such things as the opinions of others. Pleasantries had their place, yes, but curses were allowed to roll right off her back. And yet, to Champion?s surprise, something warmed within her when this powerful she-wolf named them in pair. Why? Once Champion wouldn?t have wondered why. But she wasn?t a yearling anymore. She was coming into her adulthood. She knew herself well now. And she knew that she had a tendency to latch on affectionately to older, authoritative she-wolves. No doubt it had something to do with the missing place her mother had left. The last time it had been the small black huntress known as Secret over in Tortuga. Champion had tried pack life for a time and it had utterly bored her. Too much talk and rules and not enough action. But Secret ? or Miss Secret ? as she had called her ? was the one worthy memory she brought away from that place. Champion had met her again in this new land, but the friendship was not enough to draw her back into a pack that barely even knew she?d existed. Remembering this now, Champion warned herself against getting too attached to this wolf she?d just met. And yet? she couldn?t help but feel that it was a kindred spirit walking beside her. Now the grey lady picked up Champion?s question ? spinning a tale with her answer. It was a bitter one?. And all too familiar. At the mention of namecalling Newt?s size had earned her, Champion half grunted, half growled. She understood. But then came a twist to the tale. A powerful one. Those violet eyes became misted with something more than memory. Her words seemed to turn once more into half poetry. Champion did her best to try to understand ? a reaper? Treason? ? but Newt had gone somewhere that her hunting companion could not follow; she was left to thread guesses in the dark. What terrible tragedy could fate have woven that would ?shatter? the mind of so strong a creature? Champion, the wolf who charged at elk and swam lakes in the middle of winter, didn?t think she wished to know. Newt?s words faded away, but she continued walking, tracking as normally as ever. At first Champion believed she was summoning the right words; battling, as it were, the demons of memory within her. But then the silence stretched on. Perhaps Newt had changed her mind. She wished to say no more. Champion was contented. She understood. ? Or rather she didn?t and that was just it. That was why she had no entitlement to ask for more than was freely given. But as Champion glanced over at the grey lady, her brow furrowed. Newt?s eyes remained on the trail of blood ? her body continued to move her along ? but she was weaving swaying. ?Newt?? Champion questioned. Then, her voice thickening with a tone of worry: ?Newt! Are you alright?? But the giantess didn?t seem to hear her. Champion considered tapping her with a paw ? and yet some instinct within her warned against it. Newt was indeed battling the demons of memory, and if Champion dared to interfere it was possible one might last out. It was rather like a more dangerous form of sleep walking. And so Champion now remained quiet. She walked alongside her new companion ? but now with a more hovering nature. She watched Newt carefully ? ready to lend a shoulder if she began to really topple ? or calm a sudden snap if she came out of it. Hopefully she would soon. For now, the elk was more or less forgotten. But with time the grey lady blinked once more into the present. Champion stared at her in half surprise, half worry. She had indeed crossed into another world ? some grey realm of memory and forgetfulness that Champion was lucky enough not to know about. But that didn?t mean that the northern fae sat there watching like a bump on a log. She explained things quickly, hoping to put Newt at ease. ?You trailed off as your memories became painful,? she said. ?That is all. Pray, do not feel you need face such demons for my sake. I understand enough, I think.? She?d much rather have Newt in the present. Perhaps she might?ve added some sort of ?sorry? or condolenseces on the matter, but such was not Champion?s way. She?d always hated it when her old packmates had tried to ?apologize? for Champion?s lack of parents. What were they apologizing for? What good did that do? If any ? it was for them, not for Champion. If they sympathized they could say so clearly, but either way it would do not good. Every wolf has their own burdens to bear ? some heavier than others ? but no one else can bear it for them. You either rise to the challenge or crumble into nothingness. Newt seemed returning to herself. Thank goodness. The grey lady picked up more or less where she left off. Champion let herself breathe calmly once again,(or as calmly as she could with three sprained ribs) and as Newt finished her story, Champion crept her away up to the elk ? coming from behind the head so it did not see her. One quick crunch to the base of the skull and it was gone. Already half unconscious from loss of blood, the animal didn?t feel a thing as it?s soul flitted off to the shades of afterlife. Champion lifted her muzzle, now stained as red as her eyes. She was just in time for the change of topic. The sudden offer. Champion?s brow knit. What-? But the other she-wolf elaborated before Champion could wonder. She was being offered a place within a pack ? perhaps a powerful place, if she could earn it. And to think the day had started out as just another hunt. This meant so much! And yet Champion had to think. She lasped into a thicker silence, now with too much food for thought to think about food for her stomach. Only Newt?s muted stomach growl and her invitation to eat, brought Champion?s hunger back to mind. ?Yes. Please.? the rogue murmured absently. It was clear from the look in her eyes that she was digesting all of this. Taking it in and thinking it over. As the grey lady had been wise enough to see, time was exactly what Champion needed The massive she-wolf laid a paw upon the fore half of the carcus. Despite her injuries, she turned once more into the savage huntress. Saliva and blood trickled past her gums as she bit into the kill, first tearing off the raw hide with coils of neck muscle to rival that of a cougar?s. Once the fur was out of the way, she sated herself on the flesh ? ripping off pieces and gulping them down with barely a breath inbetween. She didn?t make eye contact with the other wolf during this time. Feeding was a tense, heirachal time for wolves, and while Champion herself was confident enough to be calm and share, she respected that the other wolf may not be so inclined. After all, she was a Queen and a pregnant one at that; Instinct would demand control over a generous portion of the kill. Champion didn?t stop til she?d depleted a shoulder, leg and neck. She would?ve eaten more, but her wounded frame couldn?t take much more weight. Plus she?d learned the hard way that a crammed stomach makes a wolf lethargic and slow. Satisfied and contented, Champion took a few steps back and laid herself down, sphinx like in a bed of green ferns. She watched the other wolf with serious look upon her gold-white brow. ?Before I can make any decision,? she said finally, ?I must admit that some of your words catch in my throat ? Not your buisness with the prior Queen. The risk of death is one that all creatures, particularly fighters, choose to face. Perhaps it was regrettable, but I do not know enough of the matter to form any sort of opinion. ? What makes me hesitate is something else you said.? Champion shifted her weight slightly and grunted when her broken tail swished. ?Fighting is the heart and backgone of lupine culture. A good warrior is the peak of wolven existence?? Such she had been taught and such she believed. Champion, paused, swiping her tongue over her muzzle. Not that it did much good, blood from the elk had stained her neck, chest and forelegs, and as she lay there, looking quite the butcher, it made her next words a tad ironic. ??.but I am not an assassin. I am a soldier. I can kill ? in the din of battle or in one on one clash of claws ? but not in cold blood. Nor do I condone such things save in a time of unbridled war.? Her eyes flickered up to meet the lady?s violet orbs. ?That is an unchangeable part of my character and the wolf I want to be.? she added, coining Newt?s own words. ?If you can accept this, then perhaps?? Champion?s eyes glittered with promise. ?Perhaps you may have found herself a sister-in-arms.? ~*~ ~I?m now becoming my own S.e.l.f.-.f.u.l.f.i.l.l.e.d. Prophecy ~ |