Protecting the supply

Now that she was old enough to go exploring on her own, Ember was taking full advantage of her newfound freedom in her adolescence. One of the things she used her freedom on was taking a trip to the southern territory where the Hallows harvested most of the grapes used in their winemaking from. Although her parents still would not permit her to drink any of the beverage in question, the young Carpathian princess was still fascinated to learn the manufacturing process that her mother had meticulously perfected so she could get to know her pack's biggest export better. So, on a rainy afternoon, Ember set off south from the castle across the wet grasslands towards the dense grove of grapevines. She arrived a short time later just as a gentle rain began to fall, dampening her coat until she ducked beneath the cover of the thicket. It was darker amongst all the vines, the sunlight blocked out by cloud cover and the plants, and quieter too, all the outside noise filtered out.

Just as Ember was wandering through the various clusters of grapevines, investigating all the different kinds of fruits that sprouted from the thick vines, a low threatening growl rumbling off in the shadows caught her attention. The young girl spun on her heels, blue eyes scouring the shadows for the source of the sound. At first, she couldn't find anything—until that rumbling growl was heard again from above her. Ember's eyes slowly lifted and spotted the hulking form of the black jaguar hidden in the low light in a branch above her head. Her breathing picked up, eyes narrowed in deadly focus as she braced her paws, preparing for the fight. But before Ember could reach for her sword on her back, the jaguar lunged for her, leaping from the trees with a feline snarl and claws extended. Ember dove out of the way, rolling across the damp grass and coming to a stop on her paws, swiftly drawing her sword as she faced off against the big cat. That was when a second feline growl caught her attention and another jaguar crept out from behind some of the thick vines, both cats squaring up against the girl. Shit... Two on one was not an ideal fight for her.

Unable to flee or risk being mauled by the jaguar pair, Ember growled back in response and held her ground, clutching her sword tightly in her jaws as she tried to keep her eyes on the two apex predators while they attempted to split up and divide her attention to gain an opening on her.

"Ember Carpathius"