The forest stands tall and lush here; ancient trees reach weather-twisted arms to the sky, fighting monster-like storm clouds back with their interlacing fingers. Shadow seems to lurk everywhere you look, but it spills calmly, coolly, inspiring a sense of stealthy calm or protection rather than unease. That is, if you've forgotten what kind of creature might be stalking just out of sight...Abendrot is a land cradled by the dark woods on all sides; in the center, some of the larger trees stay behind to reveal a small plateau - a citadel where this pack can gather and defend itself from invaders. There are, of course, softer sides to the land. Clearings here and there allow the sun to throw down its rays in incongruously resplendent gold showers. Ignore the lingering scents of blood spattered here and there along the borders: those do not concern you. The river on one edge of the territory is playful enough when it hasn't been gorged by violent rain. You can choose to note the ragged claw marks raked down tree trunks and the forest floor as friendly "Home Sweet Home" signs, if you wish.

All who treasure loyalty, order, victory, and the occasional indulgence of raw visceral pleasure are welcome, once they've been approved by the ever-watchful eyes of Abendrot's Alpha. But keep one thing in mind: no matter what your motive, this is not a fool's Paradise. This is the land of soldiers, assassins, and spies. This is ABENDROT.

Make up your mind quickly and prepare to prove your worth. You wouldn't want to add to those blood spatters, would you...?

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A Handmaiden’s Tale
IP: 69.58.126.118
Posted on October 27, 2017 at 08:08:33 PM by Olya

Olya had been kept in her mistress‘ den for days now, kept there by her mistress‘s command. She could not complain, would not complain, but she had to talk to Siku. There was so much to say, so much to explain. He had asked after her, had wanted her to be better, for her head to be healed up well. And yet in return he had gotten nothing but sour treatment. Olya felt horribly about that - as a wolf who had spent her entire life getting the butt end of every choice, as being poorly treated in every situation, she knew how that felt. How demeaning it was, how cruel. All she wanted was to apologize to him… but she could not go against her mistress‘s wishes. Else, she could potentially face the wrath of the council should they ever find out. She was granted no rights, no privileges. She was completely at their mercy, and though they had not come yet, she knew they would someday, come for her and Lilith both. Lilith would be put upon her pedestal once again, protected, cherished, desires. And once again, Olya would fade into the background, Lilith’s shadow. Once in Lilith’s pack, she had been given the rank, the title of Handmaiden. But she was still property. Olya knew it was her place in the world, she knew it was where she belonged, but part of her wanted to explore and experience this whole new world. Already she had learned so much about… Well not about what was right. But rather what was wrong - so many of the things that she had been told growing up, the ideology that she had been indoctrinated into, was a lie. She was told it all in order to subdue her, keep her calm and complacent - that slaves were common place, that any wolf who was not a kalak was inferior genetically, and that all of them were slaves to one clan or another. But it seemed that the Faraway clan‘s did not have a solid mouthful here - their paws may have crept in on the boundary, placing a few wolves here, but they did not hold a lot of power here.

And so while it was terrifying, as everything that she had ever known was crumbling down around her, Olya would also have to admit that it was kind of thrilling. She was quite sure that at the end of all of this, nothing would change for her - it was inevitable that her fate was sealed, that she would be locked here in this place for forever - as a slave. Even with all of the signs around her that that didn’t need to be the way of it all, she had trouble adjusting to change, she had trouble even thinking of the concept that that may not be true. And so she followed her mistress‘ every command, and followed her around as her shadow. She knew no other way of life, and was sure that this was all there was for her. And so when she had awoken and found her mistress gone, immediately her heart sped up to a frantic gallop, that had her limbs moving nearly as fast. Pads and claws gripped at the den floor, trying to get traction as she sought to move from her recumbent position into a standing one, and move from standing to running all at the same time. It was impossible, of course, and she ended up stumbling and crushing her face into the wall before she finally made it out of the den. She was hardly aware of her bloody nose, of the crimson fluid streaking down her lips, into her mouth, across her cheeks, spackling her sides. All she knew, was that if she let anything happen to Lilith while she herself remained alive and unharmed, not only would there be hell to pay, but much worse. She knew how skilled the kalak warriors were in inflicting pain, and she had no desire to incur the wrath anymore than she already had. Tears and blood mixed as she clambered over the land as quickly as she could, following her Mistress’ past steps in the dirt. They were fresh at least, and she could not be that far behind. And it was with a gasp of relief that she finally stopped. She had found her mistress, and Lilith was indeed unharmed - but there was also in a second familiar face there, along with an unfamiliar one.

“Kronos? Where did you… Come from? How did you know where we were? Are you the relief that the Council has sent? To bring princess Lilith home to her people?”

How long had it been, months? Yes, months since they had seen him. He had been one of princess Lilith‘s guards, but in all of the struggle, Olya assumed that he had been killed along with everyone else. Because where had her guards been when they had come for Lilith? When Olya had had to send Lilith through the back tunnel so that she could escape? When Olya had collapsed the tunnel behind Lilith and stood her ground to purchase the princess a precious few extra minutes? When Olya was being beaten and torn apart while she was questioned? Where had he been then? Immediately, she cowered back, moving behind Lilith back into her submissive pose - this land had granted her too much freedom, she had forgotten her place, if only for an instant. Her sad sky blue gaze swept down to lay on the earth, where they belonged. Where she belonged.

“I apologize, I forget myself.”

She said nothing more - perhaps Kronos would be so focused on having found Lilith that he would forget to punish her. Not that Kronos had ever hurt her before, but he was a kalak warrior. It was what they did. And she would deserve every thing that he sought fit to lay upon her. Trembling, she cautiously inched her sights on the ground to the next set of paws - ones that clearly did not belong to any maned wolf. Olya was full of questions, something that she was not used to. Before they had come here, she was unquestioning, never out of place. But now she wanted to know why this lass was with Kronos - was she his slave? Did she share the same rank that Olya added? Only… That was not entirely true. This other lass would be lower than Olya, since she was a mud blood. The soft wind fell from Olya‘s lips as she felt for the first time pity for the other. No one should have to live as they did, and here, in this place, very few if any did. The maned wolf shut her lids and thought back to her conversation with Camille… And now, for the first time, she found herself actually desiring something - she desired freedom, a different life. But nothing could erase the past, and nothing could change who she was.

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