ooc;;
This is a recruitment thread for anyone interested in having their characters become an officer. Current officers are expected to join. Sphinx also always allows youth to come watch and gain experience. Outside of that, please ask before joining. First round deadline is Feb 1st.

The officers were low in numbers, had been low in numbers for quite some time. It probably would have had any other position leader shaking, knowing that they didn't have enough workers to boss around. Knowing they didn't have enough fat to pad the ranks. It never bothered Sphinx though. She didn't care about the numbers, and certainly didn't care about having a little extra fat to look good. Sure, a little curve in the right places was easy on the eyes... but only if it was in the right places and you knew what to do with it. The Warden only cared that her officers were capable. With their current number, her ranks might have looked a little hungry, a little thin, but she could guarantee that it only made them bite that much harder.

She didn't need numbers, and to the Red Dragon's pit with what the numbers made them look like. She needed loyalty and skill, and she would have both. She refused to accept anything else.

When she arrived at her destination, the large stretch of land beside the lake's banks--one of the first spots Achilles ever taught her how to fight--she glanced towards her mute prisoner with a warm, empathetic look in her eyes. "I'll admit, this isn't going to be fun for you..." She said the words softly, an apology dancing in the notes,"But, if you cooperate, I think I may be able to help you get out of slavedom. Soon." In order for this all to work, the pretty little priestess needed a slave... and the girl she had chosen was one of her favorites. The brown captive never made trouble, never pressed her luck, and if she remembered correctly, Valefor only had good things to say about her. Sphinx felt bad for what catching her eye meant for the pretty pink-eyed girl, but still, if she did cooperate, the Warden believed it would help prove she believed in the cause. It might even help her convince Tibet that the girl was ready to be allowed into the pack.

If you were going to use her like this though, you could have at least tried to learn her name.

No time to dwell on that. She was a Warden now. She had to be stronger. She tilted her head back then, and let out a long, sweet-sounding howl. The message behind it was simple: all current officers, along with their bonds, were to come to her. Anyone that wished to become an officer was to come to her. Her newest bond was to come to her. It was a recruitment, sure, but it was more than that. It would be an event. A lesson. She was a priestess at heart, despite her Warden exterior, and the order always had something to teach.

"Welcome, everyone. This is a recruitment for new officers, a competency check  for the current--though I'm sure he'll do nothing but impress--and a lesson for any youth and bonds that arrive. Before we begin, introduce yourself to your brothers and sisters."

The air grew cooler as she descended down below scenting as she went making mental notes as she always did of what she scented and where and how strong the scent was. Scents helped to prevent one from getting lost and helped to prevent one from being ambushed and since it was unknown what they would find down here and whether it would be light enough everywhere to see scratch marks that left scent to be the guide as sound could be distorted. Of course scent wasn't always a sure thing in such conditions but it was usually more reliable and she could and would combine hearing to ensure the best chance at not getting lost down here. She was especially concerned about the lost part as she wasn't alone. There were others who needed to be protected and kept safe as well and she had experience enough in dealing with natural disasters that she was fairly sure she could mitigate any threats that might come up that would endanger any of the searching parties.

At present though she couldn't detect anything that seemed particularly dangerous even as she progressed further into the system along with the others. Of course that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down. Oh no. There still plenty more to explore before this place could be deemed safe, if it ever could be deemed safe, which of course they wouldn't know whether it could be or not until all the explorations were through and there was no way to know at present how long that would take. But she at least intended to be thorough so however long it took to check every nook and cranny was time she would consider as being well spent and she didn't exactly have anything else to do besides and since she rather disliked not doing anything or having anything to do that wouldn't cause everyone to raise a fuss exploring this new underground tunnel system suited her just fine.



((so here is a really short horrible starter for the plot..I will likely be really very extremely slow in replies though since I'm still more gone than I am here especially in regards to IC things but I like doing Aylie/Nardir things so..yeah))

Everything looked different now. No matter how many times she blinked, rubbed her eyes, turned her head, she couldn't see things the way they used to be. The same shapes were still there, but the colors had dulled. It all looked... sad. Dead, almost. Ivaylo remembered how vibrant everything used to be when she was only a child. Experiences and emotions bubbled out of her nearly every day. She could feel it coming from her, her family, and the little things around them. Now, she didn't have a grasp on time. But she knew that was becoming a problem from the start. She didn't know where she was going, or why. She had no clue if she even wanted to do anything anymore. Most days, she would over sleep and force herself to lay still for hours and go hungry. Was this punishment? It felt like it. But she just didn't want to move.

She lay there now, her head between her paws, in a hollow at the base of a large tree. It was the best form of shelter she could find after days of mindless walking. After she found it, she chose to settle in immediately. She had it in her mind that she had truly given up this time. Even after the strangers she met attempted to give her the realistic side of things, she still wanted to cling to the last bit of hope she had in finding her brother. Yet she knew since then how real it is now. She was surely alone. She could think about nothing else but how her future would be filled with sorrow and solitude. Logically, it didn't have to be that way. She could get up right now and find Sveyn's trail to Bacchus, and not be so alone, but she didn't want to. It wouldn't bring her mother or brother back. She wouldn't fit in. They wouldn't love her. Ivaylo sniffled and placed a paw over her face, heaving a deep sigh. She couldn't keep her mind from running in circles like this, but she couldn't do anything about it either. Nice.

Suddenly, she lifted her head and stared out into the forest for several moments. A slight breeze blew her way, making her nose and eyes sting. Ivaylo could sense someone was near. She felt eyes on her. Even in her pit of despair, she pushed it away and stood up, ready to face the possibility of protecting herself. She tasted the air, catching slight hints of unfamiliar scents. A stranger was definitely here, and she had only just realized. She held back more whimpers and tears, and after a few heartbeats, slowly walked a few steps out from the tree.

"Are you there?"


(ooc: this is basically her right now lol)
@waka

Redd

It was hard to live on your own, when you were used to living a life of luxury. Days that were once filled with warm toasty fires in a confined hearth, with the sweet soft comfort of your very own rug, accompanied by a soft singsong hum and creeks of an old rocking chair were far in the past. Days of playing fetch with sticks, to be greeted by treats of raw meat for bringing it back were no more. Even the soft tender moments of being able to stare out into the stars lacked their compassion, as they would never again be shared by a tender hand stroking against Redd's head of her departed human companion. What was once a quiet days filled with warm and inviting loving moments had become the worst days of the wolf's life, now that she was truly and utterly alone.

The first thing that Redd insisted on was getting as far away as her paws could carry her from her human's cottage. It had been her home for three years, but she couldn't stand the thought of staying to smell her owner's scent day in and day out only to be reminded that the old woman was dead. To brave the true wild and starve off scraps and roots was better than to stay with a decaying body, and so for over a month the fem wolf traveled. It wasn't well in its plan of course. Redd had never been on her own and didn't have the first clue on how to look for shelter or what could constitute as something edible in replacement for meat, as hunting was a skill she never had to bother to master in the past. The first week on her own was hard, as she stumbled her way through the forest she first turned to when deciding to leave her only home, drinking water from streams and tried to sleep with mainly failure in fear of something attacking her in the night. The second week however was worse. Between the small lizards she managed to pounce on and the twigs she would chew to try and give herself something to stay busy with, the wolf was inevitably starving. 

The third week has been a mixture of some delirium as her body tried to forget the fact that it was living off fumes, when her tired golden eyes caught sight of bird wings, followed by the richly stench of decay that was inhaled through her umber colored nose. A carcass had never been part of Redd's diet before, but the near rabid sensation of an easy meal made her forget the easy ways of life she had in the past as her legs bounded towards the meal. It was the first moment since her solo adventure that she felt a sense of hope on actually making it. 

With strength from having a full stomach, and a sense of respect for the harsh life that nature promised, Redd journeyed further with cautious steps and keen looks as she kept going. She was proud of herself in the fourth week for managing to catch a rabbit. Its leg had been injured but still, it was an accomplishment she had yet to fulfill, and made her feel more ready towards this life of survival. The hope thickened in her dirty and malnourished body, and kept her eager to go further. There had to have been a point in this direction she picked from the start, right?

It was the middle of the fifth week, when she had ventured away from the safety of wood and along the open air and waters near the cliffsides when something startled Redd's senses. It took the rustic colored canine a few moments to piece it together, as it had been rare in her past to come across the scent of wolf. It was there, constant and growing, as she stumbled her way into what could have only been a territory. Naturally the tension rose and Redd stopped dead in her tracks. This would be the first moment she would encounter her own species as a pack. She had no knowledge on how to greet her brethren. What if she did something wrong? On the other hand, this is what she had been looking for. Being alone would inevitably get her killed. She wasn't equipped with knowing how to hunt or scavenge effectively, and luck on finding easy meals would eventually run out. She also couldn't deny the fact that she was lonely. Her time with her human never had real interaction when it came to conversation, but she still had a constant presence that she ached to have again. Redd ruffled her fur, matted from the debris of her search out in this wild and old blood from the kill she had made, until the shifting revealing the small hunk of black stone that was tethered by simple rope around her neck. She stared at it hard, and huffed with a husky unused voice.

"Let's do this. For you, Rika."

Dirty feet moved forward, further into the territory of wolves and hoped at the back of her mind the creatures that lived here saw something worthwhile in the wolf who was still searching herself.

OOC: This is being replied to in Discord chat! Vixxie is accepting Redd and will show that soon :B

The timber girl paced up to a pile of large stones. She had been traveling some distance from the Neutrals where she had found herself to here. Something drew her here.. maybe the stars or some old fates. Either way she made it. Her emerald eyes looked around approvingly. The place had a good feel and lots of room yet to explore. She could smell the scents of a pack. That always held curious fortunes but she wasn't much of a worrier. So she sat down, admiring the stones, figuring that someone, somewhere would pick up her new scent and find her. They would kick her out, welcome her, or something inbetween, but for now she was going to enjoy the view and let them come.