f a r a i

j o n e s
The chaos was more stimulation than he could handle. He mentally compared his fright now to the night he met the slavers, and he couldn't differentiate which was worse. But when he noticed Angel's excitement at the mention of the names being shouted, he had a glimmer of hope. ".. Ang? Is your dad coming?! Is he finally here?"

But before he received a definitive answer, before his hope had time to settle, Farai ripped Angel from her entrapment, and seemingly disappeared. Jones heart shattered and tears welled at once. "AAAAAAAAAANGEL,  NO!" Lunging forward as he cried, but the rope kept him grounded.

Vito hissed a threat to be silent as he tugged the remaining orphans along, but he didn't listen. He continued to shout for the return of his sister.

s y b e l l a
The nobility and bravery was inspiring, but the ferocity was something deep-rooted; a feeling that was more foreign to Sybella. She had a hard time understanding it. Everyone had a hunger in their hearts that they were aching to feed, this is where it became more intimidating and daunting. But fleeting beside her was Iron, who stayed close and made her vulnerability disperse when it crept. He was always so level-headed, and it was times like this that she was glad he didn't wear his emotions. Taking a moment, she thanked the stars he was here, her courage would be astray without him.

At last they had eyes on the marauders, and the lost souls that they had bind by rope. She turned to her luminary, hoping he could make this all go away. "Iron," She said pleadingly, beginning to wonder if she was too weak-minded and empathetic for this rescue. Looking back to the children, she watched as a larger grey-female erratically combusted with emotion, and to disbelief at her stupidity, she dashed off with one of the orphans. "IRON." Shouting now, she bounded after Farai without much thought, without any idea of what she was going to do if she caught up with the bandit. Heroine was not the character that Sybella often played.  

Had it been three days already? The Ranger's mind swam with thoughts until she was dizzied by the flurry and staggered to a stop many a time during their journey. Her small skull seemed to ache beyond its means, flooding and spilling over with memories and harsh emotions. The wolfdog could still feel the suffocating grip of the rope around her throat; she promised herself never again would she be tethered and bound like a dog, like a slave. She could still feel the horrible aching pangs of hunger and her stomach turned itself inside out; the growing child who did not grow. Iaera could still remember everything as if it was only a few days ago and she had resigned herself to the fact that those memories would never fade. Now she was glad that they hadn't, the anger and the resentment and the burning empathy fueled her, Gemini's embers were lighting the lands up around them.

But Iaera had had one thing these children had not had, she had had her mother during the hardest point in her life. Her mother to sing her songs, and her mother to slip her extra food, to remind her to have strength and to prepare her for what lay ahead.

The cloaked woman halted her forward motion a bit, the convoy would move on without her, she was only flanking the side in the shadows anyway; would they notice she was still there or had stopped? In the moment she was wrapped up in thinking about how terrified she would have been without her mother to guide her and comfort her. All those helpless, frightened children, ripped away from their parents. Her tiny heart seemed to scream in agony, tears staining her face; empathy was a bitch. The wolfdog swallowed hard, trying to keep down internal suffering before it slipped out into the world around her. This would not do. This could not do. As long as she was clouded with emotion, she would not be able to see through the storm. Iaera feared she would sideline herself with her ridiculous inability to control herself.

Violet eyes closed tight, a long deep breath pulled in and then exhaled sharply. The small woman had been a fighter before, she had been the fangs of someone's death. Lead into battle by her mother, she had fought for her life; and failed her mother's life. Her small snaggle-toothed fangs would bare harshly at the thought, feeling the guilt and resentment bubbling up at the thought. Iaera would not fail a life this time now that she was older, stronger. She had a chance to make it up to her mother, do her mother proud as there was no doubt if Style still lived that she would have frequently been caught up in escapades such as this. But she could not be rational, she could not be emotional or her fear and nature to overthink would lead her astray. The Ranger made up her mind as she shucked her cloak and left it folded near a tree (couldn't risk it getting caught or grabbed in a fight), she would fight this battle like she had fought her last.

Like a gambler rolling the dice and hoping her luck didn't run out.

Face set in stone, a scowl pulled onto her lips as she caught back up to Akira's wildfire. And it didn't take long before her new headspace would do her and everyone some good. Poisonous green eyes stared from the bushes beyond the Gemini flare and it was Iaera who found them first and met them with a deathly glower. "Eyes, my King. There..." As quickly as the lowered hush had been muttered the figure darted off and was pursued by the bloody ex-jackdaw. But the Ranger didn't charge, instead her eyes found her King and her packmates as they readied themselves onward. The slavers were not hard to identify, the child slaves in rope shackles. Emotion fought to surface but the wolfdog did not allow it and smothered it down with a dark growl unlike any noise she'd made ever before. Akira spoke boldly but Iaera knew the type, they would not roll belly up, that kind always felt they had nothing to fear.

Not even fear itself. But fear itself stood there today and faced them.

There was a violent charge, a loud call, the thunder of Gemini, crackle of flames as they set in to singe out the impurity.  Avery charged, just as the Cavalier should! and Echo followed suit to defend her, she caught a glimpse of Iron (and Sybella) pursuing a child and a stray slaver. Necros, Harriette before disappearing... The wolfdog drank it in until her eyes found the prize she sought, the glimpse of the tethered children being swept away by the cowards. So they would hide behind their wall of guards? Run for cover and leave their comrades to die? The Whisper scoffed hard at the not very startling revelation that the slavers were in fact, shitty people, before she would look over to whoever was nearest to her. "I'm going for the kids."

I won't let them out of my sight.

These were the lives that she could not bear to fail, and she caught a glimmer of the fear in Irene's eyes, the shrieking of another and something dark boiled in her. The small woman set out like a bullet from a gun-- perhaps just as dangerous too--, Iaera had the benefit of being swift and sneaky, though she had thrown the latter to the wind in a trade for extra speed. Being small had it's perks as well, assuming she could slip between and under the bulk they used to guard their "goods". She would at the very least try, hoping that when she arrived she could set her fangs into the shackles and begin to loosen them from the children. Maybe she'd be lucky and back-up would follow her in her attempt to past the Goliath's.

Time to roll the dice,

fangs were ready, soul was burning, something that once slept in her awakened.

Drums of battle boomed like a calling inside Ivaylo's head. The time has come; they had finally caught up to the thieves of innocent lives, and it was Gemini's duty to tear them down and save whoever was left. It was a mission placed on all of their shoulders. Ivaylo's shoulders. Whether she was destined to be here or not, it wouldn't matter. She didn't care much for purpose anymore. There was no meaning behind these bastards' actions. They were relentless, cruel, and sadistic. What point would there be to try and understand why they had done the things they did? Wolves were killed, the elderly, the fathers. The mothers. The mothers' death would be avenged with the same mercy they had been given. This, Ivaylo knew.

As they tread through the lands in unison, she wondered whether anyone felt differently about her being present in this expedition. She had just shown up one day, out of the blue, and become a part of their kingdom, a large family of different shapes and sizes and colors. Surely it wasn't strange for her to be one of them, right? But what had she really done to prove that she was one of them? Wander around, without meaning or goals, and just...  exist. No, she had to allow herself to do so. To simply exist when it was so difficult to go on. That, she held no excuses for. She didn't need to. She looked up from her paws to see Iaera hanging up her cloak. As Ivaylo walked past, she caught a glimpse of tears wetting the Whisper's cheeks. She quickly looked away, remembering their conversation from a day ago. Her heart truly ached for her and her lost mother, her childhood that was so abruptly cut short by misery and bloodshed. The savagery of it all, the brutality, made her blood boil beneath her skin and surface in a palpable steam. Her anger grew and grew, overcoming her empathy. They'd pay for this suffering. All of them, they will pay.

She raced to the top of a slope as she heard the king's roar, gasping for breath. She pulled up just behind Iaera as she caught up, glancing once at her, then the King, then down at the mass of wolves in the clearing beyond. There they were. The children, tied up and in the clutches of their captors. Some sped away in terror, like the cowards they really were. Others, with little fear and more like a blood-thirstiness shining in their eyes, flashed their fangs at the troup of rescuers, ready to strike. Ivaylo could feel her fur bristling, her skin burning with rage. It almost felt as if they were mocking them, the way they tugged and struggled with the stolen pups. Her teeth bared and claws digging into the ground, she tried with all her might to control the itch to charge at them immediately and bury every sharp edge on her body into theirs, to feel their vocal chords ring against her jaws as they scream in agony. They deserve it. They deserve endless pain. As everlasting as the pain that took place of her dead mother. Of Iaera's mother. Of the children's mothers.

"I'm going for the kids."

Ivaylo looked away from the slavers for a split second, opening her mouth object, but it was too late. Iaera burst into battle before she could suggest that Ivaylo follow. Damnit! What the fu-- She bolted after her, taking this opportunity to throw herself in the fight.

Soon enough, all of Gemini was rushing to aid the children, each other, and smite the enemies. She looked left and right, catching sight of Necros facing off with a thug. She decided he could handle his own, he was bigger and stronger and no doubt could take him down alone. Running past the two and weaving around others in the midst of combat, her leaf green eyes widened as she saw a fiend's jaws about to clamp down on Iaera.

"Oh no, you fucking don't."

She sprung herself forward, letting out a cry that frightened even herself as she intervened, using her weight to barrel into the criminal. There was a loud clash as she rolled onto the ground. But she picked herself up immediately, shaking from the impact and snarling furiously as she met both gazes. It was happening. This fight would be the end of suffering, the end of enslavement. Free my mind. Liberate me. She looked back at Iaera once to confirm she wasn't injured. How's this for running wildly into the unknown? Without wasting any more time, Ivaylo sprinted at him and swung her claws at his face, hoping to make it even uglier than it already was. FIGHT ME.