[Akira.]

- For context
- End of Reign

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Three days after a warrior fell beneath a dying sun in the grasslands, a girl-king lead a fire across the In Between. Oh how she burned, but she was only one ember. At her back flared heat much more intense, for these were people who had seen child stealers before.

Following the blood of a determined father was not difficult, but picking up his original pursuit had certainly tested the rangers' abilities. Through their trails they found it, as Akira knew they would. She remembered the faces of those who tried their hardest. They were good, and they were brave, and Gemini was proud to have them.

Together, they chased the tail of a scourge until—at long last—they found proof of its body: a black she-wolf, lithe and slight. It was hawk-eyed Iaera who spied her venomous green eyes peering from within a thicket, and Krimson who shot forward with her jaws snapping. Spitting a snarl, the she-wolf bolted.

And there, not a mile further, they found them. It was easy to tell. They had pups bound in rope.

The king turned to her country and gestured with her tail. They had rehearsed the plan, to surround and strike if they would not surrender immediately. Kill no one who begs for their life. Free the children and help them get home.

"Hail!" she cried to the blight. "We come on behalf of Alistar and Gwen. Bare your belly or we come for your throat."  

Inevitably, they did not come quietly.

With a howl that sounded more like a roar, Akira crashed towards them, and bid the others do the same.

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Welcome to the Heirs of Grief raid base thread!!! What a mouthful!!! This is the official entrance and start to the raid.

- This is an OPEN THREAD without any particular post order that will serve as a check in station for the Gemini plot.

- Please post your character here if they are participating. This includes Gemini characters (whether they are fighting or not), the slavers, and the kids! You are allowed to bundle characters in your posts if you have multiple coming. You may still join if your forgot to post your characters in the tracking threads I made.

- Your post can be as simple as them looking up and going "aaaahhhh". I just need a place to... track everyone...

- You can also use it to rp regularly in if you'd like, or branch off into your own threads for more organization and privacy (particular for longer fights and scenes).

- I also do encourage you to make branching threads! If you link them to me I'll include them up top so everybody can read 'em.

- Any damage done to your characters is of course up to you! This includes death!! If you play a slaver and decide that you don't want them to die, it's okay, just let people in your thread know! Work it out!!!!

- IC time, the raid lasts about a day. OOC time, they will officially be back in Gemini on June 1st. That doesn't mean your threads need to be finished by then! Please liquid time for the next 10 years, it's fine!!! It's only so you have a concrete date for when you can officially rp in the pack again.  

- If you have any questions and concerns, please drop me a line. Remember to plot well together and have fun.

edit: - if you need an extension on the deadline to get started just let me know!!

[Avery!]

"Ve have bad company," he'd warned them all, his partners in crime, when his keen ears had picked up the black siren's distress call.

How many strong were their pursuers? Why did they interfere in business that was hardly their own? How piteous, the anger of the righteous, how contemptible, how utterly droll... but they'd been in tight spots before, he and his. They would not sacrifice their hard-won plunder to any big flapping set of mouths who demanded it of them.

The coyote giggled feverishly, an angry and unnerving chatter more like, as he tried with the short time they had to organize his band. Bare my belly, fraulein? I'd love to see you try and make me.

"Rannoch, Farai, Achsul, Ariadne -- you're biggest, go swat those noisy flies. Aiden und I, ve'll take away ze children. You know vhere to meet us."

Maybe they wouldn't obey him. He wasn't their leader, after all. But he was clever. Hard to catch as a wisp of smoke. Aiden was young and meek, in need of his guidance, and easily pushed into the line of fire if things went... sour.

"Come, boy -- grab ze rope, follow me --"

Wild blue eyes swept over the entangled children, and he hissed viciously, all the usual blitheness gone from his accented voice.

"Make a fuss, ve vill kill you, all of you, one by one."

Vtoleni snapped black teeth over the makeshift chains and pulled them harshly into what he hoped would be a sprint for safety.

So long, little heroes.

~*~

The firebird followed Akira at a respectable distance. She had the eyes of a caged beast, wide and roving and watchful, missing nothing that moved or approached on their sojourn out into the neutrals. She hadn't been here in years, and perhaps under kinder circumstances, she'd have been pleased to return, to see old sights...

Not now. There was work to be done. Evil to be paid unto evil.

An onlooker following Avery's story might find it a little troubling, her vengeful leap into this foray, and for a stranger no less. Surely she abhorred slavery, wrath doubled when it was inflicted upon innocent children... but there was a bloodthirstiness beneath the noble intentions, a savage and unforgiving ferocity, that might lead one to question the difference between necessary muscle and an unhealthy coping mechanism. Saboro had taught her to maim and kill for all the years she'd been imprisoned there -- was it surprising that she'd come back to the violence like someone picking a scab, because oh the pain was bad, but more than that, it scratched an itch festering way down deep at the heart of the Cavalier, soothed and quieted it when nothing else could?

Let me bite into slaver necks. Let me spill their entrails. Let me forget myself, let me not exist, in the heat of virtuous battle. Let me find some temporary solace in the blood, some exhausted and relieved release from every horror and agony that had ever been pushed down my throat. Let me kill that which has been done to me, over and over, whenever it shows its fucking face.

"Hail! We come on behalf of Alistar and Gwen. Bare your belly or we come for your throat."

Who? a certain coyote might have laughed.

Avery's eyes glowed silent and luminous and intimidating as she watched them throw out their last chance. She lunged for the first slaver brute that moved toward them in aggression, snapping for their tender muzzle, trying to encase it and crunch it in her own powerful jaws.

Let the dark stranger who'd led them here live for now. Someone was going to give her some answers when all was said and done... whether she liked it or not.

Bleed.

[Echo]

Ears swirled at the distress call, and pinned back further at the sound of a surrender.  

The scarred veteran had never once been run out of his own slave train, he had always held his own and driven off any that had dared come between him and his product.  That was how he had earned his scars, that was how he had earned the right to call the shots.  Today however, the rhythm had changed, those that came to free the children were not small in number.  They came in droves, in fleets, and with an anger that was palpable on the evening air.  Rannoch had heard the charge from his snake-like companion, and decided to take heed, fading into the shadow of the forest to disguise himself.

The slaver veteran ran, over logs and through bush.  He ran.  This was not new to him, he knew to skirt behind them, to flank them, to take them from the rear as they were blinded by their anger, by their revenge, by their compassion.  Rannoch knew neither of the last two emotions, anger however though, he knew well.  And he used it now to bridge the gap he had created between the two bands.  He had found his target as he had passed them the first time.  She was difficult to miss, red and angry, and a palpable fire about her.

Rannoch reverted her to memory as he crossed back, closing the gap between them, gait growing longer and longer the closer he got, eyes narrowing as the to-be heroes closed in n their merry band of thieves.  Veteran eyes locked onto their target, large and red, a fiery aura about her.  

Rannoch charged from behind - launching his frame towards the Cavalier, that fiery aura would soon be snuffed out, and taken form her as the lives of Alistar and Gwen had been taken.  Without remorse.  

----------------****----------------

Echo had not been there when the father had spoken his final words, nor had he been there when Akira had announced they were going to find the children.  However, as many things did in Gemini, word had spread like wildfire, and Echo had to sprint to catch up to the group.  He had frustrations to be let out, and what better way then on child slavers, and those that murdered in cold blood.  

He had not met slavers before, inside or outside of Gemini, regardless of that fact, he knew they needed to be put down.  

The pack had gone through so much loss, and so much grief through the past few months- years even, they needed to heal, and to grieve, but some had more trouble then others.  Some were more physical.  Some needed to take that grief, and heart-ache and that pain and turn it into a physical manifestation, something they could wrap their fangs around and smite.  Something they had the power to control.  Making sure the slavers would never hurt another child again, would do for now.  

The camouflaged colored male took up the rear, making sure the King and the Cavalier had back up if they needed it, making sure there were no stragglers trying to become a martyr for their cause.  

Akira called out, an anger behind her words and a justice in her stance, making fools of the cowards and scoundrels that fled before them.  

A roar, and the King gave chase, along with the flame red Cavalier.  Echo moved forward behind them, but a movement caught his eye form the side.  A scarred male lunged form the trees towards Avery's left side, Echo lept forward, knowing this was no friend. "Avery, your LEFT!"  He snarled at the foe as placed himself between the male, and his Cavalier, taking the brunt of the hit.  Fangs dug into his side, no whimper escaped him though, he was too angry, infuriated from the fact that this douchebag had attacked form the rear like a coward.  

The momentum caused them both to barrel into Avery as Echo fell onto his side, with the slaver on top, thrashing about, blood and spittle flying in the air.  

Tonight.  The moon would bleed red.  

[Irene]

She may have lost track of the length of their... residency with the gang, but she was able to count the time as it ticked by, death looming over all their shoulders. For the slavers it was the threat of death by justice, but for the children it was by the slavers' fangs.  If it hadn't been so selfish, the young girl would have craved death. A clean exit from this miserable life, from the pain and anguish of knowing what she'd gone through, what she'd lost, what she'd have to carry on without. Thoughts lingered in her mind that were most unpleasant, yet she could not silence them or push them out. It was all she could do to simply muffle them, to place shallow courtesy and feigned contentedness on top in attempts to smother. Weak smiles when provoked, but otherwise empty stares and hollow breaths kept the girl going. A ticking machine, a stitched-together lady. The tensions were suffocating, and in their vicious haste the adults hustled the girl and her new siblings together on tightly, coarsely-bound tethers. Irene's attempts at maintaining a sense of dignity began to crack with each jolting step forward, tears welling but she'd refuse to blink them down. Only when they'd built up too high would they fall - a lady does not cry. Whimpers and silent sobs gagged in her throat as she held her lips tightly shut, eyes facing downwards always. A lady does not cry, she does not complain.  The beastly coyote jerked them forward, the wrangling of the adults obviously furious and restless. Wide, pitiful eyes circled around, hearing the distant, muttered calling of some new stranger, feeling the change it atmosphere of the brutes around her. The swell of flames billowed up, and a new terror swelled in her chest. How impossible it was to be a lady in a group of savages. "Make a fuss, ve vill kill you, all of you, one by one." The girl shuddered. She hated the man, this Vtoleni, more than she could describe. She feared him, dreaded him, and yet somehow despite all this he seemed even more terrifying now than ever before. The scratching of his hissed voice, that gleam in his eyes - he was truly dangerous, now. She moved along as best she could, as gracefully as she could against the tugging and the choking and the shaking in her limbs. Every other step she found herself glancing over to the coyote, hating herself for doing so, but feeling as though she must. The last thing she wanted was for him to connect eye contact, to know she was still there. To see her. To talk to her. But his threat was genuine, was to-the-bone deadly, and if she didn't pay attention he might make good on it. "Come, we must move," Irene didn't know their saviors, she couldn't know how close they were to freedom. All she could do was try to keep her siblings-in-death alive just one more day, just one more hour. To keep them alive against these terrible, blazing odds.

[Vixxie]

f a r a i

The call of war triggered the immediate reaction of utter annoyance. "Ve have bad company,"

Isn't that ironic.

"Hail! We come on behalf of Alistar and Gwen. Bare your belly or we come for your throat." The name must have belonged to the parents of one of their slaves, she watched carefully... and at the moment Angel's face lit up she bared teeth back towards Akira. Fucccccck. "Which one of you fucking fools let them LIVE?" She glared at her peers. Farai should have believed the brat when she threatened her father would be back to avenge.

She quickly devised a plan that would end with her being alive. There were too many of them. The slavers didn't stand a chance, she was smart enough to recognize that. So, run for home? Abandoning her team? At least one of them were responsible for this happening, anyway. And it could work, it would work. She'd say they got attacked. It'd be true. But if she returned without any of the merchandise, she'd probably be as good as dead.

"Rannoch, Farai, Achsul, Ariadne -- you're biggest, go swat those noisy flies. Aiden und I, ve'll take away ze children. You kno-" She smirked, she even laughed in ridicule. "Good luck with that, Vito." Before she could see the attack Rannoch implemented on the opposers, she snatched Angel viciously, fracturing the rope, and dashed into the deep thicket -- away from the bloodshed that was waiting to happen...

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.  

[Iron]

The child felt a thousand years old, a dusty skeleton in a chain gang, one paw falling after another only because she was being pulled along by her captors. They wanted her to walk, so she wanted to stop walking. They wanted her to be quiet, so she wanted to scream. The problem was that there was no one to scream at anymore – none of these wretched creatures seemed to care at all about her suffering, and some even seemed to relish it. There was no reason to waste her breath lamenting; she had to save all her energy for their eventual escape. She would escape. She would take all her fellow prisoners with her, they would overpower the monsters and then run back to her parents. Her parents would help the other children find their families again, or if that wasn’t an option, they would take care of them…she would have siblings, and they would all grow up big and strong, and they would spend their lives fighting the forces of evil that had held them down as children. She knew this was to be their future with an unwavering faith; every night she looked up at the stars and saw her destiny, and every morning that destiny did not manifest she was not disappointed but reassured.

The reckoning was coming.

"Hail! We come on behalf of Alistar and Gwen. Bare your belly or we come for your throat."  

Faith and courage would always be rewarded. She barely noticed the tension that passed through her captors, the whispered threats, so elated was she by the sound of her parents’ names, the confirmation of her dreams. They were alive, they were coming for her, just as she’d promised. ”That’s them!” she whispered emphatically to the children who were bound to her, wanting them to know the significance of this moment. ”My parents! They’re coming for us! Just like I said!” Her voice was rising now and she trotted in place, full of renewed energy. Her silky tail stood straight up and wagged uncontrollably, and pink eyes locked straight onto Vtoleni, her least favorite, without the slightest hint of fear. My dad is going to tear you apart, said her gaze, without even a shadow of doubt.

The shadow only passed over her when she found herself wrenched off her feet by her chains, stumbling to regain her footing only to be dragged away by one of them. It happened so quickly and so forcefully that she could not even resist, she stole one last glance at her new siblings and for the first time, the pink eyes showed fear.


-------------------


Iron had a job to do. He was not fueled by fire as the other warriors were, but a simple purpose – children were in trouble, and they needed to be rescued. This seemed to be a reoccurring theme here, so he supposed he should be used to it by now. He had been reluctant to bring Sybella along, worried that she could get injured in a brawl or perhaps see something that would upset her (he wasn’t sure if they would be in time to save all the children), but she had insisted and it wasn’t his place to tell her what to do, after all. Besides, he was glad to have a companion who (probably) wouldn’t go into a blind rage and attack him during the fight.

When they found their prey, he watched with a grim expression, trying to take count of how many there were. He could see the children in a small cluster, which was good – it would be easier to protect them in a group like that. He remembered the rules of engagement – circle around, attack only to suppress, kill no one who begged for their life. This was all standard to him; he wasn’t here for vengeance or sport. He just wanted to get the children out of here as quickly as possible and then go home. Killing scum wasn’t on his to-do list.

As simple as all of this should have been, Sybella made things difficult, as he suspected she would. She ran off after one of the fleeing slavers and their child hostage and Iron followed without hesitation, catching up to her in a few strides. He couldn’t help but admire her courage, though he was internally glad that he was here to protect her, since she seemed to be the type to just blindly run into battle with an unknown foe. The rest of the pack could handle the other children – he and Sybella would go after the one that had been separated from the pack.

[Harriette]

ooc: infirmary thread.

Harriette had no idea what to expect. She’d never been on an excursion such as this before. But just because she didn’t know what to expect, that didn’t mean she was afraid. How could she feel fear when her brave and beloved sister was leading them, day in and day out? She had so much respect, so much trust for her King that she didn’t falter once.

It was a few days before they found them, but they found them. Harriette knew they would. Her heart jumped as she saw Krimson snap at the dark wolf, watching her dark form disappear into the shadows. Akira spoke in a booming voice, catching the attention of anyone close by, she was sure.

It only took moments before a flurry of action unfolded before the young girl’s eyes. Teeth were bared, fur flashed here and there, some took off, some attacked near. Avery and Echo were quick to protect Akira – and Harriette was thankful. Truthfully, Harriette was in no position to be acting as a thread. She could not fight – it was never in her nature. However, she decided right then, if anyone so much as forced a cry from her sister, she’d have to turn into something she never imagined in her darkest of days…

Quickly looking around her, Harriette did what she did best. She observed. Noticing, to her left, a plush area full of various flowers, roots, twigs, herbs, she decided to make her move. She needed to act fast. This wasn’t a drill. This wasn’t Gemini. They were in foreign land, and Harriette needed to make this work.

She moved away from the action, into the brush, to collect the things she knew would help. She needed to do this in a way that would not draw attention to herself. She let out a quick, sharp howl. Before anyone got too far, before anyone couldn’t hear her any longer. She wanted to give her voice, tell them that she was hiding, creating a safe place, collecting herbs and making an infirmary.

I’m here for you all, I’m not going to let my family parish, I will heal you.

A E S T H E T I C

[Necros]

Slaver Grunt

A snarl hissed past clinched fangs as the brown brute turned away from the brat as orders where given. It was discusting that they were having to cover his tail as he fled from danger under the guise of protecting their 'goods'. Damn bastard was a coward and a snake. Swift and nimble and always ready to let someone else handle the bloody bits that came with kidnapping. The massive slaver had killed wrathful fathers, desperate mothers and even elderly grannies who came after them...however they weren't a bloody pack. Someone messed up and now it was time to clean up their mess. And, as always, the muscle was called upon to handle the goodies that came for blood.  The fringe wolf was about ready ditch these worthless bunch of nitwits and join a better slaver ring but for now the guard would defend the others escape. After all the work he did it would be a shame to loose their products now.  Silent and still he hunkered down in the shadows of the forest; waiting and watching. Whoever it was that was to be his opponent....he hoped they could offer up a challenge. He was getting a bit bored from all the freaking sneaking about.

Then everything, of course, went to hell.

Farai, angry and scorned, ripped a pup off the line and made a run for it, Rannoch disappeared as soon as the orders were given. Probably off getting into another mess; or making one. He seemed to have a knack for that. Ariadne was also missing and Vito was trying to drag the pups away from the advancing group with some difficulty...damn they were screwed. This thought was confirmed as he watched two wolves take off after Farai. Getting separated was the worst thing to do in battle but hey let's all go do our own thing and pretend we're badasses. Yeah that sounded cool! Naive twits. The slaver was about to go after a smaller target when he caught sight of a large black and brown wolf going after Vito. A sick toothy grin etched itself onto his normally stoic face. Not today boy. Taking advantage of the chaos the brown brute tackled the dark stranger from the side and blocked his advance, "You gotta dance with me first twinkle toes."

Necros

Countless strangers surrounded the dark fringe wolf as they traversed the land that separated Gemini from the Neutral Forest; aside from a rare few that he had met previously. A small army moved united under one cause following one girl-king as she drove them ever forward. He didn't know if it was rage or a thirst for justice that gave them the courage to put their lives at risk for a stranger pleading for their aid.  Yet here he was following in line with his fellow packmates as they closed in on the trail of the slavers. The Warriors bloodtrail had led them far enough for the Rangers to pick up the rest of the tracks. The slavers were careless and messy leaving various signs of their presence. They had obviously thought that the had done a clean job of finishing off the parents.

The most gruesome of these discoveries was the body of a female. The poor soul had been dead for days and at the sight of her stiff corpse he couldn't help but worry for his own family that dwelled within this forest. Had they crossed paths with such beasts? If not how long until they would be targeted? Necros knew he should remain focused on the task at hand but the worries began to plague his  mind with images of his family ripped apart and lifeless while his unknown siblings or nephews/nieces were carted off to be enslaved to different lands. It twisted his insides and chilled his blood.

He knew he had done everything in his power, besides using force, to get them to seek shelter in a situated pack but they refused to leave their 'homeland' despite the growing dangers that threatened them. The dark Ranger had left them on bad terms but he still worried for them.

Then the girl-queen called them to charge and Necros had to abandon his thoughts for battle. It was sudden and bloody with some casualties for the slavers. Amber eyes, alert and observant, spied the familiar figure of Sybella taking chase after a lone wolf with a large male following close behind her. She would be safe with backup but other packmates were engaged in their own battles as Necros scanned the scene for  a prime target. His eyes fell upon a wolf dragging a line of tethered pups behind them. The fringe dire moved swiftly towards his chosen enemy before he was suddenly taken off his feet by a large force slamming into his side.  Luckily the ranger steadied his footing to keep from falling and looked at the newcomer that had ambushed him.

"You gotta dance with me first twinkle toes."

Necros readied himself as the two charged anew towards one another. Deep crimson blood stained the ground beneath their paws and more would soon flow but who would be victorious at the end...only fate knew.

[Iaera]

|✬| gemini |✬|
the nymph; whisper & ranger

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.

[Achsul]

Vtoleni took the reins as soon as chaos came howling at their step and Achsul didn’t protest; it seemed as good of plan as any. They could run, but they would be dogged, and they wouldn’t all make it out alive in the end. In an unsurprising turn of events Farai took the opportunity to quickly betray them all, laughing and bolting into the trees with one of the pups as if she were pulling a harmless prank. This brought forth Achsul’s own chuckle as he called behind her, “Hope you get out alive, you dumb bitch!”

He suspected she wouldn’t survive long as her peeling from the group just made her one lone sheep easy for picking off, but he didn’t care enough to be angry about her betrayal. If they both survived he would have to settle for being impressed, but his hopes weren’t high for that outcome. He would have been equally humored to know she had been crushed like an insect if he ever got the opportunity to see her bared guts.

Rannoch burst forward, directly into the fray, teeth gnashing as he fought with everything he had and Achsul was aware of a slow sorrow creeping into the back of his throbbing skull. Surrender now, they cried, and we won’t kill you. They all knew if they laid down here death would still come for them and any safety and reform these wolves who had painted themselves as Heroes offered them would trail a lurking shadow. There was no choice, at least not to Achsul. Not to Rannoch. It didn’t matter anyway. They had to fight.

Achsul was slower than his companions, still struggling with the sudden loss of his eye and fighting the pain in his head. Despite all this he noticed a small gray mutt dodge between his companion’s brutish forms. The dog was quick and small and ready to take on anyone who stood in their way. He thought about Farai darting off into the woods, thinking she could save the day all by her lonesome. If Achsul could catch the mutt, she would be easy to overtake, and if he couldn’t he could still give her a hard time before Vtoleni and Aiden were harassed by her. He dove, quickly, jaws opening without warning a hairs breadth above her body. His intent was to grab her, but also knock her down; he wanted to crush her between the vice-like grip of his jaws, wanting to break bone and make her feel all the pain he had ever felt in all his years. They both know too well what had to be sacrificed for freedom, which is why he had never been free, and all the bitterness of that fact would tighten the space between his teeth.

[Ivaylo]

"And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you
I will show you fear in a handful of dust."

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.

[Witch.]

(if you guys need an extension to post in here and/or your splinter threads, it's totally fine, let me know. also because i was asked a couple times: yes there are npc slavers running around and yes you are welcome to beat as many up as you want. go nuts)

[Nova]

[gonna get frey in here when i get a chance! sorry if i'm holding anyone up @-@]

[Aiden]

"Ve have bad company."

The young wolf's ears came forward and started looking about. They were soon easy to spot. Aiden had been on this earth for a very short period of time, and even less time was spent with the slavers, so when the not so merry band of marauders came barreling over the hill it was the shock of his life. When he joined this poor excuse of a pack he may have had no idea of what he was getting himself into, but he believed it was a pack at it's core. Canines that would stand up and protect each other. He was not so naive now. He knew if it came down between saving the merchandise and saving the scrawny scrap of fur that the payoff would win out.

When Farai spun on them and snarled his fears were confirmed. Fortunately the female was more interested in saving her neck than breaking theirs and soon she was off, hapless pup in tow. Before the chaos truly broke Aiden was more than willing to follow ther coyote's orders. He nodded frantically and raced over to the pups. Vtoleni took care of the threats and took the literal lead, tugging the goods along. One little brat wouldn't stop screaming, holding up the line and keeping them from the fangs of the invaders. Aiden snarled and nipped the pup soundly on the butt.

"Quiet! We need to go. Now!"

His last word betrayed his fear, voice cracking as the battle errupted behind them. He took his muzzle and shoved any other non compilers along. They wouldn't move fast enough. Pounding pawfalls alerted the young wolf that their wall of muscle let one through. Panting Aiden swung around to see just how close they were to attack. The pale pursuer wasn't much smaller than him, and while the slaver wasn't an experienced fighter it brought some comfort to know he wouldn't be facing a Fringe. Through adrenaline and fear Aiden tried to plan his first move when the single red eye of the elder behemoth rose above the dog mutt.

"Ha!" The wicked, manic smile on his face was fueled by relief. Any pup that lagged  behind would get another quick snap. They had to get out of here now.

There was a thud behind him. The racing steps continued. Panic resumed. A quick look confirmed his fears. Another stranger had intercepted Aschul and the dog mutt still perused.

"Shit..."

[Excalibur]

The fire of Akira’s fury ignited and took hold of the group. Excalibur felt it wash around her, felt the heat of it flicker over her; but it never ignited in her soul. She felt lost and lonely, like a spectator, a bystander, swept up in a rebellion in which she had no place or part. This was not her country, these were not her people, and this was not her war. The flare of jealousy that had spurred her on had settled into a hard stone that wallowed in the pit of her stomach, adding extra weight to every step. When she looked round at the group there was grim determination, hope, and passion in every line, these wolves believed in their cause as deeply as the marrow in their bones. Half of her longed for their conviction, to bask in the same glow, the other half thought they were a right bunch of idiots.

Still. She had a part to play, perhaps she could get some brownie points for a bit of good acting. Tired, she pretended to be tireless, staying alert and watchful, nodding along in all the right places; to any observers she would paint the very picture of a Gemini crusader. Though, it looked like this whole thing was a waste of their collective outrage anyway, the trail appeared cold to her, but they persisted, as only the righteous can, until at last they found what they were looking for.

"Hail! We come on behalf of Alistar and Gwen. Bare your belly or we come for your throat."

Akira lead the charge, the others rushed in after. Excalibur didn't move, she let them sweep round her like a tide. Why should she pitch herself into a fight that was not of her making? It was all well and good playing at tracking but why risk anything for a bunch of strangers?

Excalibur was unable to help her eyes being drawn to Akira in the fray. The more observed of the She-King the more she had started to suspect what she saw there was not her own reflection, but Arthur's. His ideals had never really been at home in Excalibur, but they lived, burned, in Akira. Were her fangs as fierce as her words? Would she even fight like Arthur? He had always seemed to be charging off to someones rescue during a skirmish, never watching his own back. Excalibur had told him and told him not to do it, and he always promised it wouldn't happen again, but it did, every single time. So watching his back was her job and she did it well until...

One of the Slavers nodded to one of his colleagues then towards the She-King, fangs bared, clearly planning an attack. Did Akira know? Had she seen?! Excalibur didn't know when she started sprinting, only that she slammed hard into that Slavers side, bowling him over and tripping herself as well on his flailing limbs. She slammed into him, winding him and nearly herself too had she not used her momentum to roll over the top of him. As she tumbled she scrambling for footing, when one of her paws caught on something she used it to spin and push herself into the air and come down hard on the Slavers throat with her paws. He let out a gurgling noise and thrashed like a drowing fish, unable to take a breath. Fatally injured or merely temporarily stunned she didn't know but it was good enough for now. She couldn't waste time on him, she needed to watch over Arth- Akira.

[Witch.]

(CRIES)

[Iaera]

[trigger warning: violence and gore]

Darkness and the sound of jingling metal slipped from the trees and before the tired wolfdog could pivot to face it, the figure crashed into her and knocked her from the scene.

"Ack!"

Dark shades of dappled black and gray smacked into the slight figure of the wolfdog, metal chains shimmered and tapped together; Iaera could feel the jewelry around the neck of the other pinch into her fur as she was knocked violently to the ground. Through the brush where she had been sent was a ledge over a short fall to a lower level, the small mix breed rolled and stopped short of the drop. The blood on her face from where Vito had scratched her with dagger claws was smeared across the ground beside her. Her head spun from the impact and she squeezed her eyes hard to try and focus them. Furry ears could hear the tittering of the slaver as she snaked up so delicately the dazed Ranger could barely believe she had just been tackled by the same woman.

The black bespeckled beast was a sight for the sorest of eyes, though she was tall and shapely it was obvious she did not lack in musculature. Striking orange eyes were only off set by the beauty of the golden and silver chains that draped from jaw to chest. Iaera was taken aback by the sight before her as slaver came more and more into focus. Lovely, lovely like mother was but jet black like the night and painted with constellations, galaxies. Piercings in her ears, bangles wrapped around thin legs, but those necklaces around her neck glimmered and reflected in the eyes of the Gemini woman. Armor, beautiful armor to protect her neck. For all the brute force she'd used to knock the tan and gray from her feet, the other woman seemed almost disinterested in fighting with Iaera. Instead she continued to giggle, puffing up as she saw the violet eyes of maiden taking her in.

"I know right?" Stopping to hover over the smaller woman with dangerous eyes, "I often leave others speechless." She'd flip her hair back and stalk around Iaera with a humored expression. "I can't imagine you'd know what that's like...." Iaera's eyes narrowed when she realized the not so thinly veiled insult that had been thrown at her. Vanity. Vanity. When the Ranger looked at her reflection, her doggish shapes, plain colors and little snaggletooth she found nothing to be vain over. She found nothing but loathing and sadness; what was it like to be this confident? To be so confident you pushed others into the dirt when they weren't good enough to meet your standards?

The paw of the coquette reached down and touched Iaera's face and the Ranger just looked up at her with disgust in her expression. Finally her legs seemed to gain strength, and she attempted to get them up under her to rise as the other laughed again. Cavernous mouth of the larger woman opened and lunged down at Iaera's face, attempting to snag and maul anything she could hit. Iaera tried to roll but couldn't for the pressure against her head, so she flung her paws around to smack the giggling Bathsheba square in the face. The slaver sneered with anger and recoiled with a shout, touching a paw to her face to check that it was still perfection before charging at the struggling Iaera who had just barely gained her footing. "You slapped me you little bitch!" screaming like a Banshee but the half husky mix had the advantage of her size and managed to stagger out of the way.

Finally her flight turned into fight, pain burning in heart as she thought about this moment. What she would have done to be so beautiful? Half as beautiful? To wear beautiful jewelry and walk as if she was a feather on the air? Tears burned in her eyes, she fought to draw the warrior back to herself but the warrior slumbered. It had slipped away when the devil awoke to chant the kill song in her ears and it would not reawaken for her now. The tiny mix had done her dues, she should flee now since she was more than capable of outrunning the lovely Amazon. Someone else could handle this woman. Someone else... No. No! Hackles rose in a fury, Iaera had beaten the two slavers that stole away with the children, she could beat this over-inflated hussy. And she'd take great joy in doing so. In dragging her down to the level she deserved to be on.

She didn't need the warrior.

She had the gambler.

The dice hit the table and the small girl lunged into the Jezebel, attempting to tear the tendons in her legs. The soft fur and thin skin around the precious bones and tendons and muscles was quick and easy to tear through and blood splattered the golden bangles. For a short while they tussled, back and forth with spitting and hissing before Iaera stepped back and her curiosity got the best of her. "Why not have a different life?" The black woman seemed interested in taking a break from the chase, having missed Iaera quite a bit, and eyed her curiously. "I haven't found anything as lucrative. Look at this jewels and chains darling! Where do you think I get them from?! I mean sure some are gifts from mirthless suitors but these are prizes for the work I do. Typically luring others from their mates.... to their fates." The wretch seemed quite amused in her accidental rhyme but Iaera couldn't believe it.

Not the rhyme, she understood how those worked.

"Don't you know an ugly soul always shines through?" Iaera was realizing that about herself right now as she pondered how she had nearly took Vtolenti's throat out in front of the children. Ugly knew ugly one would suppose but the Babylonian whore only let out a deep throaty laugh. "That's what all the ugly girls say." It bit and stung at Iaera's soul and without much forethought or planning she rushed the tawdry black thing and snapped harshly at her face. Small fangs were still fangs and they met with one of those oh so lovely orange eyes with a vengeance. Of all the sensations she had experienced, the feeling of the eye be destroyed against her teeth was not one of them but she didn't have time to cringe at the visceral nature of it. Iaera could have choked but she was too proud of herself in that moment to do so. Her pride was beaming through like rays of sun through the clouds because she had marred the sleazy lady's perfection.

The wolfdog released and drew back laughing violently as the slaver screamed in agony and anguish at the tarnishing beauty that was her face. Iaera laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It was her turn to giggle now; the deeper she fell into this headspace the more alive she felt. Inside Gemini she was meek and she was overlooked and she was ugly and missed out on the joys that others seemed to have. But here she was in charge, to have came from a childhood of ropes and servitude to dealing out fate and sparing innocence from harm. It made her feel mighty and she had never felt mighty before and the high was enough to push her forward now, certain she could be David in the fight against Goliath. But what God would help her? While she was like this, caught up in her suffering and twisting it into the monster she was being?

Ivory teeth met the harsh jeweled armor of the neck of the still squealing woman and attempted to draw the metal away so that she could get at the neck. So that she could win this fight, destroy this slaver; she wanted blood. She felt she deserved it for what she had already done to get to rip this monster from the world. More revenge for her upbringing, more revenge for her mother's death. It drove her to this state of madness because she could not forgive herself from abandoning Style to her death. Metal pressed cool against her tongue, the tang lasted and smaller chains packed inbetween her teeth as she moved to rip them from the throat of the vulgar beast.

The dice hit the table,

hard and angry fangs met Iaera's scruff and for a moment she thought she would recover from it but the metal did not break away as easy as she expected and it was hung in her mouth. Fate and the dappled beauty lifted her from the ground and Iaera kicked and squirmed. The chains broke but the hold of the larger woman did not, Iaera had served revenge and now the slaver was serving revenge. The fight had subsided and now the maiden flailed for her life, closer they crept to the edge and her heart was in her throat tickling the chains of jewelry. Then she was airborne, sailing down the ledge to the land below and she could have kicked and screamed and fought but Iaera knew she would not win. Violet eyes stared up at the carnage she had made as she drew closer and closer to the ground, tears in them because she knew she had done wrong. She knew she had let her pain control her. The air in her fur almost felt nice as the beast returned to standing over her broken necklaces like a dragon over it's horde.

Iaera? Found a tree. Harshly. Snake eyes darling.

Pride and vanity often court so intimately that they are mistaken for each other, but neither have enough righteousness to destroy the other. So humility came, and humbled them both into the dirt.

[aaannd Iaera is out in a massively longer post than I expected to write! She was knocked unconscious by her unceremonious smack into the tree and will have some cracked ribs for her troubles. A couple of the broken necklaces still hang in her mouth and the rest are available for the taking if anyone else would like to run off or kill the NPC slaver.]

[Necros]

Ok I got invited to join Corvos and Ivalyos event rp so I'll let someone else have the npc slaver if they want.

[Witch.]

The plot is technically over but you can also make retroactive threads and posts. Go for it.