Wolf RPG

What had she gotten herself in to? Once the rain died down and Charon had led her in to the territory, she spent a restless night in the ruins of the territory; then, once morning light broke through the burned forest, she was awake and staggering around. Saskia did not want to explore too much - she didn't trust this place, or the boy named Charon who she was supposedly serving - and the forest itself was spooky. Something had happened here, something terrible. The soil smelled like sulfur, the trees looked twisted and broken in places or just black and weak. She stopped wandering long enough to realize, after a moment of panic, she was completely lost and surrounded by nothing but death.

It didn't feel real, finally being home again. Especially since half the territory was nothing but burnt trees and ruined ground. The usually beautiful shoreside had become a graveyard of debris, foam borne from the churned up waters sitting stubbornly where the waves rolled onto the sand. The forest wasn't any better, at least on the western half of the lands — he hadn't explored any deeper into the Bay's woodland yet. The boy stuck near the rest of the pack as they sheltered in the cliffs, not wanting to stray too far away for some sort of weird fear that they would disappear again if he let them out of his sight for too long.

The day after his return, after settling back in and resting, he quietly followed Charon and Thistle as they went about their business, before an unfamiliar scent caught his attention. Curious, the boy followed it, limping along until he came across a figure swathed in blacks and greys. She was leggy with pointed features, like the blue-eyed girl who had been part of the Bay before. Unsure if she was a new member or just a very lost traveller, Atreyu approached with a raised tail, his posture dominating but not aggressive. He let out a low chuff to get her attention.

It should not have surprised her that a place so filled with destruction would also hold ghosts, real or imagined. There was very little sound throughout the forest, since so many of the trees were ruined and the land itself was practically uninhabitable; so when the pale wolf hobbled along nearby, she should have heard him. It wasn't until he chuffed at her that Saskia became aware of his presence, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her tail shot strait up, puffing out like a cat's, and as she turned to give a sharp look in his direction, her posture melted. 

"You scared me." She hissed softly, as if to raise her voice in this place would be to invite true disaster. The annoyance in her voice was overshadowed by fear, but soon enough she was silent again. Saskia slipped closer to the stranger, her movement slow and careful. It was hard to smell anything that wasn't soot, but if she was going to fix the situation, Saskia would need some answers. She sniffed as she walked closer, and found that the white wolf held many scents - but none she recognized. "Are you a friend of Charon's?"

He had thought the silence of the forest would betray his approach but apparently it did not. The girl turned and hissed something, startled, and Atreyu was worried for a moment that she may attack. Instead, she settled, coat smoothing as she began to stalk closer. She was a common-looking wolf, fully grown but with a certain youthfulness. Young. Near Charon's age?

When she mentioned their freckled Beta, Atreyu hesitated for a moment. Was he a friend? Of course he was, but they weren't BFFs by a long shot. He trusted him though, and accepted the boy (somewhat begrudgingly) as his superior. With a shrug, Atreyu replied with a casual, "yeah." She had met Charon then? "Why?" he asked, wary.

Well, at least that meant they weren't a threat. Saskia gave a small shrug, as if losing her conviction, and after a moment came up with a suitable answer. "I'm his... Thrall. Or something." That wasn't very clear, but Saskia wasn't sure about much right now. She felt like she had been saved from certain doom, only to be thrown in to another lame situation. 

"I just wasn't sure who you were. And I figured, since its my second day here..." She was starting to ramble. Great. "-nobody knows me yet either." Her tail curled behind her, and she looked away from him - back to the ruins. "This is.. Awful." The girl murmured, half to herself, but loud enough for him to hear. It was impossible to tell if she meant the aftermath of the storm, or her own situation. Probably both.

His ears pricked in confusion as she answered, and for the first time in a while a smile spread across Atreyu's face. What an odd word. "A what?" he questioned with a huff of laughter. Was she related to him somehow? Was there such a relation called that?

She then explained she was new, and his guarded expression opened up, his shoulders visibly relaxing. She was young, but they desperately needed more capable bodies in the pack, he would gladly accept any who met that criteria. Her eyes went from him to the mangled forest, and the Gamma followed her gaze, saddened by the sight. "It's usually nicer looking than this," he said after her mutter, assuming it to be for the sight of the ruins.

Saskia's mouth formed a thin line as she perused the damage, her ears briefly falling back upon her head. It wasn't her home - or, well, it had just become her home, and she had no real connection to it yet - but she still felt mournful for the situation. It must have been a harrowing experience to brave the storm; then to find their home in ruins like this... She gave a soft sigh.

"A thrall," The girl returned to the first topic, not wanting to linger too long on the obvious deformity of the lands, "I think it means I'm his slave. Or a servant. I don't really know... It is a weird word." She nodded lightly, glumly, and then began to stride along among the debris. "Charon agreed to rescue me from the weather if I agreed to be his thrall." It wasn't ideal, but she would make it work.

The subject of the territory's destruction was short-lived, and Atreyu was thankful she had quickly abandoned it. He swept a quick, sorrowful gaze among the wreckage again, wondering if the bay was even worth salvaging — there were so many bad memories now tied to this place. He shook the thought off as the girl spoke.

As the word slave left her mouth, he was caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to excuse himself from her company and sheepishly scurry away. He remembered introducing the idea of slaves and servants to Charon at the Bandingjar Halda. The kid was keen on the idea, but Atreyu didn't think he would actually go through with it.

He listened as she explained how she actually came under the Beta's lead and, as the thrall moved ahead, Atreyu lingered behind a second or so before hesitantly trailing after her. Damnit, Charon, this isn't how we get pack members. He hoped he treated her well, and she would be allowed freedom after her "sentence". Had she even done anything wrong in the first place? "Oh, ah, yeah, Stavanger Bay likes to take captives sometimes..." he offered a little awkwardly. Did Charon even need a slave? He felt a little guilty now, for introducing the ambitious boy to the concept. "You didn't...trespass or anything?"

The concept of validity had not entered her mind when she had agreed to the conditions; but now, as the white wolf mentioned trespassing, she paused to think. That night, she had been too close to the territory - perhaps inside of it's boundary, perhaps not - but the details were hard for her to recall. It didn't matter too much by this point, she had already come to terms with the situation (for the most part).

Still, she gave a small shrug. "I don't remember," she blandly responded, not wanting to linger too long on the topic, but.. She was curious about the practice of keeping slaves, and captives. Was she a captive, then? "I was trying to keep warm beneath some trees, and Charon said he'd save me, but I'd owe him." Her face squished up a little as she pondered, trying to recall exactly how it had gone down, but Java has a bad memory and no time to look it up. "Am I a captive then?" The question blurted from her mouth, and then she looked sheepishly at her feet. "I mean.. I guess so, right."

She explained and Atreyu listened, his ears awkwardly splaying out to either side as he felt guilt bubble in his chest. Even if he hadn't told Charon about this whole captive thing, Ragnar (or even Thistle) would have eventually. But this fact didn't make him feel any better. Keeping warm under some trees? Was this during the storm? The fact that apparently the girl owed the Beta something now was enough to cause Atreyu's lip to fall into a solid, unimpressed line. He needed to have a word with the kid.

"Yeah, but captives have usually done something wrong." And yet were still sometimes used as slaves. Ragnar hadn't explained the entire concept to Atreyu, only the basics. Were the terms interchangeable? "But if Charon said you were a slave, then you have to obey him." He was Beta, after all, and his mother, their Alpha. "Or you can just tell him to get lost," he added with a shrug and a laugh, knowing he wouldn't stop the girl if she wanted to escape.

He offered to give her a bit more of a tour of the forest, as ruined as it was, to show that there was still some worth to the Bay. After some time, they parted ways, and Atreyu left to confront Charon about how exactly he had acquired this slave.