Wolf RPG

Despite the tragic and terrible circumstances that had brought her here, Regipre was doing surprisingly well for herself. She wasn't flourishing, true, but she was scratching out a decent existence for herself. She survived on a steady diet of fish and watched as, day by day, her wound slowly knit. Soon the broken skin would seal and the fur would regrow. It would be like she had never had a fourth leg at all. It was a morbidly fascinating if quite painful process.

After yesterday's interesting encounter with the local wildlife, Reggie's mind turned to Sart. Would Saena have let her live, especially in Phoenix Maplewood? She worried for the smaller girl. She missed her too. But the fact of the matter was that she probably wouldn't see her sister ever again. She was more likely to find her mother and brother, which was incredibly unlikely in and of itself. But as soon as she recovered a bit more, the svelte coyote totally intended to strike out in search of them.

In the meantime, she sprawled beside the small brook, swirling the sandy toes on her single foreleg in the cold water and watching the smaller fish dart among the ripples she created.

he had not escaped unscathed from the brazen wolves upon silvertip, but the cat had departed with his life. from the foul clutch of rock he had traveled a great distance; his nape prickled with healing wounds, which irritated him and made his step loathsome. but desire to live had carried him across the land into a valley that flourished with golden light each early morn.

the massive feline passed through a field of dormant wildflowers -- he sniffed at their frosted heads idly before pressing on. hunger bit its nails within his belly and shardul added the sensation to the growing and irksome sting upon his neck. he would have to wash the dried blood from his skin soon, a task he did not relish.

setting aside his slow ravening for now, the panther searched a glade -- which stank of fox-musk -- for the thin ribbon of visible water which he had scented upon entry. a salmon tongue flicked to wet his nose and shardul stepped onto the bank, lowering muzzle to the clear surface. he had not noticed the lamed pup not ten feet to his right, for the waters beckoned his great frame into its frigid embrace, and shardul gave a small growl of pleasure as the caked crimson and dirt began to lift from his lacerations.

If Reggie had been smarter or more experienced, she would have vacated the glade following the handful of unexpected encounters here. The water drew surrounding wildlife. More often than not, it was a deer or muskrat or other relatively harmless creature. But then there had been the wolf, the raccoon, the fox... and now a mountain lion.

The breath froze in her throat as she watched the large cat sling himself into the brook. She shrank to the ground and slithered backward, withdrawing her paw from the water and trying to scurry soundlessly behind a scratchy shrub. She managed it, though in her haste, Reggie reopened her healing wound. The stench of blood filled her nose even as horror filled her heart.

This time, she knew her luck had run out. Regipre could practically hear the stopwatch counting down until the moment the puma caught her scent, then came over to kill her with one swipe of its enormous, deadly paw.

it was only the fresh and sudden reek of blood which pulled shardul from his reverie; he had stood half-lidded and drowsy in the brook, feeling the water lap at his drying wounds. but roused, he glanced about himself, focusing his attention pointedly upon the direction from which the scent came. curiosity sparked beneath his lingering irritation and the panther emerged from the waters to prowl.

his broad paws led him toward the crimson aroma; he peered with lemon orbs about a bush of threatening prickles, down at the thin body of a canine with a most unfortunate injury. the child shook and fear wafted from it in broad waves. the cat bared his teeth in a hiss, tail flicking behind him. 

the stink of foxes greeted him, overlaying the stupid bairn's own scent. tabaqui, his mind proffered. "jackal," he growled. "what stole thy leg?" in truth, shardul did not care to know the answer, but was baited to remain by the terror painted cleanly upon the child's face.

The cat caught her scent and Reggie's heart thumped painfully in her chest. As he rose from the water, she flattened herself beneath the shrub, aware that her attempts to hide were entirely futile. He prowled in her direction, his frighteningly bright eyes scouring the underbrush before pinning on her. She felt her bowels loosen, though she didn't soil herself—yet. When the cougar hissed, her ears disappeared against her skull and her golden eyes narrowed in a grimace. The normally fearless young coyote quivered as he bared his yellowed fangs, his hot breath washing over her.

He did not strike immediately. He spoke a word she didn't know, then demanded to know what had happened to her leg. Still stricken with fear, Reggie glanced at her bleeding stump. If the mountain lion didn't kill and eat her, she would surely die of blood loss or infection at this point. She didn't think about that now; if she had, she might have realized that dying at the mountain lion's paws would be the swiftest, most merciless option. At this moment in time, Regipre was running on instincts, which dictated that she do whatever it took to stay alive.

If the big cat wanted to talk, perhaps there was a remote chance she could stave off an attack, Regipre thought wildly. Her lips parted and for once in her life she did not speak in a cool, flat tone. Her voice shook. "Wolves," she answered, eyes flicking briefly upward. Yet the cat's countenance was so fearsome she immediately dropped her gaze and shrank even more. "They maimed it and I removed it myself," she added almost too quietly to be heard, her mouth having gone dry.

had shardul developed a taste for canine flesh, he might have struck at the child. as it were, he rumbled a low growl at the mention of the ugly beasts he loathed thoroughly -- it seemed he and the tiny jackal shared a common enemy. resilient also was the cub, to have altered herself in such a manner.

pushing his broad face forward, the panther took in the scent of the bleeding flesh. there upon the fringes of the reek lay the threat of infection. the child had lamed her body only to die of putridity.

lowering himself to his haunches, shardul pinned the child with his cold eyes. "thou shalt die," he told her pointedly. alone and with no one to tend the wounds upon her youthful frame, nature would reclaim her -- by sickness or cold.

shardul could not be said to be a merciful beast -- he showed none unto wolves -- but there sparked in his breast the briefest shadow of sympathy. "is this thy wish?" if so, the cat would spare her the agony and slay her quickly.

The feeling that welled up inside her at the cold words was indescribable. "Thou shalt die," he sentenced her. Regipre wanted to shake her head but she couldn't move. She couldn't speak, either. She saw her life flash before her eyes. She thought of Tomahawk, Papref, Sart and even her father, Devil. Even Reek's homely face floated across her mind's eye. Why had she ever let him lead her away from her mother? She had been so stupid. If not for him, she would be safely ducked in the den with her family, leading a simple, meager but good life. She would have all four legs. She would not be lying here, bleeding and helpless, facing a cruel and early end to her life.

"No." Her lips moved without thought, the word barely rasping between them. "Please." The cougar would probably slay her despite her pleading, yet she couldn't help it. It wasn't really conscious. Despite all the odds, Regipre wanted to live. She would fight until the bitter end, in any way she could. "I don't want to die," she begged in her mother's tongue, then closed her eyes and pictured Sart's face as she waited for the proverbial ax to fall anyway.

no, she spoke, and in the word, and the string of foreign syllables she babbled after, shardul saw the desperation of her spirit. alone, there was not a feasible way to fulfill her tearful request -- the cougar's mouth twitched in an expression that was unwavering in its coldness, yet his eyes accepted a different sort of light. "what worth could thou possibly offer if thy life was spared?" the panther rasped, planting his forepaws on either side of her hips as he lowered to his belly.

he himself could see none -- if she survived into adulthood, the pup would be a burden always upon her protector, unable to hunt or perhaps even breed, to pass on her genes of strength. and with autumn fast fading to give way beneath winter's breath, the child would freeze in the early frosts and blowing snow, devoid of the warmth exuded by another living body.

"it would be wiser to die, little jackal," shardul muttered. "i would do it quickly; thou wilt not suffer." and that was as close to mercy as the panther might offer. he licked the edges of his mouth as he awaited her response, glancing over one muscular shoulder to see that no prowling wolf approached.

Every single hair on her body stood on end when the cougar reposed so close to her. She wanted to sink into the ground and disappear. Regipre had to clench her abdominal muscles to stop her bladder and bowels from voiding in her terror. For reasons unknown, she stared at the thick blood oozing from her wound as the cat's gruff words washed over her like icy water. She had overcome some of her fear of water in her days spent in the glade, though the sensation reminded her of that day when Auntie had nearly drowned her.

Though the cougar's offer might have been merciful, Reggie's usual pragmatism had fled her. "No," she repeated. Her instincts would not let her accept an offer of death, even a swift and painless one, not when there was a chance she could survive this. Not only did she not want to die, "I want to live." She hadn't immediately died following her injury, so there was hope for her yet. "I'm not dead yet," Reggie said as much, her voice no more than a soft hiss. She'd come this far.

He had asked what she could do if her life was spared. "I can walk." That was an exaggeration at this point but... "Soon, I'll be able to run again. Then I can learn to hunt. For now, I fish." Her eyes flitted very quickly to a tiny, half-eaten brook trout nearby, then back to the space where her leg should have been.

Maybe he would decide her reasons were weak. Perhaps he would decide they were strong. No matter what, her fate literally belonged to the cougar now. The little coyote had made her case and the cat would be the judge, jury and—quite possibly—executioner.

the scent of fear had returned; shardul's lip curled somewhat. but the pup's words were strong. she wished to live, clung to her breath as if she were a limpet. the cat shifted somewhat, mulling her statements about in his head. he, too, glanced toward the trout still holding the marks of her tiny teeth, and let out his breath in a chuff. the flicker of sympathy had not died; rather, it had strengthened, pillared by some level of respect for she who would soon lay dying like a fawn in this brook-marked glade.

perhaps the jackal deserved to live -- he was the decider of this. shardul, the arbiter of fate, the sole judge presiding over the row of death upon which the child sat.

hunt, yes. walk -- not well. not without her fourth limb. shardul met her eyes with a level stare, a decision half-formed, though he breathed not a word of it as he rose to his paws and lowered his muzzle slowly to wrap his jaws around the jackal's nape and shoulders. she tasted of loam and terror; shardul tightened his jaws in anticipation of her struggles and began to carry her across the brook and toward the semi-circle of stone peaks looming distantly.

Once more, her eyes closed as she waited for him to swing the metaphorical scythe. When she felt him move closer, Regipre let out an involuntary whimpering noise. Finally, she lost the battle against her body; she messed herself. Sharp teeth pressed into the flesh of her bony shoulders, pulling at the loose fur of her tawny nape. The whelp struggled until his teeth clenched tighter. Then she went limp, a dead weight. Her eyes glazed as she went to the same place she had gone while severing her own limb.

the cougar carried his victim with the focused stride of a patient creature -- in time, the stink of her mess faded. she swung from his jaws silently -- he felt her spirit closet itself for the present -- and this he preferred to her shaking voice and shrinking body. in quietude they traveled, for time that the silver panther did not bother to measure. the sun had fallen from its perch when they arrived at the foot of the stone circle and thus shardul wasted not a moment lifting her to a higher ledge.

out of the reach of wolves, the cat's lemon-yellow eyes searched in the gloom for a depression, an alcove, and with a pleased grunt his gaze fell upon a small cave cut by wind erosion into the side of the mountain. nares flaring above the prickled hairs of the pup's nape, shardul searched the air for the scent of a resident predator, and, finding none, he carried his charge into the darkness and deposited her upon the cold stone floor.

outside, the winds whipped the skies into lightning-sliced storm-clouds; rain began to patter upon the ground with growing force. "thou shalt remain here," shardul growled, before his silver frame departed into the wet blackness.

he returned some time later bearing a brace of geese who had foolishly nested in the lee of a small nearby peak for shelter from the storm; throwing them limply to the stone underfoot, shardul searched for the small body of the injured girl.

The puma's words fell on deaf ears, for Reggie had sunken deep into her catatonia, a strange coping mechanism against pain and, in this instance, death. But death didn't come. Slowly, Regipre roused from her suspended animation. She found herself cloaked in darkness and was stricken with the thought, I'm dead! But she felt the throbbing pain in her wound, a chilly dampness between her legs and cold, hard stone beneath her. Her nostrils flared and she drew in the scent of must and blood.

Before she had a proper chance to gather her bearings and come to the realization that the cougar hadn't killed her, he slunk into the cavern where he had stashed her. She could scarcely see him but she could hear him. A small croak escaped her throat when she felt something soft brush against her flank. Reggie jumped, scrambling backward and bumping into unyielding stone.

She must be in a cave or underground someplace. Reggie's breath came in shallow, ragged gasps as she ascertained her surroundings and her situation. She could feel the cat looming over her in the darkness and smell the tang of fresh prey on the air. Everything was so disorienting beyond that; she didn't know what to make of it. She clung to the shale like a panicked cat, eyes wild in the black.

her terror was rampant, tangible, but shardul took no notice. "eat," said he, thrusting a dead bird in her direction. he himself lifted the other and lay across the mouth of the den, gazing out at the rainstorm as he plucked the goose contentedly and sank his teeth into the yielding flesh beyond. once his immediate hunger had been quelled, shardul lifted a massive paw to his jaws and began to clean his claws of the avian blood. "i shall keep thee alive in return for your servitude to me," the panther informed his prisoner. "thou shalt use thy pitiful appearance to charm prey from wolves, or garner their sympathy and distraction, that i might strike them down. i wish to rid the land of their kind -- obviously this is not easily done, or attainable, but i shalt have my vengeance upon them all the same."

he paused in his grooming to level his shining eyes at the pup. "in return, thou shalt have my protection and meat from my kills. if thou dost not consent, i shall kill thee, and think nothing of it." his tone was cunning, cold, the voice of one who slaughters without a moment's thought for the victim's pain, and in the next moment shardul had returned to his silent preening.

"Eat," he commanded. Regipre's stomach turned. Her appetite was nonexistent. However, she did as she was told, tentatively nosing at the slain goose tossed her way and then mechanically beginning to devour it. It was the first meat she had eaten in weeks, aside from the occasional fish. Her body needed the nourishment, especially as it healed. The coyote flinched ever so slightly as she heard the cougar begin to slaver over his own goose, though she kept eating. She continued to nibble at the stringy goose flesh when he polished off his repast and began to regale her with his master plan.

The whelp remained silent after he finished, listening to the rasp of the cougar's tongue over his pelt and the quiet spatter of rain beyond. She had no choice in the matter, so he could take her silence as acceptance if he wished. She now belonged to the large cat; she was his zafra. When she had some time to overcome her fear somewhat, she would accept this more easily than servitude to the wolves. She would have no qualms with helping to lure and slay her larger cousins. They had wronged her deeply and, in time, she might even come to enjoy the cat's game.

As her life as the cougar's slave began and Regipre grew into her new role, she might even think of Saena and how she could one day get sweet revenge for the life and limb that had nearly been torn from her. For now, though, her mind remained blank and her future rose up before her like a bleak question mark. She had reduced the carcass to sharp little bones and drew back, folding herself into a tiny ball at the cave's rear.

she said nothing, but shardul could sense the acceptance in his young charge. tossing the bones of his own bird into the rain with a swipe of his paw, he moved away from the den-mouth into the shadows alongside the entrance, casting one glance at the huddled body toward the back of the cave. her life belonged unto him, and the cat found he derived a greater sense of pleasure from this fact than he would have had he chosen to slay her in the fox-glade. "we begin tomorrow," he grunted in her direction, a purr of pleasure underlying his words.

he stretched himself upon the warming stone beneath him and his tailtip flicked one, twice, before shardul slumbered, belly content with meat and mind sated with the presence of a new slave to his capricious whims.

Between the day's events and the large meal, Reggie's body was exhausted and begged for sleep. Yet her nerves were fraught by the large cat's presence. What if he changed his mind? He could kill her at any moment. There was no hope of escape. Keep or kill; her life literally depended on the cat's will. To soothe herself in her state of absolute helplessness and terror, the young coyote began to lick at the crusted blood on her nub.

Hours passed. The cougar slept in the den's mouth and tomorrow promised to be as harrowing as today, if not more so. Still, Regipre did not sleep until exhaustion overwhelmed her. At first, she kept jerking awake, sick with fear when everything came back to her. Eventually, she tipped over a precipice and plunged into a sleep nearly as deep as death itself.