Lacinia thought back on her past which isn't something she enjoyed. She didn't want to remember all that she lost in order to be free again. It felt as if she was reborn with her complete memories of a past life. The total experience made her more protective over what keeps her happy. Anyone who would dare try to take her happiness away would suffer greatly. As for now she has no real source besides the habbit of torturing others or simply teasing other wolves would due in her state.
She stood at the end of a ledge on the mountain side. She watched the forest below, there seems to be an odd kinds of birds flying around. They weren't the classic birds that she was used to. These were more like predators. The question that came to mind was how did it feel to fly? To catch prey nad then carry them up into the sky. It sounded like a fun thing to do. She wanted to try but she knew she couldn't fly.
Despite his wanderlust, Arion stayed in the newly established pack and did what he could do to serve it. Being dutiful was not what the greek was best at, he loved to suddenly leave packs and go on month long journeys before joining a new pack in a new area. And truthfully he was tempted to do so, but this time something was different, he was determined to stay and at least help this pack become strong before he left once more. And so, despite hating patrolling the borders, that was exactly what he did now.
Leaving his den, (he had finally found time to finish digging one), he patrolled the borders, lifting a hind leg every once and a while and spraying his scent onto the borders, marking it as claimed land. Arion had made sure to take the extract that early morning just to be able to patrol properly and not simply wandering off to hunt.
After the patrol, the stallion walked to the top of the rise, intending to rest before his mission of hunting and filling the caches began. That was when the Acheron noticed an unfamiliar dark furred figure on a ledge, he had not seen her before but she seemed to be one of the pack members. She seemed to be staring at the birds that were flying around the forest below, those were hawks weren't they?
Why the hell was this lady staring at the forest, didn't she have better things to do? With a annoying smile, he drawled, his voice loud enough to reach her ears. "Whats your name? And what the hell are you doing?"
Watching the birds in action made think about her assassinations. How fun it was to get close to the target and then they drop their guard down. When everything worked as planned it made her happy. Having a bit of difficulty was ok but if the target became impossible to deal with she wouldn't get any fun out of it. Although if things didn't go the way she wanted it then she would get frustrated so quickly. It was kind of funny. She had the impression that her mood switches rapidly, making her very unpredictable that even herself doesn't understand.
Then distracting her from her peaceful thoughts was a voice coming from the ridge behind her. She turned to see who it was. Her gaze simply analyzed the wolf. Seeing that it was a male she instantly put her guard up. She didn't like the idea that he could have been trying to sneak up on her. To give out his location allowed her to over look the idea. Still it was said that not all males take advantage of others. Perhaps she'll test that here and now.
She sat down showing that she wasn't going to move closer. She posed in such a way that would make her seem like a princess waiting for a prince. She tilted her head looked at him innocently with her fiery eyes. She didn't want to speak back loudly, instead she wanted him to come closer to make it easier. She didn't want to give him an answer yet. Hopefully he would figure that she might say her name if he comes closer. For now she was acting like an innocent bait that didn't know what she was doing but she was fully aware of what she was really trying to do.
The lady did not speak, instead allowed her gaze to drift over to him and analyze him, Arion simply stared at her in return, his own golden eyes burning with the fire of the sun. An annoying smile played at his lips as he watched her shift slightly, sitting onto her haunches and posed. Almost like a princess waiting for someone, if he'd been a youth wishing for a love of his own, he would have charged for her then, but the stallion had grown up to be one that was suspicious of most. He also believed sentiment was a defect, and running to a stranger was not a wise approach at all. Not a logical one at least.
Instead, the Acheron allowed a crooked grin to spread over his maw and he tilted his head ever so slightly in return. "I don't run to strangers, lady, even pretty ones." The stallion shrugged, honey golden eyes meeting the female's fiery ones. "If you ain't gonna tell me your name from over there, I see no reason why you would tell me it when I come over."
The greek straightened up, rising to his full height and shook his glossy chocolate and black coat. "The name's Arion, a new packmate of yours."
Lacinia stopped her posing and simply gaze at him for a moment. She found him to be foolish. Although he and her didn't meet before, they were suppose to be allies. 'Idiot' said in her mind as she turn her head to look at the birds who were still in action. If he didn't want to approach then it was him that was doing no effort to learn about her. If he actually came she would have shared her given name but now his chances of getting her name has fallen.
She decided to just tell him what she thought. "Then we are suppose to be allies. Why would I want to share my name with someone who would rather stay away. Now, you'll have to do more than come to me to have my name." She said loud and clear with a bit of anger.
Maybe he'll make up for his little mistake. As long as he wasn't taking advantage of her she wouldn't have a reason to harm him but if he continued to act foolishly she would have to punish him. Lacinia was prepared to allow him to approach her because he was an ally but if he couldn't prepare himself and would rather stay away then why would she bother trying to be friendly with a male. She didn't want to waste this hard effort.
The female finally spoke, saying that they were supposed to be allies and that she wouldn't really want to share her name with someone who would rather stay away and now, apparently he would have to do more than come to her to have her name. The stallion cocked his head and raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief, who did this girl think she was for Zeus's sake? She wasn't the goddamn leader of Redtail Rise and she most certainly was not some princess, she was a wolf with a low rank in the pack and she had absolutely no power to command him to come to her just to have her name.
"Holy Zeus," he said with a dark smirk. "I have no idea how a wolf like you managed to get into a pack, and I don't want to know how." Hell, she had an even worse way with wolves than he did, and that was almost rare, to best the mighty stallion Arion. "You ain't a princess, lady, and honestly, I don't want to waste my precious energy trotting to you to lick your ass just to have your name." He did not care if he was being rude now, "Having a description is enough."
The male's words became infuriating. She didn't understand what she was doing to get this reaction. His words hit hard and did have a heavy impact on her nerve. Lacinia has been trying to find a place where she would belong, somewhere where she could be happy. It was clear the male believed that she didn't belong here. But.. She had high hopes that this could be the place. Saena was nice to be with, she seemed to have understood her. Maybe not exactly eye to eye but she felt that pack would suit her. But that chance to find that happy place appeared to be much lower than she had first believed.
Fine, then Lacinia is just going to have to act first. She took a deep breath and released. She decided to get up and walk towards the male, slowly but steadily. She watched his eyes as she approached harmlessly. She stopped atleast one meter in front of him. "oh?" she said sounding surprised. "You're much stronger than I thought." Then she looked down at his feet. In a fight there was no way she could come close to winning against him but at the same time she wanted him gone.
Then she toned down her voice to nice smooth sound. "Maybe since I had lost everything I hoped that I could recover some of it here in this new pack. Do you think it's fair that I'm always weaker? Am I suppose to stay at rock buttom because I was freed? Do I have to submit to others once more and follow their complete order again?" She didn't like being in that place. The thought of it made her eyes tear up. She had always wanted to be stronger but never could have. Was she doomed to have to submit to all who are stronger?
The female was pretty, Arion admitted begrudgingly to himself and though it was usually easy for him to insult others he did not like, there was something about her that made him uncomfortable with shouting insults. Perhaps it was because they were packmates and packmates technically were supposed to be good to one another. But then, when had that rule ever bothered him before? He was a natural rule breaker at heart, rules restrained freedom and freedom was what he desired. Redtail Rise had his loyalty for now, that was sure, for this feeling he had was the same one that touched him in his natal pack, his birth home.
The fiery eyed female walked towards him and Arion stood his ground, though his muscles tensed, ready to attack or defend if she chose to interfere with his personal space. He was a good warrior, though he needed a lesson on humility once in a while. His gaze remained steady, focusing on his packmate's fiery ones. "Is that a compliment?" he asked in his smooth baritone, never loosing eye contact with his pacmate.
Then she began ranting, saying that she had lost everything and she hoped to recover some of it here in this new pack, and then asked him if he thought it was fair that she was always weaker and if she always had to be in the bottom because she was freed. If she always had to submit to others and follow their complete order once more. That rant certainly made the prince interested in her, but he never lowered his guard for once second.
The stallion's voice took on a gentler tone, but with the same rough edge. "No one is weaker than the other, there are only those who think they are stronger but in fact are equal. We can excel at something but there will always be things we fail at." He surprised himself with his words, but then remembered something, "What do you mean 'freed'? Were you a slave? Prisoner of war? Sold when you were young?"
Lacinia lightly chuckled. She found it funny how this male believed that everyone was equal. That was completely false no matter what was said. Not even the problems each one faces was equal. No matter how she could try to see it, the male before her was phyiscally stronger in every way. For once she smiled, How could anyone believe they were equals. She wasn't even a male to begin with.
"No matter what you say, I could never win a fight against you. I might not even be able to push you down. Being physically stronger makes it easier for you to survive. If you wanted to you could just take my life away or force me to do whatever you wanted. I tried to act strong eariler to avoid that thought from coming." She said with a grin and she looked into his eyes. Lacinia still wanted to punish him though she needed him to drop his guard down but that seemed like it would take a bit of time to get through.
The next subject made her smiles disappear. Bringing back memories of her past wasn't something she enjoyed. She turned her head to look away. "A slave..for men. I rather not talk about it." She said in a dark tone. But now she was more curious of how this male would react. Would he end up being one of those males she hated so much? Which ever the case was, it was her that was at the disadvantage.
Truthfully, Arion did not technically believe everyone was equal. He believed that the strongest lived, whether it was because they had wits, or because they had the sheer strength to survive, but everyone was strong in their own way. The thing was, they had to know how to use their strength to survive and improve their weaknesses, that was the thing that many wolves did not understand and therefore fail and die, their lives lost, their souls entering the underworld and going to judgement. He smiled grimly when Lacinia chuckled lightly, obviously not believing him.
"You can't win a fight with me with strength, but can you with wits? Words can bite harder than you know, not with me though." Sentiment was a defect and therefore he tried his best to lock all his emotions away, concentrating on logic and instinct, he didn't need these silly emotions interfering with his life, he believed that caring only brought disaster, he reserved caring for those he actually loved. Then perhaps, he would try to understand his kind, their ways of thinking on emotions.
Arion did not attempt to deny her however, on how he could force her to do what he wanted or take her life. "If I wanted to, which I don't," he said in his silky baritone.
Then she spoke, saying she was a slave for men and she would rather not talk about it. The nobleman simply nodded, he offered no words of pity because he himself hated it when people pitied him and truthfully, in his eyes, Lacinia did not seem like that type of wolf either. In fact, she seemed a lot like him, and he was a bit interested in her, though he did not let it show. "Will you tell me your name now?" he asked and then added with an afterthought. "Please?"
The dark subject was dropped which suited Lacinia well. She returned to a happier mood and looked at him again. His words were simply asking her to mess with him. She had a small grin and approached him with an allurring posture leaving only half a meter left between them. "Wits and words? That doesn't seem like something I'm strong in but there has to be something else, something that allowed me to survive all I've been through." She said in a nice sweet tone. "Something that made wolves want to keep me around."
She wanted to touch him so she lifted her paw but then placed it back down. "Noooo. You'll have to do something for me if you wish to have a taste of what I can do." She paused for a moment. "My name is Lacinia." She said quietly It took another moment to realised she said her real name. Using her old name didn't suit her if she was to adapt she couldn't be her old self. "I'd prefer you called me Aklaq, The name I was given after I was freed."
It was strange, She didn't feel like harming him anymore. Arion was not taking advantage and would appeared to be nicer compared to the first moments. But she wasn't so quick to forgive he still needed to pay for making her upset. Maybe he'll want to do something for her but it that didn't seem possible then she'll just have to wait until his guard was down.
The female trotted closer to him with an alluring posture, leaving only a few feet between them. Arion remained still, guarded as he gazed into her fiery eyes and listened as she spoke, saying that she wasn't strong with wits and words but that she had something else, something that helped her survive this long, something that made other wolves want to keep her around. Immediately, Arion wanted to know what, this was his flaw, he always wanted to know things, collecting every kind of knowledge he wanted.
She lifted a paw then placed it back down and spoke, saying he would have to do something for her if he wished to have a taste of what she could do. Arion knew he would do whatever she wanted him to do because he wanted to know what she could do, it was his weakness and as Chiron and Krios put it, it was his fatal flaw, the flaw that would be the end of him. She introduced herself as Lacinia, but preferred him to call her Aklaq, the name she was giving when she was freed.
"Alright," Arion said, concealed curiosity in his honey eyes. "What do I have to do for you?" He would do what he needed to do to see what she had, the something that made wolves wanted to keep her.
She was happy to hear that he was willing to do something for her. It give her a sense of victory that she had really needed. Now all she needed to do was to keep him from moving. It felt like it would be easy to keep him to remain still. He was a strong male, what would he worry about? And to add to that they were packmates so doing something bad will create problems later. That meant Lacinia couldn't do anything extreme but she was satisfied with just showing a taste of what she could do.
The moment called for a sweet smile. "All I ask is that you sit down and remain still. I'll have to touch you, so If you move during that time you risk feeling pain instead." She said in a kind friendly tone. Assuming he would be ok with it she walked passed him. Close enough were they could feel each others warmth but without touching. She would stop directly behind him.
If everything went well she would give him one more instruction before she began. She whispered in his ear. "Now sit up straight and don't turn for any reason." This was an exciting moment. Finally she'll get a chance to use her ability on a wolf once again. She couldn't wait to find out his reactions to all kinds of techinques. Today was just going to be a small taste so if she pulls this off correctly later he may want more which would allow her to play even more as well.
Despite her initial bitchiness, Arion decided that he would try his best to at least tolerate her. She seemed to bear a lot of sadness on her, anger and fury worthy enough to rival the god of war. But then, what did he know about emotions? He spent all his life trying to separate himself from his feelings, trying to lock them away believing they would bring nothing but terrible things to him. He believed that he only needed logic, that sentiment was a defect. He still believed in those, but now, the stallion could feel the walls slowly crumbling. It would take time for it to even half disintegrate and it would probably never fully crumble away, but it was an improvement, or it could be his end.
Probably his end.
The girl smiled and told him to sit down and remain still, that she would have to touch him so if he moved, he would feel pain instead. Arion simply nodded and sank down onto his haunches, his tail curling around his paws. Then Lacinia walked passed him and moved closer, close enough for him to feel her warmth, she did not touch him, instead stopped directly behind him. Arion wondered what she would do to him, would she hurt him? If she did, what would he do? Allow her to take her anger out on him or report her to Saena immediately? Don't be stupid, a voice in his head spoke to him, yep, I'm going mad now.
The chocolate nobleman then felt her breath on his head as she whispered to him, telling him to sit up straight and don't turn for any reason whatsoever. "Got it," Arion said and sat up straight, ready for whatever the hell she was going to do to him.
Male's guard was dropped, she could do whatever she wanted at this point. Paralyze him by striking right at the back of his neck or to move in and pierce his throat. Being able to hold someone's life was one of her dark desires. His life was under her control or that's what she believed. Lacinia had a bad habbit of playing with her food and that would always be a reason why she never kills someone directly.
If she was a loner this male's life would be close to an end but that wasn't the case. She was in a new pack, their strength could be used to help her. The thought of having more power thanks to others allowed her to think carefully on her actions. She had to win their favor but this time without them being able to control her. That was the plan. Arion was encouraging her that she could gain control. As long as she manages to win Arion as a willing ally she will continue to be the way she is.
She sat down behind him so she could use both her paws. She places them softly onto his shoulders. "Oh, You seem tense. Try not to think about anything for now, just feel." She said in a calm tone. She put a bit of pressure on his shoulders then with her claw she lightly pushed on a pressure points. This was suppose to help the muscles relax, sometimes even fall asleep. After a few seconds she stopped. This is only a taste after all but she was sure that he could feel a taste of the effects.
Lacinia walked back a bit. "A taste of what I can do." She reminded him. "If you show that you are deserving then I wouldn't mind continuing. For now I think that's enough for today." If he turned around to look at her she would give him a cute innocent look before turning around, hinting that she was leaving.
Truthfully, Arion still did not fully trust Lacinia and therefore his guard was still up, ready to move in case she tried anything on him. One wrong move and it would be her snout shoved into the dirt, he wanted to tolerate her and trust her but he could not do so until he had further proof that she was loyal to the pack and would not attack him. Trust was hard to gain with the greek male, he was suspicious of most and it would take time to get through his thick armor unless he allowed the other in.
Keen ears caught the sound of her sitting down and he felt a slight shiver run down his spine when she placed her paws on his shoulders, there was something about his black furred packmate that he could not place, but with time, he would get through her, just like how he had with all the others. Then Lacinia spoke, saying he, Arion seemed a bit tense and that he should just feel and not think. Like hell that was going to happen, thinking was his life, feeling on the other hand...
He felt a slight pressure on his shoulder and then he felt his muscles relax, involuntarily and made Arion realize exactly how tense his muscles had been. So that was the skill she possessed, a healer back in Cerberus's Pavilion had similar skills, the greek knew that from the rituals he performed on others but once he did, he was to be moved into a den where none of the other packmates other than the leaders could see him. The wolf who practiced such arts were also seers of sorts, but Arion doubted Lacinia was a seer, no use asking her about the gods then.
Then his packmate stopped, rose onto her paws and trotted back a bit, reminding him that this was simply a taste of what she could do,
Aklaq then said that if he was
deserving, she wouldn't mind continuing but it was enough for today. Arion rose to his paws and turned around, honey eyes catching the innocent look on her face as she turned around, ready to leave.
"I'll see you later," he said and trotted away.
The chocolate nobleman would ask her next time, what he had to do if he was to be deserving.