Blackfeather Woods that look in your eyes

She was tyro, now. She didn't understand fully what it meant, what this pack meant, but she did know that she now held some semblance of freedom. She walked the wood, steps light and gaze flitting around, completely unsure of what was to happen next. She wasn't quite aware of the red by her feet until she stands in the midst of it, red-brown seeping between the boughs all around. She eases down on her haunches quietly, feeling oddly disconnected from the earth beneath her paws. 

Perhaps this was her lot, now. Hell, the healer had called it, shortly before giving birth to her freaks. Intricate ties seemed to hold the inhabitants of this place together; what she had seen in the cave perplexed and unsettled her. She could leave, now, she wasn't bound here; not truly. And yet; she was bound here by other means, ones she would not completely admit to herself.  

Nothing changed within the woods without her knowledge. She had said little to the captive, not usually associating with their kind anymore, but how easily the midnight girl had given up her captive title to be one of them surprised her. The woods were not a place for all - perhaps not even to them if they had not grown so powerful and strong together, and if she had been in the new Tyro's place she would have been smart enough to escape. That, or seduce one of her captors - trick them into freeing her. She would be prepared to die even, for not a single soul would tell her where to belong. Perhaps this Cassiopeia thought differently about things.

The Dark Mistress could not help herself. When she found the smell of the former captive, she followed her trail, only to end up looking at the rear end of her. The faded, nearly unrecognizable spots on her rump made her expression turn darker. There was only one Nocturnal in their midst, and that title belonged to her. Why worry, again?

Good day. She greeted in a chilling voice. I do not believe we have met properly before.

Her gaze fell on a woman, swathed in black and spotted in stars; with marking that reminded her of her own. She hadn't thought her markings to be all that common, but here was the girl before her to prove her wrong. She was beautiful, surely, but held herself in such a manner that reminded her of the arrogance and menace of the Cerberus. She was silent a beat before speaking, her words echoing the woman's for lack of a better alternative to the retort that bit at the tip of her tongue. "I do not believe that we've met at all." Her gaze furrowed a moment in contemplation, but in the month that she'd been here she had not once seen the woman. She may have simply forgotten the girl, but she doubted it. 

She supposed she ought to give her name, and while she wasn't particularly inclined to do so, least of all to this girl, she did so with the knowledge that she couldn't afford to insult or anger her wardens turned packmates. "I'm Cassiopeia."  She spoke her brief introduction smoothly, gaze sharp yet lacking much interest in the girl.

It was true that Nyx did not spend much time on the captives her subjects dragged in every now and then, but that didn't mean she was not aware of them. The smell of strangers was hard to miss in one's own home, after all. She did not know who had brought this particular female in, but she decided it would only matter if problems would come from her presence here. That is part of the reason she had not been angry at anyone for the fox-like prisoner they had had for a while; no one, despite the fox's claims they would, had come to bring war upon them.

Nyx Apaata - current Dark Mistress of the woods. Though she doubted she was hard to forget, it was not unthinkable that the new Tyro had not heard of her. They had not even seen each other before. I have to say, your willingness to join us - after what you inevitably went through down there - has surprised me. A rather unsettling smile crept upon the young woman's muzzle, one she did not intend to be that way. She was still getting used to showing affection to anyone other than her ward, Damien and now Vaati.

The woman introduced herself with an extravagant title thrown at the end of her own name, something that near had the girl raise a brow. The title had the air of being something akin to an alpha, but the simple title obviously wasn't good enough for these wolves. Nevertheless, she hardly said anything, knowing well enough that every wolf here, as it stood, was her superior. Her next words, however, had the girl's eyes spark momentarily. "I am not stupid. Better to join you than rot in the caves. Besides, I hardly have anything to lose." 

The words were true, she did not see a future other than this one where she might forge her own path. The only link she clung to outside the wood was her mother; and besides, she had come to the general consense that her mother was better of without her; the last of her failed family vanished. That, however, was not enough to stop that guilt and longing that tugged at her, but that was better of ignored.

This is shit :p

Though alpha sounded nice and all, she knew the ranks ,as they were, were rather traditional. She would settle for nothing less than the title of Dark Mistress, for Alpha Nyx simply didn't roll of the tongue that easily. Besides, they had no need for such leader. They needed someone like her specifically - why else had Damien settled for her? This was what she liked to tell herself, no matter if it was true or not. The speckled woman laughed then, shaking her head, the chill of the sound she had made still echoing in the Ravens' calls.

What about pride? Any other of us would have died in another's grasp. That, or plan an escape. The Woods were home. The Woods were the only place they needed to be themselves. Nothing would keep them from it. She smirked then. I suppose we do not take kindly to being controlled - but who truly does? She could think of a few souls, including herself, that would want to be controlled by a certain wolf, but not by strangers.

The woman's words angered her, and the slight narrowing of her gaze betrayed this. She was not made of impassive stone like her brother, and her emotions were not difficult to notice. "It's stupid to value pride over your life. If you can't bend, you'll break." The girl's words screamed entitled and Cassiopeia did not doubt for a second that she had never found herself in the same situation that she had found herself in, did not have to make the same choices that she had. Whether they were right or wrong was yet to be seen, but she wouldn't not be judged by this girl. 

 "I'll adapt. My brother did, apparently."  She hadn't seen Aries since that day in the caves, but had crossed his scent once or twice. She had no desire to seek him out, and thus stayed well enough away from him (as well of the rest of the Blackfeather wolves).

It was true, of course, but Nyx had her own thoughts on the matter. She had the right to have them too, just like anyone else. Of course. She nodded, only picking on on the slight narrow of her gaze. She sought nothing behind it. The girl meant little to her, after all, and she did not have to be perfect. But there are more ways to bend than just one. They could imprison her body, but her spirit would remain free. Besides, no one wanted trouble with them - it was nearly impossible to think of one of their own being kidnapped.

Your brother? Who might that be? It sounded like the two had met recently. Did that mean he was part of the woods? If so, who was it?

The girl was getting on her nerves, and her previous promise to lay low seemed to suddenly drop on her list of priorities. Her gaze darkened in the slightest, and while she stayed silent on the matter, she did not hold her tongue for long. "what, exactly, is it that you stand for? besides giving yourself fancy titles, lurking in the darkness and taking captives."  They seemed a dismal lot, and while in her mind Vaati existed in a separate category then these wolves, he was part of them all the same. They seemed to have a flair for the dramatics, though the monstrous things she had seen here had been very real.

Nyx's expression grew dim when the other's did, not feeling great with the tension she felt in the air. It might have been her imagination, and she would've blamed the sudden change in her mood for it had it not been for the words that came after. Her star-kissed tail rose and curled over her speckled back, feeling that her entire existence was being threatened by someone she had just tried to be nice to. I earned my title by serving Damien - you have done nothing to deserve our respect or trust. She said rather coolly. Cassiopeia had nothing on her, she knew. I need not explain myself to you. She was done playing nice.

The girl becomes defensive, now, and Cassiopeia wonders if these wolves stand for anything at all. The name Damien rings in her mind, and a second later she connects it to the man in the cave. Disgust flickers in her eyes, and she says a moment later, forgetting that small thing called restraint, "you serve a child-killing, raving, lunatic? that madman ranting about sin?"  She didn't think that the emaciated man in the caves held much importance here, but, obviously, she was wrong. "why would I look to earn your respect?" She asked, anger burning now. She may have been burning all her bridges, but now she was far too entrenched in fire to care.