the Forest

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Sebastet took a moment to catch on to the words since he'd scattered her wits with that kiss, then she shivered as he ran his hand along her cheek, his purr almost making her knees weak to hear it. She felt his other hand at her hip, giving another small shiver at the hint of his claws along the leather she wore.

Then he was speaking and offering words that were almost enigmatic, though his actions gave those words meaning. She gave a soft gasp as he kissed her neck while offering his own to her. She simply leaned in to smell his neck, momentarily losing herself in his scent.

Then her instincts kicked in and she teased him first, increasing the adrenaline and endorphins in the process, as evidenced when he shivered and his purr deepened for her. When she felt his claws tease at her hip in reaction, she bit him. Her fangs sank fast then she sealed her lips over the wounds and started pulling on his vein.

She gave a deep moan at the first taste, inadvertently forming a minor mental connection that would give him pleasure from the bite instead of pain. With their position, he had full control over how far she took the feeding and ensured that she wouldn't take it too far. Her hands moved around him, one at his back and the other at his head, her claws teasing at his skin under his fur.

With them protected by his shadows, no one could see them and transportation to more comfortable surroundings was easily possible. And it was becoming obvious that she was enjoying this feeding alot more than extected...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Khajhan purred even more as Sebatstet bit down on his neck, taking what she has long desired, the pleasure of that touch was nothing he had ever experienced before, it was euphoric, his arms wrapped around her as he let her take from his vein, and simply smiled as the shadows consumed them taking them away from that place, someplace where they could be alone at the castle.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Kalani struggled forward not knowing if where she was going would lead her anywhere except more forest. This forest seemed vast much bigger than anything she had ever encountered back home, or anywhere for that matter. Her breathing was rasping as she struggled to breathe from being punched in the stomach so forcibly, the enemy truly was ruthless whoever they were. As Kalani walked her foot caught on a root sticking out of the ground causing her to fall forward, and inadvertently fall into a small creek splashing as she hit the water, her feathers getting wet as she struggled to get up and out of the water sighing as she went. When she finally got up, she looked around again, her vision was still very blurry from the hit to the face, though that was small compared to the suffering Kalani and her kin had already endured since being captured and being brought to that strange place. Her feathers would regrow where she had lost them from injuries acquired after being enslaved. Kalani continued walking forward getting out of the creek and walked away from it.

As Kalani walked through forest her ears were droopy a tear running down her cheek as she struggled to make sense of the situation she found herself in. Her entire body was hurting, her head was pounding from the hit she had taken and was likely dealing with issues there but without the means to run a medical diagnostic she was not sure what could be wrong, apart from maybe a concussion which was likely since she took a massive hit to the face before being thrown into the portal and falling like she did probably was not helping things either. Her entire body was certainly hurting because of all the trauma she had endured from her captures, but she would maintain a level of resolve that was required of a soldier, and if the enemy had not come through, she was not going to wait for them to get through to retrieve her and would evade them for as long as she could before her own strength finally gave out.

Eventually, Kalani stopped bracing up against a tree that felt so foreign to her it was so unreal, she sighed as she leaned up against the tree keeping a hand planted on it just in case she lost her footing again and looked around once more. Kalani’s eyesight was starting to clear up but was a long way from that but things were starting to come into focus a little which was something but, she was very certain that she was lost since she had no idea as to where she was, and after a long moment to catch her breath pushed off from the tree and continued walking her eyes scanning around as she moved weary of the possibility that she might run into something unfamiliar and didn’t want to be caught off guard.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Kalani kept walking forward, her eyes were constantly looking behind her, somewhat aware that, as of yet, no one made chase which had her wondering if one of the hidden ones were hunting her, it was hard to say but the lack of response from the enemy only fueled her paranoia that something was going to happen, and happen soon, which only fueled her determination to keep moving. Her vision had cleared up mostly, her left eye was swollen from the hit which made it difficult for her to see with it, her body was aching as well, but manageable. Her strength was barely holding on but at this point she did not really care where her feet took her so long as she got as much distance from that damned portal as she could, hoping that they did not find her and drag her back and punish her for running away.

The forest seemed endless, the wildlife was unusual to her from what she saw of it and seemed harmless, but she had no doubt that there was likely hostile wildlife as well which she would need to be alert for so that she could avoid them a much as possible, with having no equipment in which to defend herself with she would find it exceedingly difficult to survive an encounter with the intention of killing her. But as she moved the worse possible scenario came to light as a snap of a twig to her right caused her to stop instantly and look to see what it was. From the shadows came a couple of men approaching her slowly their weapons raised as they approached. Kalani wasn’t really sure what to make of them they definitely weren’t Avalis, but the sudden urge to flee overcame her as she suddenly realized that there was more than two of these beings and they were trying to box her in. Her eyes going wide she darted ignoring the pain she was feeling from her body as the first shot hit a tree ahead of her, just missing her. It was obvious that they had never seen anyone like her before so their aim was off a little, Kalani would not count on that happening again and just used her speed to keep ahead of them as best she could, which was still proving far more difficult than she wanted considering her injuries.

Her pace kept as she moved between trees dodging gunfire at every moment, whoever these were, are not happy that she is there and just simply ran, panicked that her life was under threat with no way of defending herself from these hostiles. Her pace kept for a while and slowly the shots at her lessened, but as all things fate was a fickle beast as the one shot that she heard grazed her right side causing her to bleed which drastically slowed her pace, but she persisted. For what seemed like eternity she kept moving through the forest as quickly as she could physically allow but before long her pace started to slow her injuries and pain slowing her down substantially, and even breathing heavily as she kept trying to move. Before long Kalani’s pace had all but stalled as she stopped by a tree her breathe rasping for air as she struggled to stay on her feet, but after a moment she succumbed to her injuries and simply collapsed hitting the ground unconscious, but little did she know that she wasn’t far off from a path through the forest.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Griz had been riding Kana on the way to the castle when he heard the shots. He'd already been briefed on the usage of firearms on the island and was instantly suspicious. His sharp ears also caught the sound of someone running, so he simply acted. He'd regret it later. For now, he used his knee and heel to set Kana into motion, the mares following behind in a thundering herd.

He caught sight of an injured female fleeing what appeared to be poachers, though they could be soldiers, he wasn't sure and he wasn't going to ask questions. He shed his coat and dropped off of Kana in a rolling leap that should have been suicidal, but he shifted on the way and was on all fours by the time he finished his roll.

He gave a bellow as he ran through the shooters, scattering them briefly, then stopped while standing over the injured female. He kept her under him as he faced her attackers and gave another loud bellow at them, startling them into hesitating to approach him.

He was massive, though, so their hesitation was understandable. He was huge, able to look into second-story windows and carrying alot of muscle mass; he was a mixture of browns, lighter on his belly and darker on his back, with a white skull-like pattern over his face.

He was an Arctodus Simus, the largest of the Short-faced bears, also known as bulldog bears. They were the largest bear species on the planet before they went extinct as a species... Until Griz...

The attackers glanced at each other in brief looks then refocused on the bear and started to approach with their rifles at the ready.

Well...

Until the horses ran them down...

Once they were all dead, the bear looked under him and noted how frightened the female was. Thankfully, she was injured and exhausted enough that she wasn't moving very fast.

He moved off of her as the horses moved to surround them both, preventing her escape. After a moment, he shifted back to his human form with a groan and a bit of a stumble that dropped him on his knees. As he caught himself on one hand, Kana moved over to drop his coat next to him, "Thanks, Kana," he said simply as he got his breath back and pushed his light brown hair back from his face, revealing his hazel eyes, and looked at the female.

While he was now nude, he hoped that she wouldn't panic on him. Another moment to get back to himself and he pulled on his coat, fastening it down the front so that he wouldn't flash her any more than he already had. Then he moved over to drop to one knee in front of her with a hand held out to her.

"I'm Griz... I won't hurt you..." he told her softly, his baritone voice soothing to hear and doing his best to show her that he wasn't going to hurt her.

Depending on her reactions... Well, he'd get her to the castle with him any way. At least she could get help there.  

[Wolfe Garm]

red Gypsy

When Kalani woke up her strength was nonexistent, though trouble most certainty had caught up with her, that was until someone else showed up with animals, mounts of some kind, she was already panicked as it was that someone had already shot her, but to see someone show up and change suddenly into a massive beast and stand over her had her scared for her life she wasn’t even sure what to make of this all especially when the one’s who’d shot her had been defeated by a group of those beast this person had arrived on. As she watched things unfold her breathing was fast, her heart racing as she laid there looking at the person change again and put on a coat. Immediately she knew things weren’t going to be easy when he seemed to offer a hand and spoke words, but she had no idea as to what he was saying, the words were foreign to her which said a lot considering, and with no way of translating, all she could do was look at him scared but confused, her eyes looked at him and his hand, and for a moment she considered running but the beasts he had arrived with had her boxed in which only added to her panic, as she backed up against the tree and spoke “(Avaris) I… I don’t understand” after a long moment she considered her options, the beasts had her surrounded and in all likelihood could just as easily dispatch her too, but she looked at him and his hand before she hesitantly reached forward her hand pausing slightly as she looked at him, her mind racing as to whether or not this was just a trick to catch her and bring her back to the enemy, they spoke an unknown language as well and while this person didn’t appear to speak like them she did know that there was different races held captive where she was, or this could be a new way the enemy came up with to subdue their slaves. After a moment she finally took his hand her three fingers grasping his hand before he pulled her up off the ground. Her ears were droopy, she’d all but resigned to her fate whatever it might be, she couldn’t say for sure that this wasn’t a trick to bring her back but his voice for what it was worth seemed gentle, but either way she didn’t really have much of a choice, she was going to need help and either way she was either going to her death or her salvation, time would tell.

As Griz pulled her up off the ground her feathers shifted slightly on her arms, folding close to her arms, her tail feathers were ruffled slightly, the rags she wore barely counted as clothes, the uniform she wore long gone. Kalani held onto his hand more for support than anything, she was off balanced, her strength being nonexistent along with her injuries didn’t help her any which left her dizzy, and at risk of collapsing completely but she would do her best to focus on the person who seemed to be male, having dealt with other races before and having to gauge their gender from both appearance and vocal she could safely say this was a male but one never knew for sure if that was a correct assessment, for now she simply watched to see what he would do, and push came to shove she would take the first opportunity to escape if she felt her life was under threat.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

He gave a small nod as she spoke, "Okay... Bit of a language barrier... Hopefully someone up at the castle can help with that..." he said to himself then gave a small smile as she took the risk and let him help her to her feet. When she swayed, clearly exhausted, he made a decision and simply scooped her up gently in his arms then crossed to Kana.

"Give us a hand, Kana," he said simply, smiling again when the stallion laid down for him and let him get on the easy way, "Alright then, take it easy on the way back. I'm a bit tender up here," he added, giving a small grunt as the beast got to his feet and started walking towards the castle, with the mares following.

He looked at his passenger and gently smoothed some of her feathers along her cheek to get her attention focused on his face. He made sure she saw him put his hand on his chest, "Griz," he told her his name then gently touched her in the center of her chest, hoping for her name at the least.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Kalani was startled when the male picked her up suddenly and they got atop the beast who then stood up, she was if nothing else amazed the beast could handle two people on its back, but then again, the beasts they used back home were no different, they could handle multiple riders on its back easily so just as likely this was no different. Her eyes watched the man carefully for any signs of foul play, but continued to be amazed when he fixed her feathers, but also tried communicating with her which caused her top ears to perk up slightly her bottom ears remained droopy, he said something when he tapped his chest ‘Griz’ must be his name she thought as he tapped her chest likely hoping that she would offer her name and considered for a moment before she finally spoke “(Avaris) Kalani” was all she said hoping that she was able to say her name in a way that would be understood considering they both weren’t speaking the same language.

Before long Kalani’s attention turned to the pain at her side, the blood that was still seeping from the wound wasn’t anything fatal, considering it was not a direct hit, but it was painfully noticeable considering the round that grazed her also left a bare spot where feathers used to be the rags even more tore up since being hit by the shot. She sighed slightly as she knew it would likely be sometime before those feathers would grow back provided they did, otherwise she would have to seek assistance later when she finally got home to have that looked at, wasn’t the first time she had been plucked of her plumes, especially during training when she had to learn how to use environmentally sealed equipment, that wasn’t a happy day for her since being plucked was painful without surgical assistance, and being exposed without her plumage of feathers was just embarrassing.

Kalani was expressionless apart from the obvious fact that she was on the verge of collapsing due to everything she had been through since capture, she considered herself fortunate to even be alive at this point, more so after they were captured by the enemy so long ago. After a while she noticed that they were on the move, the beast they were riding along with the others were moving down a path to somewhere, but where she had no clue and spoke up “(Avaris) so uhh… I don’t suppose you could tell me where we are going?” she shook her head as she looked at Griz apologetic “(Avaris) sorry I guess communicating is going to be difficult without assistance” she wished she still had her equipment, at least then she could try and decipher this man’s language and communicate with him, as it was, she was slightly frustrated that she had nothing but herself and she wasn’t in any condition to do much, but wait and see where they were going.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Griz gave a smile when she said his name then repeated her name back to her, feeling out the name and had to smile over it, "Kalani is a beautiful name," he told her, though he wished they could settle the language barrier sooner. But they were a bit stuck with it.

Thankfully, she'd been headed in the direction of the castle when he'd heard her, so they weren't far from it. When they reached the edge of the forest, he had Kana pause and pointed to the massive structure, letting her look at it before giving Kana a nudge to continue up the hill.

He'd noticed where she'd been bleeding and shifted her a bit now to relieve any pressure on it and make the rest of the trip easier on her. He'd get his own wound treated later. As it was, he was leaving a bit of a blood trail that she hadn't noticed and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

He pointed to the castle then to one of her wounds and, hopefully, gave her the impression of healing, "Healer," he gave her the word and hoped he wasn't screwing things up for her, "I hope you can understand that much... There should be a healer up there that can take care of your wounds. There will certainly be a bed and food for you, and maybe some help with the language thing..." he said, mainly to himself since he knew she couldn't understand him.

He looked back at the mares behind him and noted that they were obediently following Kana up the hill as they approached the courtyard. He looked back at his passenger and noted that she appeared nervous and gently smoothed her feathers over her cheek again, hoping that he was helping her calm down a bit.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Blade made it through the front room and the courtyard without anyone stopping her, then she was running for the trees. Just inside the treeline, she shifted to her wolf form and simply ran.

She didn't know why she was running. She didn't know why seeing Samirra had bothered her so much. She didn't know why she felt like crying, screaming, yelling, and stabbing something all at once.

All she knew was that she had to run. To feel the ground under her feet, to feel the air moving hard and fast through her lungs, to feel her muscles burning as she wore them out... She needed to feel something besides... whatever it was that she was feeling...

It didn't help much that her brother had hidden how badly he'd been hurt, to the point that he still had a bad limp after two years. He'd kept it from her when she could have helped him... Worse, he'd made sure that no one else had told her any of it...

What else didn't she know? What else was being kept from her?

What else had been taken from her?

Why did she feel like her guts were being torn out?

She knew she shouldn't be feeling like this, that none of this should be bothering her. She knew that. So she had no idea why...

She just shook her head and ran faster...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Morrigan ran into the forest from a different spot than Blade, simply running through the trees as fast as she could. It had been quite a while since the wolf had gotten to take over, so it was eager to stretch its legs. It caught the scents of various animals around the forest and considered things for a moment before it started to hunt. It started small, going after a few smaller animals fist before it started to move on to larger prey. It wasn't hunting for survival or anything like that. It simply enjoyed the bloodshed. Morrigan's shift to kill the demons that had captured her after Jasker's death had left the wolf full of anger and hatred, so it needed to hunt and kill to try to deal with that. That was simply how it would have to be until something was able to help Morrigan heal emotionally and reconnect with herself.

The wolf hunted for a while, getting covered in blood as it did so. It eventually got bored due to the lack of any real challenge and moved to drink from a nearby stream. The wolf looked around a bit, still rather bored. It finally decided to simply lay down next to the stream as it considered what to do next.

 

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Dameon Black Alt

Voss casually walked having been placing relays discretely around for improved comms transmission, he was not in any hurry to get back to the staging ground, after all, he had no immediate orders and with someone else taking the lead for the assault he was in a holding pattern, well, apart from what he had already done. Voss was whistling a tune as he walked his kit on his back his rifle slung on his shoulder his eyes scanning around as he did so. The tune, something he picked up from a club he had gone to on the mainland. The island was something, even as he roamed around the woods, he could tell that the area was full of life.

Even so, he did not get to attached to the area around him and just kept walking, eventually coming to a stream and stopping by it a moment to kneel down and take a quick drink of the water before he stood up and resumed walking crossing through the stream as he went. He looked around his senses picking up on a few things but nothing to be concerned about and simply followed the stream still whistling that tune.

Wulfric did not waste any time changing and as quickly as he did, he was following blade’s scent and tracking her through their bond. His pace was swift for him so much so that it didn’t he didn’t even register the person he passed as he ran by. Wulfric followed Blades scent to the exclusion of all else until he was able to catch up with blade after which he simply followed her as she ran letting her know through the bond that he was there and with her.

Voss shook up by the pace in which the wolf came and went was surprising for him, and had his rifle raised in the direction the wolf went not seeing it anywhere. His senses told him that the wolf wasn’t after him but just the same he didn’t waste any time and took off in a run along the stream, based on what he could surmise having been moving around the forest a while that this stream would likely reach a point where he could divert, and head follow the coastline back to the staging point.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

The Safe Path pretty much divided the forest in half, running from the castle to the village.

Morrigan was being tailed by Voss on one side of the forest, while Wulfric was chasing Blade on the other side.

Blade eventually startled a boar and instinct took over. She chased it down, eventually shifting to her leopard form to take it down in a clearing. There, she panted for a bit and waited for him to catch up to her, grooming the blood from her muzzle and claws in the process.

As he approached, she gave a sigh and shifted to her human form, "Sorry for running off like that... I'm not even sure why I did it..." she said softly as she moved to sit up, crossing her legs as she picked a piece of grass to toy with.

She'd find a way to get the boar up to the castle in a bit. For now, she felt bad for suddenly running off like she had. It felt a bit embarrassing, to be honest...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

Morrigan rested by the stream until she picked up on the presence of someone nearby. The wolf let out a low growl and got to its feet, not caring about the blood that still covered it. It began to creep around a bit, slipping into the shadows as best it could. It moved through the forest as quickly and silently as it could, making its way towards the man that it could feel nearby.

The wolf eventually caught sight of Voss, rushing past and stopping several feet in front of him. It growled as it stood in his way, allowing him to get a good look at it. The wolf was far larger than a normal wolf could be, its brilliant white fur stained red in several places from the blood of the creatures that it had hunted. It wouldn't be difficult to recognize the demonic influence that had caused this wolf to become larger and more violent.

The wolf began to pace a bit in front of Voss, waiting to see what he would do. She didn't know who Voss was, but she could sense that he would be far more interesting than the various animals that she had killed. Her eyes kept drifting back to the rifle he held, recognizing it as the same type of weapon that had killed Jasker. She remained wary as she watched him, waiting to see if he would attack.

 

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gyspy

Dameon Black Alt

Voss stopped dead in his tracks when the large wolf appeared in front of him, his rifle was raised immediately but he didn’t do anything, when his senses picked up something more. A hybrid he thought as he watched it pace, he knew his weapon was loaded and it wasn’t loaded with anything that would put a hybrid down in one shot his knife would be too risky especially with all the equipment he had on his person. He gave the large wolf a toothy grin as his eyes immediately turned a deep red “today wasn’t your day” was all he said as he ditched his equipment, packs and weapons, taking a brief instant to remove his body armor before the change started, immediately after he changed into a wolf of unusual appearance, his fur was a deep a black as the night sky except for an obvious red tint to his fur, his eyes being a very deep red due to the demonic blood coursing through his veins, his size grew to almost nine feet, his teeth and claws had a demonic look to them as did some of his features as well, he growled instantly when his eyes fixed on the wolf in front of him clearly offering a challenge.

Voss didn’t move, he wanted to see how this wolf would act, his presence was strong, even for a dog of war, he was ale to deal with even the worst demons this world had to offer and, in some cases, even some of the more mortal races. His eyes were locked onto the wolf his growl deep and menacing his physical form was very muscular and defined even through his onyx black fur.


Wulfric stopped by blade and just shook his head as he placed his massive hand on her cheek and held it there a moment, even as a wolf he understood that there were times when one simply needed to run, granted he never had this issue due to his former occupation, but he simply stood there and bent down to wrap his arm around blades waist and simply picked up her and letting her sit on his shoulder before he looked at the boar she killed and simply grabbed the hind legs and picked it up his right hand making sure she didn’t lose her balance on his shoulder as he casually walked towards a tree and sat down under it putting the boar off to the side so that they had room.

His actions show much to how he felt about her, the bond showed it equally which for Wulfric and his wolf, showed so much, his emotional state as a wolf while different was very gentle deep down and cared about his mate above all else. Eventually Wulfric glanced up at blade and wondered simply watched her with some concern in his eyes but there was still a supportive wolf there as well more than willing to help however he could to assist blade with whatever bothered her.