Enigmatic hell hounds croon havoc, vexation upon the sands, while the predatory, apex of the beast remains nestled within the safety of sovereign jungle walls. They suckle, drink heavily at thee breast of life, birthed into a world of lecherous animosity and fevered bedlam based upon the preaching of depravity. Based within the throes of primeval world, of primal instinct and fervid inamorata. The old testaments, and wills upon which the livid enchantments of history confound upon, ligaments and tissues of a lascivious heart of archaic, rustic mystery. How profound, this Bible of deceit, it bids you welcome adventurer. Stay, if but for the breath of a moment and let us welcome you, o' gracious guest, unto the very enthralling lips of enigmatic Eden. Walk among those of barbaric enticement, lingering primeval ghosts. Prolific monoliths of times well passed, and yet still they remain, straying remnants of a world which refuses to change. Taste the euphoric rapture, the bitter, acrid knife of betrayal slipping amorously between lithe, dulcet ribs. Enthrall in the cataclysmic mutiny of two worlds expanding, imploding, clashing against one another in a heated affair. Walk in the wake of monstrous beasts, their paths unfurled as if coaxing closer, closer still the rush of a curious mind until gnashing severity of fangs sever all thought from a feeble stem and cerebral musings. This is the world of beast and monsters~
And speaking of monsters, it seemed one in particular was on the move. Keen eyes shifting back and forth over the evergreen as the wind whistled overhead with a gentle gust of wind. A lone wolf, a woman traveled along the dirt path quietly. Observing her surroundings and dreading every step she took forward. The sun had stalked her since the day began and exhaustion was quickly overwhelming the dark huntress as sweat trickled down her forehead and her breathing became heavier as the journey went on. Luckily however the sun was finally sinking into the depths of the horizon ahead and allowing the moon to slowly take its place in the sky above. The Huntress did not typically visit these lands, especially the war torn country of Fellsgard. But her prey had forced her to the bleeding land and as a result she found herself dodging bandits and avoiding the military by sticking to the woodlands just a few miles off from the main road.
The raven haired woman inhaled deeply through her nostrils and clenched her fist around the handle of her briefcase in irritation.
'How much further?' She thought aloud, a hymning sound flaring within her mind as the link to her Familiar reached back to communicate a reply.
'Not far, my beloved wolf. However, this one sees trouble ahead, would you like to divert our course?' A soft, warming voice informed, making the woman quirk a brow as she began to sniff the air in attempts to catch a scent. She noticed it then, just barely masked by the smell of fresh water. The fresh scent of recently spilled blood, although...not human from what she could gather from this distance.
'Of what nature? I smell blood; a beast perhaps?' The huntress questioned, finding her heart thrashing within her chest at the thought of a new hunt so soon. There was a brief silence before the familiar replied.
'The most violent beast of all, dear wolf.' She mused before chuckling darkly, clearly amused by whatever she was witnessing.
'Humans~'
The Wolf paused, stopping in her tracks as a grimace flickered across her face.
Trouble in these woods? So close to the city? And by humans? Getting involved might not of been the best idea for her now but she had come way to far to simply tuck tail and go the other way. The sun was also still up and the heat that beamed upon her flesh through the treeline kept her exhausted and particularly vulnerable, last thing she needed was a conflict right now especially in a land that tended to discriminate heavily against people like her.
Still, better to know what shes walking into than ignore it.
'Show me~' She demanded, remaining still on the dirt path as a flood of energy pulsed within her eyes. Those crimson optics fluctuating with energy as her pupils tightened and a blue shine could be seen emanating from within the crimson lens of her glasses. Her own sight began to grow dark as the vision from her familiar overshadowed her own sight. The Familiar flew overhead in the shape of a raven, its eyes peering down at the sight of a group of men and a couple of women gathered around what looked to be a traveling Elven family. The Huntress found it hard to see any further details from the sheer height her familiar was flying.
'Get closer, can't make much out from that height.' She ordered, the Raven slowly descended closer to the earth before flying to a nearby branch just above the scene taking place.
With this position the whole situation just became a lot more clearer. The group were standing around three bodies which were gruesomely strangled to death which explained why The Wolf had failed to catch a scent sooner, the only blood that was spilled was from one of the bodies that had apparently smashed their head against a stone when falling down. A boy, probably a teenager given how young he appeared for an elf, a mother, clearly the elder of the family...and a child. Buried within her mothers arms as the men all stood beside one another. Her heart tightened at the display, clenching her jaw tightly as she focused her attention on the men who she presumed to be the culprits.
"Well, at least we got a little coin and some supplies. Think they're from around here? Maybe they've got a house in these woods?" One of the men asked, counting through a couple coin purses that must have come from the unfortunate souls who were unlucky enough to cross their path. A larger man stroked his grizzled beard, one whole side of his face practically burned away and horribly scarred.
"Maybe, if they do then they might also have some more stuff we can take sell. We need money to get to back overseas, especially since we lost our damn ship even getting over here. Given where they were heading i can only assume they were on their way to Fellsgard so they either live there and were up to some buisness out this way, or live our in these woods and were heading to the city for some reason. Its hard to tell, but i don't wanna spend anymore time in these damn woods. We're gonna head to Fellsgard for a while. We can always come back out here to search for things another time." The man explained, making the others simply nod their heads in agreement. After they all decided what to do next a couple of women in their group grabbed the bodies they had murdered and dragged them off to the river beside them, tossing the bodies into the water and watching them float downstream before climbing back up the hill, climbing into the back of a well decorated wagon being pulled by a couple of horses and continued off the dirt path and onto a stone road leaving up the river that led out of the woodland and an open road directly towards the city.
The Huntress closed her eyes and severed the visual link connecting she and her familiars eyesight.
'Shall this one follow? Hunt them, the wolf shall?' Her familiar asked, making the young wolf sigh deeply before continuing on the dirt road.
'Oh no, not doing that shit again. Last time i got involved with such affairs during the daytime i ended up locked in a bloody cage, so no, leave them be. I don't want to get mixed up in any kind of drama out here. But i do need to rest, we've been on the move for days and i am running low on my supplies. Plus i'd rather not risk a fight this deep into Tviyr territory, especially not with the Fellsgard Military just looking for an excuse to throw people in jail. And you know how i am with closed in spaces.' The Wolf explained, rolling her shoulders and making her way to the stone road and slowly making her way onto the open road that the bandits had taken to the city.
After about an extra hour of time had passed eventually The Wolf found herself approaching the city gates at long last. The place was buzzing and immediately an overwhelming collection of scents flooded her senses and caught the woman off guard as she shuddered. Wines and Ale, freshly cooked meats and sugar glazed bread from bakeries and even blood from the butcher which all made The Huntress practically salivate for a brief moment as a hunger and a thirst rose within her. She casually walked through the gates and wandered the roads towards the heart of the city with her shifting blue eyes glancing back and forth at the colorful individuals around her. Fellsgard had always been a mixpot of races and cultures and thus it was greatly amusing to see. And after a bit of walking she paused in her tracks as her eyes landed at the stable were two horses were stationed...the very same horses who were originally pulling the wagon she had seen flee the scene of the crime but an hour and a half ago. It was parked off to the side of the inn and smoke emanated from the chimney. The smell of well cooked meals filled the air and the bustling of chatter radiated from within the lit up Inn.
The fluttering of wings flapped nearby as the old Raven came flying down from the sky and landing upon her shoulder. The Wolf stared at the horses for a long, long while. The sheer predatory energy she radiated forcing them to neigh and back away from the gates as the dark haired woman clenched her jaw tightly. There were likely other inns in the city but she had a feeling that this would be the only one she'd be able to get at this time. But the idea of sharing a building with bandits wasn't exactly something she was terribly fond of. So for now she decided to avoid the inn and let some time pass, maybe by the time she returned the bandits would either be asleep or gone. Last thing she wanted was for them to see a woman dressed in nobility clothes taking shelter under the same roof as them.
And so she continued onward, heading a bit further down the road until she reached what appeared to be a small restaurant that apparently specialized in poultry of all kinds given the number of different scents radiating from the place. The Wolf scoffed and slowly backed away into a dark, empty alleyway that concealed her and the raven on her shoulder in complete darkness. And after a brief moment when she emerged from the dark the raven was no more, but instead a black cat with blue eyes perched around her shoulders and purring quietly as The Huntress approaching the front door of the restaurant. In the end she had not eaten in a while and whatever they had cooking here smelled pleasant enough for her to enjoy...last thing she wanted to do though was enter a poultry restaurant with a bird perched on her shoulder though so for now Larka would be adopting her feline shape. Reaching out a hand and and pushing the door open open with an audible 'creeeeeeek'. Forcing some of the individuals inside to shift their gaze over to the mysterious young woman who made her way inside, draped in High Class clothes of a fashion clearly not a commoner and nor was she a simple traveler. And carrying a large Briefcase by her side with a black cat perched on her shoulders made it clear to anyone who merely observed the woman that she was clearly not from around here. Silver framed sunglasses concealing her eyes behind crimson lenses as her coat fluttered slightly in the breeze. She was well dressed, her hair tied back into a ponytail with a red ribbon holding it back nice and neat. Dark colored lipstick graced upon full lips and a silver cross dangling from black and red beads wrapped around her forearm and wrist. She was an...unusual character to say the least, at least in Fellsgard standards.
"Oh my, another one huh? Such a busy night this is! Go on and take a seat honey we'll be right with ya!" An older lady' voice rang, a tall elf with a head of silver locks. Clearly either the Owner or a Barmaid...or both. She carried several platters along her arms and within both hands masterfully, serving the patrons ale and food one table at a time. Surprisingly the restaurant was well populated, there were a couple older men in cloaks, sitting alone at their own table playing some sort of card game. A woman off to the far corner sleeping in her chair, some elves blabbering about something or another and some kids eating chicken rather ravenously. Her eyes did not linger on them long, she found herself looking back at the white haired elf as she finished delivering her payload and pulled he hair back and wrapped it up with a rubber band. Quickly marching back to the front of the restaurant and vanishing into the kitchen where she could see some other, similarly appearing Elves working.
So this was a family establishment...how lovely. The Wolf chuckled softly to herself, looking around the restraunt to see most the tables were either taken or completely messy from those who were in just before her. Grimacing at the sight the black haired woman made her way to the other section of the restaurant which was a gated area that was just outside so people could eat out there and watch the city streets. Immidiately she spotted a man with a cat of his own and a live chicken at his table which made The Wolf lift a brow in curiosity. And then, moments later she witnessed a raven fly down onto the table and began to pluck coins off of it which immediately made her exchange glances with the cat on her shoulder before giving a toothy grin.
Casually she approached the table, setting her briefcase down beside her leg and pulling off her jacket. Revealing a dark burgundy colored shirt and a black corset with silver trimmings hugging her waist. Silver chains hanging from her hips and down her thighs as the Huntress took a seat and sighed deeply.
"Hope you don't mind company sugar~" She'd muse, glancing at mysterious man before glancing back over at the Raven and giving the bird a wink.
That Raven was no ordinary bird, The Wolf could smell it. Not only that, but shifters tended to recognize one of their own, especially considering The Huntress tended to also favor the form of a raven. Still, she wasen't going to call em out, figured she'd let them do their thing as she leaned back against the chair and gave the man across from her a smile, those ivory fangs on full display as she reached out and offered her hand.
"Wasn't anywhere else to really sit, hope i ain't bothering you honey. Friends call me Vivi, and we're friends now aren't we?" She mused jokingly as the whimsical woman introduced herself.
It was going to be an interesting day~