A Ravens Heart and a Witch's Soul....(Anaeria and runawayninja only please! )

[Anaeria]

It wasn't difficult to grow up in a world riddled with humans. As a pup, Ariana Shethrusa had been rambunctious, more so than her single littermate brother Maro Shethrusa. He'd been a weak pup at birth, and though it was against Pack laws, he was nurtured nonetheless into adulthood with his sister because the Pack that Airana's father had was only himself, their mother, and them thanks to filthy human hunters and other, less savoury creatures of the night.

Ten years was pleasant for a puppyhood though it was brutally shattered when a mage discovered Ariana and her parents and even her weakling little brother attempted to save her...and died for her freedom. That was the only time she had ever unleashed her full potential that was held inside of her; an everlasting well of magic that could be used by anyone with even a smidgeon of ability. She'd been on the run since, the last of her Pack to survive until adulthood, perhaps the last of her kind entirely because in the last two hundred years she had yet to meet another of her kind that was the same. The magics within her were what kept her alive and looking young and though she was thankful for that most days, today was not one of them.

Dressed in a pair of black breeches and a loose, filthy grey shirt to hide her breasts, which were still bound with clean white bandages, the vibrant redhead with strange green eyes and pale white skin slunk through the town against the crowds of people fluttering and coming and going. It was market day, and Ariana, named Arrow by most of the folks in the town since most figured her for a boy, was getting the one thing she couldn't easily get for herself; vegetables. In all the years of her life she'd never been able to grow vegetables easily, and while she got most of her nutrients from hunting in her furry, four legged form, it had become known of late of the giant white wolf that hunted the forest around the town and beyond, and people were up in arms over it.

Not that it really mattered to her, Ariana was too fast to be caught by the nets and the human-ridden horses, and her 'den' a cottage deep in the heart of the forest over the mountain in a deep valley, wasn't able to be discovered thanks to a special bit of magic she had received from a mage she'd helped about fifty years ago, one of few that she actually trusted because the guy was such a scholar he wasn't interested in her power beyond as a curiosity. Swiftly moving through the crowd, Ariana managed to stop at the bakers and the farmers' stalls before she began her journey back through the village. There was a special pack that she had hidden away on the edge of the forest where she could place her items and then Shift in order to get home faster thankfully, the press of humans made her teeth itch to turn around and bite one of them....or all of them.

A good hour later, her hood was down, showing waist length aurburn hair that glowed like fire in the setting sunlight, and she moved much more readily as she left the town behind and started out on the road towards the turn off into the thin forest where her pack was hidden. Considering it was closer to summer now than spring, the herbs that grew wild around her valley would be in perfect shape to be picked and the weather was dry enough certainly to allow her to dry and store them away for medicines.

She was so settled into her thoughts, and so ssure of her safety currently when the sun set a half hour later, that she didn't hear the sound of hooves on the dirt that sprang up out of nowhere, and it was too late by the time she did hear - and see - the horses drawing the carriage that it hit her like a ton of fast moving bricks. Her last thought before unconsciousness hit was 'Those horses'll die if they keep running like that, I wanna eat the driver dammit!' Sort of an odd last thought yes, but she was like that.

 

[runawayninja]

Ariana was certainly soaked in blood, and she heard thunder, but that might have just been the hooves of the horses or the roaring of the carriage. Which is why it was an even greater shock when she awoke in a soft and luxurious bed with silken sheets. The frame of the four-post bed was solid oak with designs of women carved into it as bas-reliefs. The room was spacious and well decorated, clearly with a woman's touch in mind. Ariana herself was now cleaned and dressed in an elaborate, if revealing white gown. There was no trace of a wound on her at all, it was as if she had never been hurt. She wasn't even sore from the experience. But clearly, something had happened to her.

There was a pair of large double doors which led to a balcony. The land outside was bathed in night with a rolling storm in the distance. She in a castle, and what's more, it was a huge castle, more a palace, but dark and gothic looking. And it was covered, absolutely overgrown with vines of roses, thorny and thick, as it they were gripping the castle in a great blackened hand. The roses bloomed brightly and large, possessing a soft glow to them, and there were even a few vines in her room with roses growing upon them. Truly, this could only be Chateau Avalon d'Is, the home of the Rose King, the lord of the land here. The Rose King and his family had a reputation of being tyrants and they were powerful magic-users, being a race unto themselves called Mystics. Each member of the family had a dazzling and frightening array of powers, and only Orlouge, The Rose King himself had not used his powers in the lifetime of this generation, adding to his fearsome reputation since no one living had seen what he could do.

As if on cue, once she got her bearings a hulking man with a fiery red beard and head of hair and slightly bronzed skin slowly turned the door handle on the only door into the castle and pushed the door slowly ajar to look in on her. His eyes were a fierce golden color and he wore an armor of a deep purple luster with finely engraved depictions of battle upon it. He stared at her for a long moment before he gave a slight nod of his head. "I am Rastaban, his highness' eldest." His voice matched the thunder rolling outside, deep and commanding, if slightly threatening. "His highness would like to see you and ensure that you are healing properly and that the...transfusion process has taken well. If you would accompany me, Lady Snow."

He didn't seem prepared to accept a no.

 

[Anaeria]

Waking up was the easy part, and when Ariana did so it was suddenly and with her hands clenched into fists, her fingernails having drawn blood as her nails shifted into claws. She healed fast however, and only small crescents of pink flesh remained when she got out of the overly luxurious bed and padded silently to the window to peer out into it. She took note of her surroundings immediately and then looked down at her outfit and grimaced. Her hair was clean and smelled like roses, the same ones that bloomed outside and inside of the room she was in, and the entire place made her itch to be outside, even though it was the most luxury she'd ever seen in the two hundred years she'd been alive. Turning away from the window the redhead shuddered at the loose feeling of the gown on her. It was white too, a conspicuous colour that made her a target in her human form, and she hated that idea with a passion. Her human form was weak, useful sometimes but still weak, and she hated it almost as much as she hated humans and other humanoids in general. Especially magic users. The one whose house this is is a magic user, she knew that for a fact. No other mansion was this large or this overgrown with flowers. No other house held so much rose-scent that it blocked out everything else and made her sneeze three times in a row before she got her nose under control.

Just as Ariana was about to take a flying leap out of the window and climb down the rose bushes nude, despite the thorns and the stench of flowers, the door opened and a hulking brute of a man stepped inside. Now, Ariana wasn't a fashionista, if anything she preferred to wear leggings and tunics and a belt, no matter what colours they were. She hated dresses, they were too hard to run in, and she despised showing off her skin, like her off the shoulder, armless dress did, with it's low, low back that covered her ass and not much more, and the white ruffled edges of the hem made her wince inwardly whenever she moved, afraid to wreck the intricate lace. The guy though....red hair and violent purple did NOT mix. They made his skin seem more orangey-brown than tanned, and though he was slightly threatening, even going so far as to call her by the wrong last name, she snarled.

Emerald eyes became chips of green glass for a moment, and her teeth bared in a perfectly unhappy snarl of anger, though she didn't physically change forms yet. He hadn't threatened her. And besides, her memories of before showed that these guys owed her an appology, running her over had been a really stupid thing to do, not to mention it had hurt like a bitch. Stepping close to the guy, she jabbed a finger at him, denting the metal of his breastplate as she did so and said "You'd better have a decent explanation for getting my name wrong, running me over and wearing that awful colour buddy or I'll tear you a new asshole." To say she was uncouth, very much pissed off and nervous and scared as hell no matter her bravado was rather redundant. If she wasn't so scared she'd have probably passed out again, but fear tended to make her angry more than anything, and anger was a good fuel to run on when she just wanted to find a nice warm den and curl up and go to sleep for about a decade or three.

 

[runawayninja]

His eyes narrowed down to bare slits as he stared down at her, nearly a foot taller than her and he led her down a long and winding hallway. Several lamps with crystals in there were glowing softly and provided dim light to the castle. It felt...weird. There was clearly more to this place than just stone and mortar. Magic flowed so thickly, her fine senses could almost detect it as a physical part of this place, much like a fine roast or freshly baked bread clung thickly in the air. They passed several doors and many more thorny vines. They eventually came to an exterior stone bridge that connected two towers, taking them to the tallest of them in the castle. The storm was rolling closer and the night sky had a weird almost violet light to it. Where was she? Was she on the same world?

The Court, as it was known, was adorned with the largest of roses on the wall, many of them as large around as a person, and the ones here were red, white, pale blue, yellow, and pink. A large and elaborate throne dominated the back of the Court. It was made of several vines tied tightly together and they were thornless. Behind the throne, several large portraits of undeniably lovely women were framed by roses and vines. Around the Court were a number of figures, mostly seated upon the floor which was made of some glass that appeared black at first. Only after a short while was it clear that the glass was clear...it was simply pure blackness beneath it. A large crystalline chandelier that glowed of it's own accord provided dim light to the room. Seated near the large doorway that led from the bridge was a young man playing a Koto from the far east, plucking the strings delicately and producing a strange and calming music. He was dressed in loose silvery robes that clashed with his long green hair and aquamarine eyes. He seemed disinterested in her as he briefly looked and continued to play.

A strange and almost aqueous sound joined the Koto and next to the throne was the sound's source. A young woman wearing a dress made almost entirely of white roses was softly dipping her fingers into several crystal goblets of water, each a different size and producing a different watery sound. She had an aura of passivity and grace about her, each movement carefully planned and elegantly executed.

On the other side of the throne, reclining next to two large lionesses was a bronze woman with a mane of brillant hair as if it were kissed by the sun. Her golden, cat-like eyes stared at Ariana, regarding her almost like someone would size up an opponent before combat. She caressed the two lionesses at her sides, reclining herself in a position reminiscent of a big cat. A large two-handed blade rested at her side as she looked at Ariana, that fierce look never leaving her eyes. Her lips slightly parted and a sound much like a lion's growl emerged from her throat.

But the man on the throne was clearly the center of the scene here. He was dressed oddly, in a strange style that only a royal could imagine. Various large feathers rose from his elegant robe, deep, dark blue eyes staring at Ariana, as if he were looking at more than her physical presence. A slowly, soft smile crossed his glossed lips and his mascaraed eyes shone softly as Rastaban entered with her. There was a feeling of utter fear surrounding him, a palpable aura of command and obedience. Ariana could somehow sense it through the facades of those here in the Court as Orlouge rose when the fiery bearded man spoke.

"Father, I have brought Lady Snow as you requested..."

Orlouge's voice carried the weight of the ocean behind it. It's softness and sincerity belied the power she felt from him. There was a crushing will from him that seemed to fill the room. "Lady Snow..." He nodded his head a bit to regard her. "I'm so glad to see you are doing well, following your...accident. Please, I need to check the transfusion progress, would you offer me your hand?" As he walked towards her, she felt the glass barrier that served as the floor tremble and shudder with his every light step.

 

[Anaeria]

((You did it agaiiiinnnnn! I write what she feeeeels!! ))

Yeah. The place was messed up magic-wise and it made her itch like hell to get out and away, but so far no one had shown any actual violence to her....until she saw the women of course. The lioness woman was the first that she actually spotted, and the low growl that escaped her own throat in response to the womans was much more feral and sinister in return. She didn't want that bitches' seat beside the purple haired guy and it showed in every line of her slim body. The woman with the white roses wasn't really of any interest to Ariana either, demure and weak as she was she couldn't be a threat to her. It was the men....and the quiet, pale woman who was seated on a window seat with a thick tome in her hands, completely ignoring everyone around them, that had caught her attention. The girl was too quiet, and even with the stench of roses, she was impossible to find a scent of to identify her. Odd. And curious though she was also not making any threatening moves towards her, so Ariana focused on the three men.

One was playing some form of Koto, with a skill that was mildly annoying to her, but the music was nice enough she supposed. When her red headed guard spoke up, announcing to the man on the throne that she was here, as if he couldn't freaking see her, Ariana snarled in the sudden silence of the room, her growl threatening and more than a little malevolent. Who wore purple so obviously?! First the redhead with his purple armour and now this....this..Lord-throne-guy had purple hair?! This whole castle/palace thing was insane! Putting her hands on her hips, she narrowed cold eyes at the man who'd led her here and growled "My name isn't Lady Snow you moronic fool." To be honest she'd much rather have preferred to leave now, even if there was an appology going to be given to her, and she hated...absolutely HATED the magics of this place. They crawled over her skin like snakes or worms

When the purple haired man, the Rose Lord since he couldn't be anyone else, approached, she felt the floor vibrating and took a step back away from him, her expression frigid. "Touch me and I'll kill you. What the hell was with running me over anyways?" To be honest the idea of a transfusion wasn't really anything amazing to her, or scary considering she couldn't be Turned into anything but what she was; Lycanthropic. But the very idea of his blood, or anyone elses inside of her was....disgusting. Her lip curled slightly, her canines longer than they had been before, and violet lights flickered in her eyes for a moment before she got control of the panic that was beginning to well up inside of her.

This man...this..mage, since his power was undeniable, had probably run her over on purpose. That realization, especially with the way he spoke of her 'accident' in a hesitant term, solidified that thought, and Ariana took another few steps back away from him, her spine rigid against the power that flowed from him like a broken freaking vase of water. "You might want to consider reigning in some of your power there flowr-head or you'll break the floor." The words were sharp, and her own power welled up inside of her to protect her further, forming a thin, opalescent barrier of sorts around her. He could physically pass through the bubble, quite easily in fact, but the power he exuded was repulsed by the thin film of light.

It was something that was unconscious of her, the redhead had no idea how she did it and the bubble had only appeared once before, when she'd levelled the mountain range to the far east two hundred years ago. It had been much brighter though, and much more solid and it seemed to activate when she felt too threatened and cornered....and was a sign that she was close to unleashing the well of magic within her. She hadn't come this close to causing such an explosion in a long, long time, and it frightened her further to realize that, which sent a ripple of light through the bubble in response.

There wasn't any use in hiding what she was anymore either, and though it hurt like a bitch she allowed her nails to Shift, turning black and sharper, curving like a cats' though they were thicker, a wolfs'. Her ears as well Shifted, a less painful stretching until they were white furred wolf's ears on the top of her head that were currently pressed back against her skull in agitation and anger. The fact that it hurt less to change some of her features wasn't missed though....and she Felt something inside of her twist. ".....What did you do to me." It wasn't a question.

 

[runawayninja]

Orlouge watched her, quite intrigued it seemed, by both her attitude and her reflexive magical talents. "My my, you are indeed a rare find!" A smile slowly kept over his lips like that of a child watching an animal in a zoo for the first time. He looked upon her as though she were an attraction for his amusement. He chuckled very softly, his very laughter appearing to shake the air with his magic. "You are just a wellspring of power, threatening to burst. As far as what I've done to you...I've given you some of my blood. It has turned you into a Half-Mystic. A portion of my great power flows through you as it does through all of my brides..." He left that last statement hanging as if he had made it clear enough what she should take from that.

White Rose seemed to be focusing hard on her playing her...goblets of water. Something unpleasant was going on here that she didn't like and she was trying very hard to ignore it. Whatever Orlouge was doing, she didn't like it, and she was making a clear effort to not look up at the conversation. The Lion Princess, however, looked rather pleased with the seen before her and seemed to be taking a great deal of entertainment from it. The other two men both seemed perfectly placid with what was happening.

His smile then turned sly. "Would you like to learn to control that power? My sons can teach you to use your power at your whim and fancy...after all, you won't be much help here if you can't control your power." He chuckled softly and smiled at her. "We wouldn't want you blowing up another mountain now, would we? The training can begin now if you like..."

 

[Anaeria]

Eyes now the colour of white snow and violet petals as her power showed within her eyes, Ariana shook her head as the Rose Lord spoke to her, telling her what had happened and what it was he had done to her. His....offer, wasn't even remotely tempting. If she couldn't be trained to use the wellspring of her magics by the Oldest Mage in the world, then this....this creature certainly couldn't. She was a well of magic, and wells didn't use the water or magic they held, they simply held it. Stopping her backwards motion towards the only real exit in the room, she growled as he came closer to her and fur spread along her arms as her claws lengthened further and grew sharper, as did her teeth. "Stop walking. I know of one way to get rid of you and everyone here within thirty miles of this spot, and I've done it before, as you well know."

No use in giving him any ideas that she couldn't control the explosive magics within her to that degree at least. "There's so much magic inside my body that I can release it in a single explosion, I can't be killed and you'd be a fool to get anywhere near me when this bubble shows up." He was a fool, looking at her like she was some prize at a carnival or a fair, a toy to be played with. "Your 'great power' isn't even a drop in the magic inside of me Mage, so why should I obey you and follow along? I'm not human, I never was, and I'm not sheep, too stupid to realize the cliff in right in front of me." Her mouth was pulling back and out slightly as she grew more agitated, and her clothing tore as her bones realigned slowly, making her grow at least another three feet in height until she towered over the mage and his son.

The words that came from her slight muzzle, as fur rippled over her in a thick, white carpet and her red hair turned as white as the magic inside of her, was rough and vicious, a step away from tearing out his throat. To say that Ariana was beyond really listening to anyones silky/oily voice was obvious, and her talons were ready and itching to rip into the men who had hurt her before. "If I wanted help, I'd have gone to the Atlantean Sorcerer Oarien Massendretch, not to you and your little flights of prettiness Mage. I want my freedom, and I want nothing to do with you and yours, do you understand me?" She knew she was being rude, but at the moment? Honestly it was all Ariana could do to keep from turning all wolf and bolting for a window, even if it was several dozen stories off the ground. She'd heal, as she always had.

 

[runawayninja]

Orlouge turned away from her, so that only his profile was visible to her. Suddenly, the music that had only served as a backdrop for the Court was steadily getting louder and more prominent. The watery sounds from White Rose's goblets and the strings of the Koto grew louder and almost painfully took the fore stage. Her heightened, animal senses were not making it any better.

"It's a shame you can't be more cooperative...if you were, things would be a lot easier..." Orlouge spoke sadly as if his feelings had been hurt.

But the music had a strange effect. Loud though it was at this point, it was having an odd warping effect. The walls appeared to vibrate with the notes. The glowing roses pulsed to the beat of the music. And the music had a drug-like calming effect, a dreamy lull that seemed to warp the world around them, but if the others could see it, they paid it no heed. Orlouge looked at her Ariana once again, but his eyes were glowing a bright gold now, and the feathers on his robe seemed to move of their own will, exploding into flocks of birds as the music became overpowering in it's dreamy effects. The real world was losing it's mind. "Perhaps a bit of sleep will calm you..."

 

[Anaeria]

"Shit.....you..."The music had her fur and fangs and such vanishing within moments, the calming effects like a fast acting drug that tore away the anger and resentment until she was human again and found herself sitting on the floor dazed. The bubble was still there around her, it was unconscious after all, but she wasn't in the flight or fight mode of thought anymore and found herself even watching the Lords' eyes with a vague curiosity to her own mind. It was so sudden and so fast that she shivered, her internal mind stunned at what had just happened. She was all power, all strength and willpower but this guy and his sons...they were more subtle...much more tricky.

Faintly frowning at that thought, the Lycanthropic red head shook her head and blinked slowly, resisting the sleeping aspect of the magics. Someone, she didn't know who, though it was the pale scholar who did it with a hint of annoyance at the brother who used the magic to calm the wild woman, helped her shift into a seat on some pillows and she rested there quietly, her dress split up both sides until she was pretty much showing off her legs, hips and everything but her breasts and belly and nether regions. As soon as the music's magic grew quieter, well not so much quieter as the magics within her absorbed it and made it its own for the moment so she could remain conscious, she blinked again and found she held a glass of water and that she was incredibly thirsty. However...she didn't appreciate having to look up at the Rose Lord and she frowned further at her disjointed thought patterns. "...What...what happened...?"

 

[runawayninja]

Orlouge looked at her and smiled softly, but such a warm smile from a man like him was certainly not a good one. "Consider this to be like a spider's web...the more you struggle and resist, the more ensnared you will become. You have plenty of raw force, plenty of will and anger, and that is something to be reckoned with, but there are ways to fight force. This is going to be your home, Lady Snow. The more you fight and the more you resist, the more nightmarish your time here will be. It is much easier if you yield..."

Suddenly, the music was broken. The woman in the rose dress slowly stood, leaving her crystalline goblets and she slowly crossed the room, approaching the pair. "My lord..." Her voice was as soft and demure as she appeared. "Why don't you let me show her around? I'm sure she's feeling lost...maybe some exploring will help to put her mind at ease." Orlouge was clearly displeased with this turn of events and he turned his back on Ariana, nodding as he walked back towards his throne. White Rose looked at Ariana with kind eyes and offered a hand to help her back up.

 

[Anaeria]

She seethed inwardly, despising this...this...this Mage as the music broke, and his words rang in her ears though she didn't fight the music, allowing it to run through her until it was broken off. Blinking as she gained her balance and her thoughts back, the lycanthrope scowled at him as he turned his back on her, obviously not seeing her as a threat anymore. Leaping to her feet, she ignored the ripped and torn dress and the extended hand of the soft spoken rose-woman. "My name is Ariana. I won't respond to anything else." That sounded petulant even to her own ears.

Frowning as the rose woman looked at her with kind eyes that Ariana took to be more pitying than anything, the wolf-woman huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts and followed, intending on making her escape as soon as she was out of sight of the men and their magics.

 

[runawayninja]

White Rose looked at Ariana and motioned for her to follow her as she left through the only exit, the way she and Rastaban had come in. White Rose walked slowly as they crossed the bridge between the tall towers with the strange violet painted sky above them. Her steps were so light they barely made a sound over the stone walkway with the gargoyles and stone angels at every thirty foot interval as they slowly walked along. White Rose finally looked at Ariana with sad eyes, eyes that had been brighter once, but were quiet and docile now. They were defeated eyes. "It's...best to get used to life here. Lord Orlouge can make life twisted and hellish if you don't comply. He wouldn't have brought you here if he didn't believe he could control you. I'd say that I used to be just like you, except I never was. I was the exact opposite..." She quietly trailed off before her eyes mildly showed some sense of purpose again. "I wanted to show you something, come with me...before you try anything."

If Ariana did follow, White Rose led her into a room in the adjoining tower. A room with three tiers of circular walkways, each with a staircase to led up to the next level up. Along the wall of each walkway was a portrait of a lovely woman above it. There were even pictures of White Rose and the Lion Princess. Beneath each portrait was what appeared to be a coffin with a clear glass top. Some were empty...some were occupied with a woman matching the portrait, pale and peaceful looking. "They're sleeping..." White Rose spoke softly, her voice shaking a bit. "Until Orlouge wants them awakened. For some it's a punishment, for others, Orlouge simply doesn't want their company at the moment. It is...not a pleasant state." She brought a few fingers to her lips, covering them as something in her reflected upon what those sleeping women might be experiencing in their dreams. "They are all Orlouge's brides."

 

[Anaeria]

"....Great. So I'm stuck as his Bride or whatever until he dies or something? What the hell does he do with so many women anyways? He can't expect to have an orgy with only one guy, even with his sons there's too many women. So why are we here?" If he expected to get her with child in any fashion she'd tear his throat out, and Ariana knew how to do it too, and how good it would probably taste to have her enemy's throat ripped out and gushing blood down her throat.

She'd already figured out that his blood inside of her was doing strange things, but it would be a while before the 'strange things' really kicked in and she backed away from the wall and went back to the room she'd been given, stripped off her wrecked dress and proceeded to leave said room entirely naked, headed for the exit, or whatever one she could find that was close enough to the ground that she wouldn't break her neck. Neck breaks were painful and annoying to heal up. White Rose, such a pathetic name, for a pathetic woman, and to be called Snow herself? How cliche'd and screwed in the head could this Lord be? He didn't bother asking for her real name or anything, just called her Lady Snow and that was that? Hell no, she'd not respond to it at all. Ever. Although....the idea of those women encased in coffins yet still alive was beyond disturbing, and her mind shied away from the very thought of it happening to her. She was terrified of enclosed spaces.

When Ariana finally found a window close enough to the ground to safely jump from she did so, hitting soft, grass covered earth lightly and was running for the trees before she could think that perhaps it wouldn't be so easy to escape.

 

[runawayninja]

Escape seemed easy enough. White Rose tried to talk to Ariana more, but it seemed she was having none of that. There were no guards and no iron bars. For a castle, there seemed to be amazingly few defenses to be found here. If any at all. The thorny vines of the roses grew thick on some of the walls, but not so thick that a creature like here couldn't tear, vault, or otherwise find her way through it. It was so simple, it seemed.

That is when things got twisted and hellish as White Rose described.

As she strayed further and further away from the castle, the purple-painted night sky started to twist and warp. The clouds swirled upon themselves until a vortex in them appeared and showed the moon glaring down at her like some angry eye. The lines on the moon even looked like some pupil focusing on her, and the moon darkened visible, becoming grey and pale instead of bright and white. The ground appeared to become muddy and slippery as the branches of the darkened forest shifted and bent. Crows and insects exploded from trees, as owls screeched and leered at her. The knots and barrows of the blackened trees became faces of anger and agony, and their gnarled, arm-like branches reached for her, the tips starting to claw at her. The mud beneath her feet became less solid and more viscous, and shapes, human shapes began to emerge from the mud. The land was turning into some bizarre nightmare, but this was only the beginning of it.

 

[Anaeria]

The sudden shifting of the earth beneath her bare feet had Ariana gasping and looking up, the animals and creatures who had been such friends to her in the past now twisted, vicious beasts, the insects nasty creatures and the moon....her beloved moon....it was hideous. The red haired woman couldn't take more than a minute of the twisted landscape before she closed her eyes and turned away, back towards the castle.

Stumbling out of the treeline and back onto the manicured grounds of the estate she hit her knees in the dirt and vomitted up what little she actually had in her stomach, the horror and unnaturalness of everything forcing her through her shift until a white wolf lay on the ground, trembling like a dog kicked one too many times. Realization rolled over her then: She was trapped here. Trapped until the Lord grew tired of her or she died of old age, something she knew wouldn't happen unless she died somehow unnaturally....and she knew he wouldn't allow that kind of thing. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She became a Wolf. Pure anger, purest hatred that turned her eyes to crimson and her grew her teeth another inch, her claws sharper and her senses keener. Glaring up at the castle walls, she howled her bitter hatred towards any who could hear her, sending a promise of blood and pain and death to any attempted to get near her. And then she began to pace, scenting out her new territory. The Wolf had no intentions of going inside of that hellhole ever again, and she would keep to herself, away from all others, even those who attempted to be kind to her. Outside she would remain, through wind and rain, bitter cold and searing heat, she'd stay as far as the Rose Lord allowed her to be away and not have to put up with his insanity.

 

[runawayninja]

There were times when she was called to the castle, an instinct like her wolfish instincts that taught her how to hunt, track, and stalk. Like an itch that sought to be scratched, it could only be satisfied by eventually coming inside. Mostly, she was asked to come in for Orlouge to lord over her or for her to train how to access her magics, which usually happened under the tutelage of Orlouge's sons. For the most part, Orlouge was content to let her stay outside. He had a long time to wait, and he wasn't going anywhere. Of all of the other brides, White Rose made an obvious effort to be kind to Ariana and to try and befriend her, going so far as to go outside to spend time with her. But whether her efforts had any fruit was up to Ariana. The Lion Princess was cold and brusque to her.

Things went on like this for some time. It was hard to tell how long, because time lost all meaning here. But what broke the monotony was a scent. A scent she hadn't smelled in a long, long time. Fresh blood. Human blood.

A milky white steed was slowly trotting along the main road that ran through the lands. The horse was obviously lost, for what animal would willingly come here? The steed had been trained to follow along the nearest road when her rider was unresponsive. The horse was moving along at a trotting pace, clearly tired, but one of her sides was smeared a messy pink from the rider, who was slumped forward in the saddle, leaning against the steed's mane, his arm hanging on the side as fresh blood dripped down in a trail, staining the horse and the ground. The rider was wearing some plate armor, but had a pair of large arrows sticking from his back. The arrows were far to large for hunting game, they were meant to hunt humans, and they had a thick, toxic sap slathered along their shafts, one with a bright red fletching, and another with a blue and black one. In addition, the rider's helm was denting inward and was stained with yet more blood, indicating a hard blow to the head. Long locks of raven black hair dripping with blood hung messily from the helm as he lay forward, unconscious in the saddle. He was die soon without any aid.

 

[Anaeria]

The blood was alluring, tempting and she followed the scent until the horse showed itself, white eyed and terrified but too exhausted to do anything. The human within her was quiet, but watchful, suddenly awake. She sighed and resumed her humanoid form within moments, the crack of bones and such loud in the quiet. She frowned, halfway between her human form and her wolven one, then took ahold of the reins of the horse and tied it to the branch of a tree before removing the human from the saddle. He was handsome underneath all of the blood, she noticed absently, and his human scent was immensely pleasant compared to the overly sweet scents of the other men that she was trapped with. Unbeknownst to the Rose Lord and his sons, she'd already mastered most of what they had taught her, and simply played dumb, not allowing their magics to overtake her since that first year when she had been too obtuse to realize that stealth worked much better than head on collisions. A few too many of the younger sons' sleeping songs had shown her that, plus three jumps from the top of the tower when she'd tried, and failed, to commite suicide out of desperation.

Letting the human slde down into her arms, she hefted him easily, armour and all, and then slapped the horse on the rump once more to send it slowly on its way. It seemed that normal animals didn't get affected by the horrors that she saw and felt, so she had no trouble knowing the horse would escape easily as she turned enormous, pawed feet towards the small cabin she had built painstakingly over the five years she'd been there. It was little more than soft bedding she'd torn to shreds and used now as a nest of sorts, a small campfire area and a cabinet that White Rose had been so kind to help her find. She'd softened with the slight beauty, becoming, if not friends then certainly close enough to confide in each other. And the young scholar as well had been kind, though more mysterious in that she spent most of her time being a shadow in a more obvious manner than Rose did. She still hadn't been called by her name yet though and Ariana had mostly forgotten it by now, though she still didn't respond to her 'new' name at all when spoken to. The man was heavy, and even with her increased strength Ariana was panting by the time she got him to her home, using a simpler version of the others' Hiding spells to not be detected. Her magics, unlike theirs, dissipated easily, a trick she'd learned while in wolf form and when she'd felt a breeze waft through her fur.

Setting him down on her bedding, she proceeded to remove his armour and then winced at the arrows, which were embedded in his back. Her human form melted into view then, and she hurriedly closed the door to her cabin before returning to him, moving quickly to remove the arrows, a healing cantrip on her lips to seal the wounds and flush his blood of the poisons. Ariana had no choice but to use some of the bedding as bandages, cleansing them with a tiny bit of magics again since she didn't use fire within her tiny home and had nothing to boil water with either. Once she'd done the best she could she settled back to wait for him to wake up, entirely comfortable in the nude. He was indeed a handsome fellow, as her magics had naturally cleansed his body while she worked, something that wouldn't even register as a tiny amount since she kept herself clean and smelling of pine in contrast to the rose smell that the castle and its inhabitants held. She liked to alternate between that and the scent of water, taking long baths in the streams to emphasize how she got that scent, and had found a pine tree growing slowly a few months back that she rubbed up against often enough to give the impression her bodily scents were from those things and not just her magics.

 

[runawayninja]

The young man was handsome indeed. Long strands of jet black hair crowned his youthful features like streams of midnight. He looked too young to be in any such trouble, but trouble didn't particularly seem to care who found it. His head was cut, but not badly and it was perhaps a concussion that knocked him unconscious to begin with. His armor off of him, he had a slender build, but athletically so. He had certainly had training and his rough hands showed that he had practiced in some labor, either physical work, or training with weapons. Perhaps both. His skin was smooth and pale as moonlight, and those lips beckoned a kiss.

A soft snorting outside alerted the return of his mount, a milky white mare, but a powerfully built warhorse, a charger. The horse seemed steadfastly loyal and refused to leave, but would have to be well hidden, it was a sure giveaway. The mare also had some of the man's belongings on her back. There were a few bags of possessions and a large pack of survival gear. A large sword was sheathed at the horse's side, too large to be sheathed on the man himself. Although the blade was long, it was very thin and very light, with a secondary grip on the blade's blunt base. An odd sword indeed. Amongst the various tacks, belts, and pouches on the horse, there was tied to the saddle a small satchel of leather that contained a book. Both the book and the satchel bore a heraldry of a raven clutching and arrow in it's beak, with a moon in the backdrop. The raven was perched on a window.

As if on cue, thunder rolled in the distance, heralding a coming storm.

 

[Anaeria]

Looking up as the mare snorted, letting her know that the beast was back and obviously faithful to her rider, Ariana scowled and stepped outside to see the white horse outside her door. Coming face to face with the animal, she scowled at it then grabbed its reins and led it into her house, where she searched through the bags on it's saddle until she found a currycomb and tidied it up as best she could, marvelling over the pretty hide that the animal had, though it's build was obviously that of a warhorse and not much a pretty ladies' horse like the colour would suggest. Pulling off the animals' tack, she rubbed the beautiful creature down with more care than she'd had for the knight, though she kept a very close eye on him and his condition. The poison in the arrows shafts that had soaked into his body was gone by now thankfully, though her magic wasn't strong enough to fully heal him, the wounds would remain until they healed on their own. And thankfully, without the chance of poisoning to his blood stream, she was actually startled to discover that she was relieved to know he'd live....if only until the Rose Lord found out he did.

As soon as the thunder became louder, just as she always did, Ariana closed up the shutters and locked the door with a beam of wood and then lit a small fire with her magic, lighting a lantern so she'd have something in the way of light amidst the storm which tended to show up around the same time every two or three days. Then, as the horse ate some of the oats she'd found in a bag, she settled down to wait, watching the knight as he lay in her bedding, his sword, book and satchel sitting beside her to remind her to ask him about them when....or if, he woke up.

 

[runawayninja]

The young man gasped softly and shifted in the bed she had provided for him as he started to have some terrible nightmare, giving soft little sounds as he broke out into a cold sweat. When thunder clapped loudly, loud enough to shake the ground, the young man gasped out in terror and sprang to a sitting position, sitting upright as he looked around for the source of the monster that was pursuing him, reaching for a blade that was no longer there. After looking around, he started to calm down, realizing he wasn't where he was in his dream. He stared around at the hut he was in and his eyes eventually came to rest upon the fire-haired woman that had saved his life. He groaned out in pain, realizing he was hurt now as he slowly started to lay back down. It dawned upon him that he wasn't about to go anywhere as he watched her. And then he saw his belongings laid out.

"So...are you one of Haedrian's minions? Have you finally come to take me to him?" His emerald eyes, sharp and bright, gazed upon her with mistrust and a preparedness for something very unpleasant as he awaited her reply.

 

[Anaeria]

Hearing the human move as he began to wake up, Ariana's eyes focused on him and she watched silently as he came to and promptly rediscovered that he was injured. It was almost funny, in a cruel way, that he did so, and her eyes sparkled slightly as she crouched, watching him. She'd forgone clothing since that first night, and hadn't worn so much as a scrap of cloth since unless the magic that twined through her bloodstream demanded it, in which case she'd wear the most translucent, revealing piece of fabric she could find in order to satisfy the 'need'. With his items in front of her, and his voice croaking slightly when he questioned her, the Lycanthropic woman snorted and tossed his book and the sword to him, her aim leaving the weapon and paged item beside him. "Not in the least. Whoever this Haedrian fellow is, he certainly dislikes you human." Standing up as she spoke, the pale skinned, red haired woman went to the horse and fed it a bite of apple she'd found in his packs, patting the animals' neck gently as she did so before she sat down crosslegged in front of him, not noticing in the least that she was entirely nude, and if she did, not caring. "You're as close to the fucking Rose Lords' castle as you can get without being inside of it. Welcome to hell knight, I hope you know a way out of here because I sure as hell don't."

Ariana's words were rough, bitter and full of hate and malice when she mentioned the lords' title and the like, though her eyes held more than a little exhaustion instead. She was sick of being a puppet, forced to learn so many different things though none of her new 'powers' that she was supposed to learn even dented the wellspring of magic within her body, pulling instead from the power that the Lord had placed within her thanks to that damned transfusion so long ago. Thanks to the scholar 'wife' however she'd learned much....including that she would gain better access to her powers if she ever became a 'woman'. As in, had sex. With a man. Too bad she'd found all of the men here to revolting to even look at, although she had had odd dreams of late of a shadow-man who'd come to her in the night. He'd not been the lords' sons or the lord himself, and she'd been furious whenever she woke up after those dreams...furious, aching and more than a little desperate.

 

[runawayninja]

The young man's eyes softened some, but when he finally noticed her nude as he propped himself up on his elbows, he slowly and politely looked away from her, a bright red flush coming to his cheeks as he kept his eyes averted from her very attractive form. "Lord Haedrian, as he styles himself, is a usurper. He has stolen my ancestral lands from me, killed off my remaining family and my knightly order. I am the last of my family, and the last Raven Knight...but I think I'm rather far from my lands now. I've been searching for a way to destroy him as he has turned my family's castle into a veritable fortress of the undead and the mystical. You see, Haedrian is a vampire lord." His face tensed briefly, almost imperceptibly, but her fine animal senses detected it.

He turned to her to speak to her for a brief moment, but he saw her nudity, reaffirming his blush and he turned away again. Manners ran strong in him, even if he had lived outside of nobility for some time. "I haven't heard of this Rose Lord, and I know not of his deeds, but you have saved my life and I am a man of my word. I am in your debt and if you require something of me, perhaps I can help you...I...want to help you after you have been so kind to me." When she threw his blade and book to him, he took both to his side and clutched the blade, kissing it's hilt briefly. Then the book... "Did you happen to read it while I slept?"

 

[Anaeria]

"Nope, not at all. Hunting and books don't really get along and I'm not always in the best of forms to be turning pages. So I'm rusty, and altogether not particularly interested, though your order has an interesting name." Her words were calm, mildly amused when she noted his embarrassment at her nudity the first time around. When he blushed and looked away the second time however she huffed in annoyance and crawled over to him just as thunder boomed, seemingly just outside of the small house she called her own.

Not even bothering to be coy or shy, she crawled over him completely, not touching him at all in respect to his wounds, and stared down at him with mild amusement visible in her face and the cool, emerald green eyes. "You have alot to learn boy. First off; if a woman is naked as the day she's born whenever you wake up in an odd place, she usually means for you to see her naked, or she doesn't care if you do. And Second....it's more polite to look at those you speak to, am I correct?" Her hair, which had grown longer over the last few years, fell over their face in a red curtain of sorts, blocking out the rest of the world momentarily when she brought her face to close to his as she spoke....

Then she smiled in a more kindly fashioned and straightened up, standing and stepping over him to rummage around in his bags for the food he had left and offering it to him to eat. He'd need to do so if he was to heal, since her own magic, if she used it solely in order to heal him, would become noticeably lessened and the last thing she wanted was for the damned Rose Lord to see that and question her, maybe take away her new toy. "First up, heal and get well again, then we'll talk options for repayment alright? What's your name human?"

 

[runawayninja]

He gave a soft smile and looked at her, his eyes beholding her bare form that was exposed to him like the light of a new day. She was lovely, a fact he couldn't deny. Perhaps that's why he felt compelled to look away. She was beautiful and in his life, things he wanted were often taken away or outright extinguished. He locked his eyes upon her to get used to the idea of seeing a woman naked in full view. "Old habits die hard, I apologize." When she offered him some of his food, he took it, a delicious, somewhat fresh, half-loaf of bread. He started to eat on it, making sure to swallow his bite before he looked up again to answer her. "I am Rafe, Knight of the Order of the Raven and former Lord of Ravenholm." He smiled, if only slightly, at her. "And who might you be?"

 

[Anaeria]

"...Ariana, current guard dog of the Rose Lords' castle, one of his apparent brides and prisoner to this stinking, rotten place of hell." Her words in response to his introduction were bland, entirely calm and utterly serious as she glanced at the shutters when they rattled and the rain finally started to fall. "I'm stuck within three hundred feet of the castle or else I'll suffer. And all because I'm a gods damned wellspring of magic, which is apparently rarest of the rare." She then stopped talking, confused. Talking to people wasn't one of her best traits, and the very fact that she'd told him what, or some of what, she was had her shaking her head at herself in self-disgust.

Oh well, it wasn't as though she couldn't kill him later on if he bored her too much. "Habits are strange things....and Rafe, you have to stay hidden here once you're healed, at least until the next storm, when the rain will hide your trail. The Rose Lord is some kind of warlock....more powerful than some vampire lord....if you can free me from the Rose Lord, I'll kill this vampire lord of yours." The words, the offer, blurted from her mouth and she shut up again immediately, frowning heavily as she realized she'd just made an offer she really couldn't refuse. After all, she had killed vampires before, they were easy to deal with in her halfway or her full wolf form....but to make a promise like that meant she'd stay with him until he showed her this vampire lord....which could take a long time.