|
|
Post by Natla Talvace on Jun 17, 2012 23:28:48 GMT -5
Some miles outside the city of Syphly City was a small clearing currently occupied by a slaver merchant named Carac. There were several caged wagons that held slaves that could be purchased if you had the gold. Carac had been a slaver for most of his life and he was quiet good at it, knew exactly what merchandise people would want from farm workers to prostitutes. Several armed men patrolled around the clearing as rich men and women came from the city to browse the collection of humans. However, the slaves weren't the main attraction this evening. For the past year Carac had been trying his hand at cage fights, and he was finding himself to be successful at that too.
There were three roped off arenas that slaves or warriors would enter in and fight while the crowd placed bets on who would win. Most of the fights were just to disable the opponent by there was the option of fighting to the death to gain more coin. In the center of the clearing was a massive iron cage that held the main fights of the evening. There was a retractable wall that split the cage in two and one half held a Chimera, a prized capture by Carac a few days ago. It's opponent was the White Wolf. For most of the crowd who had attended past fights they knew who the White Wolf was, but most new comers would never expect it to be a frail, young girl.
Natla. A girl cursed by the bite of a werewolf and forced to fight during her transformation for the joy of the crowd. As there was still day light she was currently sitting in Carac's tent, tracing the scar on her shoulder while one wrist was shackled to a metal post to discourage wandering. She was Carac's personal slave except on the days of the full moon. He preferred her out of sight until the moon was just about to rise.
Having never met another werewolf Natla wasn't sure if she was supposed to be proud of her scar or not. To her it was a sign of her curse and imprisonment. A permanent reminder of her family's death.
She pulled her hair over her scar when Carac, a very large man entered the tent. "It's time." He said as he unshackled her wrist and grabbed her by the arm, practically dragging her as he left the tent and towards the crowd.
He brought her to the front of the cage and the crowd cheered as he declared the fight about to begin. Natla could hear his voice beside her but she didn't pay much attention, just stared at the ground. The door was opened and he shoved her inside, causing to stumble and fall on her hands and knees which made everyone laugh. She stayed there for a moment, gathering what courage she had before standing slowly and faced the crowd. They disgusted her, finding pleasure in torture. In the beginning she used to cry when forced into the cage but not any more. It never did any good.
Her gaze moved over to the Chimera. Some of Carac's men were jabbing the massive beast with spears causing it to go into a rage, one that would be directed towards her soon. "I'm sorry." Natla whispered to it softly. She knew she had no control over her actions in her other form, and it was a life or death fight after all, but she still felt sadness for all the creatures she had killed. She hated having to do it.
Of course someone could try betting that Natla would be killed by her opponent, but it was usually a bad idea to bet against a werewolf. So to not loose customers Carac designed a betting system where someone would bet on how long her opponent would last, time being measured by the swing of a pendulum. If you were lucky to guess the exact time your winnings could be doubled but if you were too far off you'd loose everything.
Looking away from the beast Natla looked up at the last of the sun rays vanishing in the sky. The anticipation of her brutal transformation seemed to increase the crowd's excitement as the final bets were being placed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 17, 2012 23:46:24 GMT -5
Exactly what Cernunnos was doing at an animal cage fight was none of your business. Just know that it was all part of a very important plan to avenge his father, regain the throne that was now rightfully his and win back the hearts of his people, his native banshee clan. It was a vital step to ensuring his continued--
Yeah, no, Cernunnos was really only here to pickpocket. A boy had to eat, after all, and Cernunnos felt no guilt in taking the money of people who were gambling, his logic being that, as they obviously had the extra money to spend on dehumanized gladiator slaughter, they wouldn't miss a few coins going to feed someone whom they didn't (and hopefully never would) know. Once again, he was in his 'hunchback' costume and had assumed the character of an old, decrepid man, limping about and being turned away from unsuspecting supple bodies. Cernunnos had long-since decided that if he ever did meet a real hunchback, he would reward him handsomely with food and gold and then fly away without explanation. He would repay his debtor, but he couldn't have his secret get out, now could he?
The petty thief wasn't really paying attention to the feature presentation: he had eyes only for people's pockets tonight, but in a moment of luck, perhaps arranged by fate, he looked up and caught sight of a sickly-looking girl being pushed into a cage. He stopped, frowning. Petty criminal with no qualms for killing he might be, but that sought of thing just wasn't fair and it was his strong opinion that someone with the power to fix things should do something about it.
Wait a minute...he did have the power to 'fix things' -- he could get the girl out of her prison! He could push his way to the front and pull out his sword, fighting off all those who got in his way before he would unlatch the door and fling it wide open. Then he would grab the girl by the waist and fly away with her into the night. The perfect plan, and all he needed were three things; skill, timing and luck. Well, he had the first two at his command, so why not give it a go?
"Watch it!" A passerby complained, smacking Cernunnos in the jaw and knocking him to the ground, The banshee sat there for a moment, seething at being cast to the ground and left there without a second thought. With his newfound anger, his plain was set. Shrugging off his disguise, he cast his borrowed rags to the side and pushed and shoved his way to the front of the crowd, just itching for someone to give him a reason to make them his first example of banshee tempers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Natla Talvace on Jun 18, 2012 9:14:43 GMT -5
Natla could feel the transformation slowly begining. All the muscles in her body were becoming tense and her joints started to feel tight pressure as they prepared to shift. The transformation always started off slow, then once the last ray of sunlight was gone from the sky it would painfully accelerate.
While feeling uncomfortable Natla still noticed the Banshee making his way to the cage. Normally she never paid much attention to the crowd since yelling and fighting was quiet common, but it was his wings she actually noticed first. She had never seen a human with wings before, they were beautiful.
Of course she wasn't he only one to notice. Carac who had taken the best seat for the fight saw the sword in the man's hand. He nodded to some of his guards, three of them in fact, and they stepped into Cernunnos' path with their own weapons out. "If your not here to bet you can get lost." One of them spoke.
Natla's transformation was mere minutes away from starting.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 19, 2012 15:48:45 GMT -5
Cernunnos was so focused on the girl that he stopped short in his tracks when he was stopped by the slavers. It took him a minute to figure out what they wanted and he was quick to recover. Scowling at them, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins: some of the money he had stolen. Slamming it don on the table in from of them, he drew in his wings protectively, a little bit nervous now that they had seen him for what he was. Banshees were not seldom seen -- they were unusual and they stood out because of their giant wings.
"What?" He said, defensively, "Think just because I'm feathered I can't watch the scum of the earth be tarred?" He said, directing the latter part of his sentence toward the girl in the cage. He pitied her and he knew he needed to free her, but they were already going to keep an eye on him because of his wings and he needed to erase suspicion before he made his move.
He turned away to rejoin the masses, but as he pivoted around, he discretely put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Then in a sudden, swift movement, he drew his weapon, spinning around with a high-pitched shriek as he attacked.
His aim wasn't to kill or mortally injure -- he merely wanted to distract them long enough to free the woman in the cage, (who, whatever her sin, surely did not deserve to face a fully-grown chimera unarmed and alone) though he wouldn't be opposed to keeping them out of business for a few months on account of their injuries. The first man went down on account of Cernunnoos wounding him in the leg, the second and third because he had cleverly smacked their heads together with such force that he rendered them unconscious. But there were more and he had to focus on his task. Using what little precious time he had, he slid the bolt on the cage off and flung the door open, just as his keen ears heard footsteps behind him. Whipping around, he had no time to think -- he just thrust his sword blindly -- right into the oncoming man's chest. The banshee winced at the pain grimaced and fell to the ground, dead, but he had no time to stare at him, reaching into the cage, he held out his hand to the girl, which in hindsight, was a really terrible idea.
"C'MON!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Natla Talvace on Jun 19, 2012 18:33:27 GMT -5
Natla continued to watch him as he approached the cage, but soon her interest in him was over when she saw him put money down. He was just another gambler here to make more coin. She looked back at the Chimera as it slammed itself against the bars, ready for a fight.
Natla suddenly winced as pain shot through her whole body, the first sign of her transformation beginning. Her jaw tightened as teeth started to form into fangs. Her muscles clenched tight as they prepared to expand and Natla wrapped her arms around herself, letting out a small whimper of pain.
In the midst of her pain she could hear commotion happening behind her. She turned and saw the winged man killing one of the guards, then noticed the open door. Is he saving me? she thought. No one had done anything kind to her for over a year it was almost hard to beloved this person was actually risking himself to save her.
Going with him in this condition was actually a very bad idea, but she wasn't thinking rationally and she reached out and grasped his hand tightly. Meanwhile Carac was screaming at his men to stop them before they got away, scrambling to get his own weapon out.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 19, 2012 19:54:05 GMT -5
He spared one glance behind him to make sure he was actually dragging the girl out, as he didn't want to save a guard and fly away with him, only to notice that he wasn't the prisoner when they were a hundred feet in the air. As he had hold of the right person, he slashed wildly at two more oncoming guards and did not pause to see if he had inflicted any real damage on them. The only thing that mattered was that they were out of the way long enough for him to take flight.
The banshee wrapped a strong, but fragile arm around the girl's waist and started to run, half-dragging her, without so much of a word of permission from her lips. If she had a problem with his heroics, they could deal with that later. He beat his wings furiously as he felt his feet lift off the ground.
But getting into the air was no easy feat this time. Cernunnos was light and slender, his hollow bones and feathers seemingly lightless to him, but the girl was like a dead weight, pulling him down. Sword in one hand and the girl in the other, he beat his wings furiously, each stroke laborious as he fought to gain air between him and the slavers. Slowly, ever so slowly, they rose six feet into the air. More slavers were rallying and by now, they were becoming organized. Swords were thrust up towards them and in a matter of minutes, Cernunnos heard arrows whizzing past them. All he could do was beat his wings harder.
|
|
|
|
Post by Natla Talvace on Jun 21, 2012 10:29:07 GMT -5
Natla ran beside him as he dragged her from the cage almost as if in a trance. She had spent so long wishing to be freed she couldn't believe it was actually happening.
The moment their feet came off the ground Natla let out a terrified scream and clenched tightly onto Cernunnos, eyes tightly shut. Her fear of heights mixed with her transformation, not a pleasant combo at all.
She screamed again, this time out of pain. All her teeth were now that of a wolf and the bones in her hands and feet were starting to break and extend. White fur was starting to rapidly grow. Their escape was going to slow, she'd be transformed before they got out of there. At least she was out of the cage, maybe she could get away in her other form? "I... I... I need down, I can't do this." Natla yelled, green eyes now red. "I'm a werewolf."
|
|
|
|
Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 24, 2012 23:21:14 GMT -5
She was getting heavier, but no, she wasn't...that was impossible. Looking down, Cernunnos checked to see if someone else had grabbed a hold of his human cargo, but in a rare moment of oblivion, failed to notice that her body was expanding and changing shape and white fur was erupting from her skin. A warrior faerie he might be, but Cernunnos was still a guy and guys have oblivious moments.
"Just hold on!" He shouted, over all the clamoring, as she protested. "Just hold on until we're far enough away!" He added, viciously kicking a soldier in the head. Her doubts were justifiable, he decided. She had been a slave for heaven only knew how long. He pulled his wings harder and faster, fighting her undeniably increasing weight as they fly higher and father, out of reach and some distance away from the men on the ground. And then she let the bomb drop.
"I'm a werewolf."
Cernunnos looked down to met two blazing red eyes and a half-transformed werewolf. The banshee let out a piercing, embarrassingly unmanly scream and dropped the creature without thinking.
|
|
|
|
Post by Natla Talvace on Jun 26, 2012 12:50:32 GMT -5
Natla knew telling him what she was would frighten him but she didn't expect to be dropped from high in the sky. She screamed and tried to grab hold of him again but it was already too late and she plummeted towards the ground.
The fall would had probably killed Natla if it wasn't for her transformation. While it had started off slow it suddenly accelerated. Bones broke, her face grew longer and her clothes shredded as her body changed it's shape and grew. Within seconds her transformation into a massive white wolf was complete.
Twisting in the air Natla landed on all fours with a loud thump. A low growl rose from deep in her chest and she stretched her whole body, shaking off the last pieces of her clothes.
Looking around she immodestly realized her surroundings were different. Normally at this point some animal would be jumping on her and attacking but not now. In place if a cage and crowd was the dark silent forest. She was free. Leaping onto a fallen tree Natla threw her head up and let a long echoing howl.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cernunnos Wilde on Jun 27, 2012 0:25:55 GMT -5
It isn't every day that the following thought runs through your head:
Holy shit, I just dropped a werewolf.
For a moment, Cernunnos hovered hap-hazardly in the air, in total shock. Well done, brain, he had just dropped a werewolf out of the sky. The werewolf he was supposed to be saving. Yeah, that werewolf, only he hadn't known she was a werewolf in the first place. He thought she had been an average mortal girl. Well, not average...more like an average-slave-girl-thrown-to-the-monsters-and-ripped-to-shreds-seconds-later-for-mass-entertainment. Yeah, average in that category, only if he had known she had been a werewolf, he would still have probably freed her and --
HOLY SHIT!!!! I JUST DROPPED A WEREWOLF!!!!!!!!!!!
He swiveled dangerously in the air and he caught himself. Yes, he had just dropped the werewolf and now he needed to go find said werewolf and make sure she was all right. She was his responsibility now. Damn it! Why couldn't he leave well enough alone? He didn't need a pet at a time like this and he was more of a cat person anyway. Squaring his shoulders, he flew down in a dive after the werewolf, his sharp eyes scanning the ground until he caught sight of the a large white outline. Bracing himself for a hormonal, impact-with-ground-addled, pissed werewolf, who probably wasn't in control of herself anyway. Yeah, it was official: he was stupid.
A million forms of apologies ran through his head as he came face-to-face with the enormous creature: 'I'm so sorry, I just wasn't expecting that', 'My apologies. Would a game of fetch cheer you up?' or even, 'Sorry I dropped you -- I was distracted by a shiny object on the ground. Won't happen again', but all that came out was:
"Holy shit! You're a fucking werewolf!"
|
|
