A New Silence ((Open))

[BlackWind]

Desdemona leaned against one of the few trees in the meadows. Currently they were the only things larger then she was in this place. The demoness stretched and laid her head on her paws watching some slaves in the distance.
They played, enjoying what little free time they managed to find. She was not inclined to deprive them of it, she herself wouldn't mind such joy. A frown crossed over her features. The trees whispered of season changes and of their happiness at the rebirth of the once barren lands.
The earth was alive with so many little creatures and Desdemona listened just to pass the time. A breeze blew lightly, ruffling her fur and feathers. Had it not been for her scales and eyes she would have appeared almost plain. Desdemona was well aware of how others saw her, she used it to her advantage often.
Sighing she curled around herself until only the tree was at her back. She was the picture of relaxation though nothing could be further from the truth. The silence was filled with so much sound that she wondered no one else could hear it.

[Oki]

Eyes cast upwards from the ground to what seemed like an endless field of wild grass and flowers; trees spotted here and there, providing shade from the warm sun. Briefly, he was told about Giaku and its towers that were located at the center of the pack lands. Wanting to find what the pack looked like and how it behaved, Free set on his way to find it. However, its been a few days and he still didn't happen to even see these towers on the horizon. Peering in every direction, eyes squinted to maybe see if he could spot something. Nothing like a tower or spire came into his vision and a exasperated exhale left his maw. Sitting abruptly, head continued to twist in every direction as a paw came to scratch at the temple. "Now where are those towers?...I could have sworn that they said to head north until I hit a large rock that looked like a bear then head west....Or was it head east to the rock that looked like a bear then head north?...", his paw continued to try to scratch the correct directions into his head as he really had no idea where he was to go.

The sun high in the sky as Free kept moving, warming his sooty black fur. Becoming warm and deciding to cool off, a tree came into view as voices came to his ears, breaking the silence of nature. A light came on in his head,"Maybe I can ask for better directions this time." Finally approaching the tree, the voices were from others playing with one another, seeing that they were enjoying their time together. About to interrupt them, Free noticed another sat under the tree he spied earlier. Changing his mind, paws came closer to the one who appeared to be resting. Free cleared his throat, "I'm looking for the towers, can you tell me where they are?", he asked the stranger.

[BlackWind]

Desdemona watched the smaller wolf approach her surprised the earth was not fond of him. He smelled of Giaku though she had never met him. It wasn't at all surprising. She had very little to do with the pack as a whole. It wasn't her responsibility to be seen and known by all. Even this stranger's scent seemed tainted to her though she couldn't figure out why.
The druin rose to her feet with a practiced grace. She was only seven foot which was small compared to the others but she was larger than this wolf. Desdemona eyed him not in the least interested in his plight. "I could but as a member of Giaku you should already know where they are."
She shrugged, her tail flicking as she began to walk towards the river and forest not really caring if he followed of not. The earth didn't like him and she wondered why but was not inclined to ignore the information given her, or her own instincts.

[Oki]

All this new stuff that he has been exposed to is almost overwhelming, well for one who was captured and detained for almost 3 centuries, it takes some time to get used to interacting with others; he couldn't just cannonball back into reality. Free's poor sense of direction was even worsened as a side effect and really didn't want to swallow his pride for directions. However, he was determined to find these towers and really just wanted to explore his new home.

As the stranger rose, she stood much taller than he was and it didn't surprise him; it seemed everyone was big around here. A pause took place as she stood and eyed him. Free cautiously eyed back, wondering what she was going to do, but then just answered his question; although not an answer he was looking for. Sniffing as she turned to go, he wanted the answer that would get him to the towers. Jumping to her side, Free padded along side and decided to briefly explain his situation, "I'm new and don't quite know where everything is yet", he almost mumbled, not wanting to admit so.

[BlackWind]

Desdemona shrugged, it would explain why she didn't even recognize him as familiar. Not that she should care, her responsibility was to the emperor and emperess and no one else. She simply mingled wherever she decided as it helped keep track of potential enemies and sources. It also kept her busy, giving her something to do. "I suppose you could command one of the slaves to show you. That's what the others do."
Desdemona was not fond of mistreatment of any creature though perhaps she was being somewhat hypocritical. Had she not tortured many to gain the knowledge she needed? Maybe she felt differently for the slaves then she did her job. Maybe she was simply cold. "Or you could wonder around, follow me, or sit and pout. It doesn't really matter. I see no reason to go out of my way to show you. Besides, others have already given you directions, it is not my problem you cannot follow them."
She used the few rocks jutting out of the river to cross without taking a plunge in the violent water. Then turned and followed it around the outskirts of the meadows passing in and out of the light tree cover. The stranger had little to do with her aggitation but if he persisted in being so helpless he wouldn't last long in the harsh demands of Giaku life. She had seen many perish and not just the slaves. Currently though, both of the royals had disappeared and while Desdemona could suspect why, it did nothing to keep her occupied. But they had simply to call her and she would hear them not matter where she was thanks to the land and trees. They were helpful in sending messages. She could listen but since the old wolf who had healed her had died, no one was there for her to talk to. No one else could hear the earth.

[Oki]

[Apologies for replying a little late. I knew that you replied, just school got me caught up and had a few tests I wanted to study for]

Not the one to bother with ones who reject him, it was surprising he didn't just leave the stranger. However, she was the first one from Giaku he has seen in days. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, Free made himself stay by her side. Glancing back where the others were playing, he assumed thats what she was talking about and ignored what she said, being so far away from the said 'slaves'. Wondering how to get her to spit out the directions to the towers, her voice came again to his ears and eyes glanced upwards. The words he heard bothered him slightly, but he didn't allow them to get under his skin. Eyes looked off in the opposite direction, ignoring her aloofness.

Staying quiet for a while, he decided to follow as she lightly proposed. Hopping from rock to rock, Free crossed the raging waters of the river, being discreet with his presense. Looking up from time to time, trees became more common. A sigh left his muzzle as he thought about his new home, the Giaku. Usually not making allies, living within a pack he had no choice. Finally, after a long pause, Free spoke, "So...how long have you lived here?", he figured he'd ask. She carried herself as knowing of her home, but came off slightly conceited. If he were to make Giaku his new home, getting to know others would be convinent for him.

[BlackWind]

Desdemona ignored the other wolf as he set out to follow her. She was hungry and the forest was the favorite hiding place of most of the large animals in Giaku. He wasn't interested in following her and Desdemona wondered at his motives. It wasn't at all surprising when he felt a need to fill the silence.
"I've been here three years give or take." Desdemona didn't elaborate. Any fool would know that she was much older then three and that Druins didn't populate many places other then Giaku. However she didn't feel the need to relate her past.

[Oki]

Mismatched eyes flicked from tree to tree, hearing different noises and voices of fellow animals. Some seemed to have friendly voices, calling to their mates and allies. Others gave off a malign tone in their call, concerning Free. Waiting for the females answer to his question, his ears honed onto the animals that seemed to be provoking him, feeling his adrenaline already starting to circulate through his blood. Suddenly wanting to take up their challenges, teeth bared in a subtle grin, his one right fang protruding more while the spot where his left fang should be bare with only gum. The boastful grin lasted only seconds as the female began to answer his question, however a smile took its place as eyes rolled in their sockets to look up at her. Hearing shes only been there for 3 years, he knew she was older; she looked the part. Assuming she was much older, he knew that she was still relatively new to the pack lands, although she should have plenty of experience of where mostly everything was inside of the territory.

Taking his few thoughts into consideration, he didn't mull over them long as the provoking animals nearby kept distracting him. "Three years, 'uh? Then your origins are similar to mine; outside of the Giaku", not questioning himself nor caring to explain his conclusions. Egoistic as always in his assumptions, he paused shortly until he caught sight of a large mass that moved about in the distance, behind trees and shrubbery. Brows furrowed, straining to see what it was. Seeing another dark mass flash by, Free called out to it, the grin from earlier returning, "You wanna fight, 'uh?!", his voiced echoed shortly within the thickening forest. Ears flicked as more rustling is heard. Free lifts a paw to take another step forward, however before it touches the ground, the dark mass from earlier lunges at him head on. Too fast for Free, it lands on top of him, feeling something like numerous daggers enter his chest cavity and around his neck. Pinned against the ground, he felt pain and warm liquid gather around the spots he felt the pain. Then, a giddy laugh burst from his maw, "I see that you did! Care to have fun then?", he spoke in a somewhat maniacal tone to the one that pinned him, finding it to be a large bear as the dust cleared. The bear had its claws dug deep, impaling through his chest and its powerful jaws wrapped around his neck, yet he laughed, enjoying what pain was inflicted upon him. Knowing he was about to enjoy himself and have some fun, eyes glanced upon his new acquaintance before doing so.

[BlackWind]

Desdemona's lip curled. "I doubt our origins are anywhere near the same, wolf." The disdain in her voice was clear.
Then the stranger started yelling at something in the trees. She sniffed and then stepped out of the way as a large bear attacked the annoying creature. He was a large creature, at least as long as she was tall, and he had the wolf pinned. Desdemona considered leaving the stranger to his fate. It would serve him right.
Instead she stayed and watched, curious as to whether the bear would kill the wolf or not.

[Oki]

Grinning widely, Free ignored her response, wading knee deep in his amusement. Knowing full well that she wasn't there to help him, he'd rather have it that way; just that much more fun for him. Demon eye beginning to glow, the bear gave a hungry roar. Rearing onto its hind legs, talon like claws pulled Free up with it, not letting its prey escape that easily. Pushing down, the bear body slammed Free into the ground, claws digging deeper. Letting out another roar, powerful forelegs lifted and flung its prey to the side, sending Free crashing into a tree. Leaves and small branches fell to the ground from the sudden impact of Free's body hitting the trunk. Fur scraping against the bark, his body began to slide down, however not for long. The bear's claws punctured the soft sinew of his belly, through and through and into the trunk of the tree, holding its prey still. Fluidly, before Free realized, the bear had its jaws viced around his neck once more and gave an abrupt twist. A loud snap was heard and the bear began to calm down, salivating heavily as it tasted its fresh kill.

Falling short of sane laughter started in Free's throat, grinning as fangs bared. "My, my, my...such ferocity...", he laughed a little louder, "...Now it's my turn." Hind leg swinging up, Free kicked where the bears armpit would be, making the bear withdraw its claws from his underbelly. Liberated from its grasp, Free began to slide down the tree more. Once on the ground, he jumped upwards and aimed the side of his shoulder at the bears belly. Causing it to stumble back a few paces, Free sat and lifted his fore paws and placed them on his muzzle. Sharply pulling his head to the side, another snap could be heard, then a few more cracks and pops as Free forced his neck back into place. Demon eye glowing brighter, it projected like a hologram forward in front of the eye. Getting onto all fours, the bear by now shook off the attack that was just dealt to it and began to rush Free. Crouching, Free jumped upwards as the bear got close enough, backflipping. As Free spun, one of his back paw pads connected with the bears lower jaw, snapping its head upwards. Stopping in its tracks, the bear stumbled and Free used the opening. As he completed his spin and landed, he quickly inhaled as a magenta, circular magic seal appeared in front of his nose. With the same symbol as his eye in the center, runes shaped like eyes connected all around, Free called out, "Demon Menace!" Exhaling a large puff of air, a magenta colored blast of energy emitted from the seal and instead of contacting the bear, it traveled through the bear. Freezing, the bear stood absolutely still, paralyzed. Seal disappearing and eye returning back to normal, Free bounded upwards and gave a spinning kick and cracked his paw across the bears muzzle. Officially knocking the large beast out, its body fell limp and toppled over. Landing on all fours, Free was panting a little, snorting triumphantly as he looked at the out cold bear. "Ha! Still hungry for more?", Free boasted at the defeated beast.

Blood crusted around his fur on his chest, belly and neck, however with no wounds or scars. Wiping a paw across his nose, eyes glanced at the female that stood and watched.

Woah, I guess I wrote a book :x

[BlackWind]

Desdemona felt sorry for the bear and disgust for this other creature. She growled and locked her powerful jaws in the scruff of the animal's neck. He was alive, the earth told her as much, and of a den large enough to rest the suffering beast. Leaving the wolf behind she tucked the bear into the den where he would be relatively safe and gathered some bushes to hide the entrance.
It wasn't that Desdemona was above violence but she preferred for there to be a reason behind it. This was senseless and she had no respect for this other wolf. He would meet his fate sooner more likely then later.
Her eyes swirled more in her aggitation and her long legs carried her back to the spot where she left Free more to head him off if he got any ideas. He might not die of a snapped neck but she was much more creative than most in her methods.
Without a word she turned to head again in the direction she had chosen before they had been interrupted and she wished desperately that the wolf would give her a reason to hurt him. Perhaps she was just bored of the regular life in Giaku.

[Oki]

Sniffing, he was triumphant in his victory, however, which was unusual for him, didn't outwardly show it that much. Its been a while since Free saw action, the driving reason why he provoked the unknown creature before finding it to be a large bear. Though, the bear was hungry and had become savage enough to attack a wolf, something Free didn't see often at all. The female wandered over to the bear and began to move it. His peripherials continued to watch until she started to drag it away and into the brush, getting an idea of what she was doing, but not totally sure. Looking away disapprovingly, a small, "Tch...", escaped between his teeth. Meanwhile, he took the moment to clean his blood from his lips and lower jaw, now crusting his fur.

Hearing rustling once more, getting louder, out of the corner of his eye, Free continued to watch the female. Figuring he could argue it was self defense, he didn't care what she thought, just that if he showed reason, it would make more sense, at least to her. Standing in the same spot as he has been for a while now, head turned to see her continue as if nothing happened. Rolling his eyes to himself, he took a few steps towards her before speaking, "Aww, y'feel sorry for the bear? Yea, well, he challenged me and I accepted it. It's not like I had a killing intent like he did; only knocked 'im out." Free started to come off as sarcastic, but got more serious at the end, just being blunt about his reason.

As he ventured through Giaku before meeting the female, he heard rumors about how most were like him, feeling little remorse for those who are weak and having more dark ideals. However, as they were just rumors, he still wondered why the female did what she did and thought the rumors were wrong because of it. Curious thoughts continued to circle in his mind.

[BlackWind]

"Not really but you are more a fool if you truly believe the bear is the one who challenged you. Besides there is a difference between killing and torture." Desdemona's eyes pinned the other wolf and she bared her teeth in an almost grin. "I've had lots of practice."
The wind caught the feathers behind her ear and she turned, once again silent. She was not going to pay games with this worthless wolf, she was better then this.

[Oki]

Brows furrowed some, glancing out of the corner of his eye to look at the female, grunting his response clearly disagreeing to her logic, "Hmph." A flash of white crossed his vision as he saw her grin. A sharp fangy grin of his own appeared after her words. "As have I; my experience is leagues ahead of yours", a dark and deep chuckle followed. He had a strong feeling she hadn't lived long as him nor even cursed the same as him. Free could sense her naive nature, although sutble.

The short breeze rippled Free's fur like a field of grass. Tail lowering as the adrenaline rush faded and after his retort, it was almost amusing, this female that is. This is probably why Free tagged along, seeing a member of Giaku upclose and longer than a few short moments. He was curious of how they acted and reacted.

[BlackWind]

Desdemona resisted the urge to try and kill the wolf, just to see if she could. Practice, afterall, made perfect.
Turning her attention instead inward she listened to the rumbling of hooves beating the ground. Elk by the sound of them and they were just a short run away. With a flick of her tail, Desdemona launched her lithe frame off the banks of the river and deeper into the forest. The demoness really didn't care if the other could or would follow her much larger strides.
Confidence! That was his weakness. Desdemona realized it with startling clarity and put the information away for use later should she need it. It pleased her somewhat that she could still learn so much so quick and not even try.
The herd startled and Desdemona never even slowed. She charged into the midst of the elk causing panic. A particularly large and fat cpw took to the deepest part of the forest hoping to lose the larger predator in the tight confines. Dedemona was up for the challenge and wound her way threw the trees just behind her prey.
It filled her with a sort of primal joy and gave her and outlet for her frustrations. An second later the cow fell in Desdemona's jaws and almost without a sound the hunt was over. It didn't take long for her to finish her meal either leaving little for the forest scavengers.