Clandestine Brook Serpents And Assassins

Random Event: The rivers are running low, smaller streams are drying up.

Some day you too will know my pain

Vespertio Vuesain

And smile its black toothed grin

The miles kept vanishing beneath his dirt clad paws since his departure from the lost lake, the place that would one day be his kingdom, ruled by him. Well, him and Athena, the ivory woman who originally ruled over the lake some time ago but lost her power and now sought to reclaim her home. The dark cloaked male was on a mission. A mission to please the lady of the lake and find more followers for their cause and allow them to officially stake claim to the lost waters, giving him a pristine shot at leading beside her and bathing in the power he so desperately craved since coming into his first year of life and she was so willing to hand to him. If he pulled his weight, that is. Thus after two long days of traveling he finds himself...well he didn't know where he was. All he did know was that he was surrounded by a thick arrangement of trees forming a deep forest that had he not loathed his homeland, would have caused a small frisson upon meandering through the White Hawk Forest lookalike. His lips pulled back into a silent snarl at the memory of his past this forest brought. The memory that haunted him nearly every night; The blood curdling cacophony of howls belonging to his family singing their joy at the removal of a serpent among their ranks, that snake being the one and only Vespertio.

With a shake of his crown he forced the torturous memory to recede back into the depths of his mind and the black of his lips to smooth over and sheath the deadly daggers within his jaw. There was no time to dwell on the past now. He had an entire year of wallowing in the despair of being outsmarted since his banishment and now he needed to keep his focus. There was a job that still had to be done and the sooner it was done, the sooner he could leave this hell hole; god's(if there was one) personal joke on the Vuesain man. His golden gaze swept the area around him, seeing nothing but trees, trees, more trees, a brook and even more trees. The brook. Water. He had completely forgot the thirst that had been building since he first entered the deep forest due to his nightmarish mental lapse. Now it made its presence known as the handsome man swallowed dryly, his throat parched beyond belief. His slender frame padded over towards the covert brook that would not have been noticed if the smell of sediment rich water wasn't so strong. Peering down at the muddied flow of water, a low groan escaped his lips. Just his luck, he was in need of water and here he was at a brook that resembled more of a trickle, or a puddle. Following the flow of water with his eyes, another irritable groan passed his lips which didn't exactly feel pleasant on his dry throat. Shallow was an understatement. "The rivers must be drying up." He spoke aloud, as if there was anyone around to hear him and accuse him of going mad for talking to ones self.

With no choice and a heavy sigh, the Vuesain lad carefully planted his forepaws against the eroded embankment of the pitiful brook and braced himself as he slowly inched his way down towards what little water remained. But not even two shuffles in the soil beneath his paws gave way leading to his luckily short fall to the bottom and into the murky water. The water barely reached past the top of his paws leaving them as dirty as ever, but he ignored his new found filth as he lowered his ebony rimmed crown and lapped at the equally filthy water that both stung and healed his parched mouth. How was he suppose to find a wolf to recruit when this place had too many trees to weave through and the water was dirty? Not to mention hardly existent despite the eroded banks that gave evidence of better times of water in surplus. With his quench at least replenished, he made quick work of bounding up the embankment before the soil could give under his weight again and shook out his pelt before taking another glance around him. His rump thumped against the ground in defeat. "I'm not gonna find anyone out here. I don't even want to stay here to find someone." He admitted to himself, cursing himself for going the way he did, clearly the wrong way for the task at hand. If only lady luck decided to be on his side for once in his life and grant him a helpless soul to bring back to Athena.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Roma had been traveling for days in search of her sister. After finding out about her father’s death, the only words that Roma could manage were “Where is she?” and her father’s subordinates had, of course, pointed her in the direction that the younger she-wolf had gone. Roma travelled for days hoping to pick up a familiar scent and even stopped to ask some lone wolves for directions. Their directions were not helpful and Roma felt like she was traveling in circles; still she pushed on, barely feeling the tiredness that was starting to creep up her powerful legs. Her mind had become acutely focused on finding her sister, Athena. In a way, it allowed her to escape the guilt and shame she had been trying to outrun, if only temporarily; it gave her a goal to work towards.

Roma growled in frustration as the ground beneath her feet began to become wet and muddy and she realized the forest had become thicker with trees. On the other hand, she had not crossed through this area yet so she must not be traveling in circles anymore. Roma kept her nose to the ground as she tried to pick up a scent. She was so focused on sniffing all of this new territory that she almost didn’t notice another wolf not too far up ahead of her. It was a male wolf, slightly smaller than herself, with cream and black fur. Roma’s body went rigid as she paused and tested the air to make sure he wouldn’t catch her scent. Then, she lowered her body and was relieved for the cover that the many trees around her provided. She could barely see him, which made her confident that he could not see her. Then, to her surprise she heard him speak. He said something about rivers, but now Roma was looking around to make sure no other wolves were sneaking up on her. Satisfied that the wolf was simply talking to himself, Roma focused all of her attention on him once more only to see him inching down the embankment of some small creek. She watched as he lost footing and slipped, and if her heart wasn’t weighed down with anger and determination, she might have laughed. As it was, she didn’t crack a smile; she simply took the opportunity to carefully weave through the trees and inch closer. She froze when she saw him bouncing back up the embankment and watched as he took a seat right there in front of her. The smaller wolf said something about not finding anyone and Roma’s mind buzzed with curiosity.
He had said “someone” which indicated he wasn’t looking for anyone specific. If a wolf was just out looking for any other random wolf then that could only mean one thing: recruitment. Roma quickly realized that this would be a great opportunity to find her sister. Her father’s subordinates and the lone wolves she talked to might have given awful directions but they had all agreed on one thing: go towards the mountain. Well, Roma was definitely getting close to a mountain and here was a wolf that belonged to a pack that was close to the mountain. Roma’s instincts told her that someone in that pack had to know something about her sister.

Despite, the exhaustion that she knew was creeping up on her, Roma lifted her head and her tail and walked confidently out of her hiding place; the way her father had taught her to walk. She approached the male wolf and stopped four tail-lengths away. With a clear and firm voice she introduced herself and her purpose: “I am Andromache and I overheard you say you were looking for someone.” She made sure she left out her last name. She wasn’t ready to let the stranger know exactly what she was up to. For now, she just wanted him to believe that she could be recruited. Perhaps, once she got him talking and got his guard down she would mention her last name or her sister’s name and see how he reacted or if he knew of her at all.

@Andromache

Some day you too will know my pain

Vespertio Vuesain

And smile its black toothed grin

It was as if lady luck had heard his plea. His ears instantly faced forward in alert as he heard the snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves beneath something heavy coming just behind him and to the left. Quickly he rose his form and whirled around only to find a lynx lumbering away from an unfinished deer carcass. Lovely. His head tilted back to curse at the orange hued canopy above him, his eyes scanning the leaves as if they could curse him back. "I cant recruit a lynx into the pack! Send me someone a little more bigger and preferably of the same species as myself, that would be great." Vesper snapped in irritation with the situation he found himself in. Had he been hungry, he may have snagged a quick meal off the remains of the carcass, but hunger didn't plague him now. Instead he found himself pacing back and forth between two trees just a couple feet apart, his motions causing a small pathway to form along the fallen debris with each pass, his tail laying low behind him.

His mindless pacing was cut short as a silvery form appeared from almost out of nowhere, unknowing that this stranger had actually been watching him from within the shadows of the few bushes near by. Instantly his steps paused and faced this stranger, letting his own tail rose high as did his head to meet this strangers posture. The two wolves were different in size, but at the same time very similar. Vesper was of a smaller build while the she-wolf was of a larger build, though the two held equal range in height and length. Vesper was letting it be known that he was not some push over that bowed down to just any wolf who strutted their stuff. “I am Andromache and I overheard you say you were looking for someone.” She spoke in a clear and firm tone, withholding her last name. Inhaling the air Vespertio decoded her personal perfume, discovering that she was around four making her older than him by a year, female obviously and loyal to no pack as her coat held no distinctive scent to speak otherwise. Maybe lady luck really had heard his plea to find a soul to recruit. Adopting his usual manly charm, he flashed Roma his usual lady killer smile revealing his pearly white(more like a tarnished yellow) before dipping his head only slightly in greeting. "Vespertio, but Vesper for short and you heard me correctly, Andromache." He let her name roll of his tongue, tasting it and almost found it hard to pronounce. Vesper gave it not a moment longer of thought before he met her icy blue gaze with his own golden one, studying her to determine if she was worthy enough to bring back to Athena.

With a minute passing by, he decided she would do and gave him an excuse to leave the damned forest sooner than later if she inclined to accept his offer and follow back to the lost lake. "I'm scouting the area for possible pack members that can be deemed worthy. With winter coming I only want the strongest among my flock." That was all he was willing to feed this stranger. There was no reason to explain Athena's plans in full detail to this woman, nor that fact that their 'pack' wasn't entirely official yet. But if she had no intentions of pledging her alliance to them and she saw it fit to move on and look elsewhere that would be her loss, not his.

@Vespertio

Roma was surprised that the leaner wolf held his ground upon her approach; he raised his head and tail and leveled her gaze with fearless golden orbs. Roma respected him for this, but had to stop from rolling her eyes as he flashed her a charming smile. Male wolf's always seemed to think charm could win a lady over; it never worked on Roma. Still, she nodded in acknowledgment as he responded to her introduction. Noticing that he had trouble with her name, she made a mental note to tell him her nickname later. His, apparently, was Vesper. Roma stood confidently, though perhaps a little impatient, as Vesper studied her, most likely trying to decide if she was worthy of recruitment. Luckily, he didn't take too long to decide; any longer and Roma might have been insulted and that was never a good thing. "I'm scouting the area for possible pack members that can be deemed worthy. With winter coming I only want the strongest among my flock." Vesper said cooly. Roma could tell he was holding back information, but she didn't blame him for this. Just as cooly, she responded: "Well, then I suppose you are extending an invitation to me. And with winter coming, I would be a fool to pass up a pack of strong, intelligent wolves. If you are any indicator, your pack seems like a good fit for me." Roma smiled coyly; two could play at the flirting game and Roma loved a challenge.

Deciding it best to take the lead, the large she wolf sauntered over to Vesper, closing the more formal distance that had been between the two. Confident as ever, she let her tail fall lower so that she seemed more relaxed around him. "You can call me Roma by the way. Andromache can be a mouthful sometimes." Roma leveled her eyes to his, letting her piercing blue gaze bore into him. She paused for a moment and then let her eyes wander, searching the landscape around them. "So where is this pack of yours?" Another pause, and then Roma brought her eyes back to his. "Well, I assume since you are out here recruiting it can't be too far. It must be somewhere near the mountain." Roma indicated the direction of the mountain she had seen earlier, though now all she could see were trees. This was the first test; if his pack was close to the mountain then they might know something about Athena and would be worth her time, but if not then should would leave. She hoped this didn't turn out to be another dead end. This game with the new wolf was fun, but she needed to find her sister and nothing else could get in the way of that.

(This post was last modified: Oct 10, 2014, 08:37 PM by Andromache.)

Some day you too will know my pain

Vespertio Vuesain

And smile its black toothed grin

Though he did not formally extend the invite, she was wise enough to read between the lines of his words and ultimately agreed to join up with him. This lifted a weight of the dark coated man's shoulders and he placed a mental check mark next to the box titled recruit members. With his task at hand now complete all that was left was to find his way out of the maze of trees and tread back to the lake where Athena waited most likely if she had not set out on her own recruitment mission. "You can call me Roma by the way. Andromache can be a mouthful sometimes." She offered before inquiring where the pack was located. Silently he thanked the gods(again, if there were any) for the shortening of her name that was a million times easier to pronounce before stewing over if he should reveal their whereabouts just yet to her. "If you are any indicator, your pack seems like a good fit for me." a coy smile gracing her lips after she spoke with a flirtatious tone emphasizing the last phrase. Was she trying to use his own tactics against her? If he wasn't in need of finding a recruitment he would have laughed in her face at her attempts, he was the king of deception and hardly fell victim to his own tricks.

Nonetheless he decided to participate in her little game and allowed her to close the distance between them, even though he never dropped his dominant posture once her own tail lowered into a seemingly relaxed state. He never dropped his guard around strangers and learned that the hard way during the first few weeks of his banishment and long travel that brought him to relic lore. A scuffle with another brute twice his size almost over food and all that remained of that incident was a thin scar well hidden among the fur along his right flank he got while attempting to flee the scene. The brute gave chase and made sure Vespertio knew that the carcass belonged to him and him alone. Now he never backed down from a challenge, be male or female. His legs argued against his choices as they begged to be relieved of his body weight, small pangs of ache coursing from his joints up. Not from old age, but just exhaustion in general from the trek here where he took little time to rest as to keep himself alert for the signs of possible, abled bodies to join their cause.

"Indeed my pack resides near the mountain, you guess correctly." Vesper spoke with his charm lining his words as he continued her little flirtatious game, making her believe that he was 'under her spell' if you wish. "Such an intuitive vixen you are." His fearless golden gaze steadily met her icy counterparts for an expanse of time before allowing them to drop, scanning over her features in a way of checking her out so to speak. She was pretty; he'd give her that, which coincided with her confidence in attitude. Indeed, this Roman woman would do in getting the pack off the ground.

Roma was relieved to here that her assumption had been right. His pack was indeed near the mountain. She was also relieved to hear Vesper call her "an intuitive vixen" before letting his golden eyes drift over her features. Roma loved compliments and this also let her know that her game was working. Happy and truly more relaxed now, Roma turned and started in the general direction of the mountain knowing Vesper would follow her and eventually take the lead to bring her to his alpha.

As she trekked through the mud (certainly it couldn't be considered ground anymore) and weaved through the trees, Roma silently wondered how best to approach this situation. Should she continue flirting with Vesper or start asking him questions? He seemed to be enjoying their game as much as she was, but she had a mission to accomplish and she needed answers. She needed to find Athena. "So Vesper," Roma started casually, "I've heard that this land is home to many strong and capable wolves. You are a testament to that." Roma paused and kept her voice light and playful, "But what of the female wolves? Are they just as strong and capable as the rumors say?" Roma paused once more and glanced at Vesper to take in his reaction. "Have you heard of any such wolf?"

Roma doubted she would be lucky enough to hear him name or even describe Athena. But this was a start. If she could get no information out of him she would go to his pack and see what she could glean from them. After all, Roma had joined and left many packs in her years after running away from home. Every year, she would join a pack for the winter and then leave when the weather was better. The only exception was the first winter that she had spent alone as a mere yearling. Physically, that was the hardest part of Roma's life; but she was not one to falter under physical pain. The thought of the emotional torment she had suffered years ago after finding out that her father had indeed killed her mother and then the revisiting of that pain when she learned that her sister had killed her father, that was what might bring Roma to her knees. That pain was the reason she had always left the other packs: she could not let anyone see that pain because it was her only true vulnerability. Just thinking about it was starting to make Roma feel tired and weak. With a shake of her large, majestic head Roma discarded that train of thought in favor of a better one: tricking Vesper and finding Athena.

I know this doesn't count towards the spooky story prompt, but it was the perfect opportunity to just throw it out there.

Some day you too will know my pain

Vespertio Vuesain

And smile its black toothed grin

The urge to laugh cynically at the poor woman for falling for his deception was great as he noticed the way she relaxed even more in his company. 'You are either dumb as a rock or my equal in deception.' Vesper mentally thought as he watched Roma start to lead the way towards the way he had come, shamelessly letting his gaze wander down to watch her rump and tail sway as she walked. He was a man after all, but she did little to stir any desires from him and so he enjoyed the view for a split second longer before following suit only to easily match her pace and walk shoulder to shoulder beside her, flirtatiously letting the tip of his tail brush against her flank as part of their game of wills to see who would break first. Yet, she didn't and instead began to babble about what she had heard about the wolves here and asked if he had stumbled upon any strong, capable female wolves. Inside he groaned at her words as he couldn't care less about mindless chit-chat, but trying to portray the good(or as good as he could pretend to be) Alpha he decided to bite her secretive bait.

Vespertio hadn't settled into the Lore for long and met only one wolf, but he wasn't about to let his charade escape him. Instead he opted to sell the woman beside him truth wrapped in fable. "There is one woman I've met that fits that category, but you'll meet her for yourself once we reach the pack." As cocky as he was, he wasn't an entire fool either. The way Roma seemed almost too interested in knowing about females in the area put him on edge. She had to be looking for someone and he wasn't about to just hand Athena over if he didn't get some reward out of it, nor if it jeopardized his chances of rising to power in these lands. Nobody was going to thwart his chances again, especially this silver woman. Selfish and deceiving, that was Vespertio Vuesain. "But what you should really have been told..well warned..about are the spirits of lost souls from dead wolves that walk these lands never to find peace. If you listen closely at night you can hear the eerie howls of them calling out to their loved ones under the light of the moon." He paused his words to glance in her direction as the continued to pad onward, allowing the faintest of smirks to grace his black lined lips before he continued. "Some have even claimed to see their ghostly silhouettes watching them from the entrance of their dens, the beady red eyes boring into their own and causing the temperature around them to drop drastically. Chilling them to the very bone."

Roma's heartbeat sped just the slightest as Vesper mentioned a wolf that fit her description and then said that they were going to meet her right now. Could this be it? Could this wolf really be the sister she has been searching for? Surprise gave way to an instinctual rage that had Roma wanting to dig her claws into the mud and pull her lips back with a snarl. Her blood boiled as the moment to strike, to finally lash out, came nearer. It took every ounce of self control that she had to keep her composure and not give away her emotions. She had to keep up with the charade she was playing with Vesper. Roma briefly considered the way Vesper had flirtatiously let his tail brush against her. Perhaps, he was merely humoring her. Perhaps, he might not be as stupid as she usually took males to be, but she could not worry about that now. Though part of her desperately wanted to be the victor in this game they were playing, a larger part just wanted to get to the girl who had killed Zeus and that part of her could care less if Vesper believed her or not as long as he continued to take her to the girl he had mentioned.

Roma's musings were interrupted as Vesper's tantalizing voice disturbed her thoughts. The tone of his voice put her on edge, but as she listened to his words she realized he was just telling a ghost story. It was creative, she would give him that. And the dramatic pause in the middle was certainly a good addition. However, Roma couldn't help but laugh; she wasn't five. "I don't know who you have been telling these stories to, but it was silly to think that you could scare me with them. I am Andromache Moon. Ghosts don't exist and if they did, they would fear me!" Roma barked a laugh at the thought of some ghost scaring her. She was fearless, confident, strong, determined and....she had just given away her last name. Roma wanted to kick herself for being so stupid, but outwardly showed no signs of worry. She had already messed up. Letting the cunning golden-eyed wolf know that she had not planned on saying what she had said would only be more of a mistake. Roma continued maneuvering through the trees and the sticky mud, casually letting her laugh die down. Pretending to be tired of the harsh terrain (though things like this never really bothered her), Roma lifted one of her mud-covered paws and looked at it with annoyance as she asked, "How much farther is this pack of yours, Vesper?" Though even now, Roma would not stoop so low as to outwardly and directly complain about the terrain; her father had taught her better than that. She would however, hint at the inconvenience of it if it would distract Vesper from her recent mistake.

Some day you too will know my pain

Vespertio Vuesain

And smile its black toothed grin

I am Andromache Moon. Ghosts don't exist and if they did, they would fear me! Now that caused the Vuesain man to stop in his tracks. The last thing he expected to come out of her mouth was that she was related to Athena, or so he thought. Sure there were plenty of wolves that could have the same last name and be completely unrelated, but where the chances that this woman; Andromache Moon, who just so happened to be looking for specific 'female' and held the same last name as the lady of the lake crossed his path and wasn't related to her. They were very slim. Now he found himself in quite the situation. Does he bring her back to Athena despite her intentions that he could only somewhat decipher, or lead her astray and desert her on another packs doorstep to safely return to his lake in case she foiled his plans in some way?

As Roma stopped beside him, still unaware that he had caught on to the woman behind the charade, she lifted her mud clad paw to signal she was becoming distraught(though falsely) with their surroundings and asked how much further it was until they reached his pack. He had to admit he loved the way it sounded when someone said his pack, almost like a dose of morphine straight to his ego. "It will take a day to reach, so buckle up." He mentioned while shifting his gaze from her to the greenery around them, weaving between thick-trunked trees towards the entrance of the deep forest. "By the way, has Athena always been such a darling?" He casually threw out there to let Roma know that her gig was up, picking up his pace once more. What he didn't know was that neither sisters had actually met seeing as they were of two separate litters a year apart. Nor did he know that Roma was here to find her sister and reprimand her revenge of their father. All he knew was that she had come looking for the lady of the lake, her intentions none of his concerns seeing as they didn't benefit him in a way he saw fit other than adding an able body to use as a foundation for the forming of the pack. If he remembered correctly, Athena already had one wolf on her side. Added up correctly with Roma now a possible member if she stuck around, that made four members and the required amount for them to rightfully claim the lost lake as their own. 'Your time is approaching. Soon you will have your kingdom, don't let anyone screw it up /again/.' He schemed mentally, letting the two walk in silence as he awaited her response to his question.