Private Of Wolves and Blood

[Alwine Daye]

Katerina Vaden

Several months ago, prior to the leaving of Alwine from the Southern Systems​

The door of her apartment in Golbah City had just closed, and Alwine sat down at the tiny dining corner, the package right in front of her. The meeting had been with a woman Alwine had always loved from afar; first as the woman her brother had abandoned, and then as one who had helped Alwine in more ways than one. There were few people the youngest of the Lechner siblings looked up to, but that woman was one of them. And she had just been there.

And had brought her a gift.

Alwine tapped her fingers against the table. She had not yet looked at the contents of that package, but she knew what lay inside of it. Blood of a Lupine. She had given her own blood for the experiments a long time before that, not really thinking that anything would come of it. Of the affinity and its abilities, she had heard back when the woman's sister inhabited her body. She gave her trust, knowing nothing bad would come of it. But instead, this had come.

Could she do it? Could she open the package and wear the necklace, let the stone which she believed was red rest against the hollow of her throat and work its effects? Did Alwine have what it took to open it and check?

The silence that followed was a long and strained one.

And in the end, Alwine took the package, and buried it in the back of her closet.

Now was not the time.

Some time after that​

It was happening. They were leaving. She'd intended to leave for a long time now; she had accepted the final breaking of her pack, had accepted that her brothers had left and whatever of them returned would be different. Had accepted that it was time to shatter the lies she had been living in since being saved from Stewjon. There was no future for her in this place. Not for her and not for any that she cared for, but she could not force others to gain their senses and leave as well. So she would leave alone, and hope that some day, they would know to, if not follow, then at least leave this horrible place as well.

Everything was packed and ready to go. Having been accustomed to a life in which she owned very little, Alwine's clothes did not require many different suitcases. One was enough to hold everything she owned, especially as she would not be taking her Confederate gear with her. A few generic items she had purchased in markets, some civilian clothes, and… And Der Kleine. Her sword, that she never even used. The last thing she had that connected her to simpler times, times in which despite the danger, she had known moments of happiness with her brothers. And those moments would never return, so why continue to suffer and fight while waiting for them? A message was left on the table. Telling both of her brothers why she left, why she would not be coming back. How to contact her. Where her first destination would be.

And then she looked in her closet. The package was still there, in the corner. In all the time that had passed, she succeeded in not thinking about it, not remembering it. Wordlessly, she took it, and duped it into her suitcase. It couldn't stay behind.

Following the defeat on Zonju V​

This apartment was much nicer than the one she'd had in Golbah City. It actually had space. And a view that was more than sand and buildings. There was a communal share of the rooftop, from which you could see for miles around, and see the hills and lakes that were far away. Visually, it was stunning, an she loved it. Yet Alwine could not deny that there was an ache in her heart, an ache that now, even though she'd been alone in Golbah as well, was somehow more acute here. Perhaps it was because now the distance, the physical one, between her and her brothers was so much greater. Perhaps it was because this was the first thing she had done in her life that was truly apart from her siblings.

And now that she entered her apartment, after the bitter defeat on Zonju V, after one of the people she loved and cared about was taken as a Prisoner of War, Alwine's usual calm and stable center of self, shook deeply. She had not known defeat since the day she had been captured on Stewjon, and she knew all too well the taste of what had come afterwards. She still dreamed about the torture and interrogations from time to time. She knew what would be coming for those that had been captured, and she knew how quickly they would need to risk going through it all again just for a chance of victory that would erase some of the defeat away.

Perhaps it was that which had led her to the package. Buried again in a much grander closet, it was so small, so unassuming. Her hands trembled as she undid the wrapping and the ribbon, the metal box inside now suddenly feeling so much heavier than anything its size had any right to be.

It was a small stone, the size of a beach shell. And as she had correctly guessed, it was red. But more than anything, it was glowing, the light coming and dimming, in a slow and lazy rhythm. Her eyes narrowing, it was as though Alwine's body knew what to do even if her mind was running blanks. Biting her finger, the young woman drew a single drop of blood, and smeared it against the stone.

The jewel absorbed the blood, leaving no stain behind, and ceased to glow.

Alwine smiled. For n=1, it had worked as intended. She knew there had once upon a time been another Lupine with the Agents, one that she had seen at the Confederacy as well, but she was not around now, Alwine had not seen her in months. Which meant… Which meant that unless she journeyed back to the Southern Systems, she had no way of knowing whether or not this would work. And what if there were more ways to work it? Ways that had been… Unintended?

When Alwine had begun her training with the Force, one of the first things she had done and mastered, against the expectation or imagination of all but Maple Harte , was to control the growth of flowers, trees, and plants. Maybe now she could do something else?

"Show me," the Lupine said as he rolled out a printed copy of the galaxy map. It was not the same one that was used in the holos; this one had less information on it, but its coordinates, as far as she was aware, were scaled perfectly. She let the stone drop on the map, and it fell right smack on Coruscant.

Alwine shook her head. Even if that was where more Lupines were, she would never be able to find anything there. That was one terrifying planet. Raising the stone again, brown eyes narrowed as the Acolyte concentrated. Much like she had with the movements of the plants that Maple had instructed with her there, so did she meditate now to reach deep into the stone.

And for a moment, she was actually inside of it.

The blood of a Lupine reaches deep and far, words whispered into her mind, Wherever a Lupine may walk, there will forever be invisible threads linking it to the other Lupines in the past and in the present. A Lupine is weaker without the pack, but it is never truly alone.

Alwine opened her eyes and stared at her hand. The stone was still there, but now it was both part of her, and so far away. Her fingers snapped on their own, and the stone began to shake badly, a crack appearing over it.

"No!" Alwine screamed, rare seen terror on her features, "No!" She did not want it to break. She could not have it break, not before truly using it, not before-

It broke.

The stone shattered, one part falling like a weight on the table, the other parts spreading on her printed map. For a single heart beat, nothing happened, and then the smaller parts turned to dust, moving around and about on the map, coming together on a single spot before being absorbed by the paper, leaving behind a stain that looked like blood. The stain was in the Wild Space Territories.

Now​

Needing to take some time for herself anyway, Alwine had taken one of the smaller and yet unregistered ships, and left to chase the blood stain. Getting there had taken more time than she'd initially planned for; being unable to move through Coalition space which extended to the very rim of the galaxy, and not wanting to risk going through Confederate space because she did not know what her standing there was these days, she'd navigating the empty galactic river between Coalition and Silver spaces before taking a turn when she reached the very Eastern part of the galaxy.

The manual and precise control she'd shown while navigating the ship meant that it was not a fast process, and it took her days rather than the expected hours to get there.

And here, in front of her, was a planet. She could not find it on her printed map, it did not appear on her holo map. She had attempted to work with the ship assigned AI and droid to get some information, but it helped her not at all. When she looked at her printed map, she could've sworn that the stain was glowing ever so slightly, yet every time she blinked, the glow disappeared. The bigger part of the stone was firmly in her pocket.

It was time to land and see what was there.

 

[Freya Drage]

I S L I M O R E

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Abolase Mountains | Twilight​

“We should head back,” Yarvan urged, the fog of the abolase mountains thickening in the darkness around an abandoned camp. “There are no wolves here, and if there were...they are long gone.”

“What? Don’t tell me these wolven bastards scare you.” Adorel Dontrec said, with just the slightest hint of a smile beneath his wirey black beard.

Had Yarvan been a younger man, he may have risen to the bait. As it was, Yarvan was close to middled age, he’d been on more than one of these hunts in his life, spending close to twenty years in service to the royal family. He scoffed, tucking away his pride. “Commander Eron said to track them, and we did. The hovel they were sleeping in is cleared out. The locals can rest at ease, we’ve done our job.”

“If we’d done our job, we’d have a few shiny new pelts to lay at the King’s feet for his daughter’s coronation ceremony.” Adorel pressed forward, his voice echoing loudly in the twilight forest. “Even if they’re gone, there are still things to be learned. What direction they may have went, for instance.”

Yarvan pushed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, his lips pressed tightly together in suppressed anger. “It’s a long ride back to Blackbrook. Eight or nine days if we leave now, before the fog grows so thick we can’t make it back down the mountain before dawn.” There was something in the older man’s voice that caused Adorel to pause, turning to look at Yavan. He could sense the nervous tension, the fear. He’d pass along word to the commander, it was time for Yarvan to hang up his sword.

“If we can’t go back down, then we’ll set up camp,” he said with disinterest, “These wolves are dumb as rocks. The other boys that have dealt with them before, told me as much. I’m not going back on my first outing, a failure. Since you’re shaking in your boots, I’ll go on and see what I can find. Stay here, listen for when I call you, and try not to piss yourself.”

Adorel vanished up over the slope, threading his way back from the direction they originally came, through the thicket of moonlit grasses and around the tall black sentinels.

“Who’s there!?” Yarvan could hear the voice of Adorel call out, and the unsheathing of his blade. “Show yourself!”

He listened closely, but there was no other sound beyond the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Yarvan grit his teeth, catching the blur of movement out of the corner of his eye. Shining in the light of the moon she stood there. The beast was tall and thin, not much more than bones and fur, but the she wolf stood proudly, fresh blood spattered on the front of her coat and thickened around her jaws. “Come no farther, I’ll leave now and tell no one.” his voice cracked like a boys.

She paced forward, claws digging at the earth beneath them. Yarvan understood perfectly, he'd do the same were the roles reversed. “We’ll dance, then.”

The wolf sprang forth, like a bolt of gold lightning across the shadowy encampment.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________​

Dawn began to clear and the golden wolf that laid in the middle of a bloodied scenery had all but vanished, leaving behind a young woman. She was crouched down on all fours and slowly tried to rise up, but found she could not move. Naked, she reached for the fur cloak of the dead man in front of her, he wouldn't be needing it any longer, and pulled it tightly around herself to stay warm. She glanced down, her left leg was bleeding, she’d have to walk on it, if she hoped to survive before any others were sent. The rest of the Lupine would be miles away by now. She couldn’t make it that far, not like this. She would need to find a place between, where she could nurse her wound.

But someone of her kind… who could she turn to for help?

...Perhaps this was how she met her end.

 

[Anse Baenshaol]

^^;; My mistake

 

[Alwine Daye]

Katerina Vaden​

Alwine did not understand it. Her mind would simply not wrap around it. She had taken piloting lessons, learning to steer a ship both with an AI and manually. She was not the best of pilots that any group of rag tag terrorists could ask for, but she certainly knew how to hold her own and keep up in case of need. And yet, despite all of this, this was now the third time her ship was crashing in under a year.

Everything had begun just fine and peachy, right up until she had broken atmo', and then the controls had gun haywire. The control droids next to her were screaming their beeps as well, and she could not follow their orders or panic while she was wrapped in her own.

From the cockpit she could see it approaching quickly – the ground. Not an area of water, but forest, which meant, more ground. Was she going to survive it? With shaking hands, the petite Lupine somehow managed to get her seat belt on, and then tried to push the ship into where she thought the trees appeared thicker.

The ship still crashed.

Thankfully, however, Alwine was fine. Some pain where the belts were, but nothing broken aside for her self-confidence when it came to flying ships. Nothing on her ship exploded. That was also good. But for reasons she couldn't understand, her droids had shut off entirely. Sighing, she rose, now realizing she was full of annoying aches, from her seat, and plugged them back into the controls. Thankfully, the small light that indicated that they were being charged lit on.

So it would be a game of waiting.

Now that she knew she wasn't dead and the game of solving problems had begun, Alwine carried her gaze to the window, peering to what was outside. Green. Nature. Was that a stream she glanced between them?

But this was fine. This was good. Alwine knew her way around forests and rivers. It was how she had grown up, it was where one of her strongest ability with the Force could flourish. Unless there were monsters lurking that a wolf's jaw could not tear apart, she was certain she would be just fine.

Carefully, Alwine opened the latch and exited the ship.

Only to fall on her butt. Not the aches, not the crash, none of that was the reason. No. There was something else.

Alwine could smell another Lupine.

Her hand moved up to cover her mouth, and she could feel her eyes becoming moist. In all the mess that had become of their lives, she had abandoned looking for them. She had failed her own species by doing so. And now… She hadn't even… It…

It was why the stain on the map had glowed.

Alwine removed the other half of the stone from her pocket and froze.

It was glowing.

 

[Freya Drage]

Islimore | The Abolase Mountains | Early Morning

• • •​

By the time she finally found the will to move, the sun was in full view. Leaving behind a trail of blood would not serve her well, so she'd turned to the deceased for assistance, pilfering the cloak the dead man no longer needed, tearing it by the seems to make sizable strips that she could use to staunch the bleeding of her wounded leg before making quick work of the rest of the man's clothing to cover her nakedness. The tunic hung in all of the wrong places, the pants were rolled several times before her toes even peaked out the bottom, and no matter how tight she pulled the laces, she could still feel her heel rising up the back of the boots. As dainty and frail as she was, the ensemble looked quite silly, but it didn't matter as long as it kept her alive; and most importantly - warm. Winters on Islimore were unforgiving, and her fingers were numb from the cold that'd already seeped in through her skin.

Blue eyes flickered one last time to look at the man who'd attacked her, she'd made a ruin of his face, couldn't much tell who he was anymore. For a brief second, she wondered if he might have a family of his own - a people to return to, then stopped herself. She couldn't think about that, start sympathizing. Fewer humans, meant fewer worries. They were murderers, fur trappers, they wouldn't hesitate to kill any wolf - adult, or cub. No. She wasn't going to mourn any of their losses. She'd seen too many of her brothers and sisters pelts blowing in the wind like bloody banners, to care.

....And more of them might be coming.

Tilting back her head, she gave a sniff of the wind to try and determine which direction her pack was headed, and for a fleeting moment she was stunned. Another wolf. Another one of her kind, not far, an unfamiliar scent. What were they doing on Islimore? How had they found this place? Had they been hiding somewhere, and she had missed them somehow? A thousand questions hurtled through Katerina's mind, and without a second thought, she hurtled herself in that direction.

Nearly twenty minutes later, through the forest that'd had grown increasingly thicker with leafy corridors congested with deadfall, bracken, and boughs wound, Katerina found her.

"Aiternae óh minn aiternae! Where did you come from?"

*Blood of my blood.

Alwine Daye

 

[Alwine Daye]

Katerina Vaden​

She remembered the first time she had scented another lupine. It was supposed to be the moment that she had dreamed of her entire life. It was supposed to be a wondrous moment filled with joy and happiness. Instead, it had been everything but. Instead, she had known that very first instant that it had meant change, and the bad sort of change. Something inside her had clicked that night, and the damage that resulted from the event had never been undone. Yet among the very long list of people her brother had damaged by being so ridiculously selfish, she was little more than just a number.

Others of their kind had been later found as well. With some, she had genuinely believed she had a connection, a certain tie to. But again she had been duped. The tiny woman who was harder than iron had allowed herself to develop hope every single time, and every single time her hopes regarding the other Lupines had been dashed. She knew there were more of them. She assumed that there were thousands, maybe even millions of them hiding for this or other reason across the galaxy. But perhaps growing up and living without a true pack had damaged her deepest Lupine'ism to such a degree that she could never be one among them again.

Such were the thoughts that roamed through Alwine as her fingers wrapped around the glowing stone, her hand coming up to rest against her heart. Could she do it? Could she go through it again? The excitement, the joy, the hope, only for it to break again shortly thereafter?

But there would be no time for her to consider it further. Lost in her thoughts and inner turmoil, Alwine had not scented the other wolf in time, not when the other Lupine came close enough to see her, and speak with her without the need to scream. Alwine's brown eyes gazed up as her body became incredibly still, looking the other one over.

Injured was the first thing her mind registered. Her throat and shoulders tensed, but she took a sharp inhale, forcing herself to calm down. A Lupine. Just another Lupine. No, more than just another one.

"The other side of the galaxy," she found mouth moving, her words coming out of her before she'd had sufficient time to consider what she wished to say, "Where am I? Who are you?"

And how many more of you are there?

 

[Freya Drage]

Islimore | The Abolase Mountains | Early Morning



• • •​

"Well met,” she said, soft pink lips stretching into a friendly smile, hoping it might help lower the others guard. “I’m Katerina."

She couldn’t help but wonder where she’d come from, ‘The other side of the Galaxy’ was not extremely forthcoming with information and a million questions filtered through her addled mind. How had she come to Islimore? Did she have a pack, or were they hunted out there, too? She wanted to know everything, but refrained from bombarding her. She seemed overwhelmed as it was.

For a moment, Katerina felt a sense of solidarity towards her - of kinship. There were not many female Lupine left these days, being victimized by starvation, their first change, or finding an early grave at the end of a priest’s blade. Those women whom she had met, were maidens sporting dark hair, and bronzed skin. This one was different. They shared some similar features, skin pale as a full moon, with hair that looked like it’d been spun from the finest gold silk; but her eyes were different. They reminded Katerina of nutmeg, warm and earthy. The wolf was enamoured by her - but not just because of her beauty; from her stance, and the strength she felt coming off her skin in powerful waves, she knew...this one was a warrior.

“This is Islimore, where our species originated, or so I’m told. We’re on the northwest flank of the Abolases’, standing in what the locals call ‘The Dark Forest’. My pack and I have been traveling these last few days to try and reach the Wolfswood, but…” she trailed off, the inflection in her voice changing and growing quieter, lips twisting into a grimace and soft features taking a hard turn. “The humans got to us first.”

“I stayed behind to fend them off and meant to catch up with the rest, but one of them got my leg during our altercation. I can’t shift, and we can’t stay here. When the two I killed don’t return, more will head this way to find them. It’s a long ways on foot to our sacred groves, but I’m certain we can reach them by nightfall if we help each other...and maybe on the way, you can tell me your name, and your story?”


Alwine Daye

 

[Alwine Daye]

Katerina Vaden​

Katerina. A single syllable of a change. A single one, and that made all the difference. Alwine let out a breath she had not realized she'd been holding as the other one had begun to say her own name.

Her feet felt as though they were rooted in place. Every single meeting with a new Lupine had been entirely different. One filled with anger, another filled with extreme awkwardness. And another… Another that had somehow been different from the rest of them. A taller wolf, one that had grown and almost became feral. That Lupine had come to Alwine and sniffed her all over, as though even in human forms they were little more than animals.

And Alwine had loved it. She had returned the same form of intimacy, one that was neither of romantic nor sexual conduct, had held another Lupine, had sniffed her, smelled her, and licked her arm. Much had been exchanged in that moment, through touch and through love of the same species, with two members who'd never thought they would see another of their kind again.

It seemed as though that memory of Redd softened something again inside of Alwine. She could feel her toes be able to move inside her shoes,

Islimore. She did not recall ever coming across that name, and none of the names or locations noted rang a single bell within her mind. Sacred groves? No. It appeared the folklore and background for these Lupines was a new version, one that the others did not share.

"Alwine," she said, "My name, is Alwine."

Humans. Humans against Lupines. It was so at almost any place that combined the both of them in the same space. Why? What was even the point?

But as she looked at Katerina's leg, she shook her head. No. Not like that. Turning around without a word, Alwine returned to the inside of her ship, pulling a medkit out with her. "I know some healing, but I'm not gifted with it by any measure," she said as she sat down next to Katerina and looked at the wound from closer.

"I find that cleaning the wound and then using bacta on it is always more efficient and less dangerous than any time I attempt a heal," she laughed as she first use the special spray, the one that would clean the wound and ensure it did not heal over with pieces of debris stuck in it. But only, of course, if Katerina would allow her to do so. And the bacta patch was ready to be placed on it immediately later.

"You still won't be able to shift today," she explained, "but perhaps tomorrow, you might."

Closing her medkit, which had a few more of the bacta patches in, Alwine had already decided she would bring it with her for the journey. Who knew how many were in her pack and might be in need of similar help?

But her story… Her fell story, she was not ready to tell yet. "My ship crashed here, and I am lucky not to be truly injured," she said, "Are there perhaps mechanics at your sacred groves, or someone who would know to tell me where I may find one of them?"

If they were going to walk… They might as well walk. With a little smile, Alwine motioned for Katerina to lead the way. They could walk and talk.

 

[Freya Drage]

Islimore | The Abolase Mountains | Early Morning

• • •​

“Alwine,” she repeated, feeling a sense of calm from the other's presence. “It’s good to meet you.”

When Alwine suddenly vanished, Kat curiously followed with a pained limp in her otherwise confident stride. Weakness would not get women anywhere on Islimore.

Finally seeing where the other had vanished to, Katerina froze, her mouth hanging slightly agape in stunned surprise. Most technology was outright banned, it was rare to see a ship that wasn’t some old rusted relic of times past. A flood of questions entered her mind and if it hadn’t been for the sound of the other wolf’s voice, she might have continued staring in her haze, but quickly came to the present realization that Alwine wanted to look at her wound.

Katerina half-smiled, knowing they wouldn’t be able to get far if she had to limp the entire way, and tentatively obliged, dropping down to a sitting position. Carefully she began unravelling the haphazard strips of cloth, sticky from blood, that she’d used to try and staunch the bleeding. The cut went deep, almost to the bone, but being that it was still somewhat fresh, it hadn’t yet begun to fester. Even so, that she’d been able to walk on it at all, was a miracle.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a wound like this, then.” Katerina observed, making note that it possibly meant the woman was battle seasoned, confirming her earlier thoughts. Maybe she’d heard of the crisis on Islimore, the plight of the Lupine here, and had come to help fight against the prejudicial slaughtering of their people. Wishful thinking, at best.

“I have seen some who are gifted with the art of healing… but for me it’s always been a thread and needle.” Her light blue eyes glanced away when the spray was applied, softly grinding her teeth. “Bacta is pretty rare around these parts…after the Fayth took over, it’s become almost unheard of anymore.”

Gathering herself up, she tested the leg and found it easier to put pressure on. “That’s a better recovery time than I ever could have hoped for, considering that before you got here… I thought it was going to be the end of me… Thank you.”

"My ship crashed here, and I am lucky not to be truly injured," she said, "Are there perhaps mechanics at your sacred groves, or someone who would know to tell me where I may find one of them?"

“Among our elders, I am sure. They would be the most knowledgeable about such things.” she said after some thought, “Most of our younger members of the pack have never been on a ship...or seen one. Technology is tightly regulated and controlled by the Fayth, it’s why we’ve never left here. But, I promise we will do whatever we can to get your ship working again. It’s the least I could do.”

After that, and for the better part of three hours, Katerina had grown silent as she navigated the woods, leading Alwine.

While the Abolase mountains were indeed beautiful, there were parts of the woods that were more harrowing than they immediately seemed. The path they followed was made uneven by the knotted roots that crossed it, branching at intervals, with sharp juts of rocks and various critters running along the floor, the forest growing thicker the further in they went.

“We’re almost to the pass,” she finally said. “Another hour, or there about. The falls are just up ahead, if we walk along the edge of the water, it should work to help cover any sounds we make. After that, we should be at the edge of the groves.”

She turned and glanced at Alwine, feeling a little more comfortable talking, knowing it would be difficult for any of the humans to hear them. “Tell me… what’s it like out there? Are there… are there a lot of us?”

Alwine Daye

 

[Alwine Daye]

Katerina Vaden

No. It wasn't the first time she'd seen a wound like that. Under her tortures on Stewjon she had been cut as well, her jailors believing that the demons could be bled out of her body at one point. Naturally, it hadn't worked. Alwine had never been possessed by demons (except that one time on Tatooine, and it was really an ancient goddess, so that doesn't count), she was merely a Force User. And a Lupine. But she had been freed from her imprisonment before she showed the suspicious, violent, and prejudiced people of Stewjon that.

"A thread and needle is good," Alwine said with a smile as she continued to work on Katerina's leg, "I was forced to sew hems for countless of hours as a child. But I was never much good at it." And as punishment for her crooked lines, she had been beaten. But the beatings never made her a better seamstress, and while she loathed working in the scullery, at least there she could take her aggressions out, even if not fully.

She nodded when Katerina tested her leg out, but all she could do was sigh when the other Lupine mentioned that their young ones had never even seen a ship before. Alwine knew such a life. Usually, it was not a good one. But if Lupines were living here and suffering so, not only by the hands of the humans but also by the limitations of a life they had probably been forced into, she wanted them. She wanted to take them all and take them somewhere safe, where they could live openly, without fear, and have all the options in the galaxy available to them.

Their walk was a long and mostly silent one. Alwine didn't mind. The sights were beautiful indeed, but she found she had to focus on the ground more often than not. In the beginning, she had lost her balance an embarrassing amount of times, but shifting into her wolf form, which would have made it easier, was out of the question. Not while she was with another Lupine who was unable to shift at present.

The forest turned even thicker. This forest was not like the one behind her family cottage on Stewjon. There was much less space here, much more ground growth. She wasn't certain this was good hunting grounds for the other Lupines, at least not while they were in their wolf forms.

She nodded again to Katerina's explanation of what they would do for the next hour. She was glad that the hike would soon be over. It had been too long since Alwine found herself in need to be in shape for these sort of things, and while her body wasn't exhausted, her overall energies were beginning to inch towards there.

It was Katerina's question that snapped her out of the mental fatigue.

Oh, that question. She had known inside of her that it would come. Not a single Lupine did not ask that question, regardless of where they originated. She had asked it, in her way, only hours ago. The one time she had not asked it, was because the words had been spoken to her before she could even think straight.

Sighing, Alwine shook her head.

"If anywhere Lupine thrive, I have not seen it," she said, "Every single one that I have found, has either been the last from their pack, or in a pack that believed itself to be the only. Most of the Lupines drift around, not calling any one specific place home, and there is no unity."

Though her words were harsh, her voice, she did her best to keep gentle. She did not wish to play Katerina with false promises of grandeur that did not exist. The truth was important, for better or worse, and despite her role as some sort of a politician, Alwine could not abide lies.

"But we live," she continued, offering Katerina a smile, "Every time another one of us is found, it shows us that the words our parents had given us were lies. Every time someone says there cannot be any more of us, we show otherwise. If ever a thriving Lupine empire there will be, we are far away from it, but our hearts beat strong and our howls sound high. We are in shambles, yes, but we will never die out. From where we are, we can only grow."

 

[Freya Drage]

Islimore | The Wolfswood | Late Afternoon

• • •​

Katerina listened quietly and carefully as Alwine spoke. For a Lupine of both a bold and curious nature, it had always been easy for her to get lost in thoughtful contemplation, as she absorbed what her traveling companion told her. "Then not all hope is lost for us," Hope, it was a fickle thing. A tiny flicker in the wind, an ember that could die or light a blaze. The wheels in her mind turned, her dark lashes falling to kiss her pale cheeks, silent as they pressed on until a thought settled in her mind.

"Something must be done," she affirmed, a determination in her voice. The Lupine that were left on Islimore had learned how to work together, to thrive. They were a motley crew pack, but they were family. "You say that out there," She gestured to the sky with a wave of her hand, "Our kind drifts, are none of these Lupine interested in seeing to the survival of our species?"

Katerina was not versed, nor knew the ways of the Lupine outside of this world, but it was clear by her tone and the sincerity in her voice, that she had a passion to do whatever she could for them, to protect them, even give her life, if needs be. "I don't know what it has been like for our kind out there, or what it was like before we all became so divided, but here on Islimore before the Fayth took over and the packs scattered to the winds, we had a tradition of naming an Anasi** who embodied our six noble virtues, and lead us in our most perilous times. The packs laid down all to answer that call. Surely there is some honor such as this among our kind? That could bring them all together? Make things better for all Lupine?"

On their continued path along the river, the sun began to descend into late afternoon until they came to a stop at a cropping of jutting rocks, white water cascading down to the quiet river below. Her ears were almost deafened by the roar of the waters and she motioned for Alwine to follow, vanishing behind the falls. On the other side was a clearing of lush grass, gently blowing in the soft summer breeze. She pointed ahead to a grove of crisp ivory trees laden with crimson flowers, "That, is the Wolfswood. The others will be up ahead. Here, we'll be safe."

Spoiler

**Anasi - Royal title, Great Alpha.

Alwine Daye

 

[Alwine Daye]

Freya Drage

Lost. Such a little word, that held such a big meaning. But no, Alwine did not believe the hope was lost for the Lupines. For one, those who came from backgrounds such as her, had none to begin with, and you couldn't lose what you didn't have. Others… She was uncertain. But no, she didn't have a reason to believe it was truly lots, whatever the future may hold for the species.

"No," Alwine said quickly, correcting the misunderstanding between her and Katerina, "Nearly all of us are interested in survival. I've yet to meet a Lupine that actively wants to die. But we cannot remain together for any long stretch of time."

Again she listened, as Katerina mentioned something about six virtues. Alwine didn't know what to tell her on that. A specific honor system? She remained silent, considering her words carefully before answering the new questions posed by the other Lupine.

"I have never heard the word Anasari before," she at last admitted, "Every Lupine I have met was a product of the surroundings in which they were raised. My brothers and I… We had to hide what we were, for fear of our lives. Our culture was the one of Stewjon, where we believed we were stranded. Servant, Warrior, or Lord. No other options. No choices. What we learned of honor, was of what Stewjon taught us, and not something that had to do with the Lupines. If there are universal truths for our culture beyond every halfbreed child being born full Lupine, I have never heard of it."

Arriving at the waterfall, Alwine stopped walking and just stared. She knew how to swim, of course, and was not afraid of water, but… No. That moment of hesitation vanished when Katerina disappeared behind the fall, and Alwine quickly made to follow her.

She had expected to afterwards be in a cave, or some sort of secret underground.

What her eyes saw instead made her hold her breath as her eyes bathed in the beauty of the clearing, the wind caressing her face with such delicacy that for a moment she thought she had imagined it.

Only after Katerina had spoken again, did Alwine register that it had happened at all. She blinked, confused, and looked at the place again. Safe.

"If this is safe…" she found herself asking as she continued to follow the Lupine, "Why would you ever leave?"