[MillietheWarrior]

Sevella had no energy to protest, or even to acknowledge Shatter’s words. She allowed him to set her down on the floor, feeling the cold of it seep into her bare skin. She silently wished for her fur, and wished for the strength to make the shift. She could curl up into a ball, her tail over her nose, and rest, safe and secure in her own warmth and the presence of the soldier whom she knew she could trust. As it was, Sevella curled in on herself, hooking her arm beneath her head. She stared up at Shatter, eyes slightly wide and glowing in the dark of the cave. “Yes,” she said at last, her voice hardly above a whisper. His voice was empty again, a fact that disturbed her. But Sevella was already far too tired to continue with her train of thought, and she allowed her eyes to droop and close, unconcerned with the outside world. Beyond the cave, the leaves rustled, and a Wolverine mother ushered her cub inside the den as night slowly began to fall. The sounds of twilight, and then of night crept in, the wind whistling through the cave, bringing in a swirl of leaves with it. By now, the fire Shatter had built was roaring, but Sevella was fast asleep. Her body could no longer sustain itself, and she needed the rest to replenish her energy.

But that did not mean that she and Shatter were alone, nor did it mean there was any safety guaranteed within the cave. In the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed in the moonlight, shadows dancing across fur that rippled in the night. The sounds of the forest grew quiet. Creatures settled warily into the burrows or nests, unwilling to leaver the safety of their dens. The wind ceased it’s whining, and the trees stilled of all rustling. It seemed as though the forest had died, frightened into silence by the strange creature moving through it’s dark depths. Inside the cave, the fire crackled cheerfully, painfully unaware of what was to come. The moon was soon swallowed up by clouds, and before long a torrent of rain covered the forest, soaking it down to it’s very roots. Sevella didn’t stir, and remained steadfastly asleep, unmoving and silent. Lightning flashed across the dark sky, thunder rolling in behind it, and from the shadows crept a lone hunter, it’s eyes and pelt glowing with each flash of lightning. It picked a path silently through the brush towards the caves, and in a matter of seconds, another flash of lightning found it stand at the entrance, rain dripping from it’s thick fur.

A low snarl rumbled in it’s chest, and it’s ivory fangs were illuminated by the faint glow of the firelight. Anyone who saw this creature would think only that it was a wolf of massive proportions. But as the firelight revealed more of the creature, it also revealed a pelt of blood, with markings of dark shadow. This was no ordinary wolf, and as it stepped into the cave, it turned it’s glowing red eyes upon the man who was shrouded in armor. It made no noise as it first padded to the woman asleep on the floor. A few quick sniffs seemed to assure it that no harm had come to her, and it thus focused it’s attention back onto Shatter. It trotted smoothly back to the cave entrance, silhouetted by lightning and illuminated by firelight, and then, as if by magic, a wolf no longer sat crouched in the dark, but a woman. Her eyes were that same eerie red, glowing and reflecting the sparse lighting of the cave like that of a cat’s eye. She was bare, with no clothing adorning her lithe body, and seemed unabashed by such a thing; there was no shame in her proud face as she lifted it to watch the armored man closely.

Only shrewd, cunning intelligence and ferocity awaited him there, and she made a noise like the terrible snarling of a wolf before she spoke. “Greetings, human,” she murmured, though unlike Sevella, her voice had no softness to it. Her gaze flickered once to Sevella, and then back to him. “I see you’ve managed to take my healer away from me. I applaud your courage…or your stupidity.” With elegant grace, she folded her legs beneath her, sitting primly and unaffected on the cold cave floor. “My name is Tinahni. I am the leader of the tribe which you sought, and I have been observing you for some time now. I know that you defeated Mahj, and I know also that you sought to take my healer against her will. But I am also aware of the deal you made, a deal which I have no right to break or infringe upon.” She reached out a dark hand and touched the cheek of the sleeping Sevella with an almost sisterly compassion, before she withdrew and focused on him a dark, intimidating stare.

“You men and your machines…you come into my forest, you kill and destroy, and then you seek to take what is not yours and what you are not destined to have. Nothing will stop you; not Mahj, not Sevella, and not I. I have seen the havoc you reek; I have seen the death and destruction you leave in your wake. I pity your species; you are too blind to see the world for what it is, and seek only to change it and shape it to your needs and desires. You do not stop and think that there are others out there who seek only to live in peace, to be left alone and to live their lives as the Great Mother intended. You grow with only greed and hatred, and you have been fed from the breast of death and deceit since your species was very, very young. I have watched you grow, I have seen the innocence and the happiness you destroy, young soldier, and I believe that you fight now for a cause that is not your own. A cause you and your brethren will never understand. You know only that you must do as you are told, and that all others are merely obstacles to be overcome.”

She leaned forward a little, red and black hair brushing down her body and fluttering in the faint wind. “But there is more out there than war. There is more out there than what you know.” Tinahni smiled in the darkness, a faint flash of fangs illuminated by the fire. “I will tell you now; I do not trust you, nor do I trust your intentions. You and your kind wish to harm my healer, and use her for your own purposes. But you, young soldier, you must keep her safe. If you do not, I will kill you. This is not a threat, it is a promise. She means a great deal to my people, and without her, we are nothing. I entrust her to you, for a short time. Keep her safe.” She closed her eyes, and it seemed then that she was shrouded in darkness, her eyes no longer flashing or illuminated by the fire. “Let her show you the wonders of the world your kind seeks to destroy, little warrior. And perhaps you will then know what it is like to think for yourself. I have faith in you…Do not prove me wrong.”

The lightning flashed again, and Tinahni was on her feet, her tall, slender frame silhouetted by the shadows. Her eyes caught the glow of the firelight briefly, before she smiled, and turned. The rain came down in torrents, but she leapt from the lip of the cave, and seemed to shimmer and disappear in the air for a brief moment. When she hit the earth, it was not four feet, not two, and the wolf turned to look back and regard Shatter with a strangely wistful look, before she moved off and bounded away into the night.