Something wicked this way comes.

[Annabel Queen]

"Faster..." The soft pounding of her heart would drown out her heavy footsteps as she sprinted through the woods. Under four paws the earth under her feet was soft, the smell of rotten leaves filled her senses. Around her the sounds of the night sang to her soul. As she got closer to her destination, she would seem to dig her claws deeper into the soil, kicking up sticks and mud as she made her way up a hill. Once she got to the top she would halt her hurried pace. "Beautiful..." Now she stood on top of a treeless hill, above her, the sky mother hung in the sky, her beautiful silver light blessing the creature. Pulling her head back she would close her eyes, "Aaaaaaoooooouuuuuuuu~" Her tone was gentle, less of a warning and more of a song.

Slowly opening her eyes again, she would take a moment to marvel at herself under the moon's light. A large coal black wolf. Some might mistake her for a lycanthrope, and those would be wrong. With a gentle giggle to herself she would allow her body to relax, the black mist that had been swirling around her would slowly leave her body. Standing tall would be a pale skinned woman, she was naked, the light from the moon would bless her frame. Taking in a deep breath she would smile. This was her world, this forest was her home. The moon was her mother, the sun her father. Each star was a brother or sister. How many other of her kind was staring up at the same sky? How many felt blessed under the light? The thought both excited and saddened her.

Annabel's kind seemed to be a dying race. Modern medicine, and technology was beginning to take the jobs from those who could heal with old magic. What a pity it was, business was slowing, and bill collectors were starting to show up on Nana's doorstep. Annabel knew she would need to start venturing into the city in order to make the currency this country ran on. A strange thought. Even from here she could see the lights from the city, it disgusted her. There was no nature, no life. Just waste from their vehicles, and trash from those who didn't respect their home. Alas, she would have to figure out that awful place.

Letting out a sigh, the young woman would raise her arms to the sky. In just a few seconds a screech would escape her. Her body had shrunk, covered in a swirling black mist. Around her skin black feathers would cover her, her feet talons, her mouth a sharp beak. Her eyes were now sharp. She could hear a rat shuffling in the debris. Taking off into the night her wing beats were soft, her new destination was her alter.

As she grew closer to her place of worship, she could see her meadow's clearing coming into view. From above her meadow was perfectly circular. The outer ring was surrounded by mushrooms of all types. Some poisonous, some not. In the middle was a large stone rectangle, big enough for an average sized human to lay on. It was draped in animal pelts, in the middle a bear's skull. As she grew closer she would slowly spiral her way down to it, landing in front of it. As soon as she landed she would lose her animal form. Her hands would slowly, and lovingly run across the furs. A gentle whimper escaped her lips, she could feel the magic drifting from this stone structure. How wonderful it was to feel the power drifting from this.

Moving her hand from the fur, she would slowly run it against her breast. As her finger tips touched her skin, a soft green glow would spark from her fingers. Pulling both hands up she would carefully take the bear's skull in them. Holding it up to the sky she would whisper gently, "Tonight I offer my body to the alter, watch over me mother, for tonight I bleed for your children." Turning her on her hip, she would look as if she was handing the skull away to an unseen presence. With a blink, thorned vine would shoot from the ground wrapping around the skull and carefully pulling it down to the soil.

Her heart would be pounding in her chest. Could she die tonight? Would she? It was terrible to think that her life could end tonight, but she had lived a long life already, far longer then an average humans. No matter what, she couldn't let fear stop her. Sometimes magic needed sacrifice. And if it chose her tonight, then she would go.

Moving from her spot next to the alter, she would place her hands on the fur. Almost like an unheard song drifted through her she would slowly start to sway her hips. Next she would lift her right knee. Under her left foot thorny vines would push against her left foot, both cutting her skin open, and helping her up. Already her blood dripped to the ground. Each drop that touched the earth would emit a green spark like glow. Now that she had one knee on the alter she let her left knee meet the same fate. Pulling her hands up from the furs, she would stretch her arms into the air slowly swaying herself back and forth. Pulling her upper body down against the alter, she let out a breath feeling her breasts touch the furs. In a graceful, and slow movement she would roll her body over, so she rested on her back. Another gentle breath escaped the firer haired maiden.

Annabel would close her eyes relaxing herself. Her arms outstretched to the sides of the alter, her legs slightly gaping. As she relaxed more vines would slowly creep up the alter, wrapping around her wrists and up her ankles, stretching to her thighs. They pulled tight at her, pulling her down against the fur covered stone. Each slow tug would cause the thorns to dig into her soft skin. Blood dripped from her, flowing down the vines.

Her breathing slowed, 'was this death?' a gentle smile would creep across her lips. She wasn't afraid. Death could take her if he wanted. With his gentle kiss she would ride home with him on a white stallion. Her breathing seemed to slow even more, it was getting harder to keep her eyes open, to stay awake. "I am at peace..." Her voice was just a whisper, and then blackness.

The sound of birds singing a morning song woke her, the sun greeted her face. Her pale nude body was now blanketed in furs. The very ones she had been laying on. Who had covered her? Sitting up slowly she would wince, her arms and legs were covered in small scabs. The earth had taken it's blood sacrifice, but spared her life. It would seem that it wasn't ready to take her back to the stone. "Thank you." She whispered it gently closing her Heterochormia eyes, then slowly opening them. Her right eye was a soft blue, while the left was green. 'I need to get home.. I'm sure Nana is wondering where I am.'

With that last thought Annabel would pull herself from the alter, stepping her feet onto the ground. It stung, and bad. This pain though, it reminded her that she was chosen to live. Before she left she would straighten the furs on the alter, and set the skull back on it. Whispering another soft blessing to the stone, she turned and started on her walk home.

As each foot touched the earth she thought about changing shape. However, that wouldn't help here. Her body was drained, and tired. Even if she could shift forms, she could only hold it for a little bit. And it would be just as painful.

After what had felt like a few hours of slowly staggering home, she could see the small house that she called home. It wasn't much, just a two bedroom, one bath. It had a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. Running water, as well as power. Thanks to Nana being a respected elder, the city couldn't legally shut her power off. Walking closer to the house she could see Nana, who was sitting in her wheel chair, on the front porch, sipping a cup of coffee. Pulling the cup from her lips she greeted her granddaughter with a gentle smile. Nana's voice was soft, it seemed to be able to soothe even the meanest of beasts.

"Ahhh... Annabel... I am thankful you have returned. I feared you had returned to the stone, your skin looks sore. I've already prepared you a salve.. It's sitting on the dining room table. As well as breakfast, although it may be cold by now. Jasec was here this morning~ You know-"

Before the old woman could finish her sentence Annabel would cut her off, "Nana, No. I'm not allowing a child of Cernunnos to take me. We've had this conversation. He's a nice guy, but..."

Nana would giggle, and raise a brow, "But?"

Annabel would laugh softly, "But, the dude is like half goat! AND he plays a pan flute. Like seriously, Nana. What kind of a nerd plays a pan flute?! His accent is cute... But I think I'll pass." With that Annabel would stagger into the house, going to the dining room. Grabbing a slice of cold bacon stuffing it in her mouth, she moved to a small brown hand made pouch sitting next to it. Inside was an ointment like substance, it smelled pretty bad but she knew it would take the sting out of her wounds.

Walking to her room with the bag in hand she opened her door. Her room looked like any other young woman's room. She had a few shelves that were decorated with random stones, skulls, and trinkets. Turning to look at her bed she would flinch. On her bed was a bouquet of wild flowers, tied together with a hand braided rope, spun from reeds. 'Ugh...' she let out a gentle huff, picking up the flowers and tossing them onto her desk which housed her laptop. 'weirdo.' She knew exactly where the flowers came from, but didn't want to think about it.

Sitting down o her bed she would dip the pointer and middle finger of her right hand into the bag, getting a good amount of the goop on her fingers. With a soft sigh of relief she began to rub the substance all over her body where the thorns had dug in deep. It was strange, Nana's magic was known far and wide by the creatures they helped. She was a healer, and a good one at that. The salve had already started to work, in fact it worked even better then anticipated. Before long the smaller holes closed completely, wile the deeper ones were nothing more then very small pricks. 'ahhh.. Thanks Nana...'

Letting out a giggle Annabel would move to her closet, pulling out a white dress. It was held up by thin spaghetti straps, low cut to expose her cleavage. It hung loose around her body, the bottom was cut up in random squares. A handkerchief dress, not too fancy, but enough to be elegant on her frame. She didn't bother with a bra, and the only reason she pulled on underwear was to be somewhat civil. Walking out barefoot she passed the dining room once more, grabbing her plate of food. Heading back outside to Nana, she would inhale a deep breath. Outside was beautiful, then again, any witch would think so. Especially one who practiced druidism.

Slowly Annabel would eat her cold breakfast, standing on the front porch, she waited to see what the day would bring her.

[Saddie]

Saddie had been found in the woods one day after her escape from her life long prison. Biran had found her and helped her. He gave her soothing relief, food to eat, a warm bed to sleep in, a roof over her head, and, maybe most importantly, clothing. Yes, clothes were things Saddie held above everything else. She had days where she starved. Hunger was no stranger to her. As well, she was adapt at hunting if needed. A roof over her head was nothing special and held no love for her. She was just as comfortable sleeping out in the woods. Healing of her wounds was something a bit more special. It meant she could trust the guy, to a point. The people in the white lab coats used to help her recover as well. But clothing? She had never had that before. Chancellor, the name of her savor, had given her his shirt on the night she had escaped with him. It was just a plain shirt, nothing important. But to her? It was a treasure she would keep safe. It stayed in her room untouched. Sometimes she would even sleep with it. It was her way to remember him and keep her determined to find him. Her life goal, at the moment, was to return him his shirt.

And so she joined the ranks of Untamed. The group was rather nice. Westly was able to keep up with her. There was also an actual dog there as well. Saddie and Mako had gotten into growling matches many times. Even with her and Westly there were times when a power struggle had formed. Within a week, she learned her place in the group and allowed Westly to be superior to her....even if he was just so derpy. As for everyone else, she understood exactly where they belonged in the pack. No longer was Saddie the most powerful. The days fighting for her life was long gone. Before her were many powerful beings she had no names for. And the leader of them all was Biran; the man had founder her at the dire wolf's most weakest. He commanded a respect that currently only Chancellor had from the red haired girl.

Since coming to the compound, she had been told she was confined to the base. They wanted to make sure she didn't get lost out in the city. She understood where they were coming from. Really she did. But....she wanted to run free. They were on the edges of the forest and the city. It was not that no one watched the forest. People did patrol there. And there were cameras in that direction as well. She was also very sure Biran knew what it was she was doing, but nothing came of her running into the woods. Maybe he understood her need to go out and about. Or maybe he was just too busy with other things to deal with her. Whatever the real reason was, Saddie was grateful for the fact he never bothered to tell her not to do it.

There was a corner in the fence that her small body could squirm through. A blessing and a curse all the same. Though, once she crossed over, the young girl begun to strip. If anyone who walked over would see a naked nineteen year old girl. But Saddie didn't care. Or maybe she just didn't know this wasn't a normal thing. All her life she had been viewed both naked and in her wolf form. She, in turn, had also seen a naked body many times. It didn't phase her and didn't understand why everyone got embarrassed when she did it. But it was what she needed to do if she wanted to keep the clothing given to her. Jesus, another animalian there, could easily turn into his tiger form and back without his clothing shredding. Saddie was not lucky like that. One way or another, there was going to be a naked body. So why not start out naked and save the clothing?

Once she was completely clothing free, the young girl started to shift into her large dire wolf form. Strangely, the girl felt more comfortable in this form than in her human one. Here she was powerful. She could see better, hear better, and smell better. Speed was on her side and she could attack and defend herself. Where in her human form she was smaller and it was easier to hide. As well as better to blend in. But this was so much more freer.

There was a reason why she came out here other than to just run around. Since being picked up by Biran, any chance she got she would come out here. She had traveled far to get away from the men and women in white lab coats. Some of it was in a fevered state and all memory of where she came from escaped her. How many days it took to get to this place was a mystery. A few days? A week? Saddie didn't know. So here she was, trying to back track as much as possible. She had gotten pretty far under the restraints of the time given to her. As well, the dire wolf animalian had learned a lot of the lay of the land. There were many different game trails out here. As well as a bunch of different things that she had never smelled before. Curiosity often times won her over. Not exactly always the best thing, but she was still learning about the world around her. Everything was new and different.

She had picked up a rather strange trail this morning. Keeping her nose to the ground, Saddie followed it for a while. It had taken her to a point before she lost it. As if it just vanished. It had puzzled her. How on earth could something just vanish? Sniffing the air had resulted in nothing. With a huff, the dire wolf continued to trot along. Time would pass before she caught that smell again. It had stopped her in her tracks. Unlike the faint smell she had found earlier, and it was very faint at that, this one was stronger. And the owner of the smell had that reek of blood. Yes. Blood was a smell Saddie knew all too well. Between herself and everyone she killed. Blood was something that caused her to take pause and figure out where the source came from.

That instinct kicked in. Following the trail, Saddie was pulled forward. Trotting along, her golden brown eyes locked onto a house. Standing outside was a woman with red hair, just like her, and a white dress. Truth be told, the pure white dress triggered a deep hatred in her. In a flash, her instincts told her to attack and kill the girl. If it wasn't for the old woman on the porch with her, maybe Saddie would have attacked. While her instincts dictated her actions at all times, there was still a human in her that can be a bit more sensible.

But sitting around in the bushes wasn't going to do well for her. What if they were like the people who attacked her? If that was the case, she needed to kill them before they could attack her. But, if they were simple people living out here, killing them in cold blood was not something Saddie wanted more of on her soul. it already weighed too heavily with all the people she had killed in her day. She had decided to head back. But wouldn't you know it? As she moved backward, a bird that had come up behind her got spooked and flew off. Great, now they knew she was here. Now she was between a rock and a hard place. Did she try and run off or did she move forward?

Curiosity, once again, got the better of her. Moving forward, the large red wolf stared down the girl in white and the older woman on the porch. Sniffing the air, the scent of blood had been replaced with lingering smells of food. She dared not to sit nor moved away. Her eyes never left the girl, watching her every movement. If she came at her and attacked her, Saddie would defend herself without question. Guess it was time to figure out what kind of person this girl in white was. Though....Saddie had to give it to her. She looked a lot like her...though one of her eyes was blue instead of green. Strange.

[Annabel Queen]

As the girl crept onto the witch's grove, both Annabel and Nana would feel her presence right away. It was like a silent doorbell, the nature around them told them of incoming visitors. Who was going to be today's first customer? What did they need? Annabel would stuff more bacon into her mouth as she waited for the body to come into view. As they waited patiently the younger witch would swallow her chewed bite down, looking to the older woman. "Do you think they know, we know?..." Nana would take a slow sip of her coffee, using her free hand to situate the handmade quilt that sat on her lap. Pulling the mug from her lips she let out a soft sound indicating her coffee was hitting the spot. As the old woman spoke her voice was warm, "I doubt it." The old woman would let out a soft chuckle. After a few more moments, a bird would fly off from the bushes where the entity had been hiding.

As the uncommonly large wolf made it's way from the bushes Annabel would raise a eyebrow. "Nana...?" Her voice was cautious as she looked to the older woman, another bite of food in her mouth as she spoke. "That's uh.. A pretty big wolf, eh?..." The older woman would already be staring at the creature, a soft smile on her face.  "Ah~ I've never seen anything like it in my time... None the less, a visitor is a visitor. Don't be rude, Annabel." The young red headed woman wouldn't bother swallowing her bite, calling out her tone was a bit abrasive. "Welcome stranger. What can we do for you?" Most who came to their home already knew that the two who lived here were witches. One of them, the older one, was known to be VERY powerful. While her granddaughter was still learning, but could still be helpful in most situations. Most who sought out the witches did so for personal reasons. The witches could help with elements, and problems that sometimes a normal doctor could not. Between the two of them, their vast knowledge could help those around them. And so they did, for a price.

[Saddie]

Saddie walked out and looked at the two women as they looked at her. She wasn't sure if she liked the fact that they were taken back by her. It was a common thing it seemed. Everyone was shocked that she was a large wolf. That was was some kind of monster. It was bad enough that she couldn't talk. She couldn't speak words. She was working on writing them, but she was still nowhere near a level of what she was meant to be at. She had a pen pal. He was very patient with her, but she felt she was slow going. She wanted to learn more, learn faster....learn everything he could give her. But that was not her issue right now.

The large red direwolf stared down these women as they spoke to her, asking what it was she needed. Or rather, if there was something they could do for her. How did she explain to them that she had no way of answering them? That she just happened to be following a trail? Well, she could explain a bit if she turned back into a human girl, but that would be like taking any form of weapon from her. She was defenseless against these beings and Saddie was not okay with that. Not if she didn't know for a fact that these two women were not going to harm her.

So it was a stalemate at the moment. She had no way of answering them and they had no way of helping her. Not without her giving up her sense of dominance. But, maybe she could give them a chance? Yeah, a chance was okay. As long as they played on her terms.

Saddie let out a huff and finally sat down upon her hind legs. Her golden eyes looked from the younger woman to the older one, weighing their abilities from here. If it came down to a fight, she could easily take the older one. She might be more experienced, but youth had speed, and Saddie had lots of it. The younger woman? Bringing her nose to the air, she sniffed in the different scents. This woman smelled like the strange scents she had taken in before. She was some kind of powerful being or thing. How powerful was the real question now. Likely, she could harm the direwolf. But if Saddie could make it out of the lab, she could make it against anyone. Save for a few instances that was.

Well, a bit of time passed and it didn't seem as though they were going to out right attack her. Some trust could be given to them. And with that, an idea came to her. While she couldn't exactly speak words one way or another, she did know how to write. Standing back up, Saddie trotted back into the woods and picked up a sturdy stick. One strong enough for her write in the dirt while holding it in her mouth. Thankfully, finding one was easier than she expected. Once she returned, the direwolf eyed them, making sure they hadn't moved. If they did, she would let out a warning growl to stay away. Once her area was secure, she walked to about halfway between where she sat earlier and the house. As carefully as she could, she wrote out her name before returning to her original spot and laid down.

Her head was up and her ears pointed forward, listening and watching as intently as she could to these two women.

[Annabel Queen]

As the awkward silence continued Annabel would began to look almost annoyed by it. This wolf was wasting her time, but she knew if she came of bitchy Nana would scold her. And nothing was worse then Nana's scoldings.

This wolf although a large one, didn't post much of a threat alone. Nana would have it tangled up in roots before she even got close. Annabel wasn't too scared or it either, although her magic wasn't as trained as Nana's she could still defend herself if needed. If she had to. However neither of the woman were much into fighting. They mostly used their magic to help people.

As the wolf sat down it caused Annabel to smile, the wolf was beautiful. Now that it sat rather then continued to take a threat posture showed that it was intelligent. Intelligent, but still silent. Perhaps it was an animalian? They tend not to be able to speak in their animal forms, right? As the red headed witch waited the wolf would get up and vanish into the woods. Fully confused now, Annabel would turn to Nana raising her hands and shoulders up. "Alright then, guess it's done with us." Before Nana could reply the wolf would be back, now with a stick.

Annabel would look back to the strange creature as it started to draw something out. "S-A-D-D-I-E? Saddie? Is that your name then?" Impressed she would let out a soft chuckle, "Well then at lest we know you've got a name..." Behind her Nana would clear her throat in a silent warning, which seemed to alert Annabel. "My name is Annabel, and the aged wine behind me is my grandmother, you can just call her Nana. Everyone does. We're the Witches of the Wilds, but don't worry we're not into cooking children or making poison apples... We're mostly healers. Aside from the occasional ritual sacrifice. I'm kidding." There was a small detail Annabel was keeping out, and for good reason. The 'mostly' part was in reference to taking care of 'problems' found in their world, but no one had to know about the dirty work.

As Annabel finished her speech Nana would finish sipping her coffee, and would add. "Come closer dear, we're not going to harm you. Are you hungry? Or thirsty?" Turning toward Nana, Annabel would let out a huff, knowing she'd be the one to cook this wolf a meal. Right about now she wished she would have strung Jasec along, at least he would have been useful around the house cooking and cleaning. Looking back to the wolf Annabel waited, the ball was in it's court now. Or as she assumed by the name, 'her' court.

[Saddie]

Saddie waited and listened as the red haired girl in while spoke. The girl's tone seemed both impressed and slightly annoyed. This caused the wolf to tilt her head to one side as she focused her attention on the younger one. Was she upset that Saddie had come back? Was she upset she even had a name in the first place? Maybe the woman thought that she was some sort of just idiot animal looking to just bother them. No. That wasn't the case. Saddie wasn't an idiot. Nor was she trying to bother them. She was curious at this point. Curious of the house as well as the two before her. Biran had said not many people lived in the woods out here. Not that they didn't, but that very few did. Bad things could happen out here. A lot of creatures could get away with a lot more things than in the city. Maybe that was why there was blood over at that strange place Saddie found before making her way here. There were just so many questions to be had and not enough answers.

Saddie's attention returned to the two as they spoke. Names were given out and promise of food and water was had. Again, her head tilted. Witches cooked kids and made poison apples? Was that really what people thought? The young girl didn't know enough about life or others to make a fair statement one way or another...so she was just going to have to take the girl's word. For now. If it seemed as if there was any kid killing or eating, then Saddie was out. Not just out, she was long gone and bringing Biran here. After all, that was what Untamed did right? Handle things that the cops didn't know about or wouldn't do? They were good people who took the law into their own hands. To make the world a better place, even if that meant having to work outside of the law. It made no difference to Saddie. Survival of the fittest was her way of life. It was all she knew. To be strong meant to be powerful. But Biran was teaching her how to use that power to help others. She took it to heart. People who were much stronger than she had shown kindness to her. She was going to return the favors.

So the dire wolf got up and started to walk towards the two girls. She watched them watch her. Every movement had been judged. Nothing on their end seemed to warrant her freaking out. The older woman, Nana, seemed to be keeping the younger one in check. That was fine. Completely fine with her. That meant that the real threat came from the older one in the chair. The real power struggle came from the older woman. It was when she reached the staircase that the wolf judged the two then and there. They offered her food and water. They were kind yet did not seem to rush into any situation that looked like running away or going after her. They respected her boundaries. Saddie decided to respect their domain. And with that respect, the wolf shifted into her human form.

The young girl stood there, naked as she normally did. Her bright green eyes glanced at them as her large animalain tail swished back and forth. From her understanding, she had been invited into the house and had moved past them. She did not wait to see what their expressions were. They were always the same anyways. Shock and awe. Shock mainly because of the fact she was naked. Biran had explained that it wasn't good to just walk around naked in the city. Well this wasn't the city. This was the woods. But she was trying to stay modest for whatever reason and covered her chest up with an arm.

Stepping in, Saddie sniffed the air. It smelled of food already. Had they cooked breakfast already? Was it rude for her to then be given something on top of that? Well, they offered. But that didn't mean she was going to eat everything in sight. However, water was something she would take gallons of if she could. Okay maybe not gallons, but a lot. There was never too much water to be had. But simply turning on the faucet and drinking from the tap, as she learned, was also rude and weird. So what did the red haired girl do? She sat down at the table and waited for the other two, the actual owners of the home, to follow in after her and start speaking. Or something. Anything at this point.

[TxValz]

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