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Post by Garrett on Jan 9, 2010 18:44:35 GMT -5
((This is continued from the Tendrils of Corruption thread from the Forest section. It's marked as Open because Frostfire and ? appreciate unexpected guests... so much so that you'll never want to leave...))
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Post by Garrett on Jan 9, 2010 18:44:56 GMT -5
Frostfire shrugged. "The dead have many secrets, and they guard them well. When they let them slip, though, it is often good to be able to listen..." Frostfire flicked her ears. "Your brother? What does he think of you trying to kill your parents?" Then she chuckled. "Yes, Dark's power is pretty much the most useless ability in the pack. Brute strength is all he really uses..."
Frostfire shrugged. "There isn't a subject I've found that she doesn't know about, though she is not always willing to share her knowledge. I doubt she's told anyone, though. She rarely speaks to anyone else..." Aside from Firepaw, of course. But Frostfire wasn't going to tell Crystal that - yet. Changing the subject, she asked, "Who was Opalclaw?"
"Age is determined by your experiences in the world more than by when you were born," replied Frostfire. "But yes, that would be around my age."
Frostfire stopped at the edge of the lake by a small hill. It looked innocent enough, but she carefully cleared the brush near its base to reveal a small tunnel. She rarely used this entrance, but she wasn't about to let Crystal see her primary point of entry... "Come on," she beckoned as she stepped into the darkness...
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Post by Knight on Jan 10, 2010 15:55:53 GMT -5
Crystal shrugged, "They rarely do. I can hardly hear them when they're letting secret slip, my powers aren't quite that strong." she shrugged again, before continuing in answer to her next question, "He's not very opinionated, but from what I gather, he supports it well enough. He was angry that he was killed, understandably, and he knows that I need to kill them both, but mostly, I just want to kill my mother. Dark is a secondary target." Her chuckle was an echo of Frostfire's, "Useless indeed. He solely relies on brute strength, which is why killing him will be easy. Dark is not all that smart."
She inclined her head slightly. Of course, a smart mistress, which meant Crystal would have to watch her step around the two females. "She knows very many things..." Crystal reflected, tilting her head slightly before continuing, following the sudden change of subject without protest, "Opalclaw? He was a male I ran into once. He was foolish, muttering to himself about a female named Icepelt - I didn't learn who she was for a long while after that - and about the Silent Pack. I introduced myself, and the way he looked at me made me fairly sure he knew who I was. I never did ask him, though. I left not long after. Gold is a rather blinding color. It bothers me. And he was full of himself, too." Crystal was rambling slightly, but it didn't bother her much. Opalclaw had been an interesting young male, he'd had potential. Quite a bit of potential, actually... Crystal had been dissapointed when he didn't decide to follow her.
Crystal inclined her head, "You are wise." she commented, reiterating her earlier point with a flick of her ear, "But in the terms of summers, you are young. In terms of what you've seen, you are an old soul."
Absently, Crystal mused about what would happen if she followed, but she was interested to learn of what would happen in this labryinth of tunnells beneath the lake. Who was this mysterious mistress that Frostfire spoke of, she wondered as she slipped after the other female with a lazy flick of her tail, who was this mistress?
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Post by Garrett on Jan 10, 2010 16:48:20 GMT -5
"Even a rare chance is better than none," replied Frostfire. "Your brother sounds like he understands you well... Still, be careful not to trust him too much. No matter who they were in life, the dead have another agenda in death..." She had learned that lesson far too well. "If you want to kill your mother, kill Dark first," she advised. "Even though they are no longer partners, Matsi still cares about her old mate. Then kill Shadow in front of her. Their deaths will hurt her far more than you ever could by killing her..."
Frostfire came to a split in the path and took the right hand tunnel. "Hm... I wonder if he is still alive..." She remembered something about an Opalclaw, but not much. It didn't seem very important. She'd ask her mistress later...
She chose another tunnel seemingly at random - which, in truth, she was. Soon she was satisfied that Crystal would be completely lost... After all, she wasn't exatly going to lead the other wolf straight there. She laughed. "By what I've seen, I'd be the oldest wolf in Spirit Pack..." She shrugged. "Age matters little."
A wall of glowing green mist lay before her. She touched her tail to Crystal's shoulder to guide her. "Stay close." Visibility was about zero in the mist...
Which was why her mistress had put it there. Frostfire quickly took advantage of it to make several more turns, just to make sure Crystal was utterly lost...
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Post by Knight on Jan 15, 2010 9:36:22 GMT -5
Crystal shrugged lazily, "He doesn't understand me all that well. He's a stranger that I know, something I understand but I don't, and I suspect that he feels the same way about me. We are similar in someways, polar opposites in others." she padded after Frostfire, taking in what she had to say next, and silently filing it away. She would probably do something similar, perhaps roping Moon into it as well. Crystal blamed Moon for what had happened, even if she didn't blame him quite as much as she blamed her mother and father.
Crystal shrugged, "As far as I know, he is. I have not heard of or from him for a good while, but one of my contacts would've told me if he was dead, I suppose."
She inclined her head slightly, "I suppose I'd probably claim third oldest... Even if I do not run with their pack anymore, I know enough of the cruelties of the world. I doubt I've seen as much as you, or, for that matter, your mistress, which would put at me at third oldest, seeing as I doubt anyone other than you two has seen more of life than I have." Flattery would not get her far with this wolf, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
She hadn't needed the warning to stay close, but Crystal didn't comment, instead, she trusted Frostfire to lead her onwards, following the tail that rested on her shoulder, trusting the female she'd just met not to whirl on her and kill her in this green mist.
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Post by Garrett on Jan 15, 2010 13:30:23 GMT -5
Frostfire padded through the mist. "Be cautious, then. No matter what you think, he is the one using you, and not the other way around. He will only help you as long as his agenda alines with yours - the dead care little for the living..."
"Many have seen the cruelties of the world," she replied. "Few ever try and do anything about them. Those that do, fail. Cruelty cannot be changed - it is the way of the world. It can only be avenged, so that one wolf no longer causes others to suffer." Crystal's flattery didn't do more than make Frostfire idly irritated, but she didn't show it. "In time, you will see just as much as we have... The only question is whether you will survive it..."
Frostfire padded down the final tunnel, emerging into a large cavern, though not the same one Firepaw was familiar with. No light shone in, as any holes would have poured water down upon them. Instead, a pale green glow seemed to ignite the cavern, though it had no obvious source, and left most of the area in shadow...
"Welcome..." whispered a low voice, barely recognizable as female. A pair of glowing green eyes shown from the darkness atop a nearby rock...
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Post by Knight on Jan 16, 2010 20:41:09 GMT -5
Crystal shrugged lazily, "Does it matter? He helps me for now, that is what matters, in all honesty." a flicker of amusement danced through her eyes, "But then, I know who would help me if he didn't." Anger flickered in her eyes, but she didn't care to elaborate, really. If Frostfire pushed her, the other female would learn just how much depth extended in Crystal's more obvious appearance.
Anger flickered in her eyes once more, the condescension in Frostfire's voice, imagined or not, had not been missed, "Don't worry. I will survive it. The only reason I haven't seen it yet is because I do not create needless chaos all around me. I seek quietly, I do not attack until I am certain."
"Mm-hmm." Crystal replied absently, adding sarcastically a moment later, though her voice mellowed into a serious tone as she wrapped up her words: "Lovely little home you have here... But don't you ever wish you could see the sun once in a while?"
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Post by Garrett on Jan 16, 2010 21:50:45 GMT -5
She smiled slightly as she heard Crystal's comments. This one might be useful...
She waited as Frostfire approached silently and respectfully. She nodded approvingly. "Well done."
"Thank you, mistress," replied Frostfire.
She turned her attention back to Crystal. Green mist seemed to lurk at the edges of the cavern, though if you ever looked directly at it, it vanished. "Crystal... I've been expecting you."
Hearing Crystal's comment, she shrugged, though it probably wasn't visible to the other wolf. "The sun has no place here, where those with hearts of ice reside... But that is not important now. What's important is that we share a common goal..."
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Post by Knight on Jan 17, 2010 22:06:21 GMT -5
Crystal stood silently, her ears pricked as a small conversation moved about her. She didn't need to get involved - she was measuring this new wolf, who could, quite possibly become an opponent.
"The sun and the moon belong to the wolf." she replied coolly to the stranger's comment, before going on without a change in tone, "Yes, we do, don't we?"
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Post by Garrett on Jan 17, 2010 22:20:29 GMT -5
She turned her glowing eyes to away from Frostfire, who still waited obediently. At least she had taught her apprentice well...
She fixed her gaze on Crystal, not deigning to reply to her earlier comment. Instead, she cut right to the chase. "You want to kill your parents, Matsi and Dark." It was not a question; her voice carried the weight of one absoloutely certain of herself. "Frostfire and I desire the destruction of the Frost Pack." It was not quite the truth, but it was close enough that no one would detect the lie.
"One goal leads to another - without Matsi, the pack will fall easily. And our purposes will be accomplished much more quickly if we work together..."
"I offer an alliance. Do you accept?"
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Post by Knight on Jan 18, 2010 9:47:43 GMT -5
Crystal inclined her head, a small sign of agreement, she knew that the other female would see it. She seemed to know everything, though Crystal was sure that eventually, there would be something that this stranger did not know.
She listened quietly to the stranger's words, "You are right." she admitted, inclining her head slightly.
Crystal blinked, "Is it actually an option? If I choose not to accept the alliance, will I leave this cavern alive?" she was bluffing, she intended to accept that alliance.
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Post by Garrett on Jan 18, 2010 14:17:17 GMT -5
She shrugged, though it was difficult to see. She stayed far enough in the darkness that even her silhouette was hard to make out. "It's entirely an option. I'm not going to do a thing to you if you refuse. Whether you leave alive would depend entirely on whether you get lucky enough to find the correct way out, rather than falling into a bottomless pit." She knew very well that Crystal had no hope of getting out alone, and she knew Crystal would realize that, as well. She could also tell that Crystal wasn't stupid enough to decline her offer, either...
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Post by Knight on Jan 19, 2010 16:11:14 GMT -5
Crystal wrinkled her nose at the stranger's voice - an entirely unattractive option, falling into a bottomless pit was, but a hint of sarcasm still laced her voice, "And that is as good as promising me you'll kill me. You both know I do not know my way back out, which I suspect you planned all along." Her voice wasn't accusing, she was merely stating the facts.
"But as to accepting this alliance, I believe I shall. There's no other way for me to get out of here alive, anyways." Whatever you might call Crystal, she did have good survival instincts on her.
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Post by Garrett on Jan 19, 2010 16:46:38 GMT -5
"True. Nothing personal, but we can't have an enemy knowing where our lair is." Her voice was calm. She knew what Crystal would say...
She wasn't disappointed. "Good." Her eyes narrowed for a moment. "Don't think about treachery, either. No wolf has ever betrayed me and lived to tell the tale." Then her gaze returned to normal. "Now, how much do you know about the Frost Pack?" It was generally a good idea to make sure wolves at least knew what they were doing before sending them off to kill others...
Crystal looked smart, but she couldn't have learned much, only just arriving in this area. That could be remedied...
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Post by Knight on Jan 22, 2010 21:43:05 GMT -5
Crystal grinned widely, "You know what? I like you already." they understood her, even if the two did have some ego to share between them. Crystal didn't mind that, though, she knew she herself was high maintenance, and even someone who planned to kill their family couldn't really be a hypocrite without, well, being a hypocrite.
She shrugged expressively as the female went on, "I give you my word, you, however, shall have to trust it, not that I'll blame you if you don't."
Crystal blinked as the other female went on, "I know it is a matriarchal society, that Matsi claims the highest rank along with a male named Shadowfang, though he goes by Shadow, that currently, they plan on having Moon become Alpha once the two step down," she'd tortured that bit of info from an old friend of Matsi's, "At least, that is what I predict they shall do. The majority of the members of the Frost Pack have powers, the Cave Pack is their sworn enemy, and that is all I can think of at the moment. How much am I missing?"
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