Snippet #2464776

The spring that flourished in Valcrest this year had come as one of the most beautiful in recent times and the formerly frozen and grey fields of the plains had come alive with the color and scent of flowers and fresh grass, hummingbirds and butterflies roamed the gardens filling them with even more life. While in previous years those same fields would be filled with the laughter of children and adults alike, this year it was left abandoned. The beauty seeming now as nothing more than a painful reminder of all that was lost, all that was taken. Even for the most faithful amongst the White Shadows; the beauty was painful as though the earth itself was mocking them for their efforts. The only one still seen in the gardens from time to time, tending to the flowers and sitting amongst the butterflies and birds, was Annie. The girl was the only one seemingly still capable of caring for the plants and for the animals and for all other things that were supposedly smaller and less significant than the loss of human life. In those silent and insignificant gestures she had managed to somehow keep the healers working steadily and relentlessly for what seemed to most like a clearly lost cause.

In the six months that had come and gone the mysterious illness had spread and evolved from afflicting a few people here and there to decimating hundreds, taking more and more victims each passing week; less on its own than through the chaos it had created in its wake, and for the healers all that was left was dealing with the increasing numbers of victims, knowing there was little they could do, knowing that they were far away from any answers whatsoever, and unable to stop and feel for the loss of their own. In the first months of the outbreak there were fights and riots in the desert with the number of enlightened rushing to flee the land, but soon enough word reached every corner of Valcrest that leaving was pointless. It only sent the general public into a deeper sense of despair. Soon after came the voices shouting in the streets that the Gods were angry, that the world was ending, that humanity was being punished for its shortcomings. With nowhere left to run to the people turned on one another, on themselves... Riots had awoken in the cities, blaming their Kings and Queens for the supposed wrath of the Twins. The world might not have been ending, but society was taking its dying breaths in the land of Valcrest; that much was clear.

Annie wouldn’t lie and say that she wasn’t tired, that she didn’t feel helpless, that she wasn’t angry; and that was exactly why she hadn’t done what her mother would do in a moment like this, which was to speak. She hadn’t gathered the healers and addressed the dire situation they were in. She had no words to give them; she wasn’t that kind of leader and she wouldn’t pretend to be. All she could do was show that even if everything else was showing signs of crumbling down around her she wouldn’t allow fear into her heart, and hope that it would be enough to keep the faith of her people from fading completely.

The White Shadows’ encampment had miraculously remained a safe place, despite the tension and violence that had spread across Valcrest, but to keep it safe had become a chore in times when any little thing could escalate into tragedy.

“Are you listening? I said put your hands on him.”
“It won’t work. I’m sorry.” Annie replied calmly to the man that stood behind her as if she hadn’t noticed he was pressing a knife to her throat.
“You’re lying! You can fix him! Do it! I swear, I’ll slit your throat right here!”
Annie had closed her eyes, for just a moment, as if the act somehow helped her see more clearly. She could hear the voices of the healers around, someone had shouted for Alistair, but she knew he was far away on the other side of the camp. She wasn’t afraid. She opened her eyes and sighed, dark brown orbs fixating on the young boy laying ill on the cot right before her, he looked frightened at what he was seeing and she smiled at him in an attempt to soothe him. “Sir... My enlightenment doesn’t work that way. I know this isn’t what you need to hear, but I can’t fix this. I can’t save him. I wish I could, but I can’t. Now, please, put down the blade. You don’t want your son to watch you become a murderer.”

The man flinched, his grip gradually loosening around the surgical knife he had been holding until it finally dropped to the ground at her feet. The man turning to the sick child and falling to his knees beside his cot in defeat. It was in that moment that Alistair arrived, pulled the man to his feet, and punched him hard across the face. “I want you out of this camp in twenty minutes, or I swear to all the Gods, I will kill you!” He muttered at the man.
“Alistair... Leave him alone!” Annie protested, grabbing Alistair by the arm and pulling him away from the man and his son. “What the hell is wrong with you!?”
“He threatened your life, that’s what’s wrong with me! Do you not understand what has been happening to the world lately, Annie? Do you understand!?”
“Al... I’m fine. No one hurt me. Why do you want to punish this man? Look at him. He’s just... Desperate and angry... I know you can’t feel their pain anymore, but... Just... Look at them. That man is going to lose his son, and there’s nothing he can do. He can’t be rational right now, he can barely hold together enough to be strong for the kid... We’re the ones who need to stay calm and be strong and act within reason... Because they can’t and we shouldn’t demand it of them. Not now.”
Alistair sighed in defeat, pulling the girl into a hug. “You are too kind for your own sake, kid. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.” He muttered.
Annie wrapped her arms tight around her friend, falling into a silent moment of appreciation. “I know you wouldn’t.” She mumbled simply, not knowing what else to say to her friend when she couldn’t bring herself to promise she would be alright.
“Everything’s going to be fine.” Alistair stated simply as he released her, noticing her hesitation. “I think it’s about time you go get some sleep... I’ll keep an eye on things and I promise not to punch anyone else.”
“Hmm... I don’t know... Do you really promise, now?” Annie chuckled. “I’m not tired, Al... Not yet. It’s fine, I’m fine.”
“You look tired, Annie.” Alistair insisted, frowning at the girl in a half severe expression.
“Everyone is tired.” She retorted, rolling her eyes at him. “Really, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, okay?”
“I’ll try.” Alistair said, sighing at the girl’s stubbornness. “Just call if you need me, alright?”
“I will.” Annie mumbled, calmly waiting for her friend to walk away, her eyes staring past him to the man still kneeling beside his son. Annie didn’t know what to say to the man. Even if she thought there was a chance to save the boy, she wouldn’t dare say so. More and more hope was proving itself a curse rather than a blessing. Heaving a weary sigh Annie turned away, forcing herself to carry on with her errands for the day.

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[The Manor]

It was a few hours before sunrise as Luckas got out of bed; all he wanted was to go back to sleep, but he knew that if he was a split second late Adam would make him pay for it on their next session so he forced himself to move out of bed. Looking around the room, his eyes spotted a chair out of place; moved from its original spot to the side of the window, and he knew Sam had been there at some point during the night. One eye still half closed, Luckas stripped off his shirt and started to rummage around the room in search for a clean one when he heard a familiar snicker. “My, oh my... Such a nice sight to start my day with, hmmm... What is THAT, Lukey?”
“Amber... How did you... When did you get in here!?” Luckas asked, turning around to spot a pretty-looking brunette sitting on his bed.
“Sweetie, you should really check under your bed more often. Who knows what monsters may be crawling under there, hm? You didn’t answer me though...” She smiled, hopping off the bed and pointing at the tattoo in Luckas’ forearm. “What... Is... That? Oh, my... Twins... How permanent is that little doodle?”
“First of all; that’s insane and creepy, and I better not find you under my bed, ever. Second of all: It’s a tattoo, not a ‘doodle’, and it’s very much permanent.”
Amber frowned slightly as she walked over and grabbed Luke’s arm to inspect the image traced upon his skin a bit more thoroughly. “She signed it! You let her sign it? Are you mad? Sammy is going to go crazy when she sees this.”
“Well, I... Asked her to sign it, but... What, why would she?”
“You ASKED to have this woman’s name permanently branded onto your skin, Luckas... Do you seriously not see the issue here? I honestly don’t understand what they see in you...” Amber muttered, shaking her head in amusement and disbelief.
“I don’t see how it’s any of Sam’s business what is drawn on my body, so no; I don’t see an iss-... Wait, what do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean by what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amber snickered. “Uhm, Adam said I could watch your session today, that’s why I came... To see if you were awake and all... It’s going to be a fun one! I’ll wait downstairs!” Amber retorted, quickly making her way out the door before Luckas could ask anything more.
“What... Just happened?” Luckas mumbled, a bit confused, staring at the closed door for a few seconds still after Amber left the room. He honestly hadn’t really thought of Sam’s reaction at all... He didn’t even think of whether she had or not noticed; he didn’t think so, but then he could never really be sure of that. Great, that was just great... The last thing he needed before seeing Adam was another concern.

Luckas was just about to leave the room himself when the sound of something soft thumping against the stone floor of the room caught his attention, making him turn around and actually pay attention to his surroundings, his expression changing to childish amusement at the sight of a furry tail sticking out from the space under his bed. Crouching down, Luckas slowly paced around the bed, careful not to make any sounds, but of course when he looked under the bed there was nothing. “Alright.... Where are you?” Luckas snickered, standing up straight but seeing nothing different in the room. “Stalker...?” Luckas snorted as there was no sign of life in the room besides his own. “You should have a minion, she said... It’ll be good for you, she said...” He mumbled impatiently to himself.

[Raven’s Nest - About 4 months ago]

“Stop following me.” Luckas muttered, turning to face the pup, raising a brow as the young wolf simply sat and stared up at him. “Good... Stay. Staaay...” He commanded, beginning to pace backwards away from the puppy, frowning in annoyance as the animal promptly stood and began to trot after him. “No, no, no...” Luke muttered, stopping again and watching the puppy sit and stare again. Sighing he paced towards the wolf and nudged him with his foot. “Piss off now, go on.” He mumbled. “Go find a rabbit to chase.” The wolf snorted a bit at being nudged and immediately pounced on Luke’s boot, chewing on the leather and growling playfully. “No, no... Stop it... Bad wolf...” Luckas muttered, trying to shake the pup away from his foot but only managing to lose his shoe. “You’ve got to be kidding... Fine...” He sighed, removing his other boot and dropping it in front of the wolf as he turned to walk away barefoot, growling as he realized the pup had left the shoes to continue stalking him.

“What....” Ess began with a perplexed sigh. She was used to Luke rising earlier than her most days, but that wasn’t the problem. The issue was Tala nudging Ess relentlessly to wake up and sunlight was only just beginning to touch the horizon. “Ugh...Tala...what...why...ah! Cold nose!” Ess rolled over, pulling her shirt down, and wiping a bit of drool off her back. “Gross Tala....really?” Sitting up, Ess counted several pairs of eyes staring her down patiently. “One...two....three...four...five....we are missing the black one.” Releasing a groan of frustration, Ess crawled out of the tent and slipped on her boots, rubbing at her eyes. “Ok Tala, this is like the third time this week your little guy has gone running off. Last time he was in the bloody river. Why are you staring at me? You’re the one with the nose.” Shaking her head she began walking away from the group, holding up a hand to still Tala, her pups staying beside her automatically. Where Tala went they usually went, so it was a bit odd this little guy kept running off. So Ess began her run, keeping to the routine while searching for the little stray. When she had completed a lap and was coming back into camp she noticed tiny tracks and bent down to inspect them, a smile appearing on her lips. “Ah ha....gotcha now” She muttered, following the tracks. Ess heard a voice before she even saw the pup, instantly recognizing it as Luckas and that he was headed in her direction. She paused, leaning against a tree so that Luke would pass right by her, her form mostly blocked by the array of branches that draped almost to the ground. Her smile widened as she crossed her arms and waited, holding back a laugh at the words, ‘Bad Wolf’ and Luke appearing in view with no shoes. Remaining silent she waited until she was noticed.

Luckas was focused on getting rid of his pursuer, an annoyed frown crossing his features as he rushed his footsteps; the pup persistently chasing after him. After a few more moments of trying to escape the wolf, Luckas stopped and turned. “Piss off... Go... Stop following me! What the hell is your problem!?” He exclaimed, raising his voice and lunging forward in the pup’s direction. The puppy didn’t as much as blink at his movement, sitting and staring up at him as if curiously questioning his sanity. “Don’t look at me like that, I know how stupid it looks.” Luke muttered, running both hands back and forth through his hair in frustration. “Annoying fleabag.” He whispered, walking back through where he came to retrieve his boots, keeping his head down as he walked as if it somehow made him less noticeable to his furry stalker, and muttering curses under his breath.

Essence was surprised Luckas didn’t see her as he walked past, but he was looking at the ground she noticed which at that point she couldn’t contain her laughter, letting it echo towards him. Quirking a brow she remained still as she spoke. “Looks like you have an admirer. How does it feel?” Ess snickered. “And he doesn’t understand why you won’t play with him..” Ess glanced down at the pup who had continued to stumble after Luckas, her voice softening as if she were speaking to a child. “Isn’t that right my little minion....yes, good boy.”

Luckas startled slightly and stopped walking as he heard Ess’ voice, looking around a bit disoriented until he spotted her he frowned. “Very funny, Lady.” He snorted, shooting the wolf a glance and then looking back to her. “I only know one way to play... And that is reserved for ‘deserving’ humans, not animals.” He continued walking until he found where he had left his boots and picked them up, sitting on a nearby rock to put them on, an annoyed look on his face as the puppy followed and sat next to the rock, fixing his dark eyes on him like a little fluffy statue. “Can you make him leave me alone?” Luckas sighed, putting on his boots, noticing the several teeth marks on the right one and examining them.

Pushing off from the tree, she weaved out from behind the branches to stand behind Luckas and the pup. “I’m surprised, Sweetness you didn’t notice me. Think you need to step up on your game, hmm? Growing too comfortable maybe?” She teased. “Oh, you do so know how to play. You and I have been training, and you can do the same with the pup. In fact, that is another reason I was out looking for him.” Turning her attention back to the pup, Ess spoke gently. “Isn’t that right boy?” Clearing her throat she noticed Luke’s boot and laughed. “Luckas, don’t be giving the pup boots to chew on. He is teething but I don’t need him destroying everything I own. It’s called a bone or some leather hide to chew on.” Ess played knowingly. “And no, I can’t make him do anything. Besides, what’s the big deal? He likes you. What’s wrong with that? You don’t mind Tala.”

“Well, I was, as you know, rather distracted.” Luckas muttered, rubbing the bite marks on his boot and shaking his head as he noticed one of the bites had punctured a hole through the sole. “And maybe I don’t want it to like me... Or my only pair of boots, for that matter.” Wincing slightly as if trying to make himself look smaller Luke turned trying to ignore the wolf, but failing to do so as the pup simply moved to sit on the other side of him. “Tala doesn’t stare at me... It’s creepy.” He mumbled.

“Uh-huh...” Ess mumbled shaking her head. Stepping so that she was standing in front of Luckas as he moved, she kneeled down in front of him and widened her eyes playfully and stared up at Luckas in silence. After a moment she snickered. “You didn’t answer my question really...Tala...she did stare at you actually and growled at you and bit you, I seem to recall. But this little fluff ball is ‘Creepy’? Really? That’s rich.” She joked, reaching over to pick up the pup with a grunt, noting how much heavier he seemed in a week. Ess made a face at the pup and kissed him on the head before giving a loving squeeze. “He’s cute and sweet....Here...” She stated in a serious tone, pushing the pup onto his lap. “Try petting him. Maybe this will be good for you. You should give him a chance. And don’t you dare drop him.” She commanded. “You will have an angry mother after you if you do...” Ess winked playfully before standing once again. “If you want him to have better manners, then teach him. Make him ‘Your’ minion. He could be like you. Maybe you should keep him.” Nodding to herself she smiled. “I mean I’ll help but I really think he’d be good for you. You know, like a companion of sorts. A bond with a wolf....there’s really nothing like it, Luckas.”

“He’s too... cute...It’s annoying.” Luckas muttered almost inaudibly; shaking his head and sighing as he rose his voice. “It’s different... Tala was protecting you... He looks at me like he’s expecting something. It’s unnerving.” He mumbled, wincing slightly as she pushed the little fluff ball onto his lap without as much as giving him a chance to protest. “What do you mean ‘good for me’?” he asked, eyeing the pup with a comically suspicious look in his eyes as if he expected it to explode or something. The pup simply stared at him curiously motionless until Luke made a rather hesitant move to give it a little awkward pat on the head. “There, there.” He snorted; the puppy curiously starting to sniff his hand and his clothes as if the simple gesture was viewed as clear permission to explore. “Hmm... I don’t know... Keep... Him...? Luckas mumbled, leaning forward as if to get a closer look, the little wolf mimicking his gesture and inching closer to his face, sniffing him some more before cheerfully licking him on the nose. “Iiww... Puppy breath...” Luckas complained, turning his head and snorting, amusement breaking through his annoyance when the pup mimicked his gesture by turning his head and emitting a little huff. “I’m not sure if he could be like me... He’s a lousy stalker for starters... Persistent, but lousy... And I don’t know much about wolves you know... Except that they have very sharp teeth.” He mused, watching as the pup curled up in his lap, eyes still persistently fixed on him. “...Maybe...” He mumbled. “...Could be fun to have a minion.”

Ess’ jaw dropped in an overly fake exasperated expression, “Huh...well I keep you around even when you’re annoying..” She smiled turning to walk away. “Good for you...I can’t explain it because you probably won’t understand until you experience it. That’s all I can say and I think you should...you know...experience it. You will not find anyone or anything as loyal as a wolf, I can promise you that. They tend to have a way of choosing us, in a way so it would be more of him keeping you. You just need to be patient and be consistent with training for him to understand and I’m sure he could be a great little shadow. We know you weren’t born a natural fighter which is why it takes time.” Ess bit her lip to hold back her amusement. “Besides, he won’t be little for too long. Again, I’ll help you. I mean, what are friends for?” Glancing over her shoulder she winked. “And..you have to give him a name too you know. Can’t just call him wolf or whatever. Think about his personality or something and go with it.”

“You keep me around just to break chairs on my head, Lady.” Luckas snickered softly. “I don’t think that example applies to this situation.” He played, picking the puppy and landing him gently on the floor before standing up. “Stay.” He commanded firmly, starting to slowly pace away from the wolf. The pup simply stared at him a moment before responding with a faint bark and starting to follow. Luckas stopped and waited for the puppy to sit before repeating the command. “Staaay.” Again he paced away from the pup and he immediately stood and started to follow. Luckas sighed. “Maybe we should start with something simpler, huh?” He mumbled, looking down at the puppy and tilting his head curiously; his gesture mirrored by the young wolf. “Now you’re just messing with me, aren’t you?” He snickered, shaking his head. “Great, now I’m talking to it too... Lovely.” He snorted, looking back to Ess with an amused expression. “I can’t call him ‘wolf’? Really? The pup of a hound named Puppy and... What does ‘Tala’ mean again?” He asked, with a chuckle. “Fine though... Hmmm... How about Bob? No... Too common... People names for animals are weird too... Eh... Hmmm....” Luckas scratched his head, looking down at the pup with an intrigued expression. “How about Stalker? That’s more than fitting to his personality.”

Ess’ lips parted to crack another joke, her expression falling somber a moment as she actually took a moment to think about why she did actually keep Luckas around. Pausing in stride she turned around, moving her focus towards Luckas attempting to train the pup. “He doesn’t know what that means, silly. You have to show him and then put the command to the gesture. Like so.” Ess approached the pup and lightly pressed against his hind quarters until he sat, standing back up she raised her hand and stated. “SIT.” Taking a few steps back her hand remained palm facing the pup and she paused again. “STAY.” Ess commanded, an amused smirk crossing her lips as the pup twitched and finally couldn’t hold it any longer and came bounding after them. “Good boy!” She stated, kneeling down to pet the pup. “Now it just takes repetition. He’ll learn. He’s smart like his Momma, huh?” She whispered, ruffling up his fur. “And your Momma’s name is taken already so no, no more wolves. Tala is short for Talena...Tala yes is wolf or wolf princess but Talena means ‘Temptress or hardworking’....ironic enough.” Ess chuckled standing back on her feet quirking a brow at Luckas. “Stalker? Really?” Her expression was vacant as she stood and thought on it for a moment before snickering. “Why not, I shouldn’t be surprised though. What you think little guy, hmm?” Ess nodded as the pup sneezed and wandered after Luckas, muttering under her breath in a playful mockery. “Bob....ha...”

“Hmmm....” Luckas mumbled, watching Ess interact with the pup, noting that he almost stayed put, but not quite. “Stalker is quite fitting, for sure.” He muttered under his breath trying not to show his amusement, but not doing a great job of it. “You think I can teach him to pee on Jake? That’d be hilarious.” Luckas snickered, a goofy expression momentarily crossing his features before he gave a little shrug. “Well, I was trying to get him to let go of me because I was wandering off into the woods and I wasn’t sure if it’d be alright to let him follow me... Last thing I’d want is an angry Tala thinking I’m stealing her kids or something.” He said, squatting down and looking back at the pup as if trying to make a game out of his staring, as if to determine who would dare look away first. “Wolf... Princess... Explains the attitude.” Luke chuckled. “Or maybe that comes from hanging around with you, Lady... Hm?” He mused, tilting his head to the side playfully. “I wonder, how do you know the meaning of those names? Are there books for that? Quite curious...” Luckas mentioned, going a bit cross eyed and shaking his head with a chuckle. “Fine, you win.” He stated, reaching out to discretely scratch the pup behind the ears before standing up. “Do the little guys hunt yet? I was going to try and catch a rabbit or two... Even though I don’t quite have a weapon on me... I just realized...” He shrugged.

Ess’ eyes narrowed as if she were annoyed, yet they twinkled in a subtle amusement at Luke’s question if he could teach Stalker to pee on her brother. “Ah, I’m not involved in that...nope...not a word...just better not ruin my pictures....” She glared playfully at the pup and shrugged. “They’ve been eating what Tala brings back from hunting. The instincts are there; which was why I was planning on bringing them all out and give Tala a chance to train them in the field. I’ll just tell her you have him.” Ess laughed not very sure how well that’d work but soon enough those pups were going to be on their own and if they decided to stick around as a pack or what she was curious to see. She was only use to one wolf for so long and the past couple months had been quite the ‘experience.’ It was a wonder how those little fluffballs would turn out. “Princess....attitude? Wait who....what you trying to say there, Luckas?” Ess laughed, thinking on his question to how she knew meanings to names, trying to not pay attention to the cute staring contest Luke and Stalker were having. “Well, I did become obsessed with the name for a while...my name is out there in books because it’s not a name really but just a word of speech. I bet there are books though, but a lot of it comes from stories...songs..” A curious smile curled her lips, her voice rising in pitch to take on an innocent but still playful tone. “Do you know what your name means Luckas? I believe it’s probably derived from other words. You know, more than one word meaning the same thing.”

“Hm... I’d say is more like he has me, not that I have him.” Luckas stated, playfully rolling his eyes. “And that’s silly Lady... How can you say your name is not really a name when it’s clearly your name? If a word is used to name someone, or something, it becomes a name... Like, Stalker is a name now too... So it’s not just a word anymore... You see?” Stopping to think for a moment or two Luckas shrugged, deciding to set aside the fact that Sam had actually picked this name for him; that was something he hadn’t thought about in a very long time. “I don’t know about my name. Never thought about it like that really.” He snorted trying to conceal the fact he was slightly bothered, not by the question, but by the sudden thoughts it had brought up. “Well, I like hunting with a crossbow, but since I don’t have one here and I’m sure Beast Boy won’t lend me his... I’m gonna have to... improvise and see if I catch something anyway.” He smirked, gladly changing the subject. “Should be a fun bonding experience, no?” He asked her, turning to Stalker. “What do you think? Should we go get ourselves some tasty rabbit meat?” The wolf sat staring up a Luckas and idly scratched at his ear with his paw before responding with a little yip. “Yep, he’s going to be a killing machine this one.”

Luckas frowned slightly; there was no denying that Stalker had learned to do his own name justice. “Stalker! Where are you hid-.... Aaah... You little bastard...” Luckas jumped as he felt a cold wet nose poke his lower back; reminding him that he hadn’t yet put on a shirt. Luke spun around to face the large black wolf that had immediately sat down to stare at him with his most adorable innocent-puppy face. “You bad, bad, wolf... Bad puppy, Stalker... What did I tell you about sneaking in here like this!?” Luckas scolded frowning at the wolf for a moment, but sighing in defeat as Stalker responded with an apologetic whine; giving the wolf a few affectionate pats and scritches before resuming his task of finding a shirt. “Come on now, champ... We’ve been over this. It’s only been a couple of weeks since I left the Nest, I shouldn’t go back so soon... You’re not making this any easier on me.”
Stalker barked excitedly while Luckas spoke, immediately going around the room sniffing everything, stopping momentarily to growl at the chair by the window, he then hopped right over the bed to reach Luckas, playfully trying to snatch the shirt off his hands.
“No, no, no... Bud, I can’t play with you right now. Stalker... Knock it off.... Stalker....” Luckas groaned getting the wolf to release the shirt before it ripped and putting it on with a frown. The wolf going around him and trying to push him out the door, letting out barks and short howls that grew louder and louder by the second. “Stalker, I can’t go with you right now... Stop pushing me... Stop it... Stalker... Hey... Hey... HEY! SHUT UP!”
Stalker stopped pushing Luckas his howling fading into a whine as he layed on the ground with his tail between his legs. Luckas groaned, sitting on the floor beside the wolf. “Alright, I’m sorry, champ.” Luke mumbled, snorting in a mix of amusement and annoyance as the wolf crawled closer to rest its head on his lap. He was sure the pup had actually gotten bigger since he had left him at the Raven’s encampment and Luckas found himself constantly having to remind himself that it hadn’t been that long since he was just an annoying little fluffball Luke could pick up and carry around. Now he was a giant man-eating fluffball that could wrestle Luke to the ground without much effort, but still very much a puppy; at least as far as Luckas was concerned. “I can’t go out right now. It’s not safe.” He told the wolf, patting him firmly on his side so that he get off his legs and let him stand. “I can do it after training though so... Go wait for me on the trail.” He told Stalker, peeking outside his door to an empty hallway before opening it to let the wolf out. Stalker immediately rushing past him and disappearing down the hall.

- A few minutes later -

As Luckas reached the training field Adam was standing there waiting for him as usual, Amber standing beside him; Luckas could see they had been talking but stopped as he approached. On the ground at Adam’s feet there were two wooden chests with iron handles on the sides. He calmly picked on up and started to make his way towards the woods. Amber calmly reached for one handle of the remaining chest and waited for Luckas to pick it up from the other side. Luckas lifted the chest with Amber’s help, and it was heavy. “What is this?”
“No spoilers, Lukey. Trust me though... You’ll like it... Agility training.... Always fun.” The girl replied with an amused chuckle. Luckas was anything but amused, he didn’t like how excited Amber was with whatever Adam was planning and he sure as hell wasn’t going to trust her.

As Adam seemed satisfied that they had wandered far enough into the woods he dropped the heavy chest he was carrying, Amber and Luckas dropping the second chest right beside the first one. Adam opened the lid of one chest only slightly so he could peek at its contents and then he did the same for the other as if trying to make a decision. After a bit of thinking Adam opened one chest fully and Luckas could see that it contained long and sturdy metal chains, at each end of the chains there were heavy metal spheres about the size of coconuts. “Run.” Adam stated simply.
Luckas flinched, slightly confused by the situation. Adam was never one to elaborate much on his instructions, and by now Luckas had learned the hard way that it was best to follow them immediately instead of wasting time trying to make sense of them, but he was just too curious at this point to just run off without knowing what Adam intended to do with the chains. Adam, realizing this, nodded as if agreeing to give a demonstration. The man closed his eyes for a moment, breathing slowly for a few seconds before opening them; a ring of silver light surrounding the icy blue of his irises and spreading slowly in a pattern similar to cracks spreading through a frozen lake. As Adam’s eyes changed, the chains began to stir and slither within the confines of the wooden box, making soft rattling sounds as they moved.

Then, without warning, one of the chains shot up into the air at an incredibly high speed, shooting right past Luckas’ face. Luke turned around just in time to see the sphere at the end of the chain collide with the trunk of a tree, a fairly sturdy tree, and smash a hole right through it; bits of wood flying in every direction as it passed. Luckas turned to face Adam and the man had very discrete smirk playing on his lips as he repeated the instruction. “Run.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” Luckas exclaimed, a very uncharacteristic tone of panic in his voice as he turned and started to run as fast as he possibly could into the cover of the trees, the sound of the rattling chains following him closely. Luckas knew that there was no way to outrun the pursuing metal, but that thought became so much more real as he was forced to dive out of the way of a heavy iron sphere; the force with which the object hit the ground rose a curtain of dirt and formed a round crater in its surface. Luckas actually felt the earth tremble under the palms of his hands as he crawled away trying to get back on his feet. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears, his breaths becoming heavier and heavier in his chest forcing him to push them out. It was a rare thing for Luckas to actually feel the tension of a situation this way, if it was Adam’s intention or not to push a healthy sense of dread into him; it was working like a charm. “Agility training my ass!” He muttered out under his breath, finding a place to hide in a hollowed out trunk, his ears following the sounds of the chains coming closer and closer. Luckas was a good enough hunter to be able to tell how far and from which directions sounds were coming from, he knew better than almost anyone how to be silent, how to stay hidden, but he wasn’t really used to being the hunted one. His cover wasn’t safe for too long, only maybe a minute, before the rattling sounds became faster and louder as something that was undoubtedly moving closer at great speed. Luckas only had a split second to move before the trunk was smashed to bits. This wasn’t going well. Not at all.

Raven’s Camp - About 2 months ago

Luckas smirked slightly, looking down from the tree branch he was perched on as he watched a black ball of fur frantically search the bushes, following his scent. It took a bit of work for Stalker to finally get the hang of playing hide and seek, but the puppy was getting better and better at it the more they practiced. Luke readied himself as Stalker started to sniff his way under the tree he was hiding in, circling it a few times before emitting a long howl to indicate he had found his prey. Luckas sneaked his way along the branch carefully as not to put too much strain on the wood and passed on to the adjacent tree, slowly and quietly making his way down to ground level, one eye minding the pup’s movements as he was still focused on the tree for the moment as he started to pace away. Luckas didn’t make it very far, only about five or six steps away before Stalker suddenly stilled, ears perking up as he caught the sound of Luke’s boot crushing a patch of grass. “Fuck.” Luckas whispered under his breath, not minding with stealth any longer and bolting his way amongst the trees, watching with the corner of his eyes as the wolf disappeared in the bushes instead or running straight after him. Stalker had vanished within only a few seconds and Luckas had completely lost track of him.

Luke kept running, his eyes scanning his surroundings until he found a good climbable tree and made a turn for it, sprinting towards one of the lowest branches and leaping to grab hold of it and pull himself up. It would have worked perfect if Stalker hadn’t jumped out of nowhere and latched onto his ankle, weighing him down. “Shit, shit, shit...” Luckas muttered, failing to free his ankle and feeling his hold on the tree branch slip further and further until he was forced to let go, dropping down onto the ground with an audible ‘thud’. Stalker barked cheerfully pouncing on Luckas and laying across his chest. Luke groaned, slamming his palm against the earth a couple of times. “Alright, alright, I yield!” He muttered. “At least you didn’t try to sit on my head this time.” He chuckled patting the wolf gently before pushing him aside so that he could sit up. “So, what’s the score then, champ? Fifteen to none?” He asked, snickering as Stalker circled around sniffing him excitedly, a cold wet nose poking around the back of his neck and causing an involuntary shiver down his spine. “Alright, alright, champ, settle down... Stalker, Stalker, sit.” He commanded, immediately scratching the wolf behind the ears as he obeyed. “Well done, bud... You really got me there, didn’t you? Yes you did, you bad, bad, wolf. You’re a bad wolf, yes you are... A big bad wolf...” Luckas sighed softly going into silence as he ruffled Stalker’s fur; the wolf sitting absolutely motionless aside from a happy tail lifting up a small cloud of dirt as it swept across the ground.

“You still need to learn to stay though, don’t you, champ? I can’t have you following me out of here, we’ll both be in a lot of trouble if you do that.” Luckas whispered to the wolf as if telling him a secret. “We can’t have none of that. I go to Blackpond, you stay here with the rest of the pack.”
Stalker seemed to strongly disagree with Luke’s words as he emitted growls, barks and short howls in protest, sounding pretty much as though he was scolding his friend.
“Hey, hey... Don’t you take that tone with me, mister... I go, you stay. I goooo.... You staaaay..” Luckas stated playfully, poking the wolf on his snout with his index finger. Stalker huffed, uttering yet a few annoyed barks and howls, pushing Luke’s hand away with his paw and laying down, looking up at Luckas with his most adorable and innocent expression. Luke shook his head, an amused snicker escaping him as he stared at the wolf. “Yes, you’re adorable, champ, but you still can’t go with me. Sorry.” He said, patting the wolf and chuckling as Stalker rolled on his side demanding belly rubs. “Besides, someone needs to keep that Beast Boy in line when I’m away... We don’t want that guy getting too comfortable, do we, champ? No we don’t... It’s my territory... MINE... And he better not forget it.” Luckas couldn’t help a spiteful tone from crossing his voice at the thought of Aiden, but he pushed it aside, calmly rubbing the wolf’s side for a few long moments before giving him one final pat and jumping to his feet. “Come on, we’re not done for the day yet, you lazy bum. I seriously need to stop spoiling you.”

Luckas had been running for a long while at random, being chased from hiding spots, knocked down from tree branches, more than once had the chains caught his ankles and dragged him across the ground, before releasing him and disappearing within the forest. The sun had risen and was high up in the sky by the time Luke started to consider admitting to the fact that he was getting tired and he was nowhere near figuring out how to end that little game Adam had started, when he finally understood what he was doing wrong when he remembered his training sessions with Stalker. The wolf could catch his scent, the wolf could hear him... Luckas had never managed to hide from him for long because of that, but this was metal... Metal could chase him down, and it could hurt him, but it couldn’t find him. He had been so stupid to run and hide from it as though it was a living creature, like his wolf. Adam had been finding him easily, because Luckas hadn’t been hiding from him; he had been so distracted with the metal chains that he barely realized that for the chains to hurt him, Adam had to find him first. Once he realized that, the game became a lot easier; not easy, but easier. It was with some effort that Luckas managed to hide from Adam, quietly waiting for an opportunity to sneak up on the man. The opportunity to strike arose as Adam passed Luckas’ hiding spot, seeming completely unaware of his presence. Luckas took the opportunity by pouncing at the man armed with a sharp rock. The unexpected attack was successful in knocking Adam off his feet and for a moment Luckas had the man on the ground with a sharp rock pressed to his jugular, but only for a moment. Soon enough Luckas felt the metal chains wrapping around his neck and pulling him away from Adam, choking him slightly but releasing him as soon as Adam was free to stand up straight. “Good.” The man mumbled simply in what Luckas assumed was praise; he was honestly too annoyed to care.
“Good! Are we done?” Luckas muttered out as he regained his breath.
“No.” Adam replied.
Luckas pushed himself to stand and glared right at Adam. “No?”
Adam shook his head and pointed to where Amber was still standing by the remaining wooden chest. The girl waved cheerfully at Luckas as she opened the lid of the chest and more chains started to slither their way out of the wooden container. As they came closer Luckas noticed that, instead of iron spheres, the ends of these chains contained spear-shaped blades. “Oh... You... unbelievable... ASSHOLE!” Luckas shouted at Adam, as he immediately began to flee into the trees once again.

- about an hour or so later -

When Luckas reached his room again after training he had several cuts and bruises on his legs arms and torso, as well as one long cut on his left cheek where he had barely avoided the sharp end of Adam’s chains; it slicing right past his head. Luckas groaned, removing his blood-stained shirt and tossing it to the floor as it was nearly shredded to bits and therefore useless.
“Adam really did a number on you, hm, Lukey?” Sam’s voice sounded behind him in a curious and nearly amused tone.
“He did.” Luckas agreed a bit coldly, as he rummaged through his things for a clean shirt.
“You should have that cut on your face taken care of before it scars.” She advised.
Luckas stopped what he was doing to glance at Sam over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of her sitting on the chair by the window. She didn’t look upset, but Luckas had a very strong feeling that Amber had been speaking to her about some things. “What’s one more scar?” He mumbled simply. “I rather like the idea, to be honest.”
Sam didn’t answer him, which in itself was something; she always had something to say, instead she stood from her seat and paced her way to where Luckas was standing with his back stubbornly turned to her still. “If something cuts you deep enough that you want to remember it, Lukey; then you let it scar.” She mumbled, calmly tracing her fingers along the brand on his left shoulder.
Luckas winced at the touch as if the mark still burned him somehow, turning abruptly to face Sam with an angry spark in his eyes. “Don’t touch me.” He muttered at her. “Just don’t. I never said it was okay.”
“You never said it wasn’t.” Sam replied calmly, a look of genuine shock and confusion crossing her green eyes. “At least have those cuts cleaned, if you won’t get them healed.” She insisted, slowly reaching towards the cut on his cheek.
Luckas snorted in response to Sam’s statement, grabbing her arm as she reached for his face, feeling his grip a bit more forceful and a bit more angry than he intended. His eyes locked on hers for a moment and followed her gaze to the tattoo on his forearm. He watched her eyes change, gradually, as if browsing through an array of emotions and trying to settle for one; yellow streaks of light exploding and fading along the irises like bolts of lightning. After what felt like a really long moment had passed, Sam pulled her arm from Luke’s grip. “Fine.” She muttered at him, turning away and returning to the window, not sitting at the chair but leaning against the sill.
“What is it?” Luckas asked with a sigh.
“Nothing.” Sam replied, not turning to look at him.
“Say it, Sammy... I know you want to say something... Go on.” Luckas insisted, impatiently.
“What else is there to say, really? You don’t listen to me... So fine.”
“Fine... FINE... I’m really, really, starting to hate that bloody word!” Luckas muttered. “Come on, tell me how badly this will end for me... You know you want to...”
“Is this a fucking a joke, to you, Luckas!?” Sam cut him off, still not looking at him. “Is it!? You should hate that word, that word is the sound of me giving up on your shit. Let’s just see you pull the same amount of crap you’ve been pulling the past few months once that happens.”
“Are you threatening me, Mistress?” Luckas questioned. “You know, if you want to, if you think it’s best, then order me around like you do the rest of your minions... Play me like the little pawn we both know you think I am... Do that! I’ll play along. I can be a good pet if that’s what you want from me, but don’t say you give a shit, and don’t say I have a choice if you don’t really want to give me one. Make up your fucking mind, Sammy; do you or don’t you want to own me? Huh? Tell me!”
“I do give a shit Luckas. I kind of wish I didn’t at this point, but... FINE. You know what I think already.” Sam started calmly, turning to face Luckas with an undeniably resentful look in her eyes. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand. I do. I understand why you like it there so much... She helps you with your abandonment issues, you help her with her little revenge fantasies and you both have a part to play in each other’s sickness. It works. I see that, but you know... There’s only one way that this can end, because it’s my job to see to it and so help me; I will... So this is me giving a shit the only way I can, because I can’t change what’s already happening and you are in denial. So there, Luckas... Enjoy your freedom.” Sam spat the last words as she passed him by, stopping to firmly slap him on his injured cheek. “And get that healed before you run home to your whore; that’s an order, pet.”