#onlytrueruler

@onlytrueruler

The Stag Tribe was aging and declining. Between the drop in childbirth, as well as an illness that had swept and claimed lives from numerous tribes, and aiding their allies in various conflicts, their numbers had dwindled greatly over the years. 

They were growing increasingly vulnerable and their lands were prized. With how lush and fertile they were, they not only held bountiful hunting but also the flocks of sheep and goats they tended. Along with the goods their herds produced, they had several looms that made fine fabrics as well as several hard to find healing herbs and poultices. This made their admittedly small tribe quite wealthy.

And even as it served for the dowry of the Great Stag’s only heir, a granddaughter named Carrie, it also attracted attention from other tribes, watching, waiting for a moment to strike. 

The Great Stag - Jay - had lost his beloved wife a couple years prior and his only daughter and her mate been lost years before that to the great illness that had swept the tribes, orphaning his granddaughter who had been but a small child.

But now that the Stag Princess was of age, he had begun a search for her mate; he had introduced her to several potentials at the Great Market, a neutral ground where all tribes could trade despite alliances and animosities. She had been outfitted in the very finest the Tribe had produced - her dresses each exquisitely made, along with her most ornate of antler crowns, fresh flowers woven through her hair---which had flowed down her back, as was proper for maiden of her age, announcing her unmarried and pure.

He had been quite pleased with how well she had gotten along with the head of the Bat Clan, a powerful and just warrior with numerous young children needing a mother. She had even won over the temperamental toddler that was his youngest! They were already allies and a merger would strengthen both the Stag Tribe and the Bat Clan.

But before he could announce to her and the rest of the Stag Tribe his choice for her mate, their peaceful world came to an abrupt end. 

It was evening and she had been preparing for bed, having disrobed down to her shift, when one of the guards abruptly entered her partitioned off section of the lodge without warning. In a whirlwind, he passed her her heavy dark cloak, explaining they were under attack. 

There was a horse - not hers nor her grandfather’s waiting for her. She was shoved onto its back and told to flee, to get to safety. In the distance, illuminated by the full moon, she could see that the few children and women left in their tribe were also fleeing - scattering for the dubious safety of the forests, of the promise of their allies’ lands.

If she or one of them made it, then perhaps those fighting and falling would be avenged against whoever as attacking. But just who---

---the attackers were howling.

Wild, savage calls and she knew with cold certainty who they were even as the guard’s hand slapped the hindquarter of the horse, sending it into a bolt towards the forest trail.

The Wolves. 

There was a bubbling panic as it looped across her mind: the Wolves were attacking. She refrained from looking back, at the burning lodges and fighting. They were such a small number...against only Gods knew how many of them. 

Her grandfather had fought the Wolves in his youth; he had aided his allies against the Wolves and their allies and it had gained him a powerful enemy. His own father had tried to befriend the Wolves long ago before that...and in turn been killed for it when her grandfather was still so young, before he ever met her grandmother and started his family.

Blind with panic, she clutched the mane of the equally panicked horse who snorted with fear at the scent of blood and smoke, mingling with the howls. And oh how the the howls were loud and coming closer, gaining on her and the horse---

---which threw her, rearing up when an arrow impacted in a tree trunk near its head. 

She landed hard and it knocked the wind from her. As she sucked in a sharp breath, she pushed herself from the ground and fled into the dense woods. In the distance she could see a rider and the howling was coming closer. 

The tribe had various hiding places scattered all across their territories - small caves and hollowed out trees that they stored caches of weapons and food in the off chance a hunting party needed it. In the off chance something like this happened. Without the horse, she she couldn’t get to an allies land before daybreak. Which meant she had to hide, access one of the caches and trek by foot---

In the blind run in the dark forest, she was unable to see the tree root that she tripped over. Despite herself, Carrie cried out in surprise and fear as she fell forward into a clearing, pain shooting up from her ankle as she hit the ground. 

The cloak as pooled around her on the soft, bristly grass and she shifted carefully, tentatively testing her ankle and curling her toes. Various aches and twinges from the whipping tree branches cutting into her skin mingled ith the aches of being thrown and now the tumble she’d taken---

But at least it didn’t feel broken...

But it would make running difficult---still, she concluded grimly as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, she needed to find a place to hide, before that rider found her! As she gathered herself to attempt to stand, around her the forest was rustling, the leaves and branches whispering---from the wind or her pursuer? 

Jonny always hated when she had to stay for the whole day in school. Most of the time she spent her day working on her business. Working on her phone or writing things in her planner. She had gotten good at her job. Two years since she had taken over from her step father, not that anyone knew that their gang leader was a fifteen year old girl. She ran her line well, her men terrified of a masked leader who could have been anyone among them, a good strategy to keep the men paranoid and hard working.

She had been away too long, not that many noticed, her homework was always done and she did her class work, having set recorders for most of them. She was the only fifteen year old who had a car, although again not many noticed her sliding into the drivers seat once everyone was leaving. 

It was time for history, and there was nothing Jonny hated more than dwelling on the past. Finding it a waste of time, although useful if she had other work to do, she took a seat in the back of the class. She couldn’t remember her teachers name, she wasn’t here often enough for it to stick but she didn’t care. 

        Nova had a phone in one hand as her thumb occasionally scrolled up as she continued her reading. Tea was in the other hand as he continued to walk along occasionally sipping at her drink. She didn’t mean to be so invested into her phone like a fool and ran into a person. The collision caused her coffee to spill all over her and the stranger. Her blue eyes widened as she quickly pocketed her smart phone into her back pocket.

                  ❝ Stars, I’m am SO sorry. ❞ She blushed as she stole a cloth napkin from a restaurant's outside table near them to dab at the man’s chest. This was truly embarrassing and a lesson in looking where one walked in the future.

        How does one describe fear? The chill down one’s spine, the way it makes one’s heart race, a quickened breath, a cold sweat, dilated pupils, trembling lips, shaking hands, hasty decisions one wouldn’t make under a calmer mindset, disjointed thoughts, inability to move or the desire to lash out like a cornered animal.

                  Fear was such an intricate emotion that can be expressed in many ways. He’s seen it in others and MADE others feel it either by his very presence or the power of his ring. The cold light of fear was something MORE than just inciting fear in others, more than utilizing the fear of yourself and those around you as a physical weapon. It simply was just M O R E.

      ❝ You don’t need me to explain something as plain as day. Look into your heart and know it to be true. What is it that I яєρяєѕєηт? ❞