Elise sat quietly in her room, the flickering crackle of a candle’s flame going along with her breathing, the candle set upon a nearby table. She glanced at the floor with one eye swollen. A slight patter echoed off the walls from dripping blood that left her fingernails; though not a wound lay visible on her skin. Upon the cave walls hung a broken pole with crushed canisters still dripping of water hanging.

She held her hands with a quiver, her eyes shaking, one swollen, “Dastard.”

“I don’t care if you beat up a God, you still lost a lot of canisters and got quizzed by Hunters. You worthless bitch!” came the shout of Rusty.

THWACK!!

Her head shook, her body lurching forward for a short second to then hunch over. Her eyes dropped to her hand, a hand that quickly squeezed at the air letting the blood flow even more, “Not enough that I got involved with Priests hunting a bloody Vampire, no. I get back and Rusty has to wail on my face for letting the canisters get totaled. Tch-” she muttered, clenching at herself.

“You have no one to blame other than yourself Elise,” a voice called back, bold and commanding to some degree.

In the doorway stood a man, arms crossed with black hair covering much of his face, only his green eyes truly being visible against the whites and the slight glow of the room. Elise coughed, standing at once, “Vulper?”

“You allow yourself to be pushed around by your brother kiddo. If you did to him what you did to that Vampire, heh, I doubt he’d be in such a hurry.”

“Pft, I’m not a fighter, I’m just a weak servant girl.”

“Since when did you listen to your brother? Or is it your mortals talking? Or is it morals, not mortals? Pft, an excuse for laziness either way,” Vulper sighed glancing away for but a moment, eyes resting upon a book resting on a pillar of rock.

He walked in, stepping towards the novel giving it a look over while speaking back, “Ignore that idiot. He’s honestly lucky that that fight he got into with Sacho didn’t get him killed. It’s also too bad he can’t be like Britt.”

“Pft, that’s because no one can be like Britt. You’ve seen him fight, you’ve heard him speak his mind, you know what he thinks. He’s the success story out of the three of us, bloody brilliant at all he does. I’m just a failure, more so than my brother.”

“Everyone has potential dear Elise, you just need proper motivation to push forward. After all when motivated to save yourself you took that one Vampire down. Or at least, that’s what you reported to Ogma at first when you returned.”

“Kensa was just weak already from battling, I did nothing-”

Vulper turned away, moving back towards the entrance of the room. His back to Elise, he paid her no mind as he continued to move, “Well at any rate I’m here to collect you. Lord Bakuuva has an announcement to make to the entire Clan of Vulfax. Attendance is mandatory.”

“An announcement?”

“Yeah, not sure what the specifics are but you need to gather with the rest. So, come along.”

A shuffling of feet and a turn, Vulper departing from the room with steps echoing as he went down the hall. With a sigh she moved towards a wood box in the room and opened it; she reached out and grabbed out a gray t-shirt, a red skirt, leggings, and a torn black jacket. With a nod she shut it and moved away from it. Eventually her pace carried her right out of the room and down the main hall.

Her steps echoed off the walls for many minutes as she proceeded down the tunnels, turning down another pathway heading towards the assembly room anxiously. Torches lined the walls, all lit with flames dancing. The smell of blood was present, a lot of blood, the sign of freshly killed humans being present. Turning around one more corner her eyes moved ahead to see a crowd already gathered and in silence gazing up.

A few steps forward and her own eyes shifted, shifting to view Britt standing atop a ledge with a tunnel behind. Near him an older woman who was stationed as the clan’s Queen. Also set to the left and right of them several of the best fighters of Vulfax among which were Vulper and Sacho standing at attention. A shadow loomed behind, slowly creeping forward.

An elderly man, his hair thinning at the front though covered next by a Tricorne, the hair a mix of white and black, scraggly though long and ragged along the sides. A long and wild goatee, wild wrinkle lines, a fire in his glowing red & orange eyes, a bold expression. Both the long goatee and the long hair flowing out of his hat were easily considered unclean, yet also styled to some sense with beads and tied knots in it. He approached in ragged clothes with a cowl pulled back, a cloak wrapped around him tattered and slightly burned on the edges.

“My children,” he spoke in a deep and raspy, yet booming voice.

At once everyone clacked their feet together and stood at attention. All held their right fists against their chest and their left fists behind their backs, all pressed firmly. Azala’s burning gaze drifted around the cave from one side to the other, front to back to front again. In his right hand a bottle of rum drained empty. With one final glance around his right arm raised up and flung down, the empty bottle sent flying down off the ledge towards the ground to shatter against the rock.

All eyes fell silently upon where the bottle had hit and then back up to Azala with not so much as an ounce of being discontent. A cough was heard though following there was silence for what felt like an eternity, all as Azala simply continued to observe those standing at attention. With a slight grin he shifted to speak out as he stepped forward, “At ease.”

All at once they all dropped their arms, the men ceasing to puff out their chests letting out many sighs of relief. Azala’s eyes once more shifted around then then looked out over the crowd as a whole, “There are but two reasons ladies and gentlemen, why I have gathered you all here. That first reason,” he said stomping forward a few pegs before halting again at the edge, “Britt.”

Britt gave a nod and stepped forward without hesitation, Azala’s voice continuing as he stepped around behind Britt, “The reason is because my eldest boy here has finally, how you say, impressed me.”

As he moved his cloak parted back a bit revealing a sheathed sword with an old decorative hilt, the blade lengthy to the tip and from front to back though relatively thin.

“You see, hombre,” he said looking now to Britt, “You did exactly what I told you to do and did it well.”

With those words stated Azala turned back to looking upon the crowd, “You see, he got a group of Priests to go after a pack and a rival Clan. Stark Pack and Clan Despo now have, shall we say, met their undoings before the wrath of the English Church once and for all eh? Heh heh, yes.”

At once the crowd broke out into laughter at the comment, many laughing even on the ledge with exception of Sacho, Vulper, Britt, the Queen, and one other. On the ground Elise declined to laugh, simply glancing away with her thoughts turning elsewhere at that instantaneous moment. Azala’s arm went up with his palm held towards the ground group, all immediately falling silent.

“Yes, yesss, it is good, very very good,” he spoke while turning to walk away again, “As such I have invited my son to join the ranks of our fine elite as a First Mate, so to speak, eh? Heh heh. Consider this a formal announcement and promotion for ‘em though that is where the tale falls short.”

Turning back in full to the crowd now with his boots echoing as if walking across a hardwood floor with each step, he’d breathe in a slight bit heavy, speaking out, “Gentlemen. I give to you our newest insightful goal. We shall obliterate the Noble Clans and those pitiful Packs, to which we will then rule the entire underbelly of these mountains. From there, we can begin again as we did long ago and control many a human from the wretched underbelly that is man’s pitiful greed.”

Once more, the cave echoed with cheers, Azala’s eyes glancing around with a wide smirk. From one face to the next, it was so that all were in celebration of their leader’s plan, all but one who stood idle behind the crowd. Azala’s eyes lifted up, matching that of Elise’s to which his smirk quickly faded. This did not go unnoticed as at once the cheers fell silent, the shuffling of feet filling the room instead as many eyes fell from Azala back towards Elise. She looked around, stepping a pace back with her eyes looking away as a pit formed within.

“Rusty if you’re going to scowl at your brother then at least have ounce enough courage to step out from behind your sister, swine.”

Elise’s expression changed immediately, a bit of fright splashed on the surface, Rusty behind with fire all around him it felt like now that she was aware of his presence. He stepped left and around to which he then stopped only a few paces ahead looking at Azala.

“Father, I can’t help but feel aggravated by this. It’s always Britt isn’t it? I am sick of it!”

“Hmph, among the three of you he is the only one that is not a complete failure. Elise who does nothing but squander in self pity and then you who lost to Sacho who barely gave enough of a damn to fight you seriously. You’re both disgraces to this Empire.”

“{Empire? Pft, since when do we qualify as an Empire?}” Elise thought quickly though only briefly as the air around Rusty changed again.

“Disgrace? Me, the same as her? How dare you you old fool. I am not some weak woman that knows only how to clean and produce offspring!”

Laughter filled the room though much of it quickly ceased as the yells of women within the group were heard.

“She is a little nothing compared to me Father. I can fight. I can do things. What can she honestly do? Eh? She’s a waste of space that should honestly just up and die already. Her and her pathetic friends are all a bunch of soft-hearts that we should offer up to the Priests as a platter of delicious evil. They slaughter them, we clean the Priests up. Win win for all.”

“Rusty!” Destiny barked.

“Shut up you damn rotten whore!” Rusty barked back.

Elise’s eyes shot right to lock sight with Rusty’s, “How about you shut up instead?”

Silence filled the room, a minor look of shock spreading across Azala’s face. Murmurs of surprise drifted quickly and then faded. Azala stepped a few paces forward with his coat creaking as he bent ahead. Rusty’s feet shifted and slowly he took a turn, head moving back, “What… did you say to me?”

“I asked you to shut up- no, I’m telling you to shut up!”

For a brief instant their gazes locked, his full of rage and her own fierce with just as much anger.

“You should know better than to cross me sister. The last time I nearly hurled you into the bottomless pit.”

“Yeah well maybe you should have. Taking your trash attitude out on me is one thing, taking it out on my friends for being my friends, you foul mouth bastard. I wish someone would take you out on the battle field already so we can go on with our lives without having to hear your worthless banter!”

“You rotten little, next word out of your mouth and you’re dead.”

“Then do it, kill me so I don’t have to suffer through your crap anymore, bitch! I took out a Vampire, what’s to say I can’t take out one of your eyes or your fricken teeth?”

“Why you-!”

“Heh, hahaha! My children, you have humored my old bones with this sharp display though save it for another day Rusty. I have things I wish to discuss with you before anything else. Dismissed.”

Elise turned round with a swift walk away, ignoring Rusty as he spat out a remark at her. Turning down a different corridor from before she headed off towards sunlight present in the cavern, creeping in from the outside.

Quickly Elise paced away from the mountains, out into the rich sunlight. Behind her were other footsteps though quick to stop, “Elise, hold on, please-”

“No Britt, I- I need some time to think.”

Turning back around to face him as he held place in the shadows out of the sunlight. His hair messy, his expression sincere as he looked upon her. Zipping back around Elise sprinted off quickly, leaving Britt in the shadow of the mountain to simply look on.