4 The Journey

Belladonna's view:

Last few weeks I have built up the courage to leave my safety net but each time failed and recoiled. Fear was running my life still and it filled me with rage at my own incompetence. I was determined today after the rivers bleeding id finally do it. The grass closest to the border was darker and shrubs filled in the spots beside and around the trees. Blackness was all that the eyes could see as if sunlight couldn't penetrate. Edging closer I felt my breathing grow heavy as a heavyweight seemed to pull me back. Pushing through the hearty bushes till I crossed the small space separating the freedom lands and the wildlands. The first step outside the neutral territory was the most frightening and yet the most freeing moment I had ever experienced. The scenes seemed the same but I knew better than to believe that as the smells and overall aurora were different. It was clear that only the strong and smart survived and likely even then the strong was the top contender. Ten steps in near an old crooked oak tree I spotted the first differences as a dead body half-rotted laid as a type of warning. Intrigued I danced a few steps closer eyeing up the remains seeking a reason for his death. A few spots of missing flesh gave a guess of shock or blood loss. The smell and sight soon was all too much and soon my intrigue turned to queasy as my stomach emptied the little nutrients inside. Within minutes it was apparent that I wasn't in a good spot and this area was like death alley as bodies littered the grounds around every bend. I managed to travel a bit further in before an encounter with a lively rouge occurred and still after three months I wasn't prepared but what can one truly learn alone. Old habits kicked in and soon I was running before my foot snagged an underlying root sending me reeling as my head smashed into the trunk of the tree. Black swirled my vision as crimson dripped from my head. That fall knocked me straight as I focused the best of my ability on all that knew from training. I survived but not without my fair share of new markings and a nasty concussion. Stupidly thinking luck was on my side as within minutes I ran into not one but three more. I tucked my tail and ran with them quickly on my tail yet the black spots filling my field of vision weren't a comfortable sign. I was in new terrain and I was in no state to fight. I came too far to die but I was going to die at the rate I was going. Tripping on another uprooted root sent me reeling and smacking my already fuzzy head on the ground again. Soon it was hard to see, hear, or smell the thing I remember about that moment was embracing death as my consciousness faded.

When I awoke to sticky and slick blood covering my arms and dripping off my mouth I was stunned and even more confused. Everywhere I looked was coated in blood and bodies that were shredded. Every muscle screamed as I fought to stand and not slip on the slick grass. The clothes weaved from bark and leaves from the safety of neutral territory were shredded leaving me nude once more. I tried to recall how this came to be when all that came to mind was a void. None in my mind spoke and refused to tell me what occurred. I had an inkling that it was Mae as she smirked and curled up in her respective spot in our mind. The next three nights I listened to my wolf Mae and watched as she bounded gracefully through the forest and killed rouge after rouge and when she was content with her time out I was allowed to return to my human form. I learned other ways from Sarah who held more practical views and embraced the screams of pain from those we trapped and tortured. When I embraced Sarah and returned to that state of mind everything made sense and was easy to dictate a course of action. Though every action I took was darker and filled with suffering for those unlucky enough to cross my path. Soon enough a motto formed in our head for every mark we got we gave it back in joy. Killing to eat was one battle but the killing to survive or to live was a thrill I hadn't meant to enjoy so heavily. Soon I realized I loved being in the badlands and was growing a reputation of the crimson hunter. I lacked sympathy and was deadly in any and all forms. Maggie had a dark streak and enjoyed poisoning those we met as misplaced as her anger was she was happy to make those we met suffer as much as I did. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and soon the lands weren't the same.

I was growing stronger and faster with every experience and day that I survived. I was growing bored of the things that had once filled me with joy. The pointless killing was just that pointless and easy to avoid if one truly desired to. One day I stumbled into a pack land and had done so unknowingly as I had never experienced entering or exiting other packs. I had only left my pack and that wasn't normally it was through a river while posion wrecked my body. One was all it took to understand the borders and a new thrill arose. From that day that I barely escaped to the ones that followed where I played with the security or when I left dead rouges all over. I enjoyed watching the shocked and sour faces as it made me laugh. This was a thrill that lasted longer and allowed me to train in a new way from increasing my stamina, patience, speed, agility, and ability to become a ghost and move without a step. This dangerous routine helped me hone the skills needed to survive long-term in such a hellacious place. I moved from one pack to another till I got shot by a hunter in a moment of stupidity. I found the hunter and made him pay but the bullet remained and in the process of removing I lost a nice bit of blood. Even though the bullet was silver and coated in some liquid that had a bit of a bite I was fine aside from the cold sweats and the fever. I was found a few miles away from his hideout by an underworld crime boss he was the first but not the last. He assumed I was a prisoner that had escaped and I never tried to correct him.

I came to know the boss as Dade a fallen angel who lost his charge in a freak accident. He welcomed me as did the other guys who like him were cast out. For a crime syndicate they were open and trusting sadly I couldn't be the same. I agreed to work for him and train as an assassin only I was more than that. Thanks to the time with Dade and the boys I was able to improve my skills and I learned to lie unlike any other. After Dade was Marshall who taught me how to steal but he was weak allowing my escape. Micky caught me and taught me the ways of the underground from trafficking to drugs and beyond, Jacky kidnapped me from Micky as revenge and used me as a tool of profit in the underground pits. Jacky was supprised at my fighting ability and cunning nature but when I broke and killed her second hand she took the first offer that crossed her desk even when the bid that came in that seemed too good to be true she pounced and sold me to doctor Veil who reintroduced me to pain, as I became his pushpin holder as one toxin blended to another and my tolerance for them grew till he introduced his ultimate drug called X-cap. Only it failed and I went wild and the weeks that passed are but a blurry background.

Returning to the forest was all I knew to do but from to time I returned to the various villages and service stations to live for a stint. I transitioned from one identity to another and moved around frequently. I relished the control that moving around brought me. It wasn't till two years in that I processed that I was being followed and that unnerved me so I became a recluse and allowed my name to grow into a legend filled with faults and facts that allowed me to maneuver easier. Three months in I found out who it was and what they wanted with me. Through backtracking and false trails, I found a camp filled with journals and managed to read them before they returned. The vision was the one responsible for saving me all those years ago. Yet was trying to take me back to a place I thought I had rejected a long time prior. I began to enjoy the game of cat and mouse as a few clues were magically left behind but it was only things I wanted him to find. Three weeks or so had passed and he hadn't returned and that made me curious but then that curiosity was pushed to the back of my mind.

On a hunting expedition, I had slipped on the rocks and fell into the river sending me over the nearby waterfall as I emerged panting and grumbling swords were thrust in my face. A group of people dragged me to their base and soon apologized as I was provided food and clothing to replace my wet ones. The few weaker ones interested me as there were a few clearly hiding their true strength. I did the same but it was second nature and done unconsciously most of the time. Soon I had anew home. We trained, hunted, partied, and bonded. They were a front for a more sinister ideal but yet so few knew of them. During my time there I watched as they spread, grew, planned, and over time I seemed to be accepted and let in on a few key details. The head wasn't the real leader as he would leave and normally return flustered and would change plans. Something was off and this group wasn't as innocent or true as I had originally believed. I hunted and fought harder as I rose to the ranks I found out this was just a newer branch of an already massive operation in an unseen war. The war was after the throne and complete control over the population. There was more and clearly, this wasn't the only reason as they recruited and told false tails to keep members and infect a false preview of the kingdom and the different regions of species. Once I figured out the truth, the real truth I made my own plan to try to stop this before they succeded, and through a false death, I was a ghost.

Time seemed to fly and the things I once enjoyed were lacking in entertainment and the sanity I lost seemed to be returning in the form of a calling. I felt the calling of the throne as I had always felt but with my recent insights, the need felt stronger and more present. If I returned I could dig deeper and fill the blanks of the info I have gathered thus far. I always knew I would have to claim it at some point but after essentially dying, I did things my way. Then I faked death and in the underground found a fear I knew not possible. Something bigger than me was going on and seemed to have been going on for a while. Through simple research and knowledge recently obtained I was able to figure out that blatantly claiming the throne would end in death. The track record for the leaders that claimed the throne all died swiftly and mysteriously and to avoid the same fate I will have to be someone between who I am and who I once was.

Power is the drug and the addiction comes from using it, but the path to power is littered in blood and pain. who will be the one left at the top, Them or me?