Two Plans

Cassandra couldn't sleep. The bruises and broken bones she had tended to for Silas only bothered her the more the night went on.

As much as she wanted to question her father, she knew much better than to do so. He wasn't above slapping her face or seizing her by her neck. Plus, she didn't want to be used against Silas as well.

If Cassandra could pretend to play her role, she could keep him safer - and she could be of some sort of comfort.

She reached out to caress his bare back which still had a few thick lines of bruises given to him by the bookshelf he had been pushed into (or something that looked like it, anyway). Furthermore, her eyes filled up with tears as she saw the way he twitched and cowered in his sleep.

Cassandra was probably the only person in the entire world who could relate to Silas, she was well aware of the stress dreams, as she shared the same fate as he did. Even if she were his prized possession, it hadn't stopped Harbinger from trying to keep her in line, too.

"Oh, Silas..." she whispered and moved closer to his bare back so that she could leave soft kisses on the still-healing blows on his flesh.

The chocolate-haired beauty let her hair mix against Silas' golden locks as she pushed herself into him as tightly as she could in hopes their skin-to-skin contact would help him rest more.

It wasn't his fault he was like this. It was her father's. The more she watched the old General torture her mate, the angrier she became at Harbinger. Each long night she spent awake turned her thoughts around planning his death.

'I should just somehow go get Metas' help...but if I do that, my father will go looking for him far more forcefully than he has been. What if I introduced myself to Myranda? I could sneak out through the gardens and if I explain to her what is really going on, I know she'll help...well, I think she will..' Cassandra contemplated as her hands and lips left gentle strokes of sweet tenderness on his poor mangled body.

'I could at least give them some valuable information...or try to help in some way. This has to stop somehow....' the poor female continued to rationalize as much as she could in such chaos.

Taking Harbinger down would only need one tiny pebble to be tossed into the precious gears that ran her father so coveted above all. It just had to be the right size, the right shape, and be thrown at the right time. She knew she would only get one chance to do something radical to tilt the favor towards Metas and Myranda.

It was going to take some time, but she wanted to make sure whatever she planned was well thought-out. If she could calculate a response to ever hurdle, then she would feel prepared. For now, it was a pipe dream.

"Silas, it's okay. I'm right here, and you can rest" Cassandra cooed gently and brought her legs in between his to 'lace' her body into his. "You won't have to live like this forever. I'll save you," she thought sweetly and closed her eyes so that she could press her forehead into his back more comfortably.

"I love you. I know you can't say it yet - but I don't mind. I truly love you, and I'm going to break these chains you've been forced to wear," she added in whisper as she tried to focus all of her learned coping mechanism of being calm into him.

At least she had some form of support in her life. Silas had none...and now he would have her no matter what.

******

The moon was now high in the sky like the noon sun would be, and half of the pack went to search for survivors, while the rest of them stayed behind to start a logistics project on how they were going to amass others and keep them hidden.

Veltar, Joss, and Myranda sat in a circle as Joss explained the tunnel system he had been planning in his mind. The tension was silently high as both Myranda and Veltar held an ice of anger on their shoulders for the silver wolf's response to Jessie's relationship. Still, they listened respectfully as the plan came together slowly and they watched his stick as it drew diagrams in the dirt near the fire.

"Look here, if we do three different entrances, and we have two 'exit only in emergencies' tunnels that lead to hidden openings that no one is ever to enter through, we'll have a good way to be able to get out of the hive," Joss explained.

"Furthermore, I've made sure that the ground is sturdy enough to hold shape, and for the most part it will, but we will need some wood and rock for walls and support before I feel fully confident the structure will be safe. The more wolves we amass, the more we can do in quicker time," he finished and looked to them both with a bashful smile that wasn't returned with pleasant eyes, but rather ones of glassed-over boredom with a mix of quiet rejection.

"Okay, where do you want us to start digging?" Veltar asked flatly.

"I think we should start near the vampire's territory. The death and rot would help cover the smell of others. Plus, it would be the best spot to start from since it would be just a small length away from the..grounds.." Joss finished with a little discomfort at having to think about that spot again.

"How will we hide the entrance anyway?" Myranda asked and looked up to him with real interest.

"Ah, that's the best part - I want to build a 'frame' sort of thing around the actual entrance to the hovel. We can put some wood around the entrance in a hexagon - like this -" Joss said with a little too much excitement for the atmosphere as he drew the shape around a circle.

"Then, we cover it with a lot of wet clay around it until it dries, and then we cover that with dirt. It gives us a foundation to cover the opening with a rock or log. We can set up all of our entrances like that." Joss finished.

"How do we cover the scent up?" Veltar asked, as he too was one who liked to plan things out much like the 'pack-brother' who was rebuffing him.

"Aha, yes - I figured if we pick places near some fragrant herbs, it would help stymie our scent, and stop others from poking around. Especially if we can find some mint," Joss suggested.

At the mention of mint, everyone reared back in disgust. That was the one thing their kind hated more than anything else - that scent was like fire to the nostrils, especially when a nose got close enough to take in large whiffs.

"How do we help our colony get home, then? Especially anyone with a bad sense of direction..." Myranda asked (in a way for her own benefit, as she lacked that innate skill).

"We can find a way to make little marks in trees that would help guide others back. Like, having arrows pointed up, but we know that up means to go right, and down means to go left, and vice-versa," Joss replied rather quickly.

"That is already /very/ confusing," Myranda started and waved her hands in the air to refute him already.

"Agreed. We'll have to come up with something far more clever, and far less confusing," Veltar added. "That can come with time, but the simple answer for now - is symbols. Symbols will guide us home."

"Very well. This seems like a fitting plan. Let's do it. Take us to the first spot we should start at, and we'll get going," Myranda also agreed and nodded towards Joss. Although she wasn't happy with him at the moment, she still trusted in his ideas.