Project Ignite (Tania)

*Tania's back story*

Sulien, Lighterdome.

Project Ignite, day two.

Wynter, Tania. Female. Age: 15. Threat level: 2. Note: Patient is a Darkwolf, may complicate retrieval. Has the company of a Common wolf.

Retrieving patient in five hours...

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Four pairs of eyes. Canine eyes.

Deep blue and pale green.

Two wolves lay in wait among thick brambles, one white and the other black.

Their heavy tails swished as they watched their prey pass by.

There was a flurry of action as they leapt from the bushes and tangled with the large buck. There was a brief struggle and then the white wolf stepped back. In a flash, it transformed into a tall girl. She was a Darkwolf, a rare creature. A mix between wolf and human. The second wolf, Alec, was a regular wolf, but Tania loved him no less.

The girl ran her fingers through Alec’s soft fur and then bent to retrieve the deer. Her black cloak billowed around her as she stood and strode purposefully back the way they had come. As they traveled through the forest, Tania remembered how she came to be here, alone save for the company of a wolf.

Her actual parents rid themselves of her, she was different than most Darkwolf children and they could not care for her. A childless couple took Tania in. She lived with them for thirteen years before her life fell to pieces again.

It was just a tiny candle. One mistake and it fell.

Tumbled to the floor. The wooden floor shone from the recent oil carefully rubbed into the grains.

Flames.

Screams.

The roof creaked.

Cracked.

Fell.

Tania touched the long scar stretching from her cheekbone to her jaw. She had escaped from the fire that night, but she wasn’t entirely unscathed.

She had crawled from the ruins of her happy home, out into the rain.

Her face bled.

Tears dripped from her terror-filled eyes.

She fled.

Darkness had flooded everything, closing around her and squeezing the breath from her.

Then, there was comfort.

Soft fur.

Pale green eyes gazing into hers.

Tania laid a hand on Alec’s muscle-bound back. He had grown so big since he saved her life that devastating night. “you did well today, Alec.” she praised. The wolf’s sleek head rose. His eyes seemed to say, I know.

As the sun fell below the treetops and unseen mountain range, a single light was a pinprick in the dark.

A mouth-watering aroma rose and filled the air around the two figures sitting next to the leaping flames. Tania’s dark eyes reflected the orange flames. She was carefully turning the skinned deer's leg. By now it was golden brown, hissing and popping grease dripped from it. Alec sat erect nearby, saliva slipping between his long teeth. However, he sat at attention, waiting patiently.

Tania lifted the meat out of the flames, nodded in satisfaction. She swept her blond hair over her shoulder and then carefully sliced a chunk off the leg with the large knife she carried on her hip. She had stolen it many years ago.

She held out the meat, Alec trotted over and carefully took it in his teeth and then proceeded to devour it in less than a minute. Tania smiled and dropped onto ground, ripping apart her own piece with animal-like ferocity. As she finished, she wiped her greasy mouth on her black sleeve and chucked the bone behind her, sending it crashing into the woods. She grinned at Alec and then glanced upwards.

There, among the thick branches, wood planks were visible. This was Tania’s home. She had finished it just recently. It took her two years to finish.

She leaped onto the lowest branch, her dark eyes glittering down on Alec. “you coming?” she called softly to him. The wolf’s backside wiggled as he hunkered down and then with a mighty push of his back legs, he landed more or less on the branch beside her. Tania smirked. “you need to work on your climbing skills.” Alec looked insulted, but they kept climbing together. Alec had trouble, but he had been doing it for a while now and was getting the hang of it.

In the darkness of her little hut, Tania lay in the hammock strung between two branches. She had stolen a lot of her materials from a nearby town. She no longer felt guilty for it.

Tania’s fingers sifted through Alec’s thick fur. “what are we going to do now, Alec? We’ve been so busy building, that now it’s done, what am I supposed to do with my time?” The wolf’s green eyes gleamed in the darkness, intelligence showed in them. He seemed to say, you decide.

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Retrieval in action...

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Tania sighed. “that isn’t helpful.” Before she could say more, a quiet noise interrupted her. She cocked her head. “Do you hear that?” she whispered. Alec let out a low rumbling.

Slowly, as they listened, the sound grew louder. It was unlike anything Tania had ever heard. It sounded a little like when she spun a rope or swung a stick through the air, a whooshing, but mixed with a rumbling. Tania leaped out of the hammock and ran out of her treehouse onto the deck. Her bare feet slapped the wood planks as she attempted to see the source of the noise.

Tania frowned as she saw a far-off light, slowly growing closer. It was a massive beam of light, seeming to originate from nothing. It swept across the treetops like an eye searching for something. It grew larger. Louder. Alec whimpered at the loud noise piercing his ears, Tania threw her hands over her own ears. She transformed back into her wolf form and leaped from the tree, growling for Alec to follow. In their wolf forms, they could communicate.

What is it? Tania asked, her voice coming out as a quiet whining instead of her own voice. Alec swung his head in a gesture he had learned from her. He was shaking his head. I don’t know. He responded.

The two wolves stood in ready stances, growling at the nearing light. Now they could make out a shape. It was nothing Tania had ever seen before and it was landing. The treetops shook in fright at the whirling blades set atop the vehicle. The wolfs’ fur rippled from the wind the machine caused. Tania suddenly remembered something from very early in her life, when she was still living with her parents.

She stood beside her friend, Violet. They were watching Violet’s parents work on a project. That day was the last time Tania saw her best friend, when both of the girls’ lives went wrong. Violet and her parents were different, their home different, their minds different. They thought bigger than most Darkwolves, because of this, they lived far from other villages. That day, Tania’s parents let her see her friend one last time before they rid themselves of her.

Tania snapped out of the memories she’d sunk into. A door on the side of the vehicle slid open and a stream of men trickled from it. They all carried guns, were all wearing dark. There was a triangle stitched into their clothing, right over the heart. They all wore masks, only their roving eyes showing above them. Each of their eyes were fixed on the two wolves watching them with hostile gazes, their gleaming teeth showing.

One man spoke quietly to someone unseen and then louder, he said, “One of these is the one, round them up. Careful, one of these is a wild animal.”

The men advanced slowly, their guns pointed at the two wolves. Tania and Alec watched them in confusion. They couldn’t understand what was going, who these men were or what they were holding. She glanced at Alec. What do we do? She barked at him.

From deep in Alec’s chest, a rumbling emitted. Fight.

Simultaniously, the two wolves leaped forward, gracefully arcing through the air and coming to a jarring stop on top two different unfortunate targets. They groaned under the weight of the two large wolves. Still perched atop the man’s chest, Tania, in her Darkwolf form, growled deep in her chest, gleaming sharp teeth inches from the man’s face. There was a tense silence, quickly broken by a whistling.

A sudden pain in the back of Tania’s neck made her gasp.

She blinked.

Fell.

She tipped over sideways, collapsing on the dew-soaked dirt. Alec leaped to protect her, but moments later, another dart pierced his shoulder and he too collapsed. Only moments later, the vehicle, a black helicopter adorned with a triangle, lifted off the ground and away, leaving no trace of the brief struggle.

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Retrieval successful.

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