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The air was at its coldest, in the middle of winter. Fresh snow lined the streets and blanketed the tops of the buildings in a rather small village. Nestled in an evergreen forest, over shadowed by the snow capped mountains at all sides. The only signs of life were the prints in the snow. Most human, some like that of massive wolves. Some of the windows glowed with the light of the lanterns and fireplaces inside. All this was a familiar sight to the black haired man that walked through the streets. Gabriel, as he was called, was an all to important figure in this community. A tribe of werewolves, where he was the alpha male.

His eyes, flame red in color, were glazed over from being deep in thought. Many stories had been spread through the lands of Lycana. Stories of war, of unrest. Gabriel had dismissed these as only stories, but he still had to think about it. If it were true, what would he have to do to protect the tribe? He gave a sigh as he approached the edge of his village, a light mist escaping his lips and vanishing in the cold air. The elders had told him to venture to T'rurel, to find if the stories were true. Gabriel would listen, of course. He stopped at the edge of the tree line, glancing back at the village before shifting. Now in the form of a black wolf standing at about ten foot at the shoulders, he ventured down the snow covered roads to the south. Towards the plains in which lied the City of T'rurel.

Wes walked along the trail, heading off into the plains surrounding T'rurel. He normally didn't visit the city until later in the year, but his village needed some news and supplies. Unrest was in the air sure, but his village didn't know how bad things actually were, so they sent Wes, the usual traveler. He looked up at the large city, slowly walking into the city, sword on his back and ready for anything.

He went over his goals for the visit as he always had a small list of things, get information, get supplies, get out. Simple, He thought, Talk to some people, trade some goods and head back home, nothing more. He walked deeper into the city, towards one of the open squares, a likely place for information and trade.

It was the same every day. The same chores, the same shouts, the same punishments for doing things wrong even though they were done right. Leera was tired of being a slave to these 'high and might' elves. She and most of her race were their slaves. But not for long. In the vampire society, she was well known, as she was the leader of the rebellion. It was on the down low for now, as they were still amassing everything they needed to rise up against the elves. As much as she hated them, she had to admire their strength in magic. Yet she didn't get why Arcanae blessed them so much more then the others.

She scoffed to herself as she walked down the streets towards the marketplace. T'rurel was large, yes, but she had been here so long it didn't take long for her to get there. with the money allotted her by her owners, she set about getting the supplies they told her to get. When a familiar stench hit her nose. Werewolf, the natural enemy of the vampires. She snarled, remembering the tales of the savagery from the Great War centuries before. Vampires, even those generations after, were notoriously bad for holding grudges.

It was the time the all the nomadic tribes of the 'Azraq-ma'an gathered together for the annual Ritual of the Waves. They gathered in the only permeant city, upon the southern shores of The Great Desert. There, the alphas Ajihad and Rezso, would lead the ritual. Upon completion, the male, Ajihad, would bear an offering to the Temple of Aratose in the city of T'rurel. As was tradition. He had now been on the road for days, having left his dear Rezso behind to lead the tribe. Yet now, as he padded down the road in the form of a wolf, the bag holding the offering hanging from his jaws, the fortress walls of T'rurel came to view.

With renewed vigor, his pace quickened. The brown wolf, slightly larger then reality's wolves, ran down the road to the gates, which stood open in welcome to all in the lands.

Gabriel followed the winding road in a full run. His tribe being the largest when it came to their wolf forms, they never had much trouble getting anywhere quickly. As he ran the trees and mountains passed by him, his surroundings changing rapidly. Soon he came to the edge of the northern mountains, and the green expanse of the plains laid before him. He stopped momentarily to look on at the sight. The road led southwest, towards T'rurel. So he continued to follow it, still at a full run. Soon the fortress city came into view, the the massive black wolf's pace would slow.

Wes wandered the marketplace in mild discontent, he had found out nothing new, but at least he had the supplies his village needed. He slung the bag of goods over his shoulder, letting out a sigh, he was about to depart when he knew that he didn't want to leave without something to tell the village.

Wes scratched his stubble beard, sighing he thought to himself, What am I supposed to tell them? That nothing's changed? No, I need a solid answer, from someone, anyone will do at this point.

He looked around the market once more, laying eyes on Leera, who was walking away from where he was towards the center of the marketplace. He walked up behind the stranger, tapping her on her shoulder gently, speaking with a polite tone "Excuse me ma'am, but do you think I could ask you something? I'd just like some information if you don't mind."

Rose had wandered through the snow covered trail, letting a heavy sigh surpass her lips the cool air causing her breath to be visible, the soft crunching of snow beneath her as she walked. Putting up her hood she had always been wary of wandering into the unknown. After all she had been an elf with elemental powers, as well as a skilled healer though apart from that and her looks she wasn't like her fellow elves. Not that the enemies of the elves would see it that way, it was more so the fact that she would be killed on sight rather than asked questions later. Her purple eyes flickered as she had thought she heard a tree branch break well off in front of her but she smiled to herself as she had spotted a doe. "You're alone too.." She whispered into the cold before her smile turned to a slight frown as she reached behind her grabbing her bow, lining up the tip of the arrow with her target she effortlessly let her arrow fly into the doe, causing her to grin some once the doe had been hit in a vital area and immediately dropped. Heading to the doe she knelt down and slowly ran her hand along the fur, "Thank you.." She spoke the words quietly yet almost in a sad tone before she began to gut the deer, taking only what she needed of the meat she decided to leave the rest to the elements before she continued on traveling. Not fitting in anywhere it was quite a shock she had made it this far on her own.

T'rurel was supposed to be a lively place full of laughter and hope. It was the Capital city; Information, trade, temples and beauty lay within. It was an adventure's dream to discover such a place.

Yet the Twins had only found unpleasant snow and threats of war so far.

The vampires wanted freedom, something that had been so wrongfully denied for them. Cast in chains, they were thrown into servitude for as long as any of their kind could remember and now things were as volatile as ever. Yet whispers had reached their ears and the nearly inseparable pair had followed the voices in the wind in hope of possibly seeking the truth.

A Younger Vampire by the name of Leera was forming something tangible, something that would not easily be crushed, at least not under the watchful eyes of the Twins. Carefully, they had planned this day and finally they had arrived.

Their Master did not know and he would never find out.

Walking through the snow covered streets, their woolen cowls bellowed slightly in the breeze but kept their faces hidden. The Twins were not entirely free just yet and when they found the illusive Leera, they would make sure to free their brethren before seeking their own freedom.

For now, only the snow and sneers greeted them.

At first Leera greeted the man with a low hiss, expecting him to be some elvish slave holder come to punish her for the fun of it. When she turned to see that was wrong, the red head relaxed slightly. It took her a moment to process what he had asked. She thought it funny that it was her he had asked for information, and then grew suspicious. Did he know something he shouldn't? She could tell he wasn't a vampire. The woman decided to lead him on for now, to draw out anything he may know.

"What sort of information are you looking for"

She would ask, facing the man completely as she did so.

Wes held his hands up at the hiss, easing up as Leera turned towards him. He spoke with a rough, but gentle voice, "I don't mean to cause trouble, I was wondering if you knew anything about the... unrest the kingdom seems to be thrown into." He bowed politely, his usual greeting, but he was unsure of what she was, "I come from a small village quite some ways from here and we don't get much news. I was hoping to just learn of any change in the lands, no matter how small." He didn't know how to word it better than that, I must sound like a damn idiot to her he thought to himself.

The whispers spoke of a woman with hair the color of fire.

Deep within the crowds of many, they watched for the vampire with such a color of hair. The snow flakes fluttered wildly all around them and the snow crunched softly underneath their feet but the twins seemed undeterred from their task. They had sacrificed so much for this...They had to find her.

Walking around for what seemed like hours, the Twins finally came upon T'rurel's city square and with their keen eyes they found what appeared to be the objective of their quest.

A woman of average height stood out amongst the blurred faces of the crowd. Her long red hair seemed unblemished and untouched by the snow and the subtitle details of her general stance and appearance made the Twin's lips turn into similar smiles. Going to casually approach her, they were cut off by a scruffy looking human male as he prodded her for information.

Frowning in unison, they approached nonetheless and waited patiently for an opening.
"There are talks of war," Celene stepped up to interject into the conversation, giving a polite nod to both as she approached.
"Something stirrs that was always destined to happen, it is only now do the people decide to open their eyes and actually see it."

Wes backed up, turning to the two newcomers. He spoke in an unsettled tone, this was the first he had heard any talk about war, and it seemed concerning, "War? What people are talking of engaging war? And for what reasons? I know the only large tensions have been between-" He stopped mid-sentence, Vampires and the Elves he thought, speaking up again, "You are to have me believe that the Elves and Vampires are about to wage war on each other?"

Wes had always disliked the elves, but not to the point of bloodshed. He never understood why so many humans worshiped them like Gods when they acted like nothing more than tyrants over peasants. His village wasn't far from Elven territory so the talk of war made him concerned over the safety of his remaining family and the other villagers. Being the best and only warrior in his small village he had to deal with any and all threats, but a war was way out of his league.

Opening her mouth to respond, Celene tried to explain but it appeared her twin had beaten her to it.
"Is that really so strange, human?" Claudia hissed venomously at the man before her. She had nearly spat the words out at him.
"When people have been oppressed all their lives, treated even less than dirt, they will not sit idle by when a knife is presented to slit their oppressors throats," She huffed at him and proceeded to take a menacingly step forward until Celene placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Forgive her words. She forgets what temper she possesses," Celene said in defense of her Twin's angry words. They did not know this human but he could easily turn them in if he discovered their identities. It was best to keep it safe.

"Regardless, she does have a point. This is something that is not easy to ignore. You cannot keep your eyes shut forever at such a thing," Celene added carefully

Leera's red eyes looked to the twins suspiciously. They knew a lot of what was happening, and seeing that they too were vampires, she assumed they must have been recruits from another city. Her eyes then turned to the human. She had to relay to the twins, yet leave out the information the human shouldn't hear.

"I have heard stories of war, yes, but only stories. If I were the leader of such a resistance, I would be more careful of spreading such words."

She said. A lie in a way. She was telling the man she had only heard stories, while at the same time, telling the twins to be careful what they said. The rebellion was to close to it's goal to be exposed now. The elves were already on high alert from the stories themselves. She reached up, pushing her red hair from her face, spotting the brown wolf, Ajihad, making his way through the gates of the city.

"Why don't you go speak to that wolf. Being outside the city, he may have more of the news you are looking for."
She said, speaking the word wolf with extreme distaste. But it was an attempt to get the human to leave them, so the vampires could talk in private.

It wouldn't be long before the red eyed wolf made it to the gates. There he would stop. He saw a brown wolf enter before him, and recognized him as the alpha Ajihad. Though he had only met the wolf once, years ago, Yet the desert wolf left a lasting expression on him. The wolf padded into the city, taking in the sight.

T'rurel was so different then what he remembered as a child. Years ago. He felt that his black fur stood out against the snow upon the streets, and against the crowd. As black was a color mostly only seen in his tribe, and his tribe was elusive. It was rare that one of the Lupine Embers left the northern mountain and forests they called home. The bright red of his eyes would only seal that he indeed was from the north. Yet he was hear for a reason, and he would complete that reason.

Wes' gaze shifted between the three of them, with a sigh he said "I won't ignore it, and I'll keep an eye out, not that I would side with the elves on that matter, bunch of tyrants if you ask me, but that's only the opinion of me and my village." He paused for a moment, considering the matter, "I should be on my way now, with talks of war I've got what information I need for my village, thank you for your, insight." He turned, briskly walking off into the crowd with a sigh.

He picked up on a few things from the conversation, he had some prior knowledge of a resistance, but nothing more than rumors from various Elves, and after hearing the vampires, they made him think there was quite a bit of truth to those rumors. As Wes' village was constantly pestered by the elves whether it be just taunting the villagers or attempting to tax the villagers, he always knew that there was something that needed to be done about it, but he was just one man.

Relaxing once the human was gone, the Twin's exchanged looks between one another before speaking. They didn't have much time to converse, seeing that although the trouble with the human had left a new problem arose. A wolf approached and fast. There was sure to be trouble somewhere.

"Leera, I presume?" Celene asked with a raise brow. It couldn't hurt to be sure.
"We've heard things about you but I doubt you would know the same about us. Regardless, word travels fast and you should know that we are interested in what you do,"

Claudia sighed impatiently and cleared her throat.
"We've come a far way and we are willing to help. That should be enough, right?" She added to her Sister's comment.