_business of misery " [open]

[Ϻinέrvă]

Calliope

Never though we'd have a last kiss . . .

<sup>Calliope hunched miserably against the rock as rain poured down on the slaves around her. The weather had been stifling hot before the rain, but now Calliope shivered as the wind beat against her soaking wet body. The dusty ground had turned to mud, mixed with wastes and churned into a sticky mess by the hundreds of paws that had slogged through it. Cal's paws and rump were already coated in mud, and she feared that soon she would be completely covered in the splatter from other wolves. She wished desperately for shelter, even the smallest overhang in the tall canyon that surrounded her. However, most of the other slaves, it seemed, were enjoying the rain. It had certainly helped with the smell.

How could Seris leave her here? Was betrayal not enough? Calliope could see the scene plainly in her mind. He had come back from "hunting" with a pretty femme, who she had assumed would be joining the pack. Oh, she joined the pack, but not in the way Calliope expected. Seris had informed her flatly that she was replaced. In a tone that suggested he was bored and wanted to get it done as soon as possible, he told his former mate that she was demoted to slave and would be dropped off at Auktion Rock immediately. In shock. Calliope had followed him almost out of the territory before she realized that he was not bringing the pups. That was the blow that wounded her the most. Her children, gone, ripped away in a second. And she did nothing, because she had always been scared of Seris. There was love, yes, but under the surface fear of him lurked.

It was now her third day at Auktion Rock, and Calliope still felt the ache in her heart like it was fresh. She could dull the ever-present pain only by focusing on the horrible conditions at hand. Upon her arrival, the slavers had given her the customary beating, meant to both intimidate new slaves and warn them of the consequences of disobedience. Calliope hadn't needed it to be scared into submission; they soon found she was one of the most obedient slaves there. She was considered too boring to be bothered much, but every once in a while one of the slavers would give her an inane order, just because they knew she would do whatever they said. One had told her to chase her tail, which she had done without a second thought. Calliope shivered with embarrassment at the thought of their mocking laughter. At least they didn't treat her like the other females.

She was distracted by a gruff shout. One of the slavers was yelling for the slaves in her section of the canyon to line up. Shaking what moisture she could from her coat, though she knew it would only be soaked again in seconds, Calliope joined the growing line of slaves. She had seen this before; soon an alpha would come down the line, inspecting the wolves and choosing a few favorites to be taken back to his or her land. Calliope wasn't sure if she should pray to be picked or not, but surely anything was better than to be stuck here with the cruel slavers and the stench of despair? She sent up a silent thought to Eperna.

Me. Please, let it be me.</sup>

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KASIMIRA

With a wrinkled nose of disgust and slide of her forepaw, Kasimira made her entrance. This was the first time she had ventured into the Auktion Rock and the foul scent almost swept her off her paws at a breath. It reeked around her, the mingling of urine and sweat, the overall mixture of it overwhelming. The she-wolf squinted her eyes to see in the dullness of the downpour, silently noting the dead wolf whose body lay in the mud, unmoving. Disgusting vermin... And this was while it was raining. The thought hit Kasimira and she invisibly shuddered; the sun and the heat would only intensify the stench as it rotted and warmed in summer's natural oven.

Kasimira forced herself to move forward, her nose ignoring the scents that wreathed around her, her eyes scanning the slaves from pen to pen. As she moved along, she watched their faces, their reactions to her presence. Nothing. They were all heartless creatures, cooped up here with no care in the world about what they looked like. No pride. She threw her nose up, disturbed by the way these wolves acted. Pfft. She would never be found here, thrown around like someone's property! Pride--and quite possibly a tinge of arrogance--held her too high for that. With a shake of her black pelt the female trotted forward and began scanning the slaves with a certain impatience.

"Line up, dogs!"

The vixen turned her head as she heard the brusque command, watching as the slaves from one section of the grounds lined up. A few Dominors moved forward, their ears pricked with interest as they swiftly moved down the line. Now and again one would shove a slave out of line and drag them away; the hole was quickly filled with another wolf soul. Kasimira paused, her eyes like chips of ice as they calmly watched, a calculating glance swept over them. Maybe she would find what she was looking for there. The slaves lined up seemed in better condition than the ones in the makeshift corrals; better slaves meant better workers. The she-wolf sauntered her way over, hips slowing as she neared the start of the line.

The ebony female shook her pelt before continuing forward, her gaze drifting slowly among some slaves and quickly over others. True, they were more fit and cleaner than the ones confined to the pens, but they held the same solemn facade as the others--meek and completely unwavering in obedience. Kasimira paused as she came upon a rather gaunt looking female. Her fur was sticking out in places and it seemed she was missing a few chunks; from what, Kasimira could only guess at. With a flick of her ears and an accepting wave of her tail, the black she-wolf motioned for the slave before her to follow. It was an order, not an option and Kasimira expected it would be fulfilled as she stalked away.

As the rain poured harder, the Alpha carried herself towards the only overhang in the Auktion's decrepit grounds; she knew that the noise would be lower here, easy for interrogating her prey. When they neared, the vixen noticed with pleasure that the rock's shelter was only large enough for a lone wolf to reside under. Kasimira daintily placed herself beneath the tall rocks, as if watching to see what her chosen slave would do. But instead of waiting for the female to figure her position out, Kasimira spoke, her vocals hard-edged and without traces of sympathy.

"Name, slave."

The ashen female paused, looking over the slave's atrocious coat. Laughable.

"I'll be your dominor from now on. Miss Kasimira, to you. Lady Kasimira or Alpha Kasimira suffices as well."

This would certainly be interesting.

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[Ϻinέrvă]

Calliope

<sup>As more and more Alphas strutted down the line, Calliope grew increasingly nervous. Many never reached her; all the larger, healthier looking slaves seemed to be at the front of the line. The few dominors who saw her passed over her without stopping. Some sniffed at her as if they couldn't believe such a wolf had been offered up for their consideration. One such wolf was in front of Calliope now.

Calliope's eyes opened wide in shock. Had she imagined the signal to follow? In her moment of indecision, a slaver shoved her forward, already pushing up another slave to take her place. Stumbling over her own paws, she scrambled to catch up. Grateful as she was to be chosen, Calliope wonder what had brought her to the dominor's attention. She knew that she didn't look like much. Her pregnancy had been hard, pounds dropping off even as her belly swelled with pups. Her fur had been neglected in the events of the past weeks, and she was still missing patches of fur from where the slaver's claws had ripped it out on her first day. All these were signs, bad signs, that usually prevented slaves from being sold. Unless . . . Calliope breathed a prayer of thanks to Eperna. She had always felt close to the deity, envisioning her as a caring mother figure.

The femme who had bought Calliope lead her to the wall of the canyon, where the dominor sat down under a tiny overhang, leaving the slave out in the rain. Calliope pushed down a pitiful whimper at the cruel irony.

"Name, slave."

Calliope drew back at the harsh and demanding tone. "Calliope," she murmured. She refrained from addressing her mistress, afraid she would call her the wrong thing in her ignorance of slave etiquette. The dominor soon provided a solution.

"I'll be your dominor from now on. Miss Kasimira, to you. Lady Kasimira or Alpha Kasimira suffices as well."

"Yes . . . Lady Kasmira."

Shaking from the rain and from her nerves, Calliope waited for more instructions. Hopefully Lady Kasmira would not decide to stay under her cozy overhang for a while longer and leave Calliope to face the elements. It suddenly occurred to the wolfess that she would soon be leaving Auktion Rock, perhaps forever. Both excitement and dread rose up inside her at the thought.</sup>

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KASIMIRA

"Calliope,"

The reply was soft, half whispered and Kasimira shot the she-wolf a glance of displeasure. If this wolf was to be worthy of her pack, she needed to start acting like it.

"Yes . . . Lady Kasmira."

Although the ebony wolfess was by no means impressed by the patchy wolf that sat before her presence, Kasimira was more than willing to give her a shot. It seemed, that for once in her life, the she-wolf was feeling generous. Maybe it was simply that she needed members. Kasimira's cold eyes raked themselves over Calliope before the she-wolf spoke, her voice softer than it had been previously.

"Let's go; once we get to Irrsin we can discuss together in further detail."

With that, Kasimira stood up from under the rocky outcrop and with a quick flick of her ears, took the lead towards their pack.

ooc- so sorry for how short it is; I didn't want to waste my energy on this when I need to start their introductions in Irrsin. I'll make a new post there and we can catch up with them as they enter the territory. [/size]