The Call of The Sea

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There she was, standing high above the rest, she cut a bold figure, she always did. Captain Nichol Wolfsla, she had an air of confidence around her constantly, always showing authority as a natural leader. She was tall with pale skin and slight looking, around 16 years old but only her eyes told the truth, striking light blue with dark red pupils, eyes to get lost in, showing the things she had seen and how old she really was. Her hair was straight and dark brown, it reached down to halfway down her back when free but now was tied up in a red bandana. A long black coat swished around her ankles which were covered in leather knee high boots with silver metal buckles, long black trousers covered that up, a dark blue T-shirt under the coat.

She stalked through the crowd with an air of a predator, growling slightly, if anyone took any notice of her they might see the top of two long white fangs protruding from her top row of teeth. But even humans could sense her power and stayed away meaning there was no one to stop her as she turned out of the crowd into a dark alley.

She was annoyed, either her senses were off or this town had nothing worth while of her attention. She had started out looking for treasure but now was just looking for something, ANYTHING, of power she could take to make this trip worth while. She sniffed the air and a slight smile came to her red lips, something was here, she could smell it.

[Harbinger]

This place was home for a variety of life from humans, stranger folk and the hunter in the night. She had become something to be feared and not to be laughed at. She usually tried to keep away from towns and kept to her own devices. However, Panthera had a stomach to fill and a strong instinct to answer to. She usually found her own pickings but it seemed they knew something she wasn't aware of. She was oblivious to danger, she feared nothing around her and woe betide anyone who got in her way.

She had lived here for a very long time and managed to avoid the several hunt parties that strove to mount her head to a wall. Her sense of morality was askew, she had stolen in her previous existence with the attitude to match and that hadn't changed. Neither had her ability to be an opportunistic hunter. With food so scarce and hard to smell out, she had wandered silently to the outskirts of the town set. Her whiskers stood out from her dark fur of her face with deep resonating amber-yellow eyes, which only added to the hint of being your average feline.

Panthera was a large black jaguar with melanistic fur, a trait that shows the rosettes in the brown and black fur pattern. She had a remarkable pelt and a remarkable history. But despite her previous human self, she had gone completely feral. She could not change other than on very rare occasions and she never usually bothered.. the only thing she kept from her days of being a two-leg was that fact she could converse with any humanoid. Only due to a solitary nature, she didn't really do this that often.

Something caught her attention and something she liked too. Deer, livestock and other small creatures were tasty enough but she did like a bit of fish. Something the town could provide quite amply. She just had to be careful. The moment the townsfolk knew she was on their turf, the place would be in uproar and she would have to retreat. Which was why she was here during the dusk to night-time, she slept during the day in a tree. The fish however was a very strong temptation as she crept ever closer. She paused, leaping to a short wall before her whiskers twitched again. Something else was out here in the dusk.

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Nichol smelt it before she saw it. A cat, one big one, not like the tom street cats she had found before. She grinned, trailing her tongue down the back of one of her long fangs as she crept forward into the dark shadows, her jet black coat blending in perfectly and contrasting with her pale cold skin. This trip wouldn’t be a complete waste after all it seemed, a panther, now that could sell for a lot of gold.

She leapt on top of the wall in one swift predatory move and straightened up, observing the cat with those cold startling blue eyes. She smiled like a lion looking down on an injured zebra, it was rather unsettling. “Hello kitty.” she said.

[Harbinger]

She didn't like this smell but then she didn't get on very well with other predators. She could sense emotion, even more so through scent. This spoke of a confidence and there was something not quite truly human about it. Soon enough the owner showed herself and Panthera regarded her for a moment before hissing back. The gaze, she almost could not pull away from it and that angered her. She often got just as angry and frustrated with herself as she did at others. She was a ball of fur waiting to explode.

She debated pretending to play dumb but dumb cats didn't venture out this far. They would have picked the same vibes the other animals clearly had that she herself had not bothered to pay attention to. This two-leg wore strange clothing for someone on land. The waft of fish ran past her again tempting her even more.

She bounded forth in one swift and very sudden movement, as if all the energy in a coiled spring had been released. Her leap, short as it was, was graceful and spoke of true balance. It was designed to get her point across that this two-leg was in her way. She wasn't about to stand for that. Never mind the insult of being compared with an everyday house cat

"Mind your tongue, two-leg," she hissed, her voice was deep and husky, an unsettling resonance clinging to the tones. It was a human voice bereft of emotion and care travelling through the cat's vocal chords. It would not be the first time the locals had referred about her as the demon cat.

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Nichol’s expression broke into a grin, showing those two long white fangs, incredible intimidating for any animal or human. She purred slightly, maybe mocking, maybe just her natural sounds. “So the pretty kitty can talk?” She said with a laugh “Tell me kitty, do you like to dance with the devil in the full moonlight?”

She laughed, flicking backwards and spinning in the moonlight perfectly, it glinted off her eyes and fangs, her coat flying around her, her skin glowing, she had showmanship at least.

[Harbinger]

At this she sat, watching the two-leg with a plain and bored expression, if that was possible for a slightly bigger than average black jaguar, clearly unimpressed. Threatening a cold and calculating huntress of the night and insulting the same cat was not your average hand. Humans usually took one look at her and ran off screaming and she was naturally suspicious of the other kinds of humanoids she knew to exist in the world.

"Devil indeed," Panthera replied, baring her teeth in a set of very powerful jaws, very much capable of biting through skulls, hard armour and pretty much through most natural animals. She was showing no fear of being so close to an apex predator. "You stink," which was her way of saying she didn't eat tainted flesh and that was a returned insult. Her tail for the most part was still but the tip would sway slowly from side to the other, a warning.

Panthera yawned before her ear flickered at the laughter, she was tiring of this already and when she was no longer amused, bad things tended to happened. Panthera did not truly care who this person as or even what she was. All she wanted was to be left alone to get on with her cursed life.

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“Well maybe not a complete one.” Nichol said with a soft smile “But I can certainly look like one.” She suddenly transformed into something so grotesque, so evil looking that just it’s presence was an atrocity to the universe it’s self, it could not be described, no god would be allow this to exist.

“And don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.” Her golden voice said, she suddenly transformed back and shot forward, aiming those long fangs that slipped through skin like a hot knife through butter at the panther’s neck to force a sleeping poison into her blood stream.

[Harbinger]

It was only on rare instances such as this that Panthera ever moved backwards and eerily, her retreating movement was still graceful. Everything about her was designed to be a killing machine and an ambusher predator. Every move, every step was calculated. So even in her surprise as wary as she was, she made no sound on the short wall that a regular human being would find difficult to balance on let alone walk down.

She hissed in her outrage before she felt the other collide with her own mass and though the damage was done, the anger and pain was released from its latch. Panthera lashed back, claws striking at the layers of cloth and skin of this two-legs. IF she was going down, she was certainly taking this wretch with her. At first there did not seem any immediate signs of the poison working, her adrenaline and ferocity taking the forefront of her primal attack.

She was all strength and muscles with a mouthpiece very capable of crushing bones into dust. After a while though, her movements grew mor sluggish and Panthera realised soon enough that her senses were being hampered. She stumbled, unable to concentrate at her increasingly drowsy state. This only served to fuel her anger, her outrage and it funnelled further into its fevered attack till her weight dropped down to the floor.

Her scowls alone were enough to wake up the town, she could faintly hear voices and other sounds but he ignored them. She wanted this thing to die a horrid death by her jaws. As she lost all will to stay awake, she fervently hoped she in turn had caused some damage. Her chest heaved with laboured breathing as she lay on cold cobbles and the nearby forest seemed to quieten altogether

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Nichol got deep scratches from the attack but they didn’t seem to bother her much. Although the panther snapped at her she stayed pretty calm, not bothered by those powerful jaws, know she would be stronger if she wanted. She picked up the panther’s prone body and carried it away on the her shoulder like it was nothing.



An unannounced time later Panthera would find herself laid on cold hard steel floor of a cage in a strange unfamiliar room that smelt of many different things, from metal to fish to animals to raw meat. The strongest however was the smell of saltwater. The floor rocked ever so slightly like it was floating on water.

[Harbinger]

It took a long time before the large cat stirred. Panthera's mind was reeling and all she felt was a delaying grogginess that threatened to overwhelm her senses. It was the mixture of scents that brought her to blink open her eyes and scowled at her blurred vision. Everything was foreign and she knew that something wasn't right. As her strength returned, she afforded more energy to sit up and take in her surroundings. She noticed the cage from the off and her hatred for her captor intensified. No one owned her, she was free to do what she pleased, she was not a tame animal much less a tame supernatural creature.

She bore an intelligence alien to most normal felines. She paused before Panthera realised the whole place was moving and not her head. She frowned but she refused to show anything of fear. Fear did not come into the same equation as she. She was so alien from her humanity that to cage her was a death trap waiting to happen.

The floor was cold, hard and nothing like the tree she favoured. She wanted her tree and was fast regretting her decision to gamble on a fishy meal. She snarled at the bars uncaring if it brought attention to herself. She knew what metal was... the knights of old had worn it for protection. It was one thing she couldn't bite through. Whilst she had been able to dent their breastplates, instinct told her that it was not worth wasting her energy on these bars.

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There was a creak further down the room, like a door opening and something padded inside, something animal with a strong sent of musk then headed straight form her cage.

Green eyes loomed out of the darkness, revealed to belong to a large black shaggy male wolf that snarled slightly at her, distrusting this feline. He padded back and forth in front of the cage as if to flaunt his freedom. A metal large steel chain hung around his neck, clanking at each step.

Behind him sat his exact opposite, a white slim female wolf with bright blue eyes, it looked more intelligent that the beast taunting it’s captured prize. It watched her intently, as if waiting for something to happen, a pure gold thin chain around it’s neck.

[Harbinger]

She wasn't going to waste time and effort in trying to get out of something that wouldn't budge. She knew how to hunt and scavenge when she had to so she would wait for the opportune moment. She stretched languidly, muscle rippling underneath sleek fur before she lay down, her forelegs crossing at the paws. Her head was raised and she sniffed the air and then licked her nose. The scent was wretched, smelly and all things that weren't nice about canines. She peered round eyeing the pair of opposites with disdain.

She found his snarls amusing, "Go on little doggy, bite me. I dare you," she feared nothing and this pooch was like a jester at a king's court. She knew she was in for a market. Having a pet cat of her calibre was a status symbol but a panther such as herself was considered royalty by comparison. Panthera was looking forward to the poor sod that would attempt to put a collar round her own neck.

Her attention shifted to the female before she yawned before holding the wolf's gaze with a sure fire intensity. "Your mutt could use a bath,"

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The white wolf tilted her head to the left in thought then nodded in agreement with a little growl, the thin chain rustling slightly on her neck. So she could understand speech at the least but not talk it.

The Black wolf snarled at her, ramming himself against the side of the cage, it tilted precariously under his weight, he might not be smart but he was strong, saliva dripping from his fangs as he barred them at her with a loud snarling growl that came right from his chest.

[Harbinger]

Panthera watched the white one for a few moments before the male reacted to her words. Her own react was instant, her frame lifting as her paws splayed, her entire body counteracted the movement evenly before it levelled out again.

"Please pet, you're embarrassing yourself," she returned to the wolf, wondering how on earth canines got anywhere with dumb brutes like this one. She returned to her previous position, sniffing the air again, "Maybe the salt went to his brain,"

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The black wolf growled angrily at her, he was going o charge when he lifted his head to the sound of the door opening, the smell of blood, sea, cream and wine entered the room. “Night!” a new female voice barked “Get away from her, your mistress wants you.” The black wolf slinked away as a figure approached.

She was short in size and slight looking, maybe 13 of age in a simple red dress. She was rather pale with green eyes, her face framed by black hair. She worn no shoe, padding across the wooden floor in bare feet. She carried a large box that she shouldn’t have been able to carry into the room with her, it smelt of meat and fish.

[Harbinger]

"Well, that's original," she muttered, blinking when as a human she would be eye rolling. She crossed her paws ignoring the scent of blood as her powerful head turned to peer at the newcomer to the room. She eyed the box that betrayed its contents and sighed, shaking her head in disdain. Least that slobber wasn't here stinking up the place further.

She studied the female, "Don't you ever give that mutt a bath?" she asked bluntly

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“We’re on a ship, there is very limited clean water, the best we can do is shove him overboard and that is not easy.” The girl said, walking in front of the cage and folding herself to sit down cross legged facing Panthera “Well then, hello. You must be what Nichol caught.”

“I’m Piper.” She said, smiling softly, fiddling a little with a belt around her waist “Nichol sent me to feed you, if you’re hungry of course.”

[Harbinger]

Well, that wrapped up that thought as the girl explained. Panthera got herself as comfortable as the hard metal allowed. She scowled as she mentioned her captor, she had a name to the face now and it angered and relieved the large feline.

She watched in a cold expression as the girl sat, Piper looked not much younger from what Panthera had been cursed. That had been many lifetimes ago. The words angered her and she snarled her majesty, her muscles answering smoothly, "I do get fed, two-leg. I hunt,"

Panthera used the word 'hunt' in the widest sense and it including the hunting the scavenging and the stealing of livestock and human property. She refused to be fed like a pet. She was not a tame creature.

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“Oh, er, sorry if I offended you.” Piper said, turning pink and glancing down in embarrassment “I just thought you might be hungry and there’s not really much to hunt on this ship except rats and they’re not very filling and kind of filled with diseases.”

“Or could I get you anything else?” Piper said “A blanket or something so you don’t have to lay on the metal. Or water if you‘re thirsty.”

[Harbinger]

Whoever the girl was, it was apparent that Piper was probably not all that high on the rank ladder. Two-legs and their obsession with hierarchy was laughable to her. She owned the forest which she had made her home for so many countless years. Now, thanks to damned soul, it was likely already being claimed by others.

Course she could be wrong about her and this was just all more trickery, "Two-legs have a funny saying about weathering storms. She had fur for a reason and whilst it was not meant for cold climbs, it did provide her warmth. Her eyes blinked slowly before she licked her nose. The stink of the fish and meat was starting to get stronger but her pride was stronger.

"My freedom," she stated but the humour lying in her voice knew that wasn't going to be granted.

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Piper sighed sadly “I’m sorry that’s the one thing I can’t get you.” She replied then paused, her head jumping up “But… maybe…. I could.” She suddenly grinned.

“I can’t give you your full freedom, Nichol would kill me and dieing once is enough.” Piper said “But I might be able to give you a little more freedom, so your not cramped up in this cage, give you somewhere to pace and hunt.”

[Harbinger]

She watched the girl for a long moment before her frame moved to face the girl properly. Partial freedom was better than non at all and it would also present the opportune moment to get back home to where she belonged. Where she could go back to her solitude and ignore the real world.

"I'm not wearing a collar, little one," she replied, her tone wary in the husky animal bitten vibes. She was not one's pet. never had been and she wasn't going to start now. Pets lost all of their true self.

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"We won't make you wear a collar, these two only do because they are Nichol's companions." Piper said as the white wolf stepped forward and sat by Piper, pressing her side to Piper's shoulder. "The collars set them apart from the animals we catch so we don't accidentally sell them too."

"Anyway, let' me call someone to give you some freedom." Piper smiled, standing up. "Kappu!" She called. Nothing happened for a few moments then the room was suddenly lit up with torches on the walls, showing it to be a huge wooden room filled with boxes, chests, crates and a variety of other containers. The cargo hold.

[Harbinger]

"What price is on my head, then?" she asked more out of a human curiosity than anything else. Either way, it was void. She was just too dangerous.

She nodded but slowly, Panthera remained wary... she wasn't someone who trusted easily. In fact, for anyone to gain her trust, it would take a considerable amount of time and effort. More time and effort than most thought her worthy. It didn't help that her moods were often interchangeable. Leopards and Jaguars by nature weren't the most docile of cats, which said a great deal.

She rose to all fours as the lights revealed where she was. She had never been inside a ship before in any of her lives. Her witch had a sense of humour. "And who is this 'Kappu'?"
She could hear movement but nothing about this ship or its crew made sense to her. But then, she wasn't born of this generation.
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"We don't have one yet." Piper said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "It depends what we can get for you, who's interested. I don't actually think there are any panthers in this world, you're going to shock someone." She then jumped as someone else appeared in the room.

She was right next to Panthera's cage, laid there on the left side, holding her head up on one elbow. "Who's Kappu you say? I'm Kappu!" She grinned, another child on this ship, younger that Piper she had black hair as well but hers was untamed, unbrushed, hanging around her wildly, she had hazel eyes, she almost looked like a ghost in her simple white dress them seemed the blend in with her skin. She had a permanent smile on her face though and smelt strange, of so many different things, blood, wood, metal, cloth, it made no sense.

[Harbinger]

"Great, I love company," her deadpan voice stated clearly she laying on the sarcasm. She hated company, people had an adverse effect on her life and how she chose to live it.

Alarmed, her frame jolted to one side in an angry hiss, ears laying back before she found her decorum again. She heaved a sigh before her rump sat on the ground, "So, how does this partial freedom work then? " she said, looking at Kappu noticing how peculiar she looked. She was itching to get out of this cage.
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"I know it's not idle." Piper sighed "I can see you're not an average panther, I'll see if I can convince Nichol to let you free though she seems rather stubborn recently." She shook her head the brightened up. "I think Kappu can explain it, she already knows what I'm thinking."

Kappu grinned "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Kappu, spirit of The Black Soul, that's the ship you're on." She said "I am everything, from the ceilings and floor to the fixtures and fittings." As if to reiterate her point the torches flared and the floors creaked. "Piper wants me to seal off some of the unused corridors and rooms so you can have free reign down there.

[Harbinger]

"Black soul...." she echoed, but it sounded displaced and unattached. They had no idea what her history was, how old she truly was. "I take it we're out at sea. Where does she think I'll go? I can swim but I like knowing my territory first," she replied, scoffing at the hint she could get anywhere by just swimming.

"A bigger cage is still a cage," she replied looking Kappu in the eye, fear wasn't something Panthera knew in herself, only how to instil in others when she wanted them gone or dead.

"But it is preferable," she admitted, she was a proud creature. Had been for a long time.

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"Yes, the vampirate ship, The Black Soul." Piper said, fondly, she seemed very attached to this place. "I doubt swimming would help, you're not on Earth anymore, the sea stretches a lot further on this world. And I doubt Nichol would let you go anyway."

"Yes but I prefer to call it an enclosure." Kappu smiled and clapped her hands in joy "Oh wonderful, I hate seeing such a glorious creature like you caged like this."

[Harbinger]

She snorted, "It's what can't be seen or smelt that concerns me."

"I'm hardly glorious," she blinked slowly, she found it a strange descriptive to use with her in the same context. She usually brought fear and death. Panthera wasn't opposed to eating humanoids when other fair was scarce.

But indeed, she was never a creature or personage meant to be confined. What was important to her was her freedom to do as she pleased. The manner in which Nichols had captured her and forced this situation had insulted her intensely.