Being a nocturnal soul

@Caligula :>

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The massive woman had been here a few days or so now. 
It would be time to head back to Vengeance very soon now, and she knew it - she had been watching the moon, keeping track of the days passing as it's lunar orb filled further from the slivered crescent it had been upon being given her mission. 

It was twilight now, the tops of the trees tinted scarlet like an extremely muted version of the sunset. Eldra glanced every now and then to the sky as she prowled through the Reach, noting potential places within that could make for splendid sub-turfs and dens. 

And eventually, with a sigh, the soldier-witch stopped moving - for once, within these past two weeks. 
Two moon=phases of always moving, little sleep, and a twisting, snapping sanity. 

But for once, she seemed to get a grip this dusk, if only briefly. 
She had some small hope, some small, tiny faith that she would be rebuilt from where she was -  for the better.

+2 Points

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He preferred the evening hours, personally. Although haunting along the forest floor beneath a moonlit sky often gave him that supernaturally spooky glow, he preferred not to be seen at all. In the hours before dark, eyesight in many began to decrease, and it was then that Caligula was most active. He moved like a ghost in the in-between hours, scoping out the area upon which he stumbled with indifference. If Vengeance liked these lands, so be it; they weren't ideal, but nothing ever was.

His movements were paused at the sight of another -- a female, deliciously enough. Caligula could smell the stench of Vengeance upon her hide, however faintly, and so the man pondered if she were a fellow solider. "Ma'am," he greeted casually, stalking closer to get a better view. A pretty thing, for sure, and the ghost could only wonder if their warlord had claimed her for his own.

+1 Points

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As Eldra stopped, so did another appear. 
At his greeting, she turned her head with interest, purple hues setting to the scarred yet somehow handsome male coming closer.
The soldier dipped her head some in turn. 
"Sir." She returned, unsure how else to address him, especially without familiarity.
Eldra turned her body toward him more, a curious cant of her head; "Are you also of Vengeance's soldiers?" She asked. If not, then...he was nice enough she didn't want to bite his face off or something. She may even try to recruit him if that were the case!
But if so, then...well, he was a packmate!

+2 Points

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Although she certainly wasn't what he considered to be the typical soldier, he had to admit there was a certain aura about her that spoke of discipline. Good, he could respect that and in turn, respect Vengeance for being able to wrangle another like-minded soul. The more compliant the military was, the better off they would all be in the end.

"Caligula," he politely corrected with a dip of his head. Unless she was an inferior rank, he saw no need for titles. It was possible she was superior, too, but Vengeance had never gone over the current standings. Best to be absolutely neutral until learning otherwise.

Caligula nodded. "Yes, I am. You as well, I assume?" The ghost flicked his tail as he studied her, almost trying to figure out every single aspect of her being based off looks alone. It never worked, but at least she was pretty.

+2 Points

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He corrected politely, to which she nodded once. 
"I am Eldra." She returned softly, and though her discipline was there, it was not yet sharpened to what it would need to be. 
And this made her body language one of....borderline insecurity. 
"Affirmative." The woman replied as Cal openly assumed her role as a recruit, "I just...need a lot of sharpening." Eldra sighed, looking up at the sky as if it might offer some inspiration or relief on how to become the battlemaiden she so desired to be. 

Despite the trauma... 

And, from Caligula's own air alone she would assume he would take a higher rank before she did. If he didn't already.

+1 Points

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Caligula couldn't guess an age for the woman, but he assumed she was.. new to the lifestyle she had been thrust into.  She hardly seemed the valkyrie haunting the battlefield that Vengeance would have recruited, but clearly he saw something within her that made her worth the effort. He assumed. Maybe she was for breeding purposes? Pups and all that?  Caligula didn't know, didn't dare to ask, and simply listened attentively as she admitted she wasn't up to snuff.

"The trick is to stop thinking about it. Stop feeling. Emotion clouds the ability to battle, so you must leave it behind." That wasn't to say she couldn't pick it up as soon as she left, of course, only that the soldier and the soul were separate entities and each had their own needs.  "Is this new to you?  A pack this rough?" Not that he had any evidence to back it up outside of Vengeance's personality.

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She listened with equal attentiveness as Cal spoke. 
The trick? Was to stop feeling...??
"Admittedly that sounds...easier said than done..." Eldra mused, but upon his next question, her ears flattened, and she nodded with embarrassment.

"Yes..." She admitted quietly. "I recruited after Vengeance kicked my shit for being disrespectful our first meet...I admire him, but I also fear him, and I just...want to be the best soldier I can be." 
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Had Caligula more of a conscience, he may have felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. She had not chosen the lifestyle of a warrior, but neither had he; being born into it and immediately trained left him little time to second-guess himself and his wants.  He wasn't allowed to have them, and so he didn't.. perhaps that was his advantage over her. "Have you killed before?" the wolf rumbled, curious.

Ahh, was an interesting twist.  Vengeance was a man to be feared indeed, but Caligula spotted a touch of stockholm syndrome in that psyche of hers.  Smitten with her captor, perhaps?  "I will train you, if you wish it.  You will do things you cannot go back from, but if you follow through, Vengeance will respect the weapon you have become." Theoretically.  There was every chance he was lying to her face, but wasn't it his duty to help others?  Besides, he wanted to know his comrades had his back in battle.. and a woman struggling with empathy was not the ideal wingman.

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She thought for a minute, then shook her head. She had not killed before that she can remember. 

Then, he offered to train her. 
At this, her stomach knotted nervously and excitedly all at once. 
"I will do whatever it takes." She responded with determined finality. 
She most definitely would do everything and anything she could to sharpen and become the Valkyrie haunting the battlefields.
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As macabre as his face already was, the grin that split his scarred muzzle was likely more threatening than pleased. He couldn't help the way his face looked, okay? The fact of the matter was she was willing to do what it took to become the hardened woman her pack needed her to be. Wonderful news.

"Your first task will be to kill. I will find an old, sick wolf somewhere to start with -- it will be a mercy kill, consensual. Once we've broken through that, we will begin to build upon your fighting techniques. Is that agreeable?" It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but he needed to gain some semblance of her trust if she were to blindly murder who he requested.

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She listened intently, taking in his words.
Her first task: kill. 
Understood.

She nodded firmly to his question. Yes, it was agreeable. 

Let her training begin.
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He was far too giddy for his own good by that point. Naturally, the ghost wouldn't let it show just how terribly excited he was to strip this woman of her soul, but hey, maybe she saw something glinting in that single eye of his. "Excellent," he began with a nod. "Return here in a week's time and we will begin, miss Eldra. Take the week to prepare yourself, the first kill is not an easy one."

Or so he'd heard, anyway.

Cal flashed her a grin before turning, eager to sneak off and locate a target worthy of her first. Now came the fun part.

{exit!!}

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