Fragments of Her Past
Drakkonia's tattered memories are logged here in no particular order, some she recollects, some she does not.
"The Earliest"
Days seemed pinned together at the seams as I had no realization of time within the boundary of my woods. The area I had awaken in appeared much distance from any sort of life, for I'd probably laid there paralyzed for quite a good length of days and nights before thinking about how deadly quiet it was. Couldn't really think much actually, I didn't have any snippet of what had happened or who I was even, so I occupied my time with imagining. The clothing covering me felt breezy, light, perhaps a one pieced garment such as a bathrobe or hospital gown. Had I left a hospital recently before being fully recovered? Made some sense due to the unshaking paralysis. But really, for all I knew I was just wearing a sun dress and maybe been lost in the forest, injurying myself. I mean, I was unable to see it therefor either idea could have been a good enough guess. Some light passed on and off, if I had to guess I probably would have said it might have been my fifth day laying consciously on the dry dirt.
On the sixth day of light, I began to wonder if I was actually dreaming or awake because everything started to become a blur before my eyes. All I could see were towering trunks of trees and the blue-grey sky spotted with dark overcast but even that little which I could see began to tunnel out due to my weakness. My hope had been that my unmovable condition would have worn off enough at some point so that I may drag myself to a town or house nearby, but my hope went unanswered and I felt my mind growing weaker.
Nearing the light of the seventh day, I promised to myself that I would figure out someway out of this, because if I'd lasted this long by myself, someone out there wanted me alive. My mind was still partly active, basically all I had left going for me and because of that, there must have been a way to convince the nonresponsive part of my brain to kick into high gear and allow my movement again. I attempted to force a picture of what it might have looked like running my fingers acrossed the ground until my hands gathered under me, supporting my chest upright. The image continued to flood my head as the inner voice in my mind screamed to be released from the bonds of my own body.
Guess luck had finally reared it's ugly head to me. At the end of my arm, it seemed the soil shifted beneath my thumb and I felt it in happy relief. A heavy weight upon my thoughts melted away as the paralysis subsided at a sluggish pace. First thing to do was to look at the hand I now controlled, thus I lifted it weakly before my face. To my surprise, the limb was caked on with dried streaks of blood that flaked off like powder in the air. Strange, and almost terrifyingly so, it would appear I was matted with blood all over when I took the chance to look with my released head lifted. What the, what had happened? It was all I really wanted to know right at that moment. The blood dried to the back of my head concerned me even more with my fingertips pressed into it.
The weakness proved trying, still I was unable to speak or stand up, both extremely frustrating. I looked around me now that I was able. Tall oaks rooted in collections at every angle, not a building or animal in sight. It was definately an odd place indeed.
The morning of the eighth day came with newly forged optimism. As the sun rose, it also came with the discovery of a new sound. It resonated from my left side, causing me to look to see the first human I'd seen since I had been conscious. The sound had been of iron chains clattering about the wrists of the girl. It was clear she had been chained there only since the evening before. She was pretty much barely standing, looking considerably drained herself, most likely exhausted or heavily drugged. There was something fishy going on, you don't just find yourself near death and paralyzed in the middle of an animal-stripped forest with a girl restrained with chains. I felt if as though my legs regained a small portion of their strength from the night before, and that because of it I would try to move closer to the other prisoner. But the first big step, was to actually stand up. Which was not going to be as simple as it once was.
Just only by chance, a tree sat in the ground near my back but a couple feet away. It was just a sapling but it would have to do to support my weight. My body slid easier then I'd imagine it would have on the dusty surface until my back pushed against the soft bark of the trunk. The girl acrossed the way began to notice me moving around, gazing instensely in my direction like I was doing something crazy.
Arms clung around the trunk best I could before attempting a stand up. That, on the other hand, was more difficult then I thought. The weakness from lack of substance mixed in with the utter exhaustion from the paralysis just was not doing me any good. I continued to pull with what little strength I possessed in my upper body until, finally, after struggling for a few minutes was able to stand up. It was an almost truimphant moment, standing up was the next step to being out of the woods I cringed to look upon. For now, my destination was the girl to see if I could help her from her shackles. She seemed rather wary of me as I hobbled a few steps closer.
"Y-you shouldn't be here..." the girl muttered alloud as I crouched down beside her to examine the chains. Sadly, I was still unable to respond, and choked when I tried. Instead I just smiled tiredly and looked back at the shackles. They were very well made, no noticeable lock and heavy as the dickens. They'd definately be a challenge to figure out. At that moment I really wanted to ask her what she was doing there, but I was unsure as to how to ask. I formed the shape of the words on my lips then proceeded to point to her, then the ground as if to say 'Why are you here?' I had to repeat it a few times, but when she understood she replied, "They send us all here," then looked grimly ahead of her towards a clearing in the trees. Us? What did she mean by us? I turned my head in the direction the girl gazed to see something far off into the trees appear where there had been nothing before.
"It's coming, you should h-have left when you had the chance," the girl quivered, causing the chains to clatter. I stood up tall in response with a fist clenched at my side. Something was definately coming straight towards us, and at a thundering pace for I felt the ground beneath my bare feet quake. I fell to the ground again as the creature stopped within a couple hundred feet of us, mostly from fright. It was a massive beast with the appearance of a rhino and a panther, tusked mouth, hoofed paws, a couple horns crudely arranged upon it's face with bits of bones splayed acrossed them. It seemed it couldn't help but stare at us hungrily, bits of drool seeped from his jaws and puddled on the ground beneath it. My utter fear of it caused irregular pain all throughout my muscles, then into my chest where a terrible pressure bubbled up beneath my breast bone. It was a wretched pain due to it's ability to taint my weak vision even more to the point where I was using my hands to feel where to grasp. To my advantage, at least, my eyesight cleared after a bit of time resting next to the girl but the pain grew worse. While I was waiting in the unnerving silence for the thing to make it's approach my calculating mind went to work thinking of someway out of the predicament. Apparently, it's eyesight fell upon the chained girl first, thinking to itself more then likely that she'd make an easier feed then I would.
I'm not really sure what compelled me at the second it started towards her, but I found myself standing between the prisoner and the hungry beast. It definately some shock to me, as well as the girl behind me who was lost in her tears until I had stood before her. The hell was I doing, putting my life at risk for some stranger when I had just gripped myself back from death. Even the threatening creature seemed flustered about my actions because it had stopped mear feet before me. Definately I was not any picture of a defender with my trembling knees and hands pressing tightly against my chest. It was mostly a pathetic feeling, but I knew I wasn't going to faulter from my position. A snarl bellowed from deep inside the monster that stood before me right before it lunged, but to it's surprised, and mine once again, I snapped up both of it's front legs and held it back. My frightened eyes peeped open briefly to see what I had done, and what to my surprise that I find my hands clenched in around the ankles of the very thing that threatened to take the breath from me. My action resulted in another sharp pain in my shoulders. It intensified greatly as the beast pushed it's heft against me. With every struggle, a stab of pain responded until I felt an odd pressure crawling inside my back. The back of my robe grew tight around my shoulders as if my body were too great to be held in any longer, pulling apart at the seams to accomodate the spreading muscles popping up. All over my body I began to gain weight and length, starting as prickling sensations through my arms and continuing down into my legs which crackled and lifted my frame farther from the dirt. I felt the beast still attempting to jerk me off, but everytime it did my body responded by growing larger thus it's fight against me began to feel weaker.
In the high time of pain caused by the change, my amensia faded and suddenly found myself remembering who and what I was. I swear I almost laughed in my head watching as the now familar fur graciously suffocated away the last bit of my human flesh. The transformation now complete, I gazed down nonchalantly at the girl chained. I'd almost forgotten her prescense there until my tail had felt the cold iron of her bonds. I'd have to help her from the shackles later, the beast still captured in my claws would have to come first. It was quite obvious it was rethinking it actions for now it was pulling... to get away instead of trying to attack me. The funny thing was in the situation where I'd thought I might die minutes before, all I could think about in my werewolf head was how terribly starved I was. It had been more then a week since I had eaten anything, causing my now larger empty stomach to rumble like the hungry monster it was. The profuse roaring of my belly drove me mad, now it seemed I was the predator and the other creature was the prey. Unable to hold my animal instincts any longer my jaws latched on into it's spine, breaking it instantly and causing the beast to die almost automatically. It felt like a cactus going down with all the horns but once it settled in the bottom of my midsection I felt relief and snapped back to my senses. Problem easily solved it seemed, two birds one stone; the beast was no more and now I'd fed myself, feeling rather content on my overly full stomach.
My sensitive ears picked up the sound of the girl weeping quietly to herself back where she was still planted to the ground. Once again I'd nearly forgotten she was there and reapproached her. The crying was louder, an almost squeal, as I kneeled down beside her to examine her chains again. It hurt my ears horribly, it was obvious she was disturbed after seeing me eat the other monster she'd been so afraid of.
Making a slight, lowly growl in my throat from irritation I said to her, "Settle down, I don't want to hurt you while you're struggling." She seemed to calm down a tad at my words, resorting to some light crying and watching my dangerous looking claws fiddle with the chains. I decided after some time that the only way to get them off was at the bottom links, she'd have to figure out how to get the wristbands off herself.
"Don't move, I'm going to break your chains," I told her in hopes that she wouldn't jerk to cause me to poke her accidently.
"... why are you helping me escape?" she asked me weakly seeming flabberghasted that I was going to free her, "don't you know what I am?"
"Being a harpy never said you had to die." I responded, knowing very well what she was by the smell on her.
"But I uhh... wha, what kind of werewolf are you? I've only heard terrible things about your kind, my elder hawkee of my nesting grounds was eaten by one when I was but a fledgling. You're much bigger then I imagined they would be, though, and definately more... uhh, reasonable." While she talked, I pushed a claw inbetween a notch in the links and with a quick motion caused it to snap free and clatter to the ground.
"Reasonable?" I stopped and gazed down at her before breaking the next shackle. A laughing snort came from my nose in amusement, blowing her hair around in the breeze I'd created.
"Guess I'm one of a kind, heh...," I replied to her sarcastically, "can't always base judgement on looks, seems to be my motto lately." By accident, I bleched obnoxiously but had been able to turn my muzzle away and muffle most of it back in the fur on my arm.
"Gah, I'm sorry, can't help it all the time." I stated to her astonished looked.
"Hehehe, big appetite you have there..." she replied nervously, watching as I snapped off the next chain.
"Heh, don't look so scared. I won't eat you, at least not right after that meal," I proceeded to laugh, hoping she knew I was purely joking but from her expression I think I'd made it worse.
"I do want you to know I'm just kidding, little bit of humor, eh?" The awkward silence from her told me I should take it easy on the jokes.
"... erm yea I won't quit my day job. Anyways, your free, chains all broken."
(incomplete, still in progress)
