Wolf Hunt (Energy, Open)

Dar's breath formed a white cloud in the cold air. This far North, it was always cold, even in the middle of summer. The rumors were that the villagers nearby had sent a request to the Teen Titans in Jump City for help. It made sense. The Titans were generally seen as a selfless group, trying to improve the world for others. It was only natural for the Koori people to ask them for help, to ask them to hunt the wolf.

But Dar had other plans for the wolf. If the rumors were true, and the Koori had actually called in the Titans to fight a single animal, then the beast had to be powerful indeed.

The woods were thick here, and no vehicles could possibly hope to traverse the terrain. He was on foot, and Miley walked with him. Dar chuckled to himself. They must look like two crazy people, wandering the white forest. In reality, he could sense something just a half mile away. Something powerful.

He could have sworn they were north of the tree line. It certainly felt cold enough. "I hope you're surviving," he said to Miley. "Remember, we have to be able to fight at the end of this. Will you be up to it?"

Miley wore some thick jackets, hat, glove, shoes, and pants since she only had her cold resistance in her full ice form which she could only hold for so long so she wanted to save it just in case. Though despite the cold she still had a skip in her step and a smile on her face. Miley giggled and looked up to him smiling brightly brushing er blonde hair out of her face and lifted her chin up so he could see her smile from under her scarf.

"It's certainly not the kingdom that's covered in lava and hot rocks, but I think I can manage some cold doodle Dar." She then looked back forward nuzzling back into her scarf and held out her hand cupping it and put her other hand that was also cupped over that one and shot ice out of both to make them collide and make shards of ice form in her hands.

She then slowly lifted up her top hand as she focused on the ice as it formed into a little tiny statue of dar. she smiled and held it up to him Dar being much taller than her. The figure had very incredible detail to it and she smiled up to him again. "I think I can handle a little cold weather, but I know what you're probably thinking, yeah you can make cute ice sculptures but can you fight? And well I assure you I can and this is the best possible landscape for me to fight in when in my current form."

She looked back forward again. "So in other words I'm so up for a fight, especially if i can keep the body afterwards to make some wolf bacon! With as much meat there is on a wolf that will make a lot of bacon so hey maybe my boyfriend will finally get a piece this time!." She said with a giggle seeming almost innocent but right now she was just happy and excited so this behavior could only be expected.

Dar marveled at the tiny ice sculpture of himself. It was quite the likeness, actually. Between the statue, the skipping, and the genuinely cheery attitude, Dar couldn't help but think to himself, 'this girl is kinda cute.'

But then she mentioned her boyfriend. Of course, they all had boyfriends. He was certain that somewhere out there was some jerk who was dating 50 girls just to prevent them from being available.

He cleared his throat. "I wouldn't have brought you along unless I thought you could fight. I'm sorry, but there won't be any wolf bacon...most likely. I'll be happy to buy you some bacon, later. Or if you see something else you want to eat, go ahead and kill it. We're not in too much of a rush." He continued to walk towards the aura of power. "Instead of destroying something dangerous, you often have the chance to turn it into a weapon. A beast like this could be useful to us. Of course, if it can't be subdued, you have my permission to kill it. By the way, what do you know about wolves? Specifically lone wolves?"

She then turned her smiling face to dar as he cleared his throat and spoke but then pouted at the fact there would be no wolf bacon for her y the end of this or at least there most likely wouldn't be but she smiled brightly when he said he'd be happy to buy her some later. She then held her fists up into the air and cheered. "Yaaaay! Bacon!" He then told her he could kill and eat anything else she wanted to and smiled excitedly.

Dar was the best boss she ever had, though he was the first one shes ever had he still was the best. She then shrugged at his question. "Nothing really, I've only been in the upper world for about a year now though I know about hell hounds and other things like that! My father used to love to make hungry hell hounds bite me and try and rip my flesh off for food but stop them before they did for minimal scaring since he wanted to make the scars himself." She said casually.

Nobody Dar met was ever boring. They always had shocking history, usually tragic. Miley was no exception.

"Well, wolves are nothing like them, I'd imagine. Wolves are loyal to their family. They hunt to survive. They defend the land of their ancestors. They are led by the strongest and wisest among them. They don't sound too different from humans, really. But just like humans, there are always...outsiders. A lone wolf has committed an unforgivable crime against their family. Banished from their homeland, they are forced to wander, alone. Lone wolves are not expected to live long. But every once in a while, a lone wolf is exceptionally strong. Not only to they survive, they actually get stronger and more dangerous. They realize that they don't need to rely on anyone, and that knowledge unlocks their full potential. That's how legends are born."

In the distance, there was a howl. Dar grinned. The beast was aware of them. It was trying to scare them away, but Dar did not stop his approach. He was willfully invading the beast's territory. Now the beast would have to decide whether it would run or fight.

They came to a clearing. On the other side stood a lone wolf. It was as tall as a horse, and had fur black as tar. Silver eyes glared at the invaders with hatred. Dar stared back, his eyes just as silver.

"So tell me, what was your sin?"

The wolf ran towards them. Its speed was unnatural, and Dar expected it had strength to match. He drew his sword. A moment later, the wolf was in his face, biting at him. Dar slashed his sword at the monster, which caught the blade between its teeth. They stood their for a moment, struggling for control over the weapon. If Dar lost the weapon, he would be torn to shreds. If the wolf let go, it would lose its head.

Despite the cold, Dar was visibly sweating. This wolf was strong indeed.

Miley listened to his words and thought not too much on it though now she heard the howl and slowly got down on all fours just in case she had to quickly run. She growled like an animal back at the wolf and stuck low to the snow like a white tiger stalking its prey. She blinked then though at Dar's words, He thought she had been banished?

Miley then refocused and saw the wolf and dar trying to finish each other off. She then refocused "I am no lone wolf Dar I was not banished from my home, I ran from it." She said as she then turn and ran away from them but then leaped up and shot out ice at the snow landing on it her ice causing more of the snow to freeze.

she slid on all fours as she turned sliding away as she set out ice still making a trail backwards. She now had the ammunition she wanted. She then moved her hands over her shoes making blades on them turning them into ice skates. Miley then leaped onto the Ice and started skating down it aiming her hand back at where she climbed on and snapped her fingers.

She then swung her arm forward and snapped making a massive chunk of ice fling into the side of the wolf. She skated on the ice with the grace of a professional ice skater. She then shot out more ice with one hand while taking turns with that and throwing ice chunks at the wolf. Miley was slowly making an ice rink and was moving and it was clear that miley was at one point in time or still was a professional ice skater.

Miley Looked around the now massive circle rink that had a hole in the center were dar was and slowly started to smile as she stated to speed up her pace going to one corner of the rink and then lmade a quick turn making small ramp like shape with her ice that when she started to go up it he brought her leg up and started to twirl while shooting out ice making a massive pillar that she road up and over diaginally.

She slowly stopped making the round pillar and road it out like a bridge before back flipping off with grace stretching out her legs doing the splits as she did and shot out more ice making another pillar going down with her then shout it outward and down and gently landed on it using it like a ramp. while also speeding up due to it. She then looked to the wolf and snapped her fingers on both hands and took pieces both of the ramp.

She just used and the one she rode up and flung them at the wolf leaving what looked like paws but not too detailed yet. She hoped to get the wolf's attention if she had lost it and if she didn't she hoped to give him two more hard hits as she snapped her fingers go to let go of the ice.

Looking to the fixtures she just made one could thing that Miley was making something out of the ice while also skating like she was doing a show at an ice skating tournament all while fighting. One thing that was for sure was Miley was smiling brightly and clearly having fun while doing this.

The chunk of ice hit the wolf in the side, pushing the beast away from Dar. The sword slid through its teeth harmlessly, releasing both Dar and the beast from their blade lock. The beast was annoyed, but not seriously harmed from the ice block. It recovered quick, keeping its focus split between Dar and Miley. It was a very difficult task, since Miley was ice skating around them in a circle. It almost seemed like she was building a cage out of ice around them.

Dar wasn't standing still, either. He rushed up to the wolf, sword ready. The wolf snapped at him, trying to fake him out. It worked. Dar made a defensive slash with his sword. The wolf did not make a follow-up attack, though. It could see that Dar's recovery time was too fast. The beast would need to wait for the right moment.

Of course, Dar couldn't just charge right in, either. They were in a constant dance, each trying to catch the other on bad footing.

"I wasn't talking about you," Dar dared to say. "I was asking the wolf. I can tell you are not a lone wolf, Miley. You need a family. You need me."

As Miley sent more ice flying towards the beast, it reacted, dodging the ice. However, during this time, it was at a disadvantage to Dar. Dar dashed in to deliver a punishing slash. "And I need you."

Snow turned red, and the beast limped. Dar's sword had cut deep into its leg. Evasion would be much more difficult now, but not impossible.

"Restrict its movement," Dar said. He focused on staying an immediate threat to the beast, feinting and making quick attacks. "Freeze it to the ground."

While Dar and the wolf danced so did Miley skating around and building another st of pillars and a bridge that matched the other one. Though she wasn't building a cage at all Miley loved to build things out of ice while ice skating but never anything as simple as a cage.

She listened to Dar as she connected the two bridges with a massive slab of ice and trailed off it with a ramp going down. As she made it down to the ground she held her hand out to the pillars and clenched her hand making them crack along with the newly built objects one by one.

"Are you trying to woo me with your words Dar?" She said teasingly with a giggle. She then grinned as she made her way back up to the top again and made one final part with two large ice pieces coming off it. She then would diagonally flip off it again rolling in mid air as she cracked it too.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I don't need a family nor do I want one." She then landed on the wolf like she was riding it like a horse hugging it as she slowly sat up and froze its legs to the ground and quickly used her scarf to tie its mouth shut and froze it there.

She then looked to Dar with a soft smile. "I just need friends sometimes cause I get lonely." She then cupped her hands together and made a large ice rock and threw it at a pillar making the ice ran down as ice like dust that shimmered as it fell leaving a massive highly detailed wolf sculpture. "That and my art, and all you need is to lighten up and have more fun with things stress and sad depressing things can be bad for you."

She said with a bright smile and a giggle before hugging the now held down wolf that couldn't bite her now and ruffled it's fur with her arms. She pet him right behind the ears as she sat on him and lightly kissed the top of it's head. "And you Mr. Wolf also need to lighten up, your much more adrible when your not trying to kill us." She said leaning over to look down to him in the eyes with a bright smile.

Dar chuckled when Miley asked if he was wooing her. "What if I am?" His tone was just as joking as hers.

Miley said that she didn't need a family, but simply needed people to hang out with. "You can't have it both ways. Are you a lone wolf or aren't you? There is no third option." Miley did an amazing job of freezing the wolf's legs to the ground, and even muzzled it with her scarf. Despite her performance, which also included revealing the stunning wolf statue she had made of ice, Dar felt uneasy about her sitting on top of such a dangerous creature. "I have no intention of pretending I I'm your counselor, so I'll leave it at this, many people live a very long time without something they need."

Dar looked the wolf in the eyes. It was struggling with all of its might to escape. No matter how strong Miley's ice was, Dar had no doubt the beast would eventually escape. The desire to live was a wonderful motivator. They would need to work faster than it did.

Dar's arm shot out, grabbing the wolf by it's muzzled jaw. His eyes and hands began to glow white. He spoke to the wolf. Although his words themselves might not be understood, he was hoping at least the basic meaning would get through. It was clearly an intelligent animal. "Beast, you have lived a long time without what you need. I am going to heal you, and you will have the chance to attack me again. You have another choice: submit. I will let you join my family, if you wish. Is being alone what you really want?"

The wolf was surprised to see and feel its wounds being healed. It understood the deal it was being offered. These two humans had proven themselves stronger. They wanted him to follow, to obey, to join their pack. But Dar had not truly proven himself to be stronger. He had allowed this other human, the girl, to help him. How could the beast, possessing any sort of pride, submit to one that was not proven stronger?

The wolf snarled. With its wounded leg healed, the ice around all four of its legs cracked. The scarf around its mouth began to rip. The beast had murder in its eyes. In a few seconds, it would rip these humans apart.

Dar's sword stabbed the beast in the neck, and it's body fell to the ground. It would not rise again. Dar sighed. "So, your Sin was Pride. I was afraid of that." He sat down in the snow, thinking to himself. "You did well," he said to Miley, though clearly his mind was elsewhere.

"Then I'd have to tell you that you're trying too hard and remind you that I have a boyfriend with a massive gun that girls seem to love cause they always scream when he takes it out then run to go tell their friends about it!" she said with a giggle and her tongue stuck out cutely.

"well then I guess one spit second I'm not then the next i am and it just swaps back and forth every moment." She said basically making the third option without technically doing it to work around Dar's no third option rule. Miley then smiled leaning on the wolf as she watched Dar talk to it and heal it.

When the wolf chose not to me with them and was killed Miley pouted now sitting on its dead body. "Aww I was hoping for a new friend." she then shrugged "Oh well at least now we get dinner!" Miley then closed her eyes and her hair slowly turned bright red and her very faint freckles became a bit more visible and she grew a devil like tail as red as her hair she was now in her full demon form.

Miley then pulled her gloves off and blew a little fire on her hands to warm them up and rubbed them together. She then grinned widely before shoving her hands into the hole a bit violently and yanked on the sides ripping the hole bigger. She then used her tail to pull up her sleeves and shoved her hands in further and started to rip off and yank out pieced of meat putting them on the ice next to her not seeming to mind all the blood on her arms.

when she had a large pile she grabbed a large hand full and shoved it in her mouth and started to chew her cheeks glowing a bit and smoke coming out of her mouth. She then grabbed another hand full and when she opened her mouth again one could see fire softly glowing from her throat she was cooking the meat as she ate it.

She was about to shove it in her mouth when she heard Dar's compliment and smiled cutely despite having blood all over her arms hands and now mouth she still managed a cute smile. "Thanks it was a lot of fun!'

She blinked seeing that he was lost in thought and pouted but then smiled and skated over to him but stopped where the snow started and the ice stopped and crouched down holding the meet out to him and used her fire to cook it in her hand knowing that he probably couldn't cook it in his mouth like her. "Want some?"

Fun? Dar had been excited about the prospect of gaining the wolf as an ally. Even slaying such a beast could be considered by some to be a noble accomplishment. But Dar wouldn't consider either one of those things to be fun.

The beast's pride had been its demise. It wasn't a new concept, of course. The previous Pride had been killed by Dar, who had taken advantage of his...well, pride. Those who were full of such a Sin were likely to seek personal power and isolation. The power made sense. It was easy to take pride in one's ability. It was a source of security to become so strong that many opponents were incapable of harming you. In the end, though, like this beast and like the Black Wing, the prideful eventually became a lone wolf.

Was Dar a 'lone wolf?' He did not want to be. He wanted to surround himself with people that he liked, people who would be loyal to him, and people who would further feed his pride.

His thoughts were interrupted when Miley offered him some meat. She was covered in blood, and was eating raw meat, which Dar found quite disgusting. "Show some dignity." He didn't need people to bow to him every time he walked past, but he did expect some sort of etiquette in his presence. After all, he was the king of the world.

"Listen, I was joking earlier. I don't woo, and I'm not trying to become your boyfriend. I want to be your king. I want you to be devoted to me, like a good wolf, not a loner. After all, we know what happens to lone wolves, don't we?"

He started to clean the blood off of his sword with a cloth. When he was done, he tossed the cloth to Miley. Hopefully she could clean herself off with it. "Eventually, someone stronger eats them. That's why I need you, Miley, and that's why you need me."

She narrowed her eyes then as he spoke to her talking to her like she was lower than him. She growled and burned them meat till it was ashes. "YOU KNOW WHAT JUST BECAUSE YOU CLAIM TO BE A KING DOESN'T GIVE YOU RIGHT TO TALK TO OTHERS LIKE THAT AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO BE NICE TO YOU PRICK!"

She huffed out smoke her tail on fire. "I'm sorry if I lack table manners but some of us was raise in a dungeon! Being tortured by the father who claimed to be a strong and noble king for 16 years!" She threw a fire ball at the cloth turning it to ashes.

"I didn't escape from the depths of the underworld and that hell of a kingdom my father ran to this world to be treated the way all you human treat me! I am not some scum you can talk down to and act like you know! I am Princess Milicondras Gendorytoonyfeel Feedecondro and I may be a half breed but I. AM. A. PERSON!"

Tears rolled down her angry face her tail slowly went out as she looked down. "I thought you were different.... when I looked to you I saw hope of someone who could save a world... unfortunately not my world but a world where there's people like me out there... who get looked down on by people all around them because they aren't like them..."

"Stop..... stop talking to me like you know me.... like you know what I need...." She looked up to him "I bet you didn't even know my real name, that I was a half breed demon, or a princess up till now no one up here does..... no like everyone else in this world you were focusing all about yourself thinking of yourself high and mighty...."

"That wolf's sin was pride.... so is yours... I can tell cause you seem to think like my father and he thought the same way, he couldn't stand having a daughter who was no only a half breed but not evil at all or super strong like him was a discrase and spent every moment of his life since i was born beating in all the resent he had towards me because i hurt his pride by just being me."

"The only one who has ever made me feel happy and like i belonged somewhere is Zack, and he's an insane killer to the maximum extent of the word but he still manages to treat me with respect and only wants to be with me to be with me and make me happy. And I feel the same about him. If you want to be the king of the world you need to stop talking down to people like me."

She wiped her tears away uncaring of the blood she just smeared across her cheeks. and under her eyes and looked to him with narrowed eyes. "If you don't one time you'll disrespect someone who is stronger than you and you'll dreams will be destroyed because you'll end up like that wolf.... all because you didn't think before you spoke.... she why dont you show some dignity and this word I learned a month or so ago... humble and I don't even care if i used the right version of that weird English word."

She then flung her hands into the air. "And that's another thing that sucks!"
She pointed at him now just ranting to rant. "All you Americans make any non English speaker learn your language so you don't have to learn other one's! I know every Demon language there is! So it's easier for me to talk to all other demons in my world so they don't have to know mine cause its kind and considerate!"

Her voice that already had a good sounding Japanese mixed with a British accent got a thicker one due to her annoyance making it hard to understand her words. "Now I have to even be careful with every word to speak in as close as I can get to an American accent cause then all you lazy Americans cant understand my Feeconic accent!" She growled and roared out fire before panting and seeming to calm down before muttering in Feecon language with crossed arms. "(Satan damn Americans suck!)"

((OOC: DISCLAIMER: The writer is american so all the negitiveness and racisim of all americans being lazy and not learning other languages is not racist cause she's amarican and come on face it we all know at least one lazy american who does this. For heacks sake most of us are so lazy we dont even say the A in america we just say Mercia no lie..... that is all))

Dar listened to Miley's rant with astonishing patience. Was this all because he had asked her to wipe her mouth? No, there was clearly more to it than that. Miley was an individual with a sad past. She had suffered at the hands of her father, and at the hands of humans. She was still suffering, even at this moment, due to her unfortunate memories of those past experiences. Dar didn't believe that she was truly angry with him, since she kept referencing other groups who had wronged her.

"I'm Canadian," Dar said, after she had burned out and calmed down. It was, perhaps, the most awkward thing he could have said. Clearly, it did not change anything about her rant. It was more of an ice-breaker. "But you are right about many things, Princess Milicondras Gendorytoonyfeel Feedecondro." Dar matched her pronunciation of the demonic name with astonishing precision. "I knew you were a half-demon, but I did not know your full name nor your heritage. I knew you were powerful, and that was what I needed."

"I have no secrets, but there are things about me that are not common knowledge. You are right about one of those things. My Sin is Pride, but there is more to it than that. I...am...Pride." Dar let the abstract thought sink in. It wasn't something most people dealt with every day. "I am the Sin itself. My ego is quite off the charts, but that does not mean I do not respect you. You are my friend, and I take great Pride in my friends, my compatriots, and my allies. To me, you are worth more than nations."

Dar stood and faced Miley. He was dead serious. "I grieve for the pain you've experienced in your life. Those who have hurt you will not be forgiven. I will punish them severely. Perhaps I do not know what is best for you. I'm Pride and even I don't think I'm perfect. I apologize if I have offended you in ignorance." Dar grinned. As absurd as it might sound, he took Pride in his humility. Nobody could do it better.

Dar pointed at the remains of the dead wolf. "I do know that it is best for me if you continue to work with me. I'm proud, but I'm not foolish. That wolf...was stronger than me. It is very likely I would have been killed without you here. You have indeed been kind, in speaking a language I understand, and in saving my life. I would like to offer you a lasting contract to act as my bodyguard." Dar produced a second towel out of his satchel. "One request, though. I am quite accustomed to a rather stiff and unexciting set of table-manners. If you would please make an effort to maintain a clean appearance, it would be much appreciated."

He chuckled. "And don't worry, though you are quite beautiful, I don't plan on challenging your boyfriend. He sounds like a boss."

She slowly looked up to him as he spoke to her in a calm manner and started off by telling her he wasn't American. She then blushed a bit as he said her full real name perfectly and started off calling her a princess. The only time anyone ever called her princess was her father and he merely did it to put her down in some shape or form so it was odd to bee called it in a fashion that was just calling her what she was.

He then told her that he was pride itself rather than just it being his sin. She found it rather ironic that he was pride itself and she had told hi that it was his sin, guess she was more right than she had initially thought. Though unlike most she seemed to take it very well he then called her his friend and said she was worth more to him than nations which very much flattered her to say the least.

Dar then said that he would punish those who hurt her, the thought of her father being finally punished for all he did made her very happy. If he ended up dead she'd even become a queen of her entire race which wasn't too big since it was only in a kingdom of abut 2,000 or so people maybe more she had been gone for a long while but still 2,000 fire demons still was a lot of fire power and since Miley helps out her friends there was no doubt that she'd use the fire power to aid Dar if she had it.

He then apologized and her face softened more clearly accepting the apology and looked to the wolf's remains as he pointed to it. Then back to him as he thanked her and asked her to be his bodyguard. She then took the towel this time and looked form it to him smiling "Tell you what, if you teach me the table manners I'll use them." She wiped her arms off.

"He is and Dar I'll gladly accept your offer and raise you one in return." she wiped her mouth off looking to him. "I'll teach you my people's language, and when you punish my father for what he's done to me you help me take the throne. As Queen I will have rule over 2,000 or more Feecon or in terms you may understand, I will have rule over an entire army of fire demons that do not have control over ice and water like I but they have full mastery over their fire abilities unlike me and are fully trained to fight in war."

She looked at him seriously "All of which will follow every word and order I provide to them including to help you reach your goals and will do so gladly for saving them from a tyrant of a king and giving them a merciful and kind Queen. You will help save a kingdom and gain help to make your own kingdom." She held out her now spotless hand to him. "I wish to help you in this matter but i only will and only can after you help me."

Dar was glad that Miley had calmed down, and that she had accepted the position. She would make an excellent bodyguard.

Her father was some sort of demon king with 2000 fire demons at his command. The extra firepower was tempting, but the task required was daunting. Just getting past the 2000 demons would ordinarily be considered impossible, and that left the fight against Miley's father.

Dar grinned. He would do it. Somehow, he would find a way. "If you wish to be the Queen of Hell, you shall have help from the King of Earth." He grasped the hand she offered him and shook it. The unholy pact had been formed.


To be continued...
OOC: Great Thread!