[ P ] Keepers

In the days leading up to the Solstice ritual, Rhiannon had focused much of her attention on her first foundling, Nightshade. The priestess had instructed the girl on what was expected of her, but Rhiannon was not present when the longest night finally arrived. It was up to the child alone to fulfill her duties to appease the Goddess.

Nightshade had already received instruction from Mother Rhiannon in preparation for her job as the Keeper – the witch responsible for assuring their sacrifice would be rendered unconscious so that the sacrifice could commence. ”Your duty is of utmost importance, my dear Nightshade. There are a number of plants that you may use when the time has come. It is up to you which you will use. You have learned enough to know. Use your intuition.”

”Too much, and the chosen one will succumb to your work before the blood is shed. Too little, and he shall become suspicious. He could fight back, or he could warn others that there are witches lurking in these words…” Her words were dark, ominous. Such an outcome would spell certain death for the Sisters of Samhain. But Mother Rhiannon believed in Nightshade, as an astute student of all things poisonous. ”Call for us when you are the last among the two of you still breathing.”

Now, it was up to Nightshade. Datura was arriving to lead the chosen one to where her dark Sister waited…

art & code by alexandre

Every moment spent with the chosen one was terrible. Datura had somehow convinced the unwitting brute to follow her to a vague destination, and she had fed him lies the whole time, in a stuttering voice that no wolf could doubt. She was the picture of an angel, so seemingly innocent, but nothing could be further from the truth. She was fulfilling her part of the coven's ritual this night. Orange eyes lit up when she finally found Nightshade in the appointed meeting place. With one final lie, she brought the man to her Sister. He was unsuspecting. Foolish. Doomed. As soon as she could and much relieved, Datura would find an excuse to go so that Nightshade could now do her part. The young witch cast the other girl, her Sister, a tense, feigned grin before she hurried away.

[exit Datura]

@Nightshade

coding: gutz

The day had come for her to do her bidding. She had been trying to remember the plants needed for the very job of subduing the adult male. Practicing on mice and other small vermin was easy - sometimes. She could trick them with berries more times than not. But she knew it would be hard to get this adult to trust her and give him these plants that he would, in fact, consume. "Here, try this!" She practiced to herself aloud as she waited for the male to appear with her sister. "No, no, too friendly and odd." She wondered what sort of lies he would be told and if he would even believe them. "Oh man, this tastes reaaaalllllyyy good." How could anyone not trust a child, yet Nightshade still thought it was foolish of her to be so odd. "Take this if you want to live!" she said with excitement, but she heard them coming closer and poised herself. Her golden eyes watched the pair walking together. He seemed fine with everything. Without thinking, she grabbed the plants and quickly handed them off to him so he could eat them. As she smirked to her sister, she told the male. "Here, this is for you." The male took the plants and chewed them. His eyes staying on the female. As the plants were swallowed, and the male was not collapsing on the ground or foaming at the mouth, Nightshade knew she had messed up. He lowered his head towards the ground and tried to vomit out what she swallowed. "What did you do to me?" he called out to her. But before she could respond, he was lunging towards her, trying to grab her shoulder. Luckily, she had been watching him and as she felt teeth grabbing her, she was able to jerk away from him. Angered by his display of aggression and slightly for her own failure, she launched herself at the male, biting his face. He screamed in pain as her teeth raked across his flesh and blood dribbled onto the floor. Nightshade licked her lips with a devious smile, tasting the tang of iron upon her tongue. But the victory was short lived as he, again, went after her. It seems the plants were still in effect and he hurled over to try and emit it from his gut. Nightshade went to bite the male, but she ended up slipping on his blood and slammed her head on his back, biting her tongue rather forcefully. Sumac and Anwyn came to her rescue. The males tried to stop the aggressor, but it would take some work from the three of them. He was angered by the kids' attempts, and still he went after Nightshade, which she more than welcomed the attack. He grabbed Nightshade by her scruff, and for a second, she was stunned and rested there. Once she felt the pang of teeth sinking into her flesh, she snapped out of it and tried to reach down and bite his leg. She was able to give him a good bite, but he was not going to release her until the boys came to her aid. Finally she was released and was able to step away from the male, blood trickled down her shoulder and leg. She walked over to his face, "fuck you! I hope you rot in hell!" She moved away from him, in case he got a third wind or something, allowing the next phase to begin. "The day is darkest before the dawn.." @Rhiannon @Datura

The air around him was charged with energy. He followed in Datura's wake as she led the unsuspecting wolf deeper into the forest, straight to his death. But it wasn't the male that Anwyn fixated on. It was Datura. He couldn't see her from the distance in which he followed, he could only just barely here, but he could, without a doubt, smell her. The boy followed like a bloodhound. Thus far, everything had gone smoothly, but there was no telling if the wolf would suddenly become suspicious of the nervous girl. Anwyn could smell it, the way her nerves soured her normally sweet perfume, diluting it with her fear and anxiety. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't the same as the rest of them. She didn't have an innate thirst for violence.

Maybe it was their lineage that made the rest of them so eager to jump at the chance to appease the Goddess with sacrifice. For three of the teens were born to the Coven, their beliefs ran through their veins. The rest had been brought in. Who was to say their birth parents weren't just as passionate. Datura though? The longer he watched her, the more he saw the soft soul she tried to toughen.

Shaken from his dark and twisted thoughts, they had arrived. Nightshade was waiting for them, offering the stranger a lethal reward. The boy was surprised the older wolf had taken it so easily, accepted the food and drink from total strangers without so much as a second thought. Were all outsiders this stupid?

When Datura fled, if she came his way, he couldn't help but step into path, watching her with all seeing eyes. Like a moth to a flame, he sought her out when he could and what better time to see the rawness of her bared soul than in the wake of her role in a murder?

It didn't take long for things to take a turn. Once their intended sacrifice realized something was wrong, he grew angry. He attacked Nightshade. A righteous anger filled the onyx wolf. Bursting from the shadows without warning, he lunged. With gaping jaws, the youth didn't hesitate to sink his teeth into the mans flesh until the fight faded from the wolfs body. Sides heaving, he lingered, a foreboding shadow that silently begged for the man to try something else.

Nightshade's angry words were background noise, barely heard of the rushing blood that pounded in his ears. Anwyn didn't leave, not yet. He waited, his sister would be arriving soon and while he might have smirked at the thought of this wolf taking a chunk out of her, she was vital part of tonight. The Goddess would only be appeased if all of them fulfilled their roles.speak like this.

table ; bunny