SKILL: HEARTBROKEN (1/5)

For Abaddon

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Odessa felt an overwhelming silence envelop her, a heavy stillness that replaced the chaos of her last few moments before the ax separated her head from her neck. One moment, she was facing a cold, oppressive reality, and the next, she was... somewhere else. Somewhere foreign.

As her pale lavender eyes fluttered open, she blinked into the dim light of a forest. A rush of disorientation ran through her at the towering trees that loomed above her, gnarled roots stretching across the leaf-strewn ground like the fingers of forgotten giants. This was not the flowery meadow of her childhood or the bustling city streets she was used to seeing every day from the top of her tower.

Panic kindled in her chest at the unfamiliarity as she struggled to process her surroundings. When Odessa tried to move her arms, she found herself unable to lift them the way she remembered. Her body felt strange, different, and it didn’t take long to figure out why.

A choked sound escaped her throat, a mix of a whimper and a mournful howling growl that sounded far too deep to be normal. Animalistic. Feral, even. It caused her rabbit pattering heart to kick up a notch when she heard the sound, body flinching and an unconscious whimper broke between slightly parted lips. Body frozen and tensed as if braced for an animal attack. But despite her fear, despite her disorientation and between the clouds of confusion and sadness, Odessa began to understand some things. Her body felt more settled now, her mind clearer as she took in the paws that led to legs that led to a now canine body. Her body?

She blinked, eyes a pearlescent purple so blue it looked lilac in the soft filtering sunlight as she flexed her hands and felt and saw the paws move instead. A fluttering of her eyes only confirmed the action as she turned to look over her shoulder and saw the sleek form she now housed. This was her body. She was now a wolf…

She just died.

The tears fell over with that thought alone and she wrapped a paw around her muzzle as if to hide from the world as soft, fluttering cries left her lips, body heaving with her sobs that she tried and failed to contain.

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Skill: Trickster

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Odessa

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Ab had decided to take his ventures outside Mistveil. The cross foxes and squirrels were getting old...

Along the way he'd picked off the same things he'd found at home, nothing new just the changing pelts of the animals around him. He scoffed as the male continued to move forward into gods knew where. Currently he was covered in old blood, and he stank... Bathing was not high on his list at the moment, not when he had free reign of everything around him. No momma to tell him no, nobody to tattle on him, nobody to stop him...

A sick smile crossed his features as he imagines how he must look to everyone around him. He smiled wider from the right side of his mouth while the left stayed in a half smile, it was a maniacs smile, and he was damn proud of it. Pride swelled as he realized he was probably the baddest thing around and he chuckled to himself, god it was good to be him.

As he wandered he realized soon he was surrounded by purple blooms all around. The scent of them floated to his nostrils and caused him to sneeze once heavily... Damn he hated flowers... Growling he kicked at them as he walked, destroying a path as he walked, and soon he heard the strangest sound...

It was a mixture between a whimper, a howl, and a growl. Smiling the male could only assume it was a wolf in trouble and he picked up the pace towards its origin, completely stopping his destroying of the blooms and racing to the place he'd heard the sound from. Abaddon stopped a few feet away from another wolf, one who seemed to be crying, and he replaced his maniacs smile with a frown and a look of concern. Mirroring mother at her finest.

What's wrong...? He feigned concern, his voice echoing that of compassion and caring as he took a gentle step forward, his head bent down as he tried to look unthreatening... Though he knew that would be impossible as he was covered in blood... And smelled of death and lilacs... Perhaps he could trick her into thinking he had just been hunting, though he was a rather large wolf and it was hard to look unthreatening with his sharp gaze piercing through her.

The female was small, so his towering didn't help, and she smelled so fucking sweet... Abaddon did his best not to take a deep breath of her inwards as he held himself still, dropping his tail behind him and smiling as sincerely as he could... And he felt that that gentle smile he sported was a damn good impression of what he'd seen on Jaxxon and Momma...

SKILL: HEARTBROKEN (2/5)

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The sound of another approaching made her flinch, ears folding back against her skull as her breath hitched mid-sob. Her head jerked up from where it had been buried against her forelegs, lilac eyes still wet and glassy. For a moment, she just stared, unable to make sense of what she was seeing—this huge wolf with the smell of iron and something sour clinging to him like rot. He looked wrong somehow, or maybe it was her who was wrong now, born into a body that didn’t feel like her own.

Her throat worked once, twice, before she managed to find her voice. I—I don’t know, she whispered when he asked what was wrong. The words came out thin and shaking. Everything. A nervous laugh trembled from her chest, half a sob. I… I think I died.

She didn’t know why she said it aloud. Maybe she just needed someone to hear it, to make it real.

Her gaze drifted, lingering on the splatters of red along his chest and muzzle. The scent made her stomach twist, but she tried—gods, she tried—not to recoil. There was something almost kind in the way he tilted his head, the way he softened his stance. She wanted to believe that kindness was real. That maybe not everyone in this strange, impossible world was cruel.

You— she hesitated, her voice a soft quaver. You’re hurt? she asked, gesturing faintly with her nose to the blood, even though she wasn’t sure if it was his. Or… or was it something else?

Despite her fear, Odessa took a tentative step forward. Her movements were slow, hesitant, like a fawn trying to walk on new legs. Her eyes—those pale, shimmering eyes—searched his face, looking for some small sign that she wasn’t completely alone here. I don’t mean trouble, she murmured, lowering her head. I just… don’t know where I am.

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Skill: Trickster

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Odessa

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His mouth salivated as she spoke, her voice a tapestry of beautiful tones that wound through his audits like a cartoon. Abaddon held back a smile and feigned sadness, his face knitting into that of the man who owned the mountain with momma, sorrow at it's finest danced across his features at her words. She mentioned she didn't know, everything was wrong and she thought she had died...

Died...

Her sift lilac orbs danced across the bloody splatters that lay across his maw and chest, his feet and face, and she didn't turn away from the sight or scent and he held still, his breath holding in his chest as he felt the burning of it trying to be release. He continued to hold. You... She started, You're hurt? She gestured at his blood with her nose, he waited feeling like she had more, and he was right. Or... Or was it something else...? She questioned further, taking a small step with a wavering voice towards him.

He held. She was hesitant and almost uneasy on her legs as she moved, she looked to his face and searched for a sign of some sort, what he didn't know, shortly after she had moved she mentioned she didn't mean trouble and she didn't know where she was. He smiled faintly, a twitch of faked warmth as he held his position, letting her near him as he replied in his deep voice.

Nah... I was huntin'... He reassured her, his version of hunting, he wasn't quite lying. You're in Mythris... He explained, hearing the name tossed around in the pack before and tucked it away for memory, lucky for him that knowledge was coming in handy. M'Abaddon... He introduced himself, giving her a false sense of security in his words, he bowed his head slightly and held back a dark chuckle...

If only momma could see him now...

SKILL: HEARTBROKEN (3/5)

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Odessa blinked up at him, the way a lamb might look at a wolf— wide-eyed and unsteady, but too stunned to run.

Mythris… she repeated softly, tasting the word as if it might tell her something, might make sense of the impossible. It didn’t. It only sounded foreign and strange on her tongue.

Her gaze drifted again over the red stains on his chest when he said he’d been hunting. Something about the way he said it made her chest tighten — not fear exactly, but a strange kind of ache, like a warning in her bones. Still, she forced a small, fragile nod. Hunting, she murmured, half to herself. Right.

He gave his name and she hesitated before offering her own. Odessa. It came out quiet, nearly swallowed by the breeze that brushed through the purple flowers around them. I… I think I was human, before, she admitted after a moment, her voice small and cracked with disbelief. And then— she stopped herself, shaking her head as though it might wake her from the dream.

Her eyes flicked back to his, the faintest tremor of curiosity breaking through her sorrow. You live here? In this… Mythris? She stepped closer, just one step, with her ears still pinned but her tail tucked low in uncertain politeness. It’s beautiful, she whispered, glancing at the lilac blooms he’d trampled through. Everything just feels… wrong here.

She paused, searching his face again, her lilac eyes shimmering with an uneasy hope. I don’t mean to be a burden. I just—don’t know where to go. Or what I’m supposed to do now.

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Skill: Trickster

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Odessa

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As she repeated Mythris he suppressed a shudder through his body, a feeling he didn't get often, something the repeating name brought from within the depths of his soul as if it held magical powers within itself. He felt her eyes drift over him again, across the splatters and splats he sported and he knew he could easily push the hunting thing but decided to stand in silence before her and let the moment play out. Thankfully she didn't push it and introduced herself.

Odessa...

It was a quiet sound, almost a breath as she explained she thought she was human before and then... She stopped. Shaking her head as if she was trying to shake herself free from some sort of hold the world currently had on her. Her voice shifted as she flicked her eyes up to meet his own and the boy locked onto her lilac orbs as if they were the only thing left in the world. He blinked once slowly and nodded as she questioned if he lived here, that it was beautiful but everything felt wrong.

He allowed her another moment as she paused and searched his face for something, anything, but all he had was that faint feign of concern and worry. I don’t mean to be a burden. I just—don’t know where to go. Or what I’m supposed to do now. She slipped in and he tilted his head, I... He started and stopped, unsure of what to say and took a moment to collect his thoughts.

I live here, was born here.... He explained a small smile twitching on his face, I... I don't know anything about humans but... I do know... I can offer you shelter...An Food... An Safety... Abaddon explained, taking a small, tentative step forward towards her, If you come with me I... I can make sure you stay safe here... He promised, and if she didn't take it, well... What came next was on her. His duo-toned optics flickered over her features, his smile never waning as he waved his tail in a friendly way at her. Hoping she'd take the bait, but again, if she didn't he had his own ways of getting what he wants.

SKILL: HEARTBROKEN (4/5)
She rolled for option 1, lucky Ab

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Odessa’s breath hitched as he spoke, the promise of safety lingering in the air like something half-sweet and half-poison. Shelter. Food. Safety. Words that, once upon a time, would have felt like hope. Now they just sounded like something from another life—one she could barely remember.

Her ears twitched and her eyes, still raw and shining from crying, flicked between his face and the lilac-colored ground beneath her paws. You’d… help me? she asked softly, voice cracking at the end like a thread pulled too tight. Even though you don’t know me?

She wanted to step back, but her paws felt heavy, rooted in place by exhaustion and confusion. Everything inside her screamed to run, but where would she even go? She didn’t know this world. She didn’t know herself anymore.

I… she faltered, her throat working around words that didn’t want to come. I don’t want to be a burden. I just— she glanced up at him, and for a fleeting second, there was something almost childlike in her expression. I don’t know what’s real anymore.

Her chest rose and fell unevenly, a tremor shaking through her as she tried to steady her voice. You seem kind, she whispered, and the words sounded like both a question and a wish. Her eyes searched his—those strange, mismatched eyes—for something soft, something human, something that wouldn’t hurt her.

When she finally stepped forward, it was small and unsure, her tail low and trembling behind her. Okay, she breathed, her voice no stronger than the wind rustling through the lilac blooms. I’ll come with you… if you promise you won’t let anything happen to me.

Her gaze lingered on him a moment longer, and in that silence, it was clear she didn’t quite believe her own words.

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Skill: Trickster

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Odessa

https://open.spotify.com/track/3OE4VBO84...9b00494b02

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Smirking at her words he nodded, a sly look in his eye surfacing for only a brief second but he pushed it down with his best intentions. Though something about her willingness to take to him so quickly sparked something within the boy and he slid his lids closed halfway as he observed her, listened to her continue about not wanting to be a burden as she glanced at him for a quick second. Something about her expression seemed childlike and innocent, it was a look he'd seen on Lithe's face before. And suddenly he was shifted backwards.

Flashes of his sister spasmed behind his eyelids as he closed them for a second. All these seconds were fleeting, but they were present and there and real.

Opening his eyes he watched as she singularly shuddered and mentioned he seemed kind. Abaddon suppressed a loud laugh and simply bowed his head to her, something about this woman asked for him to be real, to be something other than the monster he was... Perhaps she was the one that would set him free...

Fat chance...

She searched his trickster eyes and he continued to play along with her as she agreed to come with him. If he promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her... And for a moment, he felt protective of her.

I promise Abaddon responded, his eyes locking onto hers, his large form towering over her. He couldn't help but feel something for her in this moment... What the fuck was this...? Confused inside but still reeling from the emotional burst in his brain he dipped his head and smiled. To home then...? He questioned her, wondering if taking her back to Jakten would really be this easy.

SKILL: HEARTBROKEN (5/5)

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Odessa froze when he smirked.

It was quick—so quick she could have convinced herself she imagined it—but something in her chest lurched all the same, a cold flutter of instinct that rippled beneath her ribs. Her breath caught and she blinked rapidly, as if the motion alone could clear away the sudden unease threading itself through her nerves.

But then he bowed his head, gentle and almost reverent, and she second-guessed herself entirely. Maybe it had been nothing. Maybe everything about her now—her new body, her shredded soul—was just too tense, too fractured to trust anything she saw.

Her eyes lifted slowly, hesitantly, drawn to his as if by gravity she didn’t understand. You… promise? she whispered again, the word nearly breaking as it left her. And when he said it—when he spoke it without stumbling, without hesitation—her whole body sagged with something like relief… and something like fear.

The way he looked at her made her heart flutter painfully, like a bird beating itself against the bars of a cage. He was so large, so strange, and she felt so small beneath him it hurt. But his voice didn’t sound cruel. Not in that moment. Not when he offered her a home, a direction, a place to go when she had nowhere.

She swallowed, struggling to steady herself as she looked up at him. Home… The word wavered. I don’t know if I still have one. Not anymore. Her ears twitched back, her gaze drifting for a moment toward the treeline as if expecting something from her past to come stumbling out—her tower, her sister, her death, something. But nothing appeared. Only silence. Only this place.

Only him.

Odessa forced her trembling legs to carry her the last step forward, her fur brushing cautiously against his as though seeking proof he was real. If you’ll show me the way, she whispered, voice soft as crushed petals. I’ll follow.

Her eyes slipped up to meet his again, wide and vulnerable, unaware of the storm behind his own. Just… walk slow? I don’t really know how to move in this body yet. A fragile smile touched her muzzle for half a second, the kind that tried to be brave and only half-succeeded.

And… thank you, she added, breath catching. For not leaving me here.

She didn’t know—couldn’t possibly know—how dangerous her trust might be. But Odessa clung to it anyway, because it was all she had left.

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Skill: Trickster

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Odessa

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She whispered a repeat of her words and Abaddon nodded slowly in agreeance. Part of him was dead serious that he would protect her, and part of him thought that this new play toy would satisfy his dark urges, though that small part of him that flickered in his darkness burned brightly and cut through the shadows inside his chest. He looked at her seriously, his eyes locked onto her own as he nodded with a smile that could kill.

Home... I don't know if I still have one. Not anymore... She murmured, her voice wavering slightly as she twitched her ears backwards, her optics drifting away from his, and part of him wanted to cup her chin gently and tip it up to meet his gaze again... The other part of him wanted to slap her... She took another step towards him and their fur met, electricity shot through his body at the touch and he wanted to flinch away, but another part of him wanted to lean into it. If you’ll show me the way, she hushed towards him, I’ll follow. her eyes came up to meet his again and Abaddon fought to keep breathing.

Just… walk slow? I don’t really know how to move in this body yet She asked kindly, a smile coming to grace her gentle features as she added a thank you for not leaving her there. Aiight... He smiled with a small dip of his muzzle towards her, his nose twitching with the gentle scents of honey and minerals, it was a warm and fuzzy smell to him for some reason. He resisted the urge to wink and just simply smiled at her with no glint of malice in his eyes. I'll go slow, hey, if you need it we can rest for a little bit and I can hunt for you... He half promised her, not knowing whether or not he'd keep it... But then quickly decided he would due to wanting to earn her trust before he could bring her home.