The people of China avoided the Woods of Malign whenever they could, and for a variety of reasons. Some legends spoke of a demon lurking in the Hush of Latent Desires, a river which cut its way through there. It was said the creature's body secreted a vile fluid that poisoned the water, hence why some of the more superstituous folk refused to drink from it. More gruesomely still, it sought anyone who traversed this sylvan realm, stealing them back to its home where it drowned and then consumed them. Another tale had to do with the trees, all of which had a spell cast upon them by a sorceress, ages ago. If one was not careful, they would be snatched up by the monstrous, jagged boughs and be ripped apart mercilessly. But the greatest reason of all (and the one that people knew to be true) was the triumvirate of snow leopards who called the woods home: the Wu Sisters.
At the moment, Yu, Zi and Lan Wu were seated around a crackling fire, which bathed the violet and beige tents in their midst with a radiant orange and flickering shadows - and of course, radiating some much-needed warmth in this cold November air. Occupying the paws of each, or scattered about at their feet, were the scraps of today's catch: a swine vendor who made the error of coming too close to the forest. Probably to slip through one of the many shortcuts leading to nearby villages. His provisions were divided unevenly among the ranks of the Sisters' lupine gang, causing much fighting to break out, while he himself was roasted alive for their personal nourishment.
A sigh finally escaped from Yu's lips, drawing the attention of her younger siblings. "Well Sisters," she murmured, "so many years it has been, and still we have yet to fulfill any of our dreams. Still we are confined to this... prison..."
"Yu shouldn't complain so much!" replied Zi, the middle sister. "We are well-known throughout the land; animals shudder from the mere thought of us."
"Shudder they do!" chimed Lan, whose sapphire eyes had grown wide with delight, for their work involved some of the most brutal assassinations in China's history...
It all started after arrogating control of the Wolf Pack. Branching out of the deep, dark woods at long last, the Sisters directed their bloodlust upon traveling merchants and the populace of small settlements. The horrific and wanton nature of their murders became the talk of many villages, and soon, shady nobles and other malevolent persons began hiring them to pick off the 'undesirable', even though they were usually killed themselves, simply because the Sisters could. And it was never quick; slow slicing was almost always reserved for the high-brow sort...
However, no creature is ever born wicked, and their conception was due in part to a tragic yet largely unknown event. Twenty-one years ago, their parents had somehow ended up in the Woods of Malign during a trek, where they both expired of unknown causes. Being that they were too young to understand death, the three cubs (who had accompanied them in their traveling cart) feasted on the two carcasses to weather this solitude. It was altogether a vague memory, though they remembered how incredible the stench was, and how their appetites never once wavered. In fact, it was a gleeful occasion; the disarticulation of the body, the spilling of fluids and the different tastes to be had. Undeniably, their psyches were altered on that fateful afternoon, and served as a first step towards their fetishism for death and torture - but it had also brought about the marauders who had taken shelter in the Forest. The wolves were taken aback at finding these children, slathered in ribbons of flesh and blood, yet instead of terminating them, the Alpha and Omega accepted the felines as their own, steadily versing them in the destructive ways for which they became well-known.
"...And where has that gotten us, other than becoming incarnations of fear and earning money we cannot spend? Nowhere!" Yu hissed, folding back her large black ears. "Always do our supplies run low, and continually do our numbers dwindle, because we're forced to eat members of our own gang just to stay alive!" She then threw the swine's femur into the fire, which spat violently and caused her kin to jump, as if to impress upon them further the severity of the situation. "The scope of our pestilence shall always remain meager, Sisters." she said more calmly. "And it upsets me..."
Zi and Lan exchanged weary looks; they knew how tempermental Yu was over such matters, and were quite thankful when it died down as quickly as it did. They had been the audience to many an emotional breakdown. But their leader certainly did have a point: outside of their past glories, they were still rooted among the trees. Yu had always sought the more grandiose paths out of the three, and thus was the most desperate to alter the status quo. After all, it was the same lust for power which led her, on the Sisters' simultaneous birthday of fourteen, to murder her adoptive parents in their sleep. For their lowly positions in the Pack did not mesh well with Yu's newfangled desires, nor did their hermit-like existence. But despite the questionable circumstances behind the deaths of Alpha and Omega, their underlings didn't speak their contention; many of them echoed the same yearning, for dominion over all of China, and were willing to follow the felines to that end.
"Big Sister must remember," Zi began, her tone somewhat tentative, "that the Furious Five is the reason for our aimless existence. We mustn't forget about our horrendous loss at the Battle of Weeping River..."
"So very horrendous!" said Lan before stripping the final bit of meat away from the pig's ribcage. The chewing that occured thereafter was quite sloppy and audible - another sign of how detached they were from society and prosaic mannerisms. It was the racing of their hearts and the perpetual crashing of the river.
The middle sister continued as though Lan hadn't spoken, "And we cannot spearhead an attack against the Five anyways, because of the Thread of Hope which seperates us from them. Even with a fraction of the Pack, we wouldn't be able to cross without the first bridge collapsing..."
"And then we'd go spiraling to our doom!"
"I don't need to be reminded..." And with that, Yu folded her arms across her chest and turned away, the images of mutilated bodies belonging to her Five opposers blooming in her mind, providing an iota of comfort in the doldrums she had settled into once more. Yes, if those warriors were exterminated, then she would be free to cast her shadow upon the land; the Emperor of China would be dethroned and meticulously hacked into pieces, as would those who continue to serve him, even in death; monuments of her glorious visage would be erected and she would be worshipped like a deity; and food would no longer come at the cost of needless sacrifice. But such things were just the fantasies of a dreamer, and as Yu pasted her jade eyes upon the star-strewn ocean above, the bleak, familiar realization of just how small she was fell over her. Her siblings had failed to contradict her - and they never did break the following silence to offer some form of reassurance. This analysis, a replica of those during the blur of bygone months, was decided before it even began. There was no hope for them...
Of course, their conclusion was a premature one: for a peculiar event occured which the Sisters had not anticipated. Just when they had slipped into their sanctuary of alternate realities, a howl issued from somewhere afar. At first the snow leopards thought nothing of it, until it was answered by another one, and then two more, growing closer each time. Yu, Zi and Lan leapt to their feet at once, drawing their wind and fire wheels, their slitted eyes darting here and there. They knew, from their past teachings, that this howling was to relay the message of something asunder.
In the grueling seconds that passed, however, no further warnings were voiced, leading them to believe that the situation (whatever it might've been) was now resolved. Suddenly, the sound of feet pattering against wood caused their ears to perk up, and soon one of their lupine sentries, who was clad in the usual black garb, emerged from behind the cliffside, panting softly.
"Well? What have you to report?" Yu inquired.