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Dark.

The soothing sounds of quiet pelting slowly gave way to the hush flow. The dark soon gave way, slowly, to the slivers of light that passed over the smooth surface of the enclosed dome.

Cold.

Waiting.

The anticipation and desire to be on the move stirred a stripped black and red tail and flick against the gentle stream's pull. A singular webbed wing folded tight against the surface shielding out the high concentration of light that was now filtering down. Soon the cold gave way to a warm comforting feel. The light was not as bad and the sore joints spread out to be warmed. The other wing, which was confined to its dome like cage, wished to be warmed the same but way trapped. The small tail gave a lash of annoyance, and the drifting soon became soothing enough for the realm of sleep to still it.

Images flashed and scene changed, eye that only saw a bleak and sleepy black were filled with color. Emotions that were quite confusing were filled and changed with the color blurs. The blurs started to have different fine lines though the color and the shape was not limited or equal. More clearly, the feelings of sensations were as real as the cool smoothness on the tail that would flicker with a change of mood. The sensations started to make sense. Self awareness built and eyes gazed over the scene before it.

'Dream'

Eyes opened wider and searched out the voice; the sound and colors sharpened. The small field before it waved with the breeze that felt so real. Looking around the eyes caught the movement of something dark green. The eyes widened at the form before it gazed over what seemed like a monstrous but familiar form. The creature had a regal feel; a large green mane around the head and the large red and black wings extended and folded back relaxed. A black tail with red stripe like diamonds swung forward slowly and close to the smaller form before it, eyes softened and a small smile graced the larger creature's muzzle. Laying down it reached out its tail to draw the little one closer.

'This place. Even myself, is truly nonexistent.' The little form shrank back a little and tilted its head. Unbeknown to it, it was a mirror image of the creature before it, a feeling of safety seeped from the big creature and soon the little one took small unsteady steps, unguided by the tail that was trying to bring it close. Joy leaped up in the larger creature's heart. A small mew preceded the small beings fall. Trying again, the little one unconsciously spread its wings and with more success made its way over and it nuzzled close into the warm side.

'I have much to tell you my little one,' Eyes gleamed with motherly pride, 'we are beings called Manticore and your mission...' the small eyes of the little manticore watched as it learned all it could. Being unable to respond it just soaked up and listen to the soft soothing voice. Sadness filled its eyes as it learned that this mother was not going to visit in its dreams very often. The energy used to form this dream realm was drawn from the morning of a full moon after a night of rain. The little manticore cried out in little mews as its mother faded a little. She licked over her little kitten and smiled sweetly. A low rumble like purr resonated through her body and calmed the kit. Soon the purr took shape into a rhythm and the mother passed one her final gift. The song was purely feline and it was passed from mother to child no matter the gender. The little kit fell into a rest filled sleep and the mother faded gently away a tear rolling down and dripping onto her kit's head.

The murmur in the room grew to the point where Rob set a silence spell. The sudden shock of not being able to speak had multiple people grasping their throats in panic till they figured out what was halting their ability to speak.

"Now that I can speak without interrupting any conversations, I think starting this little meeting will be nice." Rob released the spell and looked at the two sitting to his left, Alex, whom was in his hated status garb. He didn't like dressing up but a meeting of packs required it. Alex stood up and looked out across the rich dark brown maple table that looked as if it could stand for years daring time to damage it. The glass over it gleamed and reflected the many muzzles that sat there and even a few scratches where a Wolf got bored and decided to imprint on his declared spot.

"Now we all know about the old ways and how some settled mating rights with needless killing or bribery. Thankfully our Alpha's of old had made a different sort of competition. Dominance battles were born out of the deep need to fight things out but lowered the death toll and even helped merge great packs together out of the mating, letting the offspring be born out of the fittest or the cleverest Wolf vying for female affection-

"We Know Alex. Get to you dam point." A gray-muzzled wolf growled out rather loudly. A few glared at him to be silent, others nodded in agreement but were elbowed by their neighbors to be silent. Alex was unfazed by the outburst and just kept on with what he was saying.

-As I was saying... These competitions are rare in these times but even rarer," Alex looked around the room, "was to have a human be the center of the conflict. The reason you are all here is because a rare time has come about. Courting bonds the Wolf Shirai and the human Kynali, but the Alpha John FangBlade seeks to claim her. The conditions and rules must be changed in order to make the fight something that is on terms and give the human Kynali a chance to fight on equal grounds." Alex finished talking and watched the Wolves before him. Many gave Kynali looks, both good and bad, others were busy whispering a few even looked like they were falling asleep.

"Why you are all here is for the first putting out to all of you clan mates how wish to join the fight. Some here, I know for sure will have quite a lot to say. I ask you to please not to contact Kynali. She will be moved to a dorm in the writing hall, where there is no chance of her being claimed by any eager or trickster Wolf among us. Any Wolf who comes around her are to treat her with the respect you would have for and Alpha." Rob put a paw on Kynali's shoulder. She was not very happy with not being with Shirai, and the fact was it was always hard to separate mate or future mates if they bond so close. She sent a longing gaze over to Shirai and bit her lip, showing she was not happy or comfortable with the fact Shirai was across the table. Shirai was fuming on the inside and did not like this arrangement. The fact, in his mind, was that they hadn't done anything before then they won't do anything now. Shirai kept his cool though, trying to let his normal unfazed attitude crack but for her... She meant the world, losing her would mean losing a part of himself to the cold Wolf he used to be.

The sound of careful lonely steps barely made a sound down the long stone paved corridor. The hall was dark and the quite muffled voices and noises from the doors that were spaced out several feet per door. Each door had a number and a letter that were lighter pieces of wood. The air around resonated sadness as the footsteps slowed to a stop in front of a light wooden door.

Digging through her pocket, Kynali found the key to the room that she was assigned to. The flat surface of the key glinted a little and Kynali could see herself in it. Studying her eyes she looked at how sad she had become. Shaking her head she put the key into the key hole and turned the brass knob. The door opened with no protest as she pushed with little effort, went through and shut it quietly. The short hall, merely three steps, opened up to the light filled simple room. The walls were a light yellow and made it seem like it just radiated calm. There was a small fireplace in back and right on either side was windows. The creamy green curtains were simple; underneath the left window was a solid looking desk and chair. Surrounding the fireplace was a light brown couch and a few darker chairs in the center was a coffee table with small wyrms carved along the sides. There were two animal print bean bags that sat against the far right corner. Looking to her left she saw a half opened door that led to a small kitchen. The opposite way were two doors. Both had a cork board eye level but one had pictures and drawings that looked a little fuzzy from where she was. but they looked good. The center had the name Gingy in decorative writing. The other door had nothing on the cork board. Shrugging off the bag she had on her onto the couch she sighed and looked out the door longingly. Focusing on the room again she saw an envelope in the door, which she assumed was her room. Walking over Kynali opened the door and caught the envelope before it fell. Opening it and reading over it Kynali stood still as she did her best to read through it. The penmanship was very pretty and the paper was very nice.

"Dear Kynali,

My name is Gingy and I am going to be your room mate. I don't have any big rules besides keeping it at least a little clean. I tend to let things get messy but as long as you can help then go ahead and add to the clutter. I am guessing you figured out which room is yours by the fact you are reading this, You can do whatever you wish to do to it, paint, pin a million pictures, make an alter to the lords of the underworld (Joking of course...Unless you are into that. Just no blood on the floor it is hard to clean out.). The kitchen isn't fully stocked, but they have food down in the commons. If you could keep the bigger size creatures out of the room and in the main creature area; Kitsunes, Mantis, Dire-wolves, Abeoth Frogs, and Winged cats are all welcome. I am currently on a quest, but I will be back in a day or so depending on if I can get things done with little problem. If anyone stops by to see me just tell them I am out.

I hope we can be good friends, and I am looking forward to meeting you.

~Gingy"~~*

Kynali folded the letter and put in in her pocket for later and picked her bag up. Going over to her new room she turned the handle and pushed in the door. A leather book and several pens sat on the middle of a bed in the left corner. A small table sat next to it with a lamp and a clock. There was a dresser sitting to the right of the door, it was dark wood and had the same wyrms carved along the sides and smaller round objects, which looked a lot like their eggs. Kynali set her stuff on the bed and picked up the book and opened it. The first page had the same writing as the letter so she figured it was from her roommate.

"This is a little gift from me to you. Journaling was something I wish I would have done when i was younger. I found it helped a lot when things were stressed. Yes I know the situation you are in is something not likely to happen to me but it is better than nothing.

~Gingy" ~~*

Kynali smiled and closed the journal and hugged it. She traced the spine with her finger and loved the leather. She wasn't the best writer but the fact someone she didn't know actually gave her a gift meant a lot. Smiling and set the journal down on the table and started getting her stuff out of her bag.

After putting all her stuff away Kynali decided to go sit on the couch of a while to rest relax and think.
A little later she decided to look around the kitchen, she started to feel sad at the fact she won't be having Shirai's food anymore, but she shook her head as she remembered she wouldn't let herself mope to much.

Slamming the door shut John growled. The Council of Packs would take forever to sort things out. Then there was the training time the bitch he wanted got so she could be well prepared. Private training no less! Aine watched carefully as the Wolf that was her master slowly worked himself into a near blood lust. He would need to go on a hunt or risk killing someone here.

'We should go hunt. It has been to long since you found anything worth fighting here, there will be glory to gain later, unless you want you skills to grow dull...' She cawed out to him. Her purple beady eyes lit up as the Wolf straightened up. His hackles were standing on end and his tail waved back and forth at the idea of killing.

'I like that idea. I think I shall go out tonight, I think I will go out tonight and go without weapons. That will give the fight an interesting twist.' John grinned evilly at the thought of blood on his claws and maw before the night was over. Something would be dead and it would be a pleasure for him.

Shirai sat in the library and sighed again as he stared holes into the paper before him. The pen he held in his paw hovered not to far away from being thrown in anger. He ran his other paw over the necklace Kynali gave him before she left. He felt her energy and her resonance and focused his eyes back on to what he was writing, trying not to will the paper to burst into flames.

It had only been 3 days and Kynali's scent was growing faint in the house. Thankfully she left him one of her blankets and would switch it out once he deemed it smelling only like himself. He wanted his alone time with her so bad but that was not what the Council had decided. It was too risky, and he was left worrying over one of the very few females who ever gave him the time of day let alone the only female who loved him for him, not the ranking he was. The fight would take forever to get over with, and even then that worried him.

Who would fight?

Who would win?

Would Kynali be hurt?

Could he face her in the final fight?

He had to, for her, for himself to protect her, he had to win. With a set jaw, Shirai got back to what he was working on with new energy willing his muse to live.

Rob looked at the pile of papers he had to get through. Someone was always complaining about something, wanting something, fighting someone. Pups the lot of them
Sighing, he leaned over the document that he had currently in front of him. A smaller pack wanted to have their Alpha in the Council, which was always a pain because they had to find their seat and who to not sit by. If he said no they'd just apply later on and have a petition; so it would be a pain either way. He'd have to look over the seating and find a neutral Alpha that wouldn't mind the extra person. It was a delicate balance of strategy Wolves were not used to. Not when so many potential weaker packs could be taken over and more land and Wolves would be added to their control. Rob picked up the plea and set it in a basket where he put the things he wanted to give more attention to.

The next thing on his pile was the situation with his son. He rubbed his temple with his paw and growled quietly. That boy of his would never learn, sad to say he was a natural born leader with so many character flaws. He knew it was not his fault for this; the pup got caught up into some of the older Wolves talking their muzzles off about how it used to be in the old days. How females would mate not by their choice. Growling louder, Rob read over the Council minutes and what was agreed upon.

"40 in favor and tallied for voting on Dom. Fight.

No agreement reached on date
No agreement reached on rounds
Full agreement on extended time for Kynali
Full agreement on the moving of Kynali
No agreement on contestants
No agreement finalized on rules"

Rob read over the list and made little notes by the items he thought were useless to vote over. The three page report was long and quite boring but he was glad that the problem would get the full attention it needed. Though whether or not a fight was needed was still up for question. Why couldn't his son just put his ego aside and find another female? What was so special it was worth risking exile for? He'd never understand that boy.