. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Name;; Althea
Gender;; Female
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Althea was raised in the outskirts of a town; her home was a small house that was abandoned by humans long ago. Life wasn't easy for her parents and no matter how hard they tried to hide it, she knew. Her father was a hunter and caught food for the family, selling any excess. One winter, her second one, was especially difficult for them. Food was scarcer than ever before and her father had to hunt more which made him tired. Soon, he fell ill.
"Mother, what's wrong with him?" the young viscet asked as he curled up close to her weak father. He had done nothing but sleep for the past few days. She had never seen him so sick before, and her father was fairly old now. Her heart shattered as she thought about losing him.
"Can't you tell?" Her mother snapped, then quickly calmed herself, "he's sick because he's worked himself so much." Now her voice was much softer, revealing the worries that she had. She knew they had the same thoughts. Her mother quickly left the room. Althea's mother had to care for the rest of the family and with Althea being the the eldest, she had to take her father's place.
"I'll take care of us," she said to her father. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her sleeping parent, dripping onto his fur. After a few minutes she stood then stepped away from him and slipped through the doorway. Her back was turned as she stopped. Althea looked over her shoulder. "Please be okay, I love you, dad," her voice trembled as she fought back the urge to cry. She knew he couldn't hear her as he was sleeping. Her heart felt heavy in her chest and soon her limbs felt just as heavy. With that, she turned and left the house.
Her first hunt was at the base of the mountain not far from home. It was getting late. The dark sky was shrouded in clouds and dappled with glowing white stars. If it wasn't for the bitter winds and thick blanket of snow under her feet, she would have stopped to admire the view. She carried a beech wooden crossbow with rusty steel joints. A black leather quiver lay against her sides, its worn, peeling strap slung over her neck and wrapped around under her arm. The snow crunched as her feet were dragged wearily through it. Althea was exhausted but she had to catch something before she returned home. She had been out for hours and her left ear was beginning to feel numb, causing some concern. Snow fell onto her dark coat, chilling her body. The wind started to howl, warning her of an approaching blizzard. It would be dangerous to stay out much longer. She wandered the forest for a while, most of the trees still had their leaves but some had become nothing but skeletons. Ahead of her was a rabbit. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. The black viscet reached for an arrow. She tried her hardest to load the crossbow but she had no experience with it. The arrow fell to the floor. Although she did not hear a noise, her prey certainly did. It ran. It wasn't the first opportunity she had missed out in the wilderness. Althea felt an uncontrollable anger build up inside of her.
If I carry on like this, my family will starve! Thinking of this only frustrated her more, but at the same time she felt her heart break.
I can't fail, she thought, the voice she heard sounded like a whisper, full of sorrow. She shook her head and started to track the rabbits footprints. By now her instincts had taken over, in her desperation to feed her loved ones. Her body was low to the ground as she stalked, hunted. In front of her was a dense field of thorn bushes, protecting the small brown rabbit. But that wouldn't stop her. She stepped lightly, almost as if she was trying to avoid stepping on mines. Her front paws pushed away the bushes gently, the thorns digging deep into her skin. They closed behind her, seeming to swallow her, scraping against her back legs. The blood trickled down from her scratches, staining the once pure white snow. The viscet was locked onto her prey as if she was a feral beast, right now she was running on instincts. As soon as she saw the rabbit scout the area, she leapt. For a moment she seemed to fly and forgot about her worries. She forgot about the trouble that faced her family and the fear of losing her father. There she stood, and in her mouth was the body of the rabbit. There was a pride that swelled in her heart, her yellow and red eyes shone with joy, making her feel warm despite the harsh winter. But it was quickly torn away as she turned around. The storm had started. Althea had heard many stories of viscets dying in these blizzards, freezing to death in the unbearable cold. She imagined their last moments, lost and confused; maybe even alone like herself. Her father, one of the bravest viscets she knew, feared the snow storms. And she could see why. Already the snow was falling thick enough to hinder her vision. Panic began to fill her body. Without thinking, she began to run. Hopefully she would reach home. But as her foot tried to touch the ground that was no longer there, she realised that she had made a mistake. Her body fell as she crashed down the side of a steep, rocky slope. Althea's heart pounded. Her tired body was battered by the cruel, unforgiving land. At the end of her seemingly endless fall, the world around her darkened. Her skin burned with pain, the agony spreading like a wild fire, which conflicted with the numbing feel of the snow around her. As quickly as she felt the pain, she could no longer feel anything, her senses were numb to her surroundings.
This is it, she thought as she held the rabbit she caught close to her, in an attempt to comfort herself. Her eyes closed. She was ready to accept her fate. The snow began to cover the viscet.
There was a bright, flickering light as Althea opened her eyes. She found herself in a warm cave. There was a lantern against the walls, and next to it lay her rabbit. Her body was weak and she could only just manage to lift her head.
Where am I? She questioned. Outside, she could see that it was still dark and gloomy outside, with only a few rays of light in the sky. Surely, it was safe to leave now. The viscet struggled to her feet. Tentatively, she put one trembling paw in front of the other. Then fell. Underneath her was the smooth, cold floor of the cave; no longer was it the warm bed of leaves that she felt comfortable in. But then she realised, she never made a bed. Or found a cave. Someone had brought her here. The memories of being lost in the storm flooded her mind.
"Ah, you're awake," a voice said from behind her. It certainly wasn't a viscet that she knew. But now she was too tired to lift her head. "I found you out in the blizzard, buried under the snow. You're lucky that I found you," the voice continued.
"Why did you save me?" Althea asked.
"I rescue others who are lost in these mountains, just like you," the stranger became quieter and the viscet could hear his voice shake. Large paws stepped in front of her. Her eyes followed the long legs upwards, to see the other viscet stood over her. "You'll need to rest for a few days, but I must go now," the male said as he left. He never came back. Three days had passed and Althea had recovered most of her strength. It almost seemed unreal to meet them. But her father had told her a story when she was a viscling. That he was saved by an old, lone viscet. She had always thought it to be just a story, but clearly it was not. Then she remembered her family. Althea had been lost for days. They would be worried about her. Maybe they thought that the snow storm claimed her life. The black viscet picked up her rabbit and walked out of the cave. She didn't know where she was. Further down the mountain there was a partially frozen river. She knew that there was also a river that flowed by her house. So, she wandered down to it. The land seemed to be devoid of life, apart from two birds that she heard singing. After what felt like hours of traveling, she saw her house on the horizon. Althea had never felt so much relief and comfort just from looking at her home. Her legs struggled to carry her; it was still cold with a thick blanket of snow on the floor and she had walked for a long time. Finally, she reached the old wooden door and pushed it open, creaking just like the floor boards. Knowing she was safe, the viscet let herself fall, too tired to stand. Her mother rushed towards her, crying like Althea had never heard before. She was carried to her bed of blankets in another room.
"I thought you were dead," her mother sobbed and held the black viscet close. She was considering telling her about all that had happened, but did not want to upset her more. Then her mother stood. Althea felt chilled as a cold breeze swept over her, but she froze as her mother gasped. "What happened to you?" She whispered, her eyes fearful as if she saw a monster and not her own daughter. The young viscet looked at her, confused. Her mother left and came back with a cracked mirror. Then she understood. Some of her left ear had been torn away and there was a scar on it which resembled teeth marks. Someone had bit her ear off. The only culprit she could think of was the viscet who rescued her. But they wanted to save her. Surely there was a reason for it. She remembered her ear feeling numb while out hunting.
"I had frostbite. Someone found me and must have removed my ear," the viscet said to her mother, her voice lacking any obvious emotions.
"And your legs?" Her mother questioned. Looking down at her legs, Althea saw the scars. They weren't too severe but a few around her feet stood out; it was obvious that they would be permanent.
"I ran through some thorns to catch a rabbit," she replied, "and I fell off a cliff." There was a fairly large scar on the base of her tail, as well as on her shoulder and hind leg. They were too large to be from the bushes and the viscet would not have left marks like those. Since then, she walked with a limp on her left leg. After that day, the scarred viscet became cold and bitter towards others, even her own family. She believed that she was a hideous monster and that she was no longer loved by anyone except her father. Because of this, she fell into depression.
Two years passed. By now, Althea's father had recovered though he was still weak. So she still helped out with hunting. He had taught her to use her weapons instead of chasing her prey down. The more hunts she completed, the more her ambition grew. Althea felt like she needed to do something bigger. There was a desire to improve her skills with weapons. Hunting could not do that. She was sat at home when there was a knock at the door. Her father went out to greet the visitor, another viscet. Althea listened to them.
"I have come in search of a young viscet who would serve my lord's kingdom," he explained, "we are in need of more fighters."
"Well, there's no-one here for you," her father snapped and slammed the door shut. Althea looked out of the dusty window at the new viscet. She held her paw up and mouthed the word
wait to him. Quietly, she approached her parent.
"I'd like to go with him," she said, shaking nervously. He was already angry. But she did not understand why.
"No," he said, glaring at his child, his voice stern. Althea sighed and stared at the floor. Something snapped inside of her.
"I'm old enough to make my own choices," her eyes burned with her own fury and defiance as she met eyes with him, "it's what I want to do, I want to fight." Her father did not reply. He was shocked that his darling little girl had turned against him. His sweet, innocent child had changed. The viscet simply turned and walked out of the house. She stood in front of the stranger and simply nodded. Althea was ready to leave. The pair wandered away from her home and far away. In the middle of nowhere, they traveled through a dense forest. There was only a small dirt path that weaved through endless layers of trees and lush bushes. Overhead, the branches curled to form an arch. Hardly any rays of light could pass through the canopy. The air was slightly warmer here, different to the constant winter of Althea's home. A red squirrel sat in a tree but was startled by the warning calls of birds. Then, a group of three viscets emerged from the darkness. Their eyes gleamed with greed as they circled the pair.
"I'd like to ask you to hand over all of your items," the leader said coldly, "or else." The viscet Althea traveled with went to put down her bag, but Althea pushed her back. The only thing Althea had was her father's crossbow. It was old and would be worth some money, but the memories were worth more, for she may never return home.
"No," she said with confidence. For a moment, the group seemed shocked; they then started to laugh menacingly as they closed in on the two of them. The black viscet moved to stand in front of her companion, lashing her tail. She hesitated to take out her crossbow, giving the opportunity for the attackers to grab it. It was swiftly thrown into the distance, out of sight. The swipe was followed up with a scratch across her face, creating three deep wounds on her snout. The defender hardly flinched as she seemed to dance in their stand-off, her black pelt mottled with rays of light. On the outside she looked brave, but deep inside, her heart raced with terror. One viscet charged at her from behind. A powerful strike from her tail sent them crashing to the floor. The remaining two glanced at each other, concerned. Maybe they had under-estimated how easy it would to be steal from them. The leader darted past her. When Althea turned to face them, she felt a heavy weight against her. The other viscet had managed to pin her to a tree while she was distracted. She struggled to break free. Her eyes closed as a paw reached for her left eye. A single claw managed to sink into her skin, the surrounding two just grazing her face, due to her recoiling away from the blow. Her eye burned with pain and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open them. Every time they would flicker shut. But from the fragments of moments they were open, she saw light, and she knew that she was not blind. Being unable to see would crush her. She felt a bite on her neck. This was not a fight that she could win. The female waited to accept her demise.
But once again, she felt light and free. She turned her head and examined her surroundings with her uninjured eye. The messenger she was traveling with had caught the two attackers off-guard. He put his two daggers, glistening red, away.
"Thank you," Althea said, her eyes wide. She thought the messenger was defenseless but he just saved her life.
"You fought well," the male replied and smiled, "with those skills the king would be mad not to take you in."
"T-thank you," the viscet stuttered as she thanked him again. She was embarrassed to have such praise. With that, the pair continued on their venture. Eventually, they stood at the gates of a large, towering kingdom. Its watchtowers seemed to touch the sky as it was so tall. The wooden drawbridge lowered to allow them to enter. They walked through the town, along the gravel path. Many of the residents were watching. The two dark viscets made their way towards the castle. At the entrance, they passed two heavily armoured guards with swords. Their presence made Althea feel nervous. A red carpet was underfoot, soft and warm. Banners hung from the heightened ceiling. On the throne sat a white viscet. Althea's companion motioned for her to stop as he continued towards the king.
"Your Highness," the messenger spoke, "I have brought this one to you, they wish to be a knight."
"Have they trained?" The king questioned, his voice deep but almost flat.
"I believe not," he glanced back at her, then she shook her head, "but they fight well. We were attacked by rogues and she helped to fight them off." Althea thought to herself. In reality, she hardly did anything. Her thoughts ended when she noticed a silence as the king stared at her.
"What is your name?" The royal viscet asked.
"Althea," she replied.
"Well, Althea," his eyes examined the female in front of him, "have our healer treat your wounds and rest. Your training begins tomorrow." She quickly nodded, then turned and left. It was strange for the king to accept her so easily, maybe they were desperately short of fighters. The messenger guided her towards the healer's house. After giving her a bag of coins so she could pay for a room to stay in, he left. It only took a few minutes for the new viscet to clean and bandage her wounds. They also gave her a bag of medicine. Althea was exhausted after her long travel. She headed for the inn as quickly as she could and as soon as she lay down, she was asleep. The next morning she was woken by the inn owner. They told her that there was someone waiting for her. When she was ready, Althea left. Of course, it was the messenger. He took her to the training grounds. There were other viscets who seemed nervous, probably new like her. The rest were all trained knights. Each knight took a new recruit to train. Althea was last. A wide, towering viscet stepped forwards. He was clearly the biggest here. His shadow loomed over the smaller viscet, who was trembling with fear.
"Come," was all that her new mentor said. They walked to an open space in the sandy training area. He showed Althea the weapon's rack. Her eyes widened as she looked over all of the blades. The electric feeling of excitement filled her body as she felt the over-whelming desire to pick up each and every one of them.
One day, she thought. For now she had to focus. She picked up a sword, it was smaller and fairly lighter than the rest. Her mentor had chosen a lengthy great-sword. It looked incredibly heavy and the viscet stared in wonder, trying to figure out how he could hold it. The huge viscet motioned for her to attack him. Without thinking, she swung her sword directly at him. The two blades clashed and she almost fell over from the strength of resistance she felt. They dueled for some time. With each swing, Althea improved. The more experienced viscet was still more skilled than her though. He had switched to two daggers after tiring from wielding the heavy weapon. Althea found it difficult to counter her trainer, he was more agile now. Once, he managed to catch her neck with his daggers. It was not dangerous, but Althea knew it would be more scars. There was a rage that built inside of her. She was tired of earning scars, it wasn't what she wanted. Her energy had been renewed by her fury. This gave her the edge that she needed as she attacked the male with a new ferocity. He quickly became over-powered by the smaller viscet, crashing to the floor. The training area became silent as the others had noticed. The king, who had been watching the whole time from his stand, called for Althea. The two stepped into a private area.
"That was my strongest knight," he said, "and you managed to defeat him."
"I," she paused to think and changed her words, "yes."
"So, I think it's clear that you are worthy of becoming a knight," the king smiled as he looked down at the younger viscet, who was now staring at him. Her wide yellow and red eyes seemed to shine with joy.
"Thank you," she bowed her head. They began to walk back to the stand.
"There is a blacksmith over there, I would like you to visit her for your armour," he pointed towards a forge just on the edge of the town. Althea was dismissed and she ran to the forge.
She stood in the scorching heat that surrounded the forge. The blacksmith came to greet her.
"I'm in need of some armour," Althea said.
"Sure, anything specific?" The new female said, turning to find some for the viscet.
"Not really," she replied. With that, the viscet was presented with various types of armour. There was every type of armour; leather, chain mail, metal and more. Althea tried on all of these. She didn't like the feel of the leather armour, although she liked how light it was. The chain mail was something she couldn't stand, the links bothered her too much. The first set of metal armour she tried on was too heavy for her. The last set she tried saw was a set of leather armour. It was pure black, and Althea knew she had to have it. But it was no different in feel to the other leather armour, which she hated.
"I can have a custom one made for you," the blacksmith said after seeing Althea's disappointment. Later that day, Althea was presented with a set of armour. It was black with grey lines embroidered on it. There was a mask, a tail guard, and pieces for her legs. The piece for her front legs had red patterning on them, unlike the rest of her armour. It was still leather, but the inside was made of a different material. For once it was comfortable.
"Thank you," Althea said happily.
"You're welcome, we can meet up tomorrow if you like," the blacksmith grinned before returning to smithing. It was late evening when Althea was told to come to the castle. The town had gathered in the grounds outside of the castle. The king stood on a stand with his knights and the viscets who trained with her. One by one, the king told them to stand before him. Althea stepped in front of the royal viscet when it was her turn. The king asked her to swear an oath to him. That she would remain loyal and honest. After she swore her oath, the king tapped his sword on each of her shoulders. She then joined the others and waited for the accolade to be completed. It did not take long and they soon celebrated with a feast. Now that she had her knighting ceremony she was officially a knight. Over time, Althea and the blacksmith became close friends. But a dark threat was watching over the kingdom.
Late one summer night, Althea was awoken by the screaming of the villagers. She had been sleeping in the barracks since becoming a knight. Her and the other knights rushed to put on their armour. Taking her crossbow that she still had, once owned by her father, she walked outside. The town was set ablaze. The warm weather helped to spread the fire. For a moment she was mesmerized, watching the flames flicker. She came crashing back to reality when her blacksmith friend ran into her.
"Don't just stand there!" Her friend shouted. Overhead, a dragon circled. Its screeching roar echoed in her ears. A quieter one responded, it must be the other one's child. The black viscet aimed at the larger beast and shot. It noticed her, out of everyone in the town, and landed before her. The strength of its beating wings created a gust that pushed her backwards. The dragon breathed fire, hotter than any she had felt before. In an effort to protect herself, she placed her tail over her head. The leather armour didn't do much but it was something. A swift movement of its head made her leap to the side, trying to avoid the attack. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up. In the dragon's mouth, lay her friend. She thrashed wildly and screamed in pain before the dragon took off. Althea couldn't think. Her heart shattered as her one and only friend, her best friend, was taken away. She was gone. Althea simply gave up. She collapsed to the floor, wailing. Tears poured out of her eyes as if they were broken dams. The broken viscet called out for her friend, begging for her to come back. The world around her seemed to slow, almost halting. Then, all of a sudden, time returned to normal. The air was knocked out of her as claws sunk into her tail. Looking down, the ground beneath her grew distant. Quickly, she looked up and, through her teary eyes, saw the young dragon. The viscet twisted and bit into the dragon's leg, but its thick scales protected it from harm. She reached for her crossbow, still attached to her by a strap. It took a while to load it due to being shook by the dragon. But when it was ready, she shot at the dragons face. It cried out and circled downwards. Althea felt the dragon let go of her. She fell. The smoke filled sky was all she saw, she didn't dare to look down. The adult dragon passed over her to comfort its child. The black viscet saw another body fall. Her friend, lifeless. Shock filled her momentarily as she hit the floor, which felt as hard as iron. But then everything went black.
Waking up, Althea saw her best friend. Unable to stand, she dragged her heavy body towards her. She quietly called her friend's name, expecting her to wake up. But she didn't. The dark viscet simply put her head on her, crying. She took the piercing that her friend had. And then she waited for someone to come find her, lost under the starry sky.
Althea was carried back to the ruined town. She watched as her friend was buried. The viscet did not move for the entire night, nor did she sleep. The next day she managed to find someone who pierced her lip so that she could wear her friend's piercing. But after that she refused to go outside. It took months for her to heal. The scars from the dragon or her fall did not vanish, and serve only as a constant reminder of that night. Her limp became worse, so she could not fight as well as she used to. On the night of her friend's death, she promised to avenge her death by slaying the dragon that killed her. Althea became a dragon hunter. She searches the lands for the dragon, but still she has not found it. Her armour is hardly ever removed, in memory of her friend. The loss of her friend made her turn everyone away, she has isolated herself from others in the fear that she will lose anyone close to her.
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