Writer Games | Death Wish & 51

Task Three: Hello, Little Girl - Females

District One - Belladonna Cranium

DROPPED OUT.
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District Two - Epona Jericho [3]

The creature was far beyond what Epona remembered of wolves.

Her only recollection  of the animal was Isla's soft fur and large paws, accompanied by the  humming of her heartbeat as she fell asleep on Epona's lap whenever they  met in the meadow. Her own pet was smaller, half-grown and still with  the mentality of a puppy. Isla could not smile, but Epona could tell  when her fangs would be set in a bright grim, just as when her tail  would indicate her mood. Epona missed Isla more than anything else  within District Two, and she was not afraid to admit it.

At her first glance  towards the wolf-like creature, Epona tightened her grasp on her sword  just in case the mutation wanted a fight. However, it simply stood a few  steps away from the path and observed her with its black, cold eyes.  Its fangs did not smile, stained yellow and forced into a grimace that  could easily have dripped with crimson blood had he wished it to. Unlike  Isla, the creature hobbled along on two legs, crouched over and knees  bent. His clothes were ripped, the coarse wires spreading through the  holes.

"What do you want?"  muttered Epona, refusing to take her eyes away from the monster just in  case it chose to pounce. She raised her blade, pointing it towards the  wolf who stumbled a few steps backwards, growling at the weapon before  looking back towards Epona with an attempt at a smile.

"Oh, nothing really,"  it replied, the voice hardly more than a hoarse, indistinguishable  growl. "I'd rather know what you want, my dear. What can I offer to  you?"

"Nothing," answered  Epona, her voice cold and harsh. She scowled, taking a few more steps  along the path. "Leave me alone. You're not a wolf."

The creature cocked  its head, plucking up the courage to step towards the path and lay a paw  on its chosen prey. Epona shrugged herself away from its claws,  brandishing her sword to its fur-covered throat. The creature simply  snarled.

"I am a wolf," it  argued. "My girl, what do you know about wolves? We are not usually  friendly. I could devour you in a mere second. Now, why don't we put  down the weapon and..."

Epona interrupted,  her eyes glinting with the violence she was prepared to be a part of.  "No," she ordered, the point of her sword brushing the fur on the cruel  wolf's throat. "I know what wolves are like. You keep talking, tell me  why you're here. Then I might just let you go."

"I was just here to  offer you a present, my dear," snarled the creature in reply, gauging  Epona's reaction with his deep, iris-less eyes. "A friend, perhaps.  Something to help you on your journey. Someone to help you remember  home."

"What do you have that could possible help me?"

Epona allowed herself  the smallest of smiles, believing that her trained mind could easily  outsmart that of a heartless creature. However, the wolf simply took a  step back and gestured off the path with a elaborate sweep of his paw.  He howled, a cruel sound that pierced Epona's ears and caused the ground  to vibrate beneath her feet, birds in nearby trees taking flight into  the brightening sky. For a moment, the silence after the howl came to an  end was the sweetest sound that the arena had ever heard; it had  reminded Epona of the twisted screams of pain from the very beginning at  the Cornucopia.

To begin with,  nothing happened. Epona's rare smile grew wider as she pushed her weapon  closer to the wolf to taunt him. However, soon the sound of soft paws  crushing grass beneath their weight - a familiar sound to Epona's  trained ears - filled the silence that the wolf had left. Epona allowed  herself to move her eyes from the mutation, turning towards the wolf pup  that had been summoned by the echoing howl.