Definitely more praise. Sincere praise, too. Suddenly Cardinal tilted her head slightly, away from the petting hand. There was more to this girl than any of them had previously seen, and she knew she was the only one other than Spax that had seen or would ever see this calmer, gentler side of their mistress. No doubt there was evil in the girl, but Cardinal wondered if she even thought of the attribute as evil. Perhaps she, like many wolves, mistook the evil for strength. Even in that case, the wolf did not trust her."you are beautful"
"You are something spechal i can tell, something powerful and strong"
And she was sure the Mistress knew that.
Cardinal remained stationary and watched the Mistress quietly as she moved to another door in the series of rooms. The last thing she said, though..."get your rest, we have work tomorrow", she said getting up and walking over to her room, she looked back at them both and smiled, it was warmer and had the hint of fondness in her eyes, but that shadow of her cold heart always stayed there.
"Silent songbird".
She turned off the lights and shut the door behind her
A name?
Silent Songbird.
She turned it over in her mind. The wolf didn't know what it meant at all. But soon enough the light in the room suddenly disappeared, as if the sun had vanished. It startled her a bit, and she stood, but the Mistress was already gone.
It took a moment, but Cardinal noticed a sliver of light in a corner of the room. It reminded her strangely of the moon...
"Mama!"
The faint cry from the blankets caught the wolf's attention, and she immediately went to comfort the crying pup. Apparently the darkness scared him - she could not blame him for it. Kei was young, too young for this place. He needed grass and sky and water and trees... other pups to play with. But he wouldn't have any of that. He'd have her though, and that's what counted. She nuzzled the pup softly and curled around him in the bed.
"Hushhh, hushhhhhh... It'll be okay now..."
It took quite a while to calm the pup down, but soon he was buried in red fur and snoring quietly.
Cardinal slept little that night, but for the most part the small amount she had was empty of nightmares... except for one.
She didn't have a collar on.
That was the first thing she noticed.
The second was that she was in a large room with several humans. They were laughing and talking to each other. By the smell they were all male. She watched them quietly for a few seconds, but then they noticed she was there. Instantly the room went quiet as they stared down at her, but she just sat, glaring back.
Then she became aware of the Mistress entering the room behind her. Suddenly the other humans vanished and the girl sat down in a chair, beckoned her forward. Like before, Cardinal approached slowly, and when she sat was presented with the stroking fingers of the human. But this time it was different. She couldn't explain it, until it was too late. Before she could move, the Mistress drew her hand back and slapped the wolf, hard. Cardinal reeled, stumbling to the floor.
All at once, Spax was on top of her. A terrible, horrible feeling washed over her, and then a serene warmth. No, no, no! She couldn't enjoy it! She closed her amber eyes, but it continued. When she finally gave up and opened them, Kei was there in front of her, watching, horrified...
It was then that her whole world turned upsidedown.
Enraged that Spax would even let the pup watch, she spun on him and went to bite, only to be met by the strange metal fangs of Darcia. Spax was gone, but where? Ignoring Darcia for some reason unknown to her, Cardinal whirled around, searching for the bastard dog... until suddenly she was on her back, Eight's fangs in her throat - or were they Shade's? No, Tsuna's...
"Traitor..."
Cardinal had awoken with a start. Throughout most of the night, she had been able to sleep rather peacefully. Why now, when abundant light shone through the slit in the wall, did she finally have a nightmare?
Kei stirred; he was now positioned in such a way that only the tip of his nose was visible, and the rest of him was underneath Cardinal, in between her forelegs. Not wanting to wake him, she stood slowly and left the bed, making sure to cover him in the strange, warm material that the Mistress had put in it. While waiting for Spax to show up or the Mistress to wake, the red wolf went about her business, finally taking time to explore the Mistress' quarters, sniffing at the dead wolves as she passed. Truly this place was horrific, but on the other hand it was warm and comforting.
It was true that one could not have everything in one place.