Fire. Fire everywhere, with long tendrils of dark smoke raising high into the sky. Very slight tremors coursed through her body as Kalina stood and watched from a distance. Her fingers twitched slightly, and when she looked down at her arm she was not surprised to see that it was covered up to her elbow in blood. Same with her other arm, and her whole front and lower half of her face was caked with it, too. She knew….that blood was not hers. Kalina turned slowly and began to walk, as if in a trance. Head south repeated in her mind. Head south to Plegia.
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Strong, solid walls had not been something Kalina was accustomed to when she joined the Shepherds in Ylisse. When they escorted her to an available room, she politely declined and made her way back outside. Why anyone would want to be confined like that, in such a small area, she could not fathom. She spent the first few days constructing a sort of tree house in the surrounding woods, one that would have easily been missed by anyone not looking for one. Fresh air and the night sky put Kalina at ease, and allowed her to sleep soundly. Just as she began to dream, the smell of smoke filled her nostrils and made her jerk upright. She clambered to the edge of the platform, squinting as she peered out towards the barracks. Just as she could make out the orange, pulsing glow, screams filled the air along with clashing, slashing noises. She immediately turned and hurried down the tree house, sprinting towards the barracks. Kalina noticed that she didn’t hear metal on metal, which means whatever it was, there was only one side fighting at the moment. She sprinted faster.
As she neared the barracks she lightened her steps, pressing her back up against the nearest wall. She was unarmed, but even if she were to find a weapon it wouldn’t do her any good. Kalina lacked any skill with weapons, and had never had the opportunity to learn. She was not strong, but rather slim and lithe. The screams continued, and it took a solid fifteen minutes before she heard any sort of clashing of weapons. She peered around the corner to glimpse a better look at what was going on. Men and women, dressed in the Ylisse army uniforms, had weapons in hand and were hacking any Shepherd they came across.
No…this can’t be! Why would they attack us ? Are we not on the same side? Her thoughts were reeling when she heard a gruff voice very close to her.
“I’ve heard we’re ta go as far south as Plegia,” the man said, his footsteps loud as twigs broke and leaves crunched beneath his feet. “Hims had enough of them Shepherds folk, wants em all dead.”
Karina stood there, stunned at what she just heard. Her vision started to cave in on itself, the blackness working its way from the outside in, until she collapsed. Before she hit the earth, she had changed. The noise had not gone unnoticed, however, as the two men turned and moved closer to where Karina had just been standing.
The piercing blue eyes of the snow leopard honed in on the two men nearest her. Crouched in a low position, she inched forward until the first man was within striking distance. Before he realized what hit him the leopard had already went for his throat, blood spurting out and covering her face. She ripped her head away violently and the man fell with a gaping hole where his windpipe used to be. The smell of the other man lingered closely, and she turned her head to find him rushing at her with a sword held in two hands over his head. Dodging the swing with ease, she quickly whipped around and pounced, digging her claws into his back, leaving traces of a deep, crimson color. The man screamed in pain, and as a leopard would do with any prey, she grabbed him by the neck and yanked hard. With a loud snap, the man’s body went limp, and the leopard feasted well.