Backstory
She wasn't sure what to expect as she pushed the door open, her ears twitching forward and her tail wagging a little as she pushed her head inside. Being called to his office was a huge thing, one that she'd only rarely experienced and it left her a little anxious and excited every time.
"You called for me, papa?" The question was soft, a little nervous, but when her father looked up and smiled at her, she let out a puppy-like noise of pleasure.
"Ahhh, my little love! There you are!" His voice was deep and always made her think of rich earth and deep forests, and he stood up, his arms held out as he moved around the desk. Letting her happiness get the better of her, she rushed into his arms, laughing as he lifted her off her feet in his crushing embrace. When her feet touched the floor again, he ruffled her hair, rubbing her ears with his thumbs.
"I have an important job for you, my cub." The smile faded from his face, and his eyes were serious. Whuffing softly, she stared up at him, her ears twitching forward to give him her full attention.
"I want you to go north. You're going to search for what you can find there, like your brothers and sisters did." His gaze softened and he brushed his thumb across the edge of her ear, unmarred by the piercings she would have as she grew older. "I want you to learn as much as you can, then report back to me. This isn't going to be easy, but I believe you can do this."
"I'll go, papa." There was no way she could refuse, her tail wagging furiously. She wouldn't let him down!
"Good girl." He bent down, pressing a kiss to her brow and buffing his fangs on her hair. "Now go, your brother will help you prepare."
She hardly needed another encouragement, leaving the room with a silent quickness that made him proud. His smile didn't even falter as the voice of his mate came from the corner and she dropped the camouflage of her body suit. "Do you really think she's ready for this, my love?"
"Our training has not been enough for her. She needs experience, and we cannot coddle her and hide her away here in the den for long." He huffed, exhaling heavily through his nose as his mate's hands slid across his back and she pressed against him. He could smell her worry at the thought of releasing their youngest child into a world that had killed many of their family, and cost them most of their children. "Her brother will make certain that she will be prepared for the journey, but the rest is up to her. We can only wait and see."
The stick that her eldest brother pressed against her palm puzzled her, and she turned it over in her hands. "A credstick?" She glanced up at him again, her ears flicking back. "What's this for?"
He sighed in irritation, his ears folding back as he turned away from the computer. "It's for you, you can't just run out there without any money. I can't give you much, so don't waste it. Only buy what you need, and I'll supply a little every month. I have to make sure I don't get caught too, you know."
Ducking her head, she made a noise of agreement, pocketing the credstick so she couldn't lose it.
"Another thing, you'll need this." He handed her a SIN card, along with a small data drive. "Out there you'll need a name, so I built you some false records. If anyone tries to find you, they'll find some bogus data, but you're going to have to keep your nose clean and your head down. Understand?" His piercing scowl only smoothed over after she'd nodded. "Your name will be Mika Whitepaws, since the don doesn't want you getting tracked back to the clan here in Walstad, but if you need another false ID, you call me." The look he shot her made it perfectly clear that she had better not lose any of the items he gave her.
"I packed some other things in your bag, you should know how to use them from training. Once you're outside, we can't be associated with you, so you'll be on your own unless you contact us through a secure line. I set up a way for you to do that on your computer. You got that?" His words were harsh, but his irritability was a guise for his worry. "Now get out of here, I have to get back to work. I'll see you around."
He pulled her into a quick embrace, and she rubbed her cheek against his. When they pulled back, she patted the side of his face that was stained a strange purple-red. "I'll miss you, Patches."
He snarled, bristling immediately and swiping at her with his claws. "OUT!"
She laughed while she kept just outside his reach, scooping up her bag as she ran for the door.
The months after she'd been released into the world outside of Walstad were a blur of travel, finding safe places to sleep at night and saving most of her money for food. She found that most of the best information was found on the street, spoken in passing conversations and unfiltered by the media. Curled up in a half-doze next to piles of boxes and amid broken glass in alleyways, she could hear almost anything. Public community centers had showers that she could use, and she always kept a spare set of clothes for the days she sat in the laundromats, her hood pulled up over her head so she could listen to the broadcasts that played on radios and portable AV systems that people brought with them to pass the time. Her own AV gear was saved for special occasions, hidden deep within her bag and carefully padded in a camouflage suit her brother had given her. It too, was carefully saved for special situations.
As she passed through Walstad and into Nuln, she got down to business. Clearing out pockets of small-time criminals using her camouflage suit as a cover, she set up safe havens. Graffiti cropped up near these places, the names changing, but a black wolf's skull or a pair of white wolf paws worked into the designs. Starting small, she worked as a street-ear. Her face always changing, and voice modulators at work more than once, but it got her jobs and meant extra income aside from what Patches could send her. The more she worked with the runners and the others that came to her for her information services, the more she learned of the inner workings of the cities around her. When she had learned enough to satisfy her, she moved on, never staying in one place for fear that she would be discovered or taken out by another team of runners. Working her way through Nuln, she continued north, always changing her methods and face to suit her surroundings and picking up new bits of knowledge as she went. Languages came to her a little more easily as she traveled, keeping her ears to the ground and her nose to the wind for new info.
Unfortunately, it was never the kind of information she needed.
Her frustration began to show in her reports back to the den, with no words on anything that could even come close to what they needed to find. The cure for the family condition, the sickness that plagued her brother and had taken her siblings, the curse that bound them in bodies that none of them wanted was no closer to being lifted than it had been when she left. Still she pushed onward, making a small name for herself as an informant and a street ear wherever she went, though the name was never the same. After all, she didn't want anyone following her, didn't want anyone to remember her true face or trace her back to her clan.
Until she found herself in a club in the cold north, beyond the frozen wastes. The years had changed her from the enthusiastic puppy that had left the den in Walstad, made her bitter and fearful as news from home only got worse. The donna was growing more aggressive by the season, Mika's own siblings weren't surviving, and soon the clan would be little more than a dying dog rabidly snapping at shadows. The weight of necessity pressed down on her and losing herself in clubs and games could not help her escape the guilt that she wasn't working hard enough. The gods had abandoned the wolves of Walstad, leaving them to suffer at the hands of fate.
Mika had stepped into the club with the intention of simply listening to what she could find for once instead of dancing, but found herself pulled aside by a man with an unsettling demeanor. What he'd promised was an opportunity for information gathering like she'd never been offered before. It made squatting in alleys and shaking down the local gangs look like child's play in comparison. The money would ensure she could afford to pay Patches back for all the help he'd given her, as well as fund new equipment, better food, and possibly a place to stay. If working with them could get her closer to helping the pack, then by all means, she would not turn the offer down.
She hardly thought twice, working through the possibilities even as he spoke, and she didn't even give Lloyd a chance to walk away. It was hard to hear her over the throbbing of the bass, but her nod and the way she clasped his hand to shake it told enough.
"I'll take the job!"
Little did she know what he actually meant to use her for.
"You called for me, papa?" The question was soft, a little nervous, but when her father looked up and smiled at her, she let out a puppy-like noise of pleasure.
"Ahhh, my little love! There you are!" His voice was deep and always made her think of rich earth and deep forests, and he stood up, his arms held out as he moved around the desk. Letting her happiness get the better of her, she rushed into his arms, laughing as he lifted her off her feet in his crushing embrace. When her feet touched the floor again, he ruffled her hair, rubbing her ears with his thumbs.
"I have an important job for you, my cub." The smile faded from his face, and his eyes were serious. Whuffing softly, she stared up at him, her ears twitching forward to give him her full attention.
"I want you to go north. You're going to search for what you can find there, like your brothers and sisters did." His gaze softened and he brushed his thumb across the edge of her ear, unmarred by the piercings she would have as she grew older. "I want you to learn as much as you can, then report back to me. This isn't going to be easy, but I believe you can do this."
"I'll go, papa." There was no way she could refuse, her tail wagging furiously. She wouldn't let him down!
"Good girl." He bent down, pressing a kiss to her brow and buffing his fangs on her hair. "Now go, your brother will help you prepare."
She hardly needed another encouragement, leaving the room with a silent quickness that made him proud. His smile didn't even falter as the voice of his mate came from the corner and she dropped the camouflage of her body suit. "Do you really think she's ready for this, my love?"
"Our training has not been enough for her. She needs experience, and we cannot coddle her and hide her away here in the den for long." He huffed, exhaling heavily through his nose as his mate's hands slid across his back and she pressed against him. He could smell her worry at the thought of releasing their youngest child into a world that had killed many of their family, and cost them most of their children. "Her brother will make certain that she will be prepared for the journey, but the rest is up to her. We can only wait and see."
The stick that her eldest brother pressed against her palm puzzled her, and she turned it over in her hands. "A credstick?" She glanced up at him again, her ears flicking back. "What's this for?"
He sighed in irritation, his ears folding back as he turned away from the computer. "It's for you, you can't just run out there without any money. I can't give you much, so don't waste it. Only buy what you need, and I'll supply a little every month. I have to make sure I don't get caught too, you know."
Ducking her head, she made a noise of agreement, pocketing the credstick so she couldn't lose it.
"Another thing, you'll need this." He handed her a SIN card, along with a small data drive. "Out there you'll need a name, so I built you some false records. If anyone tries to find you, they'll find some bogus data, but you're going to have to keep your nose clean and your head down. Understand?" His piercing scowl only smoothed over after she'd nodded. "Your name will be Mika Whitepaws, since the don doesn't want you getting tracked back to the clan here in Walstad, but if you need another false ID, you call me." The look he shot her made it perfectly clear that she had better not lose any of the items he gave her.
"I packed some other things in your bag, you should know how to use them from training. Once you're outside, we can't be associated with you, so you'll be on your own unless you contact us through a secure line. I set up a way for you to do that on your computer. You got that?" His words were harsh, but his irritability was a guise for his worry. "Now get out of here, I have to get back to work. I'll see you around."
He pulled her into a quick embrace, and she rubbed her cheek against his. When they pulled back, she patted the side of his face that was stained a strange purple-red. "I'll miss you, Patches."
He snarled, bristling immediately and swiping at her with his claws. "OUT!"
She laughed while she kept just outside his reach, scooping up her bag as she ran for the door.
The months after she'd been released into the world outside of Walstad were a blur of travel, finding safe places to sleep at night and saving most of her money for food. She found that most of the best information was found on the street, spoken in passing conversations and unfiltered by the media. Curled up in a half-doze next to piles of boxes and amid broken glass in alleyways, she could hear almost anything. Public community centers had showers that she could use, and she always kept a spare set of clothes for the days she sat in the laundromats, her hood pulled up over her head so she could listen to the broadcasts that played on radios and portable AV systems that people brought with them to pass the time. Her own AV gear was saved for special occasions, hidden deep within her bag and carefully padded in a camouflage suit her brother had given her. It too, was carefully saved for special situations.
As she passed through Walstad and into Nuln, she got down to business. Clearing out pockets of small-time criminals using her camouflage suit as a cover, she set up safe havens. Graffiti cropped up near these places, the names changing, but a black wolf's skull or a pair of white wolf paws worked into the designs. Starting small, she worked as a street-ear. Her face always changing, and voice modulators at work more than once, but it got her jobs and meant extra income aside from what Patches could send her. The more she worked with the runners and the others that came to her for her information services, the more she learned of the inner workings of the cities around her. When she had learned enough to satisfy her, she moved on, never staying in one place for fear that she would be discovered or taken out by another team of runners. Working her way through Nuln, she continued north, always changing her methods and face to suit her surroundings and picking up new bits of knowledge as she went. Languages came to her a little more easily as she traveled, keeping her ears to the ground and her nose to the wind for new info.
Unfortunately, it was never the kind of information she needed.
Her frustration began to show in her reports back to the den, with no words on anything that could even come close to what they needed to find. The cure for the family condition, the sickness that plagued her brother and had taken her siblings, the curse that bound them in bodies that none of them wanted was no closer to being lifted than it had been when she left. Still she pushed onward, making a small name for herself as an informant and a street ear wherever she went, though the name was never the same. After all, she didn't want anyone following her, didn't want anyone to remember her true face or trace her back to her clan.
Until she found herself in a club in the cold north, beyond the frozen wastes. The years had changed her from the enthusiastic puppy that had left the den in Walstad, made her bitter and fearful as news from home only got worse. The donna was growing more aggressive by the season, Mika's own siblings weren't surviving, and soon the clan would be little more than a dying dog rabidly snapping at shadows. The weight of necessity pressed down on her and losing herself in clubs and games could not help her escape the guilt that she wasn't working hard enough. The gods had abandoned the wolves of Walstad, leaving them to suffer at the hands of fate.
Mika had stepped into the club with the intention of simply listening to what she could find for once instead of dancing, but found herself pulled aside by a man with an unsettling demeanor. What he'd promised was an opportunity for information gathering like she'd never been offered before. It made squatting in alleys and shaking down the local gangs look like child's play in comparison. The money would ensure she could afford to pay Patches back for all the help he'd given her, as well as fund new equipment, better food, and possibly a place to stay. If working with them could get her closer to helping the pack, then by all means, she would not turn the offer down.
She hardly thought twice, working through the possibilities even as he spoke, and she didn't even give Lloyd a chance to walk away. It was hard to hear her over the throbbing of the bass, but her nod and the way she clasped his hand to shake it told enough.
"I'll take the job!"
Little did she know what he actually meant to use her for.