Hey kids! It's time for:

Story Time with Rage Werewolf!
_{I bet you thought it was Adventure Time.}

[hr]
Penelope meandered into the large, exotic room that was to be her bedroom. It being her first night there (in fact, her first night on the island) it had a strange air about it that made what should be her’s feel quite uncomfortable. The room was dimly lit with candles, only just allowing her to see everything. As she entered, her eye was caught by the moonlight coming through the open way to the balcony. To her right, she noticed what appeared to lead to a bath. There was even a bowl of water not far from her bed.

Feeling exhaustion from a first day as Empress of an island nation of monsters (and she was human, no less) she wandered to the bed and lay down. She was surprised by its comfort, actually. It was quite relaxing, especially for having been made on an island with limited resources.

She lay back and her eye was caught by the moon. Her eyelids became heavy and she began to doze off. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by her new “Adjutant,” as they were called. She could best describe him as a monstrous advisor with military training, and he had incredibly poor timing in this situation.

“Is everything to your liking, Empress Avenelle?” he asked, formally addressing her by her last name. Surprisingly, all the islanders could speak her language. Or she could speak theirs, she wasn’t sure.

“Everything’s great, Lash,” she responded, a bit miffed at being taken from the warm hands of sleep, “It’s just … couldn’t you just call me Penny?” Though she liked being a queen, she wasn’t terribly comfortable with being addressed like some kind of all mighty object. She preferred her more human name. Lash also had a nice ring to it.

“I’m sorry Empress, but that seems a bit too … familiar and, to be perfectly honest, I rarely even address good friends informally.”

“You have friends?”

“Yes, but I rarely see them due to my work. And the people I see here … well, you’ve seen how that goes.”

He was right. He never had a strong reaction to anyone. Unless, of course it were Adjudicator Callous. When they were in the same room, the air tensed with a seething hatred.

“Fine. So, why’d you accompany me here?”

“Things just feel … uneasy.”

At that, he stared out the balcony to the campus. It seemed he half suspected a shadow to move about and pounce up to their floor.

“It’s Callous, isn’t it?” She needn’t stay long to discover that the two hated each others guts. Callous had apparently wanted to be Emporer, but her arrival had set the religious nuts about and set her up. Lash was only too happy to oblige, so long as it meant that the power-hungry Adjudicator couldn’t take the throne. After being in a room with him, she could understand why.

Lash shook himself from his trance and turned to Penny. “Maybe. Whatever it is I feel tonight, it won’t get far.” He clenched his hand, causing his knuckles to crack.

Penny was impressed by how loud his bones were, but she once again felt the call of slumber. “Could you blow out the candles? The Empress is tired,” she added, jokingly.

Amazingly, Lash also cracked a small grin. He began to slowly turn out the lights and left one on, with just enough to see.

“Anything else, Empress?”

Perhaps we can abuse some power, she thought to herself. “How about a kiss good night?”

She sat up to inject a serious tone. “Well?”

“Of course.”

She was surprised that he had said yes. To add to it, he kissed her on the lips. Not that she didn’t mind, just … it was surprising.

“Better?” he asked.

Penelope began to lay into her bed. “Mm, yeah,” she said. “Good night, Lash.”

It was odd not having sheets but she didn’t need them. The warm night air and cool breeze made the evening the perfect temperature. It wasn’t long before she drifted to sleep.

“Good night, Penny.”

Lash took a few seconds to look at her peaceful form as it lay on the bed. He then turned his focus on other things. Evil and dangerous things. Things that were lurking in their web of shadow.

[hr]

Moving on to the piece itself, I find that I really like night scenes. They allow for interesting lighting, as well as for there to be different sources for light.

And I gave him tribal tattoos. Wasn't sure how it'd look, but I think it works.