The small framed female knew that her time at Twilight Vale was drawing to a close, and rapidly. The wound on her neck was healed, she could once again fully turn it in either direction without pain or tearing the muscles, and while the fur on her neck was still growing back slowly, she no looking looked road kill. Her hind leg too was mostly healed and she could walk with it again though she limped noticeably she knew that in a few more weeks time, aside from a few more patches of fur that had yet to grow in, most evidence of her incident would be behind her. Without the excuse of healing here in Twilight Vale, she hadn’t any good reason to avoid her pack lands any longer, already two of her members had come searching for their Rosea and Cercelee still felt that she had let both of them down. Cercelee hadn’t gotten much information from either of them, but surely the war was dying down– it had been going on too long already. She knew that her pack and Inferni had a large skirmish but more than that she didn’t know, she only hoped that signaled an end to the fighting.


      As she moved slowly through the Twilight Vale pack lands, looking up to the sky now and then to judge if it would rain or not, Cercelee took in all she could. The ivory color coated wolf knew that after she left here she probably wouldn’t be back to visit often, Dahlia de Mai would be weary of her leaving them again, and she owed it to them to dedicate all her time and efforts to the pack. Cercelee stepped lightly, gliding over the lands and toward the lake, somewhere she had spent many of her days here, and as she did she felt like a ghost. Twilight Vale had almost become like another life to her, she hadn’t thought much about Dahlia de Mai or it’s members or really anything here, and now that life was slowly dying and Cercelee would have to return to her original one. In a week or two’s time she might not even be here any longer, wouldn’t see Savina or Khaden and that felt strange to her. Nor would she meet new people everyday, like the male that was just yards away now, staring into the lake. She would go back to focuses on those she already knew in Dahlia de Mai.


      “Hello sir. I hope I’m not intruding?” Cercelee walked up easily to him, stopping short a few feet and bowing her head slightly. If she was intruding she could easily turn and limp away back the way she came, but she had looked forward to sitting by the lake, and now that she saw a male doing the same, it would have been rude not to have greeted him. “My name is Cercelee, I’ve been staying here in Twilight Vale, are you new?” The stranger certainly smelled of Twilight Vale, but not as strongly as the other members of the pack did, and even Cercelee, who technically lived somewhere else, had the scent of Twilight Vale clinging more strongly to her pelt.

     


     The male offered her a seat and Cercelee hobbled over to take it, easing herself down next to the male as gracefully as she could manage. Ehno Marino, the name had an amusing ring to it. The question that she had expected didn’t take long to leave Ehno’s lips, but Cercelee was prepared to answer it. Normally she explained to others before the questions could ever be asked. “Yes, I come from Dahlia de Mai. However, I had a run in with an ill tempered coyote and I’ve been healing up here for the past few weeks. I’m almost better though, so I will return home soon.” The words were sugar coated, though Ehno would have no idea until Cercelee expanded, which she would. Although admitting the truth made her feel like a failure, she had surprised herself with her honestly while staying in Twilight Vale. When she wished she could still switch off her emotions, but she found that she was more open than she would be back home. Even when Desaevio and Slay had come, she had not been completely at ease as she had been with the strangers she met and the members of Twilight Vale.


      “I don’t know if you’ve heard talk about the war between Inferni and Dahlia de Mai, but that’s the real reason I’m here. I refuse to be a part of it, despite the coyote’s attempt to draw me in.” Cercelee smiled feebly. She wore the marks of a battle, but she had only fought back for fear of her life, not out of malice for the clan that waged war on her own pack. “I suppose that makes me a pretty poor leader, but Dahlia seems to be getting on without me. I wonder though, when I return, what they will say.” She let the words hang in the air, offering no more. If Ehno thought her a coward he probably wouldn’t be the first one, but she knew better. She knew why she was here and not there.

     You want to try to finish this up quickly before the forum goes POOF?


     Cercelee shrugged at the male’s question. She knew from the words, from his voice, what he thought of her revelation. Others thought similarly about her actions, but she knew that whether she was here or with her pack, her presence made little different. The small framed female had no skills in fighting, didn’t have the heart to rally the members to fight a war she did not feel was justifiable. “My co-leader. He is far more qualified than I am in matters like these. I wasn’t even suppose to be the highest ranking leader, the pack was left to me when our other Rosea left us. Even if I were there instead of here, I would be a distraction. I don’t want them playing doctor to me if their minds are on blood lust.” She knew that not all the members were so keen on the war, she could return and have Slay stay with her, because she doubted that the male was fighting anyway, but she didn’t want to worry him. Didn’t want to worry any of them. Didn’t want to give them another reason to be reckless and risk their lives.


      Shifting her weight into a more comfortable position she smiled at the male. Cercelee didn’t quite care if he thought her cowardly, she never did care what others thought about her. If others disagreed with her actions she just ignored it, blocked out their criticism. Colibri too had chastised her for the war, for not stopping it, but Cercelee couldn’t have stopped it. When two forces were so blind in hatred and indignation it was sometimes easier to let them fight it out and bind their wounds once it was all over. And easier than arguing was the change the subject completely. “You come from across the ocean?”

     Excuse Cer while she has a revelation.


      Cercelee nodded at the male’s words. He seemed content enough to let the subject of her pack pass and she was grateful for that. Italy eh? How many wolves came from across the ocean, a lot it seemed. “Yes, I’ve heard of Italy. Savina, a pack member here, came from there.” Cercelee paused, realizing what she had said. Savina had said his name before, she remembered the sable female’s words as if they had spoken yesterday. All that is left for me in Italy are Ehno and Ghita, and they might not even be there. Savina had seemed so lost for those brief moments when she spoke of her family, believing never to see them again. And now here he was. Did Savina know?


     
“Ehno? You’re Ehno?” Of course he was, he had introduced himself as such, but the name hadn’t clicked until just now. Cercelee spoke excitedly now, her demeanor changing without much explanation. Her tail thumped a few times on the ground and she laughed to herself, the situation tickled her. Had she not said herself that Savina couldn’t be sure this very male wouldn’t wash up on their shores? How strange she had not made the connection until he had mentioned Italy. Yes, it made sense now. They had the same sort of accent. Smiling sheepishly she allowed herself to calm. “Excuse me, I know your sister though. She had spoken of you before. You have seen her already I hope?”

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      Cercelee took the male’s laughter in good humor. She knew it was her mannerisms and way of speech that had caused his merriment, and that was more than okay with her. Some might be offended at the response their own foolishness caused, but Cercelee embraced it. At times she acted like a child, and was perfectly aware of it, and what’s more, she was perfectly okay with it. His laugh caused her to smile more sincerely at herself, there was a certain enjoyment Cercelee could only derive from her own playfulness. “She only says nice things, I promise.”


Or at least Savina had only said nice things the one time she mentioned her brother. Still, the way Ehno had been spoken about, Cercelee guessed that there were few ill words his sister had to say about him. “She missed you, I’m glad you’ve come here. For her sake.” Cercelee spoke earnestly, and for a moment a stab of sorrow took her by surprise. The images of Lisi and Tuki flashed before her but the memories were gone as soon as they had surfaced. “It must be nice to have family so close, especially if they are both family and friend.”