Word Count: 671

It did seem that the pair of canines were drawing circles around one another, unable to chip away at each others' arguments. Kaena had felt the beginnings of pressure starting to crack her own logical inconsistencies, but she was a stubborn old bat, to be sure, and she did not cave quite so easily. It would take more than one argument, one canine laying bare her mistakes and arguing her to the ground before Kaena relinquished her position. It was occasionally difficult, to say the least, for a canine as arrogant as Kaena to admit fault, and this situation was no different. As the hybrid spoke those fateful words, Rikka's anger seemed to boil over, and it would have been interesting to view the girl's anger, were it directed elsewhere. The silver-furred Centurion could not appreciate the Veritas's indignation, however, for it was focused squarely on Kaena. A cruel sort of sneer appeared on Kaena's face as the golden-furred hybrid spoke again, her words pointed, each one emphasized with pause, very similar to the way Kaena might have admonished Rikka or her siblings for wrongdoing in their childhood. This tone infuriated the Centurion so that she barely heard the other canine's words, her head drawn back and that look still on her face, one that was quite close to contempt. Kaena loved her daughter, that was absolutely true, but in this moment Kaena did not like her very much. The ash-furred coyote did not appreciate being told she was wrong.

Kaena had no response for the other words that Rikka spoke. It was true—Vieira seemed to live in constant fear of Kaena, for the simple fact that the hybrid was her owner. The golden-furred woman spoke angry words to end the conversation and stalked away, leaving Kaena standing alone, glaring with her single angry eye at the hybrid woman's retreating back. In the moment, Kaena thought she'd done the Vieira a service that night in the cave, granted her some form of physical happiness at least, but afterward the hybrid realized she'd been taking advantage the same way Haku had. She was no different from Sivaro or Astaroth, even her own sable-furred daughter Eris. The silver-furred hybrid had no idea what the daughter of Salvaged Eternity was like these days, but from the Quintus's words, she had not turned out to be a kind and benevolent soul. The same sadism and violence that ran on both sides of her family had risen to a boiling point in Eris, and Kaena did not know whether or not she appreciated the girl's absence anymore. Everything surrounding her was murky and confused.

Certainly some anger still lurked in Kaena for the daughter of Salvaged Eternity. Eris had betrayed her mother, there was no doubt about that, but afterward she had to have had some kind of regret, for she sent Vieira as a form of apology. The pseudo-Lykoi was as wrapped up in the mystery surrounding the sable-furred girl as anything, certainly. Kaena had suspected the younger canine of being given some hidden motive, perhaps assassination orders. How had Eris even known Kaena was still alive? Questions plagued the grizzled hybrid. It was sad for Kaena that her relationships with all of her daughters seemed so tenuous and confusing. Maeryn was long dead, but the silvery coyote thought of her often. Corona had spent a great deal of her life growing up in Chimera, and Kaena did not know her golden-furred daughter nearly as well as she'd once hoped to. Rachias might never forgive her for abandoning them in youth. Ahemait was the only daughter to which Kaena could boast a truly close relationship, with few disagreements and arguments. These past few moments with Rikka were evidence enough of their often-rocky relationship. They left a chilled feeling in the silver-furred coyote's stomach, and with a disgruntled snort, she turned from the spot she'd been standing and stalked back to her own cave, anger still bubbling in her, coupled with a new enemy: doubt.