Weeeerd count: 834.

OHDRAMA.

The silver-furred hybrid felt the tension in the air. It was almost palpable, a thickness and electricity tingle on the air around her. Dahlia de Mai was one of their closest neighbors, and since the expansion of their territory, their reach extended into the absolute heartland of 'Souls. A trek to the westernmost lands required a trek through the city for Kaena; she would not pass so close to Dahlia de Mai's lands again with Haku Soul at their helm. It was, simply put, unsafe. The only way that she would bother to explore near that end of the territory again was if Haku was dead and gone, or if she was surrounded by a posse of her friends and family to protect her.

The ashen hybrid trotted along the borders, swinging her head this way and that way to constantly scent the air, her ears twisting and turning to catch even the slightest sounds. The late afternoon sun had begun to sink nearer to the horizon, drawing the shadows longer and longer. The coyote slipped amongst the blue-gray of the shade, the winter-dead landscape concealing her quite well even in the snow. It had been going on and off these last few days, and the dark gray of the clouds hanging overhead promised more snow overnight, a fresh blanket of powder to coat the world. Snow did not bother Kaena—even her coyote ancestors were the northeastern coyotes, long rumored to have absorbed remnant wolf populations as the humans drove them away.

Stepping gingerly through the snow, the hybrid listened to the distinctive crunching noise. It was far less noise than any that a human made while walking, but it was still louder than a coyote walking in summer. She paused, and after a moment, the silver-furred hybrid's coal-dipped ears lifted to the sounds of someone else—she was not so far from the border, keeping well inside of the coyote's territory. She did not feel comfortable walking exactly on their borderlands anymore, and now she preferred to keep well-inside of the coyote's territory. Still, that distinctive noise had caught her attention, and now she headed for it slowly, picking scents out of the breeze to try and detect a scent.

When she found it, the hybrid woman stopped dead in her tracks again, single-eyed gaze staring forward emptily, a single snort echoing from her muzzle at that scent, inhaling again to double-check and make absolutely certain she had not mistaken that scent. How could she? She was a mother, he was her son—there was no mixing that scent up with anything or anyone else. Fear crept steadily up the hybrid's spine, eating away at her courage and spitting acid on the rest of it—fear for what he might do to her. The silver-furred coyote swallowed it as best she could.

Kaena Lykoi was the Centurion of this clan now, a step below where she'd last seen Vitium—but after leaving and being gone so long, after being assumed for dead—this was perhaps the best the silver-furred woman could hope for. It was a source of pride for her, too. Who else but she could ascend the hierarchy once more at her age? The was pride in the silver-furred woman's step as she made her way forward, tracking that scent. Vitium was here once more, Vitium the mystery—he'd delivered Halo, Enigma, and Jael to the Inferni clan, but he had failed to state his own exile and banishment; such a thing had come as an absolute shock to his three children.

The hybrid woman had considered this moment for so very long. What would she say? There was no apology lurking in the coyote woman, but there was still some residual, remnant love, left behind from a time long ago when Vitium was far younger. As a mother, Kaena would never lose that. But this was one time when her loyalty to Inferni and her loyalty to the Lykoi family were torn in between two options—she was so used to the decisions that benefitted both of these groups being easy to make. It was not often that these two separate entities clashed with each other—whereas the mother in Kaena wanted to run to Vitium and hold him tightly, the Centurion in her would do nothing of the sort.

Another scent reached her nose, and a sense of relief flooded over Kaena. Here was Gabriel—he would know what to do. The silver-furred woman approached more quickly now, following the scent of her Aquila. There was already anger on his face, displayed in a growl and a few short, choppy words— the silver-furred coyote did not match her son's anger, but it was clear from her posture and the spot she'd chosen to stand—directly to Gabriel's right—where her loyalties were. The look she gave to Vitium was purely cold, the condescending look of one on the inside peering through the glass at someone on the outside.

Weeeerd count: 319

There was little else for the ashen-colored hybrid to do but stand there at Gabriel's side. She did not speak at first; Gabriel had noticed her presence with a sidelong glance; that was all that she was given from the Aquila. The outsider son began to speak, his words laced with contempt for the rest of his family. A rumble began in the silver-furred coyote's chest, slow and deliberate, just barely audible. She did not intend to growl over Gabriel—her voice was merely present to add substance to the threats dropping from the golden-furred Aquila. It was not her place to deliver threats anymore; that right was Gabriel's alone. She was merely his enforcer.

The coyote woman remained silent as Vitium spoke, her coal-colored lip lifting momentarily back from her muzzle, displaying one long canine tooth to her son. There was still some residual hesitation there, something that the silver-furred woman could not shake. The hybrid woman did not doubt Vitium's madness—it was apparent in the seething tone that he spoke to his brother with, the words he delivered to his mother—they were strange, referring to her as a queen still. The hybrid had not even realized it, but indeed, the last time she'd seen Vitium she had been the Aquila, throwing him out on his ass.

The "new" Aquila at her side spoke, voicing the silver-furred hybrid's thoughts perfectly. Halo was not a package. Halo was worth far more than that now, and Kaena was quite willing to cut out the middleman where her grandchildren were concerned. They did not belong to Vitium anymore—Halo especially was Kaena's. "Why would you come back here, Vitium?" the silver-furred hybrid asked. It was more of a rhetorical question than anything else. Kaena did not expect a straight answer from Vitium. The dark-eyed canine's life was nothing but a string of lies and deception; what could change now?