[M]Recovery

WARNING: This thread contains material exceeding the general board rating of PG-13. It may contain very strong language, drug usage, graphic violence, or graphic sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.

Aliyah had been still confused about what had happened with Dalia...and Red with all those cigarettes. As the Luperci had said, Aliyah had decided to leave them alone to recover and perhaps chill out before the journey to see Max would begin. Now, it was time, and Aliyah was really excited and also still sad. Her depression probably would never go away, and would just stay, along with her newly found fear of Vicira. Aliyah had not been on good terms with the Aquila lately, not on good terms with Merari, not on good terms with Ichabod, and probably not on good terms with Boone. Ichabod and the Lykoi and Tears family were apparently to be avoided at all times, and Aliyah wished she could manage to befriend them, but that would never happen. The Sciens was not a true Infernian in her opinion, especially because how she had been shamed for keeping a predator, who Vicira had ordered to be taken away. Perhaps the Aquila would not be able to trust Aliyah ever again, and may demote her, or keep watch of her to make sure she never brings poor Max into pack camp ever again. An enemy, Aliyah thought of herself as, a danger, and not a packmate. Ichabod hated her guts, and now, Aliyah would have to be enemies with the whole entire Lykoi and Tears family. Would that even mean Redtooth, whom Aliyah had never met? Yes, maybe even that.

What did I do to deserve this? Aliyah thought, looking down. She had to keep a happy face, though, being Dalia and Red would be arriving shortly. A single tear fell from the coywolf's heterochromatic eyes, and she mumbled a few words before sitting down. Max's scent was strong, and finding him would be easy.

Once she had finally gotten over her hangover, Dalia sniffed around for Aliyah hoping to find her. Red followed Dalia to her side, and as Dalia continued to walk she noticed Aliyah’s scent growing stronger, but also the scent of a familiar bobcat. Today Dalia decided to surprise Aliyah and comfort her a bit knowing that her lover wasn’t a luperci. So Dalia climbed to the top of a random tree and his her clothes, quiver and bow all near the top in the leaves. Once Dalia climbed down she decided to greet her in a form that her mate was fond of, but also very unique as Aliyah hadn’t seen Dalia in this form before.

So Dalia closed her eyes and focused on shifting down into her lupus form. Her legs snapped and changed structure and forced Dalia onto all fours. Her thumbs receded and her hands became digitigrade paws once more. Her mane disappeared and she shrank down into the normal proportions for a coywolf her age. She took a moment to inspect herself then looked over at Red who whimpered at all of the painful sounds that came from Dalia’s body. "Ah, Red you worry about me too much. Shifting doesn’t hurt me one bit girl." Dalia exclaimed then nuzzled her fox and barked, "This way!"

Dalia ran until she saw Aliyah, and once she did she ran up and announced her presence with a bark,"Hey, Ali! Over here girl!"

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Aliyah could smell Dalia and Red's scent from far away, and she occasionally looked around, unable to see the coywolf and her fox companion. She swore she could hear commotion coming from somewhere...
Just then, Aliyah looked around and finally saw a coywolf, looking like Aliyah, on all-fours and not looking like a Luperci. Aliyah was surprised, mostly because of how when she tried to gather the scent, she could smell Dalia's scent. Dalia was in Lupus form! Aliyah quickly got to her paws once Dalia had called her and the heterochromatic-eyed coywolf bounded over, excitement bubbling up inside Aliyah. Apparently Dalia and Red were over the hangover thing, and it provided a sense of relief for Aliyah. She was worried they'd maybe be sick or something, but that wasn't happening at all. Now all that needed to happen was to go find Max and socialize with him again. Wagging her tail, Aliyah looked around. "Shall we go find Max now?" She asked, tilting her head. Aliyah couldn't wait to see the reaction between Red and Max when they saw each other again, and it would be exciting. The scent of the bobcat was strong, and that wasn't really a good sign, meaning he was getting close to Inferni camp, probably to find Aliyah, but maybe since this wasn't part of Inferni camp, or really close, then maybe it wasn't a bad sign.

But, Max was still in Inferni territory!

Aliyah looked around to make sure Vicira or anyone else wasn't around. "We need to make sure Max isn't getting too close here." She said. "Judging by the scent, he's getting way too close currently." If Vicira or perhaps Ichabod were here, this wouldn't be anything good at all.

Dalia sniffed and nodded,"Yeah uh, maybe we should find a place along the Yawrah river for him, just not an area of the river that runs through the pack and all. God, Vicira has a huge family, her mate's brother even showed up recently, and my first impression was absolutely ruined." Dalia walked and looked back at the border of skulls and sighed, "God, now that I've seen this place again it gives me the creeps. Where the hell did you part ways with Max anyways? Hopefully he didn’t follow you back in. Fuck, I hope he doesn’t anytime soon."

Dalia took a deep breath and sighed then she turned to Aliyah and said, "Hey Ali, can we come to an agreement on something? I have bad blood with the Aquila and her family, so....please don’t get involved between me and them. I don’t want you to get into anything worse right now involving them, so please just stay away from me around them both verbally and physically." Dalia then peered closer at Aliyah and sniffed at her a bit, and she paused and her eyes widened. Has she been crying? About what? Dalia thought, but she decided not to knowing how sensitive Aliyah was about her personal life.

"So Ali, uh...I think we, or at least I should share more with you. Like I know that you know me as a loving and caring person, but I wasn’t always this way. Heh, and a bit of that other me still lingers inside of me too." Dalia exclaimed as she looked around.

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Aliyah agreed with what Dalia had said. The Yawrah River was somewhere beyond Inferni territory, but they would need to find Max and guide him there so that way Vicira and the other suspicious packmates of Aliyah wouldn't interfere. Aliyah nodded in response to what Dalia had said. An Aquila, or any kind of leader of a pack, in Aliyah's opinion, had to have or must've had a huge family. It would make sense, and apparently, Vicira's family along with her would have a different opinion of Aliyah now that her bobcat had caused trouble and injured a packmate. When Dalia had said that she had bad blood with Vicira and her family and didn't want Aliyah to get involved with any of it, Aliyah knew she had to listen to her. Getting involved with any squabbles between Dalia and Vicira and her family wouldn't be a great result, and everyone would basically become seriously suspicious of the non-Luperci coywolf, believing she was just too loyal to Dalia instead of the pack, and they would get suspicious of the relationship between them. "Sure." Aliyah said. "Based on my experience, I'll probably stay away from them, honestly. They...uh...probably hate me after what happened with Max." The coywolf knew that only a true friend, and someone more than that, like Dalia, would like her just the way she was. Surely Dalia would be in favor of why Max attacked? It seemed possible. How was it an overreaction? Aliyah thought, recounting to the moment when Vicira had came to her and talked to her about Max.

Now Vicira was an enemy along with her whole family.

Aliyah chuckled at what Dalia had said about her personality. "Now, we should probably go find Max and bring him somewhere close or at the Yawrah River for his safety." She said.

"Thank you," Dalia said then she nuzzled Aliyah’s chin, "I just want you to be safe and happy." Red trotted to the side of them and ran up between the two and barked. Dalia paused then sighed and rolled her eyes at Red,"Someone’s jealous, and wants to play, but not right now." Red just gave Dalia a puzzled look and whined then nudged Dalia again. "Red, you can play with Max when we find him." Dalia replied firmly then Red slowed her pace and made her way back around to Dalia’s other side. Dalia then continued sniffing around and smiled, Yeah, that’s him alright, I can never forget that furry feline's sce...

Suddenly Red barked excitedly and bursted into a sprint and Dalia sighed, "Red, why do you always do this to me? She’s probably out hunting something knowing her, she'll probably be back in a few minutes or so." A single thought then crossed Dalia’s mind, Wait, What If she's after Max's scent like we are? Dalia thought about this for a few moments then barked,"Ali, Red and Max always used to play together, so....what if she’s going after him? Maybe we should follow her and see what she’s tailing?"

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When Dalia had noticed Red going off after a scent, tailing, Aliyah had a feeling that the fox had found the bobcat that Aliyah loved and needed. Kinko, alarmed, chirped and flapped her wings, then flying after Red. "I think Kinko senses Max!" Aliyah barked, and the coywolf bounded after her finch and the fox, wondering if Max was nearby. As Aliyah looked around, stopping, it seemed as if Max's scent was becoming stronger, and she noticed some bobcat pawprints not too far away. He must be here! She thought excitedly, and began slowly walking ahead, following the pawprints. As she apparently became closer to the bobcat, Aliyah swore she could see an adult-sized figure in the distance. Her ears perked up, and noticed a...bobcat, bounding over towards her! Max was here! "Max!" Aliyah yelped, being surrounded by affection from Max. Her tail was wagging, and she was so happy to see the bobcat again. For once, she was able to come face-to-face with her companion, one of her prized possessions she had lost, and needed. Kinko was happy too, as she was chirping happily and flying in circles with glee. However, Aliyah was worried about Max being he was still in Inferni territory, and this was not a good sign. Despite being happy, Aliyah still had to bring Max to Yawrah River for his safety, or at least somewhere close to Yawrah River. Max isn't safe here. She thought. "Max, we need to bring you somewhere else for your own good. My packmates might end up seeing you, and they won't be too happy." Aliyah said.

Hopefully Max would obey.

To Aliyah's relief, Max let her pick him up by the scruff. "We need to get him to Yawrah River fast, or at least somewhere close." She said through a mouthful of bobcat fluff.

Dalia heard Aliyah, then noticed Red change her direction and soon she found Max as well. Once Max was in Red's sight the vixen pounced and tackled Max in a playful fashion and barked happily. Dalia trotted up shortly afterwards and sat down next to Aliyah, "Sorry, she must’ve split between Max's scent and a rodent of some sort, no offense to you or him of course. Red just loves bringing back those tiny things to me for some reason when I wake up in the morning." Dalia exclaimed then she took a moment to catch her breath and sighed,"I am not used to running like this."

Dalia then looked to Aliyah and Kinko then back to Red and Max and smiled slightly. "Those two really are friends, aren’t they?" Dalia muttered under her breath then she turned to Aliyah and asked,"You think Max will follow us? I mean, he always followed you around so for him I guess that might be a habit of his by now or something." Dalia then looked back and smiled at the two then jokingly grinned and barked,"So, are we taking bets on who would win or not?" Dalia laughed after she said this despite the serious situation that they were in right now then sighed,"You know, it makes me happy to watch those two play like that."

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