I have been wanting to nab this thread for a week now, but I had other replies to catch up with first. xD WC: 377
Starting a new life in such an unfamiliar and magical place appealed to Colibri for many reasons. The simplest explanation was wanting to get to know Lilin, the younger sister she had only recently discovered. But there were deeper motivations, things she did not want to share with any of her new packmates yet. Like the depression she was just barely holding back over the news of her baby brother's murder... or the painful breakup she had never really dealt with, and the regret she now felt for having been cowardly enough to abandon her lover in the first place. Then there was the guilt over the poison she had been forced to use, trading her captors' lives for her own in an exchange she now felt was too unequal. She was such a broken soul, incapable of putting the pieces together herself. The thought of sharing her secrets with her packmates frightened her; they would lose any respect they had for her if they knew all of her stories. They were all so young and optimistic, full of life and not yet crushed by the weight of it all.
And yet, as Coli walked idly through the territory she now called home, she knew she could not continue feeling sorry for herself indefinitely. She wanted to prove her worth here, to be an equal to all those willing to stand by her side. She had failed in several packs before, but she had to learn from her mistakes -- she wasn't getting any younger or prettier, and this could be her last chance to establish herself somewhere before she was branded a loner forever. Lost in her thoughts, the Optime wandered through the grass, leaving the Jordheim houses behind her. A familiar figure drew her attention -- she had stumbled upon one of her packmates here, the only one who seemed to prefer his four-legged form. Saul had introduced the big male as Ezra, father of little Eli. Coli flinched as she heard the halfling abruptly snarl, his guttural masculine voice startling a squeak of fright from her. Of course he was not growling at her approach, and she wilted with embarrassment, knowing he must have heard her timid reaction. So much for a new start.
