In Dire Straits

The wolf really had no idea where she was going to go now, that she had found herself out of the dark and back into the light that was Alteron. But Alteron was not really a light, no was it? It was still a dark, shadow place that others often feared to tread. Kokipa did not find anything familiar to her, besides the den she had left when she had disappeared. She did not sense Ackid or Kiakime, or any of the wolves that she had known when she had been a lonely serf then Sentry of the woods. In a way, Kokipa just wanted to find the two wolves who had influenced her the most. But she had yet to find them and she did not hold out hope that they would remember the black wraith with the rose eyes. If anything, the lack of finding them had hurt her more than the possibility of finding them did. But she did not hold any hope to not finding them either. There was always a chance she could stumble upon them. 

But the wolf had taken up her old ways, wondering around the lands with some aimless intent. She was a ghost, something of the past that had no real say in the future pack of Alteron. It had changed so much, gone were the tyrants of old and in where the tyrants of new, though different in the political manner in which they shifted. Like snakes. The black wraith could speak in their tounges but she really had no heart for doing such a thing. She was just a old creature of habit, one who wondered and watched and didn't speak. Even now her voice was raspy as ever, like a crone who hadn't spoken in centuries. She was  a skinny rail who slipped beneath the trees and bushes. She watched with bright eyes that countered her dark pelt. She was a wanderer now, a wolf who had no real thing to do. 

And maybe there were others who wondered too.

[Nudge?]

Amdusias smelled a smell.. a smelly-smell that smelled.. smelly.

Pointy little nose practically dug up the earth like a trowel as the youth sped through the forest, following the stranger's scent like a bloodhound. Her curiosity had been piqued - which at that stage in Amma's life was not a difficult thing to accomplish. The Phalanx-daughter had questions; who was the stranger, why hadn't she smelled their scent before? Amdusias didn't recognize it. It made her suspicious - what if it was a monster!!! The child gulped, but kept going. It would take more than that to scare her off (or at least that's what she told herself).

Ahead there were voices, and the scent of the stranger was getting stronger. Two other scents crossed her nose, making Amdusias pause. One of them smelled like her grandma, but different. This only proved to be fuel for the girl, who pressed forward on giddy, nervous paws.

“Well, KOKIPA! Since you don't already know who your QUEEN'S!!! children are... Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rosalind, daughter of The Dragon.”

“My name is Sarissa, daughter of the Commandant and Granddaughter of the Dragon. So, dear Kokipa, what are you searching for?”

Kokipa? Rosalind?? Daughter of the Dragon???? Sarissa, granddaughter of the Dragon?!? These girls were family! For whatever reason, that knowledge emboldened Amdusias, who strutted closer confidently with her little head held high. She recognized Sarissa vaguely, a face in the crowd when Grandmother had seized the crown. Rosalind seemed a little familiar, too, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Maybe she just had one of those faces.

"I'm not your dear. And who says I search for anything? Perhaps I wonder just to wonder."

Kokipa's response to her relative's question was.. less than ideal for Amdusias. The youth's crocodile grin spread wide and she locked her charcoal eyes on Kokipa's pink ones, little tail wagging behind her furiously. "Oh my god, its like she thinks she has a choice!" Amma giggled wildly after finishing, her eyes rolling over to Sarissa and Rosalind. Oh yes, if Sarissa wanted Kokipa to be her dear, well, that is what Kokipa would be! "My name is Amdusias, daughter of the Bone Court." A toothy grin punctuated her introduction. Amdusias let her dark gaze drift over the other two girls before landing on Kokipa once more. She didn't trust this pink-eyed woman yet, this stranger who could be up to who knew what. Technically Rosalind and Sarissa were strangers, too, but they were also family, which changed things in Amdusias' mind.

"Where'd you come from? Don't you have a job?" She didn't mean it as a direct insult (not entirely, anyway) but it probably came off that way. Wandering just to wander, wondering just to wonder -- didn't most adults have, like, ranks and shit to occupy their time with? Amdusias was curious as to what Kokipa spent all her time doing, and if she did have a job, what did the shadowy pink-eyed stranger do? What had she ever done? Why hadn't she seen her before? Amdusias had so many questions!

[Nudge?]