^{[prp w/ Achilles ft. Kanji.]}

A waxing moon meets an unusually warm dusk. Two wolves pace the brink of the border maze. Curving vines of burnt ash coil around the edges of the sandy parched terrain. The Yellow Rose stood far on the outskirts of her home, no, that place was unfamiliar now. She stared down the path of destruction, an ugly scar that time had yet to heal. The cracked wasteland reminded her of shattered glass, scattered shards falling away from the hazy mirage off in the distance.

The fires were insatiable, and incurable, but more importantly, intentional. And the land, and its leaders were poisoned from it, the smoke clouding their minds. Nhu stood on the outside, feeling the hot desert air tugging at the brim of her fur, but she dare not step over the threshold.

She was waiting for someone.

He knew to meet her here. They had their ways of communicating. The thought of her right-hand made her smile. She looked over her shoulder and saw her travelling partner, but Kanji was standing even further away from the pack's border.

There was a shadow lingering behind Nhu's eyes, as though she fell through the veil and saw the truth. She stood with a confident air, nevertheless and left the fervent fleeting nightmares haunt only her, behind shut eyes. But it would be good to see him, this was the beginning, but her anxiety was building for the end. Her heart beat faster still, like tepid fingers clutching at her beating heart threatening to choke out every ounce of life.

She turned to Kanji, her face unreadable, "he's late."

Her stomach growled, and she plopped down on the edge of the pack and looked up at the dimming skies, stars twinkling overhead.

"Maybe he will bring snacks," she mused.

"Alright lads! Gather up!!"

Flocks of birds took to the sky, squawking in frustration at their disturbance. They had decided on this spot as their meetup when they left the island - in fact, when the fog cleared, it would be possible to see Ambervale as an auburn speck on the horizon. For now though, it was a shadow in the mist, a tease for wanderlust explorers. And for those poor souls, she would be their angel, their shining light, guiding them to the island when the time came.

First, she needed to actually grab their attention.

"COME ON! I didn't send you all out on vacation, we got work to do!"

She had come here with natives of the island who were interested in boosting Soleil's numbers; members of the tribe who wanted to share stories of it's glory with those willing to listen. She looked upon them all, and grinned.

"If you think I'm making a lot of noise, you've seen nothing yet! Now, we all know why we're here," She found a log to leap up onto so they could all focus on her. "We want some fresh faces, some new blood. The bridge back to the island will resurface in a few days, not long at all. It's time to perform, darlings! It's time to grab the attention of every homeless soul in that forest, lure them to this beach, and convince them that they could be so much more in Soleil!"

She did not bother to ask if they were ready, instead she gave them a cheeky wink, and soon everyone would be woken up by the sheer volume of her voice:

"COME ONE, COME ALL! ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A NEW START? A FRESH CHAPTER IN YOUR LIFE? AN ESCAPE FROM ALL THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD? THEN FOLLOW THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, FOR SOLEIL IS YOUR FUTURE!"

And with a swish of her tail, she struck a pose, a figure of elegance as she waited for the curious to arrive.

oft it whispered in her ears, soft it felt as the rose under her paw lay perfectly still. A white rose, singular, perfect to every shred. Fei had scanned the field of roses for hours, she had left nothing unturned, visibly turned the leaves to check them for chew marks of little pests, made sure they had no imperfections... Not for her, not for the goddess herself. Fei knew what she deserved and she knew that giving her something short of perfect wouldn't do, not ever in this world.

She had selected it carefully and picked it with her mouth, hurt herself in the process, but careful to not bleed on the rose itself. She had softly carried it to the den area, but stayed clear of her noisy siblings. She had never been like them, she had never been youthful or playful, never roamed like they did, she had sat still and she had listened. Took her studies seriously, listened to the preaches of the priests and priestess, not once did she falter from faith, not even after the incident with Thetis. She had pushed it in the back of her mind, she didn't want to think that this was white - this was not god, it was. Imperfection in the making of perfection.

They had returned from war and the gods had left their land, hollow and empty Fei had patiently waited for their return, and she knew it had been days now, she knew Anamelech soon would visit, soon she would seek them, she didn't understand that they were mere playthings, but she understood they were important to her.

But - like this, she would have to share attention with her siblings. She looked at them from afar and then at her rose. Did she dare? She picked it up again and then left the den area. She would seek out her own gods, and find her own answers. She was such a faithful pupil, ready and eager to learn and every turn of the world, and today was not different. She didn't know exactly where to find her, but she relied on her nose for hours, and then - luck.

She found her.

She was by a small stream of water and Fei stood dead in her tracks, standing perfectly still for some time before finally taking some soft steps toward the goddess Gigantea. She came up next to her and bowed her head and put the perfect white rose next to her and tried to make eye contact. She didn't say anything, though she wanted to, she was gleeing and beaming hoping Anamelech would pay her attention, hoping she would give praise for her hard work in picking the rose. Maybe even hoped she had heard of her hard work in the studies and would praise her for that too?

Silly girl didn't know roses weren't meant to be touched.

What's there to do when you sorta, kinda, actually left behind the only family you had? Being young and thinking you were always right never helped, Cirice had always been so headstrong. The most difficult of Valena's daughter's, maybe if her father had stuck around longer to keep the peace like he had when they were small it wouldn't have been a problem. Hate to say hello 'cause I know that it means goodbye, hate to ask but what's it like to leave me behind? She was bitter, rightfully so.

And the gal had got it in her mind that family could be just as easily removed as any other person her life, they fought a lot. It was a constant battle about something, and it left their family strained and stressed. God, she'd never admit to being the person in the wrong. Her mother had to be the toxic one, she had to.

It'd crush her to know that she wasn't helping her situation any. Got into a bit of a state last night, deleted every contact in my life, built a fire in my mind.

No one told her that life on your own is a lot harder than she thought it'd be, finding food was like putting all your energy into finding the rabbit or squirrel for it to get away, or in the off chance you actual catch the fucking thing; then all you energy is put toward finding the next thing to eat. It was a shitty cycle, one she was trapped in at the moment.

And it made it especially difficult when Cirice had the good ol habit of waking up in the afternoon hours, her mother had always said the best game was to be found in the early morning hours, but now it was the golden hour. The sun's golden rays bursting behind red hued mountains in the far off distance. The only food she had been able to find was along the shoreline, mucky paws made their way across wet sand. The water lapping against the shore and washing up kelp and old shells. The young female's muzzle pressed against the ground, nose and maw covered in sand as she dug up some mussels. "Ha! Score!!!!" A couple of big ones and a couple of small ones, but hey, you can't be too picky.

Inspecting the shell over she'd go in to bite if, cracking it with ease, but also cutting the absolute mess out of her gums. "Ow OW OW FUCK FUCK OW! OW... What the GARBAGE, man??!!" She growled backing away with a whimper, shaking her face and angrily slapping the broken shell pieces away. "Stings stings stings, ow, stings, OW OW OW." Perhaps trying to water her mouth out with ocean water was a bad idea. Gross, she'd sit back beside her haul of shellfish, glowering down at them.