[Oriana]

---

The moon was alluring tonight, bright and almost glowing. Oriana had found herself staring at the orb in the sky, quite the sight in the open starry backdrop not obstructed by jungle trees. Her travelling party was asleep from what she could tell, their attempted camp had fizzled out into nothingness as the deafening silence across the unmarked lands felt as though they extended into endless distances.

Rising to her feet, Oriana moved away from the make shift camp and decided to stretch her legs. She hadn’t forgotten the heartfelt meeting with her brother, perhaps if she continued to idly wander nearby she’d run into him again… if not him, then Hircine... oh, her sweet son; the reality of his disappearance started to set in as the days drawled on. Oriana decided perhaps soon it would be time to move on, for her own sanity. Move on from Saboro, move on from Hircine… No, there was still something that wanted her to hold on.

For a moment the world felt elated; like she was walking on a cloud in idle daydreaming of if she were to see her boy again, that she could go back and resume her position in Saboro. The thought made her wince rationally, but emotionally for a moment she allowed herself to be tricked by her whimsical creations within her mind; ruling Saboro in the way she'd always wished, without the tragedy and struggle she face, without the heartbreak, without the pain, without— ...a nearby noise clicked in with the paranoia she tried to shelf in the midst of her foolery.

Like a snap of a finger that dream dissipated like smoke. Alerts were on and Oriana tensed, perhaps more than usual as she had been unknowingly taken advantage of by her dreamlike thoughts.

With teeth bared she prepared herself for whoever was nearby, the glistening of ivory fangs easily the first thing to be seen against the moon’s vibrancy illuminating the clearing.

---

[Artemisia]

The never ending sleepless nights were a plague on her psyche, eyes always glancing back and ears always alert. There really was no rest for the wicked, not when the wicked could be hunted down and eaten alive. The girl who had betrayed and proved loyalty, only to once again face betrayal. Saboro had become tainted, the thorns growing too long. Crenate had lost his mind and she felt no connection toward him. In the beginning they had tried to establish trust, but even when she was his Hawkeye, the trust never stabilized. The friends he surrounded himself with only furthered the madness of them both, and even Oriana was not immune.

She had left them all.

Artemisia wondered if Sol Katti had planned this, to remove her own madness and set it forth into Crenate and Oriana. Coven had his own disturbing methods, one she knew too well when punished and pushed away like nothing as she let Knife jump into the swelling river only to be fished out by the dappled queen and decapitated. She had seen the strife first hand, and as she rose in ranks once more to Hawkeye besides Crenate's side, she was not blind to the whispers and grasps of the greedy. After the last disaster, Artemisia knew she had to escape this time. Loyalty had torn, it was no longer valued in the eyes of her King and her Queen had plunged into the unknown for a mission she'd never return from. Bane trying to seize the throne had broken everything she believed in, Artemisia streaming through the jungle at high speed in order to escape.

In order to escape.

And she had won. She had succeeded, but the paranoia that trailed her every move was far more powerful and weighed heavier than the molten ball of anger that resided in her chest. Fear made it's humble abode within her mind — every sound and every creature could be the eyes and movement of Saboro itself coming after her.

But what she found was far less expected than a rabid jackdaw wanting to impress the War Captain and scream their undying loyalties for the sake of greed. What Artemisia found was a denizen misplaced from her throne, bearing a dull sword in which the red Hawkeye nearly laughed at. Paranoia was high however, and a simple feeling of doubt sent the wolf forward, her own teeth flashing in the moonlight. She wouldn't strike, only lunge a few feet in warning. Even as her eyes adjusted to see the dappled orange with familiar scars etched into the back as red swirls surrounded bright sea foam green eyes, Artemisia never backed down.

"Sabora."

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

[Oriana]

---

And so perhaps one of her fears had shown it’s face to her.

Artemisia had been a point of guilt in the fallen Queen’s psyche— among few others; her children, being a large part of it, but her sister who lived a life from hell and back who pledged her true loyalty to her. She may have been the Sabor’s right hand, but she was loyal to Oriana; a loyalty she likely strained in her disappearance and she was no fool to expect Artemisia’s forgiveness in a flash. Upon realizing one demon at her doorstep, Oriana’s lips covered her teeth and showed signs of neutralism, but not contentment. Oriana didn’t dare assume that just because Artemisia was all she could see, that’s all their was. Her lunge caused the ex-Saboran to tense up, a minor ripple at her lips again before they settled. The tension was still high. No one quite knew what intents were happening here.

"Sabora."

A word that stung like a knife in her heart, Oriana’s tail twitched. No, she had not barred that rotted, thorny thing since she’d encountered Anglachel. It was left behind, rooted and decaying in the middle of the forest, she was no longer a prisoner of it’s needs and whats. She didn’t owe it or Saboro anything anymore. “No.” She said in finality. “I’m not your Sabora.” But did she already know that? Oriana’s tension only grew as she started to feel that bloodied, corrupted taste of paranoia as time slowly ticked, staring her red-eyed demon in the eye. It was hard to say what would happen now; would Artemisia spit in her sister’s face or leaving, or join her rebel against the retched kingdom that brought them both misery despite being born as royalty.

“Not anymore.” Her voice was loud enough to be heard at not only Artemisia’s distance, but farther in case her dear sister was in fact packing some company and hidden weapons to drag her back alive or dead.

The words 'I’m sorry' lingered on the ex-Queen’s throat, wishing her sister to know her intention was never to leave forever, let alone abandon her; but Oriana needed to make sure they were on the same side before sweet words of family and bonding were given.

---

@Gothy

[Artemisia]

Quivering lips finally covered fangs, sheathing her own weapons but her eyes still bore deep into the ex-Queen's, almost glowing against the bright red above her brow. Her intense stare followed every movement, every word Oriana spoke. The heat inside her belly was starting to flare, the anger almost bubbling like lava through her throat. Artemisia felt the urge to send herself forward and rip into the woman before her, to cry and to scream, but she stood her ground. Stayed still in the intensity.

No, you aren't Queen, are you?

"Not anymore." she said against Oriana's, both ringing out into the darkness. Artemisia felt conflicted though as the woman's voice rang louder as if someone else was trailing them both. She moved then, eyes breaking from teal to glance into the shrubs. The Hawkeye would walk around in a circle, nostrils flaring to pick up any scents and ears twitching in all directions, straining to hear.

They were alone.

As Artemisia came back around to Oriana's front, she stopped and stared with half a snarl on her face. "And I'm not Hawkeye." she said, the realization of it all finally hitting her hard and fast. She had always been known as the girl who betrayed Saboro and cast out of the family. Born a royal and grown up as nothing more than a scrap of meat. She had worked so hard to gain back her dignity and honor. The tattoos above the scars had been proof of that.

But now?

Now she was nothing once more.

A snarl ripped through her throat again, teeth glinting in the moonlight as she snapped at empty air. "I betrayed Saboro again! I ran! I ran like Knife had!" she said, breathing in sharply. Artemisia could hardly feel the hot tears stream down her face and against her teeth. "I'm a traitor. Like I've always been." Some things never changed, and this was one of them.

Artemisia hung her head before her sister, both in shame and in pain. Saboro had been her pride, had been something she strove for. Had she not warned Oriana of Nero and Lucas and Crenate and Bane? Had she not told the queen to watch her back? "They... took over."

Saboro was dead.

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

[Oriana]

---

"Not anymore."

The tension was high and Oriana wasn't positive she could read her sister's reactions, emotions, what she was truly thinking. The fire could be felt from the distance that she stood, pressure increased when Art uprooted herself from the ground, preparing to defend or retaliate against those perfectly prepped teeth. Instead, she simply scanned the area, a beneficial action for them both; at least Oriana hoped. It was possible Art just wanted Oriana to herself, to rip her apart and bring her pretty golden head back to Saboro after Oriana left her for dead just like the others.

Just like Cassiopeia, Lexa... her babies. The fledglings. Surely the ghost children of her past would come back and rip her apart too. Perhaps many more traditions come down the generations. Oriana had far more in common with Sol Katti than she'd ever realized.

Oriana studied her sister, neutral expression displayed and her framework taut, locked in place. She wouldn't relax until she knew Artemisia's purpose here.

"And I'm not Hawkeye."

Then what are you? Words that lingered in the mind of the ex-Queen, her ears flicked to her sister's snarling as she felt every inch of her muscles tense again, flare in screaming pressure looking for a moment of relaxation. It had only been minutes and the fiery intensity of their meeting already exhausted her legs. Everything had been exhausting since she'd left; but better built by her own plans than exhaustion in the form of her life sucked from that backstabbing place. "Why are you here?" Oriana spoke firmly. It was not an accusation, not a threat. But she wouldn't play games. Either Artemisia was here to damn her—

"I betrayed Saboro again! I ran! I ran like Knife had! I'm a traitor. Like I've always been."

— or to join her.

"No," The voice of a once-Queen boomed. Oriana was not there the day Knife died, but she heard the story. The idea of the curly coated sister of theirs haunted Oriana for years. As a young girl she feared being ripped apart for the blasphemous dead of being a traitor. Oriana herself ripped apart someone for being one. Oh, how blindly tragic she was brainwashed to be there. It was in their blood, in their birthright, in the Saboran ritual to be the monsters they were. But they could change. Oriana would bring what was coming to Saboro one day. She may have left, but she would return when she had the power to smite all of those vermin for turning their back on her.

Hypocritical? Perhaps. But Oriana wasn't done with power yet.

"You are alive. You are not Knife. She miscalculated, she was a coward." Oriana tentatively took a step forward, sea foam eyes locked on her sister to see if she would be unappreciative of her forward advances. "You endured and prevailed, again and again... but now, Saboro cannot hurt you like it did before." Because you're with me now, and I refuse to let it hurt me. "We are free, Artemisia."

But her sister wasn't done. Oriana made another step forward, assuming that the fire only settled with her progress and not increase. Oriana would freeze in her place again if the fire hawk looked like she would lash out at her golden sister.

"They... took over."

Slowly, darkly, Oriana's eyes narrowed. There was no doubt in someone filling her shoes while she had been gone. But the way Artemisia spoke... it did not sound good.

"They?" Like a blade from her mouth, she questioned.

---

@Gothy

[Artemisia]

Oriana was careful, as she should be. Artemisia was unpredictable, and in nature that would've been an advantage. A spitfire that could go off at any moment, her stoic and hard-lined expression made it hard to read her mind. For those few moments, her sister stayed back, fully aware of these facts. Artemisia was thin ice covering boiling waters of her anger, a flame that hardly extinguished throughout her existence. She was a child of the volcano, after all.

But what Oriana advised surprised the Hawkeye. You're alive. We are free. A fate Knife never had. Sol Katti had ripped the cord from her throat and stomped out any hope kindled by Hecate. Artemisia was struck down for witnessing and allowing them to go free, a child who was naive enough to feel love and trust. A child who knew no better.

Come with us!

We can be free.

All things Knife had tempted her little sister to do before she shook her head and watched them get only a few feet down the river before getting captured. The memory flashed behind those red eyes and Artemisia shut them hard, ears plastered against her skull. Saboro couldn't hurt her any longer, not even Sol Katti could. The dappled queen had lost her control and it was now in the hands of...

They?

The daughter of flaming anger had never been one to crumble, always stood strong against the most trying of times. Even in the face of her mother whose teeth snared flesh and stripped away tattoos, Artemisia never flinched. Never cried or sulked. Yet as Oriana approached, the woman faltered, legs shaking. The red Hawkeye slowly lowered herself to the ground, pulling her head down and inward. Despite the anger, despite her flame being as hot as it was, her body was exhausted. Her body was far weaker than her spirit, and it took it's toll.

"Who else?" she said, eyes finally lifting to view her sister's feet. They were closer. "Crenate. With Bane as Sabora." she said, an airy laugh breaking from her chest. "It's a fucking joke."

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

[Oriana]

---

Oriana’s gut instinct to speak in comforting tongues seemed to be paying off; none of which were a total scam. In fact, most of it was sincerity, speaking from someone who experienced it in a similar vein as her backstabbed sister standing in front of her. One who lived a year or so longer and experienced that much more trauma in the hands of Saboro’s people than she. But together they escaped within the same time frame, both with unique histories and tactics that once joined together again could prove to be a powerful force.

And Oriana was becoming hungry again. She would hopefully feed the bellies of those searching for the same type of flavour she wanted.

Saboro always demanded pounds of flesh. Oriana wouldn’t give it that anymore unless it was in the form of choking it with it’s own blood and knives.

"Who else? Crenate. With Bane as Sabora. It's a fucking joke."

Approaching and acting as the mother Artemisia never truly had, she nuzzled her head gently into her sisters cheek and neck and hummed quietly, offering a siren’s song of soothing against the volatile and unstable kin in front of her.

“It’s exactly as I suspected.” A lie. She had no idea what they’d do with her gone. “They can’t stand having a matriarchy any longer. There are no such thing as mothers there—“ Oriana rattled off with unsettling clarity, her tone was as light as a feather despite the jaded drip at the end. “They tear them apart.” Because becoming a mother was worse than becoming Sabora. But which came first? Oh, sweet Ori.

Pulling away and not indulging too much of Artemisia’s space in case the pressure brought back the flames again, she sat in front of her fiery sister, no longer having the concern of backlash. “They can have it.” Confidently, she glanced passed those red eyes and exhaled quietly, releasing the tension and hoping the ex-Hawkeye would too. “They’ll be nothing left after they're done throwing knives around, am I wrong?”

Oriana briefly thought of those knives and how they would hit the last things left there she loved.

A frown formed on her face. Time to change the subject.

“How did you get out alive?” Alive and alone?

---

@Gothy

[Artemisia]

The woman immediately flinched from Oriana's touch, familiar pulls at her eyes struck her, but the burning pain never resurfaced. There was only gentleness and comfort in her sister's caress, a hum to soothe those tense muscles and heartaches. Artemisia grew limp against Oriana, allowing her to be this close as the song eased her into submission.

But ah, what a true statement the ex-Sabora had made. They did tear them apart. Enys was dead, and for what? A display of power because those whelps were nothing to them. They suffered as much as they all suffered, and yet one had taken the ultimate sacrifice to show how deeply corrupted they really were. Oh if Oriana had known, if Artemisia had known. Would they have come back with an army to tear Saboro asunder for their crimes? Artemisia only grunted in response, feeling the same jadedness.

The Hawkeye breathed in deeply, then out, ears twitching slightly as Oriana continued. An inquiry that forced a laugh from the red beast. "No... I'm sure they'll fall apart soon enough. Bane is too egotistical to rule." Greed would seep into the stones and rot them, crumble them until there was only dust. Artemisia saw nothing of promise in her eldest brother, he was nothing but a spoiled brat. Crenate had shifted his stance quickly, it tore Artemisia on the inside, let her bleed and burn.

How could things have gone so wrong?

Head lifted, muscles aching from every movement she made. She had just noticed how fragile her body had become with how far she had ran. Artemisia twisted her neck to glance back to the wound on her rump and legs that still had thorns of wood embedded in skin. In fact, both of her back legs were swollen, a radiating pulse warm against the pain. "It... wasn't easy." Turning her head back she'd try to relax again. "I was quicker."

Her escape was well fought.

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

---

@"Arkyls"

[Oriana]

---

"No... I'm sure they'll fall apart soon enough. Bane is too egotistical to rule."

Oriana snorted quietly to the statement, a contrast to her sister’s strained amusement. Giving Saboro a piece of karmic justice wasn’t far from the forefront of her mind; but they were simply a small group of vagrants now. There was nothing they go do in the coming weeks, but time had a funny way of dealing with things. During their bitter spatter of talk over Saboro, Oriana had barely given her sister a glance beyond trying to keep her levelheaded and make her volatility approachable.

"It... wasn't easy. I was quicker."

“Ah…” Her eyes followed Artemisia’s to view at the section of her rear that was riddled in a thorny, swollen mess. Leaning back some, Oriana frowned. “You’d think having a family with the Crane meant I’d pick up a thing or two of healing…” Her voice grew rather bitter at the mention, although it was quickly shifted to a bit of a piqued laugh, almost borderline shame. “Unfortunately.” A single word that held many purposes of the word. Shifting herself a bit more now, Oriana gave room back to her fiery kin, exhaling a quiet sigh now. Release the toxicity, she thought. “I’m glad you’re here, alive, and for better or worse in one piece.”

They were fighters; that was for certain.

“Perhaps someone else may be able to help you.” Oriana glanced away from Artemisia for a second, almost glancing off into the distance to imply something bigger. For a moment of silence, her eyes squinted in thought before replacing her sights on the scarred, scarlet ringed ones of blood. If she had a hand to physically extend, she would, giving a peace offering— an offering of loyalty again. Oriana wouldn’t turn her back on Artemisia ever again, but it wasn’t up to her to decide if they would mend that bridge again. Certainly they had mutual distaste for their home and many in it, but Artemisia could decide that this was a pleasant meeting and there was where it would end. So, it was up to her.

“Follow me.” A statement of devotion.

---

@Gothy

[Artemisia]

Artemisia scoffed and shifted slightly to get a little more comfortable. A few splinters had been missed and they were starting to itch. Oriana didn't need to know any healing, the ex-Hawkeye was not one to go to healers anyway. "I'll be fine. It'll heal." she insisted, she hadn't needed one her entire life, why start now? She would give her sister a shrug in response to the second statement. "I wasn't going to let those bastards kill me." She didn't see them worthy enough to do so, they were only greedy thugs. Artemisia even huffed at the thought of Bane being Sabora yet again.

It wouldn't last long.

Red eyes lifted to view her sister glance into the forest far beyond. Oriana was looking at nothing in particular, the ex-Hawkeye recognizing that stare. It had been the same stare Knife had given before declaring she was going to leave Saboro. There was a place they desired. Artemisia squinted her eyes, wondering exactly what her sister was searching for. There was something yet... the red dire wasn't quite sure if she should ask. When Oriana looked back toward the Hawkeye, she was still squinting in suspicion, though looked confused when she was asked to follow.

"Well, I sought to find you, and I did. It'd be stupid to not follow you. I promised you I would be your eyes and ears and I mean that. I regret being Crenate's Hawkeye and not your Hawk. So... Let me be that now." There was no Kingdom now, they could wander about freely. Artemisia wondered though just how their tattoos would affect people's opinions of them. Especially other packs. Inaria was out of the question, they would be killed instantly. She figured Oriana wasn't after them though, so what was she searching for?

She would sit up and itch at her leg, pulling another hidden spike of wood from her leg and spat it out. "So what is it you are wanting to go? Where am I following you to?"

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

[Oriana]

---

"I'll be fine. It'll heal. I wasn't going to let those bastards kill me."

A prideful smile approached her lips for the briefest of moments. "I understand." she glanced over the scars on her sister's face; not unlike the few that scattered across her body. They were reminders of their past and their achievements; trophies of their torment and sacrifice of what they'd survived through where many hadn't. Artemisia's newest would be likely a grim but honourable reminder that Saboro wasn't going to take anything else from her.

"Well, I sought to find you, and I did. It'd be stupid to not follow you. I promised you I would be your eyes and ears and I mean that. I regret being Crenate's Hawkeye and not your Hawk. So... Let me be that now."

Oriana disregarded her sister's confused expression, instead she focused on the words that followed. She searched for any form of distrust or even distaste in Artemisia's words, in her tone. She couldn't determine anything but genuine loyalty, for that Oriana felt a pang of guilt. "A loyalty I will not mistreat." A firm smile, but not one without the same respect as the words she spoke. "Had I known I'd turn my back on our home I would've informed you, but that was not my original plan." Likely the best worded apology she'd be able to muster, which was fortunate for she knew Artemisia was not one for overly affectionate, mushy family reunions. Her words begged the expected question.

"So what is it you are wanting to go? Where am I following you to?"

The silence form between them for a moment; a dramatic pause unintentional for the underwhelming response she was going to give. Oriana hadn't figured that much out yet, other than she knew it wasn't ever going to be Saboro again. At this point, she wasn't even certain if she'd gain closure on the original path that led her here.

"North." She managed to say, before exhaling quietly. "From there, I hope to find something." It was vague, unsettling and perhaps even a less loyal wolf would've denied following her into the depths of the true unknown. But another test, something that became so ingrained in her mind now she didn't even realize she was doing it.

"Something better." Where we can build, flourish and take down anyone who dared crossed them, her, again.

---

@Gothy