It had been too long. She had been held down in that hole for... 3 years? Just about. She had to listen to her mother and conquer her fear. Charon. It was so difficult; not only to learn how to control her feelings as Charon tormented her, but to live inside Hell's River with no one but herself and her voices. She had always wished that she could do that. Live on her own with no rules and no one telling her what to do. But one day she realized half her life was gone and the next thing you know she would be digging her own grave if she was able to.
The scarred woman walked through the place of her last true home, eye to the lands that no longer held the dens of her pack mates or even her parents. It was all gone, there was no trace of Olympus, Pantheon. And she wondered if she were the only one left with her name. She felt truly alone in the whole world and she had no one to blame but herself. And she did. She blamed herself for forcing her mother to disown her, for ripping apart her entire family. And in the end, killing her mother. She didn't do it with her own teeth but she might as well. Natalya was there to take her back and risked it all in a losing battle. She could have had maybe a few more months with her pups and that would have made the world to them now.
Chione made her way all the way to the ocean, staring forward at the cliff side from a distance for a while. Eventually she slowly stepped her way over to the edge, not hesitating, without fear of falling over the side. She craned her neck over and looked far down at the clusters of rocks pointing up at her and only thought of what had happened years ago. She looked these splashing stones head on with tears streaming down her face back then. Pebbles sliding across the surface beneath her paws as she trembled and tiptoed closer and closer.
"We could try it again, Princess." Charon teased her.
She shook her head in regret but stayed standing on the cliff's edge. If she had jumped that day than she believed that there would be no more Olympians. She would have truly destroyed her line there and she was grateful for changing her mind. Though maybe she wouldn't have put her family through hell and Natalya would have been able to stay with her children longer and the pack wouldn't have been lost. There were so many what-if's that would stay unanswered but Chione wanted to be a better wolf. She would stay strong and make her mother Proud. Natalya would know of the greatness that she had achieved. And maybe Helios could be up there by her side, smiling down on his once-disturbed daughter.
This new land was strange, she'd decided. She had only just arrived, only just begun to explore, but everything was so diverse. Her old pack had been situated in lands that were largely uniform - large plains with sporadic groupings of trees, plentiful game with no variety. Here though... So far, Nati had crossed both deserts and plains and now found herself wandering through a march - and she'd only been on this continent a day.
She could smell it - there was another here. Not one who'd laid claim to the land, that she felt sure of. The scent was not strong enough, though it was disturbingly recent. She'd passed stale scents only so far, skirted the edges of pack lands, but not encountered a single wolf. She was torn here. Better to have someone to interrogate about this place, or to turn and continue on alone? She stood a moment, her eyes focusing on a colorful bird perched above her, before taking careful steps through the trees and toward the source.
Blue eyes found the form of a slightly larger female standing on the precipice of the cliff overlooking the sea. The female's head was turned downward, toward the churning waves. Nati stopped a few yards shy, narrowing her gaze. I'm guessing suicide? How weak, a part of her groaned in her mind. See if she is okay, another urged. "Are you going to jump?" was what she asked instead. She couldn't exactly walk away at this point, as surely the female would have noticed her already. Landing somewhere between her inner arguments seemed like the next best thing.
Chione would be surprised by the voice behind her but her body would not flinch in any way because of it. She gently turned her head to look at the girl behind her. A tiny chuckle came through her lips as she questioned, "No," She assured, "Though I can't say this is the only time I've looked over these cliffs."
Turning her head to stare down at least a couple more moments, she would then go away from the edge to join the other female. She wasn't really a social wolf, but she was trying. It seemed so easy though, her Olympus and royal blood finding their ways to come out after years of holding them in. She had to say she felt a lot like her mother now. Calm, professional, and it saddened her.
"DON'T STRAY FROM ME!"
Charon screamed in her head and she couldn't help but flinch to his loud voice. It was obvious that something had bothered her but she would only take a moment to recuperate from the ringing and look back at the woman, hoping she caught anything she was saying.
She had to say, or think technically, it was a good thing the female reacted to her outburst as calmly as she did. After she asked the question, it dawned on her that if she startled the wolf, it might cause her to stumble over the cliff whether intended or not. Nati wasn't really interested in witnessing any death. She half smiled as the female turned and responded, raising an eyebrow at the end.
"Well, I'd say I'm glad to hear that except that, frankly, you've thrown me with that extra note." The female came to stand near her, away from the edge, and she let out an extra breath she didn't know she was holding. "My name is Natiel, Nati, and I apologize if I interrupted any non-suicidal thoughts you were having." The idea that the female had previously possibly considered a dive off this cliff still made her uneasy, but there was nothing that felt right to say about it. For being a deeply empathetic wolf, Nati sure struggled with her words.
