The war among the wolves was still going on and Maija's was still proceeding in her mind. Thoughts and emotions rolled into one fought against each other, pushing back and forth like a fight between two gangster girls in high school. Pretty soon, all of them would clash together into blurs of colors and emotions, rolling past the inside of her eyelids and painting pictures across them. She felt her head spin, her chest catch from shortness of breath, and she slowly tried to pull herself away from it all. The breakdown was coming. She knew it. Maija didn't want to be around the members that had come together to remain safe. She felt her legs itch, her paws craving the open land that would take her away from the sources that made her thoughts run wild. Tortuga...the war...Taurig... It was all she could do to pull off a stoic fa?ade as she silently padded away from the crowd within the heart of Tortuga. Maija knew that not many wolves knew who she was, and for the first time in a long time, she was happy that no one thought of her. The cool breezes of autumn still swept across the land, acting as if there wasn't a war going on between brethren of the same species. She was relieved that her pack wasn't located too close because she didn't know how she would handle it compared to how her mind was working now. A pang in her head caused a throbbing and she stumbled in her usual graceful stride. 'Not too far now,' she thought as she pushed herself to walk through the woods that were beginning to smell and look like her preferred hunting grounds. Not too far from the border but not close to the large group of fellow pack members, Maija found a temporary place of solace. She stopped beneath a looming pine and leaned against its might trunk with a resigned sigh. How much more could she handle? speech here

The mountainous terrain that Aoi found himself navigating was proving to annoy him, more than entertain him. But, It was for good cause, his mental map now expanded vastly across the land that which several creatures resided. And now He could almost point someone in a direction they sought out. However, exploring this threat posed a great danger to him, as he knew immediately upon arrival, that a group of wolves called this area home, and an encounter with a pack was on the bottom of Aoi's list of things to do today. The scents in the air had him on his toes, lying low as he crept through the odd land, he wasn't used to elevation like this, or the atmosphere. For autumn, it was slightly warmer here, slightly humid even, but still cold. He continued to creep along silently, cautiously avoiding patrols though it made him look mighty suspicious. If worst came to pass, he would simply apologize for trespassing, offer his assistance, or possibly exit accordingly depending on the reactions of whoever encountered him. he stopped to ponder how meeting someone of this land would go for a few moments before catching a familiar scent. Here? He froze, memories of who the scent belonged to flooding his mind, questions, answers, information zipped through his mind at near light-speed before deciding to chance upon the scent actually belonging to who he assumed it belonged to. He padded anxiously towards the source, occasionally stopping to more accurately determine the location of its source before continuing onward. Aoi froze once again in his tracks upon reaching his destination, seeing as he was so focused on possibilities in his head, he near plowed into the female that which he knew immediately was the same one he'd assisted when he was mentally mapping the northernmost lands. He wondered if she had recovered properly from whatever ailed her. By the looks of her from Aoi's quick glance-over, She still seemed as stressed as before, and immediately he felt concerned, should she pass out once more, he didn't think this place would offer the same solitude for him to help her to her feet once again. He wondered if she had even noticed he was there at this point. Considering Aoi had unintentionally placed himself alarmingly close to her, somehow he doubted that would be the case, like before. He softly cleared his throat before softly speaking an awkward greeting, unsure of what to even say at this moment, but enough to let her know he was present at least. "Hello once again, Madam." He held a very soft, polite tone, in the event that she hadnt noticed him, scaring her to death being sarcastic, hostile, or anything other than his approach wouldn't likely turn out well. He waved his tail enthusiastically to reinforce his greeting as not wanting unpleasantness, like they had their first meeting, and awaited her response. Speech,

The war inside her head was still raging, taking over as she kept to herself in the silent solitude. Tortuga's woods were the kind that food was plentiful, privacy was a given, and the rumors the pack had about being one of the most terrifying kept other wolves from exploring the lands without fear. Maija felt a bond to the pack she had found herself in, but such thoughts weren't welcome in the mental fight that was going on right then. She continued to hope it would end, and for a minute, it did. A voice -- she automatically assumed male -- spoke up and brought her up for air. Leaf green gaze looked up and the familiar face of Aoi was brought into clarification. She blinked blankly a couple of times before her ears perked to the tone that danced behind his words. There was no sarcasm, no rudeness, or a guarded bite to them. For once, Maija was okay with that. A slight wag from her own tail indicated that she noticed the warmth that came from his greeting and she tiredly sighed, "Aoi..." The name was foreign to her, especially since they had only met once before. A memory of the cold, Northern hemisphere as the backdrop and an out of body experience as the occurrence appeared amidst the storm raging in her mind. "Never thought...I would see you again." Joy wanted to rise from the depths of her heart, but the walls she had put up and the icy that surrounded the beating organ prevented it. Her guard was still up, but there were cracks showing at the mid-section of the foundation. The aching returned in her head and she closed her eyes to look away as the pain got worse. "I am always weak whenever I see you...always tormented.." Maija's words were the beginning of the spool of thread that threatened to unravel from within her mind. She wanted so bad for him to tug it, so she could let it all go and have her burdens relieved. speech here

Aoi was immediately concerned by the condition that Maija appeared to be in. She seemed not to be doing as well as... he didn't want to say hoped, but he wasn't heartless, it was just a matter of an issue admitting he cared. Which is something he didn't really know as of right now. It wasn't really his immediate concern anyways, so he pushed it to the back of his mind, shelved with other oddities that peaked his interest. Sidetracked. It was hard for Aoi to focus on one instance at a time, his forever inquisitive mind roaming endlessly through a pool of philosophies and theories, anything that could be thought about, questioned, and so on. "It would seem, that I have a knack for showing up at bad times.. I suppose it would be funnier if I did it intentionally, but perhaps it is a blessing in disguise, chancing upon you when you're in need" He kept his tone leveled, soft, trying not to seem too concerned, but also making sure not to sound rude. Nice, was what he was trying for, but not concerned, with Maija's personality, or, from what he'd encountered thus far, he wouldn't be surprised if she took his concern as pity, and got offended. Though he personally thought she shouldnt have room to complain over something so trivial, stranger things do happen, and Maija obviously wasn't in the best shape. This was no time for witty banter, sarcasm, intelligent back and forths for his amusement, no, This time he would be more civil. Civility was a strong point of Aoi's, not being physically outstanding makes diplomatic approaches more favorable to him, though it wasn't like anything about the female before him strained his ability to keep cool. He settled himself close to her as she averted her gaze, a frown creeping across his face. She was breaking her legs trying not to show her vulnerability. "You really shouldn't need to strain yourself so much.. especially around me. Perhaps there is an understandable lack of trust, but I assure you I won't do you any harm." He wasn't sure of what the purpose of his words were. He meant what he said, but... didn't have anything to gain from speaking them. perhaps her response would merit something to him, make him feel like something was accomplished, or make her feel more comfortable, less strained, anything at this point that wasnt negative. His icy eyes fixated on the females turned head, wondering if she would even meet his gaze, or respond without passing out. Speech,

Despite the consistent headache from the swirling emotions and thoughts, Maija was still there enough to piece apart Aoi's words for their meaning. It wasn't a rough translation for the golden female, but it usually wasn't anyway. Dull leaf green eyes looked away from him, out into space as she realized that Aoi wasn't there to taunt her. The games they played on the frozen cliff up north were cast aside, another world away it seemed. In the present, he wasn't playing a game as he spoke the honest feelings that were from his heart and mind. Trust...yeah, trust was something she hadn't felt from another in a long time. Aside from Taurig and the little bit she had felt from Vi, who else could say the feeling was shared with her? A sigh escaped Maija's lips and she softly said, "It's not because of you, Aoi..." Slowly lowering herself to the ground, she rested her head against the mighty trunk and closed her eyes. The thoughts continued to fight, pushing and pulling with the old memories of Dragomir and the fresher ones of Taurig. She debated on whether she tell the amber-furred male about her problems, what was going on and why she was feeling worse than ever. Maija lacked the ability to trust anyone, explaining why she was so cold and too far to be reached by one encounter. She just wasn't sure... Her eyes opened and met the light blue gaze of the male in front of her. The internal fight she kept on having was going to get the best of her if she didn't do something soon. "Would you...would you consider it weak of me if I...told you what was really going on?" A part of her was silently pleading with him, hoping that he would want to hear it all, every single bit...and then maybe, if she needed it, help her sort everything. The funny thing was, she was considering him the only person she could speak to about those thoughts...so she waited for him to answer with a sliver of pleading in her gaze. speech here

Aoi tilted his head slightly at her question, it caught him completely off guard in all honesty. He wasn't sure why she had asked him in such a way, as if she cared what he thought of her, more importantly, why she cared about appearing weak in front of him. On that note, Aoi was surprised to show so much of his own vulnerability, as opposed to his normal composed, head held high stature giving of his atmosphere of being arrogant, and intelligent. He supposed that around a familiar face he didn't need to give off such an aura, and could relax, and just be himself, which was much less strenuous. He laid himself slowly in front of Maija, not really intending to place himself as closely as he did, ah well, too late now. "Confiding in someone isn't weak, Maija, Don't be silly. If anything it shows a unique kind of strength to be able to not be so closed around someone. Or perhaps you're implying that you want to tell me things, lots of things, personal things... In which case I would have no problem being an ear for you to speak into." He replied, obviously thinking on it, tone and mannerisms betraying his wandering mind. He averted his gaze momentarily when he paused his sentence, then returned his icy stare with a much gentler intensity on the female, attempting to allow her to see that Aoi was attempting to be a friend to her, because she seemed like she needed one. He wondered why it was him she would possibly confide in, what made him stand out opposed to other wolves she undoubtedly knows. That fact also dawned on him at that moment, her scent was different, it held the slight similarity as the other mixed scents in the area, and he would assume she belonged to whatever group or pack resided in these lands. He was curious, but perhaps she would include an answer in her story. Speech,

Her gaze remained attached to Aoi's as he voiced that she didn't have to worry about trust being vacant from the conversation. She wondered if she could actually trust him, thus making her confessions easily attainable from her mind. Her heart softly ached as the turmoil in her head began to work its way down, soon starting to infect the rest of her body with silent shakes and quivers from her banner. Maija cleared her throat and slowly nodded at his words. "Okay..." she softly said, letting his openness towards her be the nail that would pierce the strong foundation of her inner walls. Like someone pulling taffy from a machine, she began to pull out the woes that had been mentally scarring her since Dragomir's disappearance. "I am torn between two worlds...the life I had with my husband and the life I am living now." Dull green eyes continued to watch Aoi as she slowly continued. "I came to Alacritis with Dragomir, the only man whom had ever shown interest in me for who I was. We were together for a year and a half. He was the only one to ever show me what love was, what it felt like to be needed and wanted as someone's mate. Then.." She began to shudder. "I found out that he had a split personality named Rotterdam. He was the worst kind of wolf I could ever meet. Controlling, thought of women as priceless collection items, and could sleep with them whenever he wanted..." Her ears folded flat across her skull, eyes closing for a minute. "I was stuck, for I loved his primary personality with every bit of my heart I could share. Out of that love and loyalty, I remained by his side as Rotterdam began to spend more time out in the open." A bit of weight was lifted from her shoulders as she slowly inhaled before moving on. "Earlier this year, Dragomir vanished. I woke up one morning and he was gone...I searched for him, pondering where he could have gone...I travelled across this continent, but couldn't find him...I was still in love, but heartbroken to where I couldn't cope with it well...I still can't." Maija opened her eyes then. "After meeting a couple of rogue wolves, I came across Tortuga, whose borders we are nearly sitting on. A large, violet female had taken over as its Queen and I became intrigued by the ideas she gave to the crowd...but that didn't last long." It was then a slight change appeared in Maija's eyes, going from dull to a light sheen of warmth. "The Queen disappeared and the pack idea was lost. I figured that since no one had claimed it, I would be able to live on the lands without being disturbed in my solitude. That was how it was for a few weeks, until a cobalt mass of a man crossed my path. His name was Taurig and he introduced himself as the new King of Tortuga." She stopped to take a breath before carrying on. "He offered me a place within his pack and the rank of Hunter, which I didn't mind accepting. It began to rain and he gave me shelter and warmth from the storm that approached...I haven't been without him since." Maija's heart began to skip two beats, double the amount of what it had done in the presence of her King. "Taurig has shown me kindness and warmth since that night. He has never shown me anger, impatience, or any type of action that proved he despised my existence. I have grown fond of him since spending time with him, and...that was when it got worse." Maija blinked and carried on. "The first time you and I met, I ended up fainting from the mental torment that was taking place from the memories I had of Rotterdam taking over Dragomir's body. I remembered the way he acted, talked, moved when he was around me, and I hated him. Then the memories of how Dragomir treated me came into the light and I was torn between the conflicting personalities of my vanished husband...Now, the possibility of liking - possibly loving - someone else aside from Dragomir has torn me apart, made me more solemn and withdrawn than before." She nervously gulped and her eyes became shiny, indicating possible tears to fall from the cracks in her mental dam. "I don't know what to do anymore, Aoi. I tried to work out the scenarios in my mind, to find a way to let someone else in the way I had with Dragomir...but I can't." She hung her head to the ground and closed her eyes, ears remaining flat against her skull. "Do I still consider myself married to a man that left me? Should I let the past go and embrace my possible future with someone I know will treat me better? Or should I just...give it all up and act like it was never meant to be?" Maija's eyelids pressed harder together as she tried to hold back the tears that were slowly leaking from the rims. "I am so lost, and there is no one I can voice anything to...I am afraid to tell Taurig how I feel, how I have been in a mental hole the past few seasons, and I am worried that if he were to find out, he would think of me differently." Maija then raised her head to look at Aoi again, tears spilling over from her leaf green eyes as she said, "I have been by myself for so long, fended for my own needs to survive, that I don't know how to accept another being in my heart like I did with Dragomir...I want to, but I don't know how to pull away from my past without feeling the guilt of letting my husband's part in my life go as well..." speech here

Aoi listened to every word that poured from Maijas maw intently, she spoke, and spoke, venting to him as if she simply could not stand bearing the weight of her consciousness so much as a second longer. It wasn't hurried, or rushed, as Aoi half expected it to be, having had his own taste of the females impatience, but that certainly wasn't the case this time around running into her. She had changed, noticably, since they last met, or maybe this was just the part that was hidden to Aoi, this vulnerable smashed to pieces girl who seemed desperate to find clarity, peace, within her maelstrom of warring thoughts. He almost smiled at the thought stifling a laugh at the fact that for a moment, he wanted to believe he understood her, but he knew he couldn't possibly come to a full understanding for Maija's situation. Regardless, he listened, soaked in every word in his mind, analyzing, calculating, trying to find words to give her that wouldn't be harmful, some form of advice to pick her back up onto her feet. Surprisingly the information thrust upon him wasn't hard to digest, Maija's first, or rather previous engagement held sentimental value to her, though it did come at a price, the "alter ego" of her husband if you will. But this wolf had disappeared, the fact that Maija was still clinging to that surprised Aoi, to still hold something as horrid as she had made it out to be to him seemed to him like it would cause a lot of emotional damage. Aoi closed his eyes momentarily, soaking in everything that was said. There was also the matter of this new male in her life to consider for her sake. from what she had told him, he made out to be an upgrade from her absent husband, but could she let go? He opened his eyes again slowly, boring his icy gaze into hers almost darkly, yet still holding a non hostile softness, just to show he was absolutely serious, hoping she would take his advice to heart, for her own sake, and the sake of her emotional state for the rest of her life. He took a deep breath before his own words flowed, fluidly in response as if he knew exactly what he was going to tell her, almost predetermined. "You've lived harshly as of late, but I hope you will heed my words and let me be a voice of reason to help you better that life. Your husband is gone, that is an inescapable fact. Even if he were to show, could you really live that life again? tearing yourself between love and hate everyday? I understand the feelings you may have had for him in the past, but it's in the past. You need to worry about you, and your future. The new guy in your life sounds like he knows what he has, and treats you as such, look at yourself, Maija, you're giddy thinking about him. Stop holding yourself back, let yourself know happiness again, embrace it, find comfort in it and get back on your feet. You've got a good set of paws, it'd be a waste to keep sitting on them too long, start walking." His tone got lighter nearing the end of his response, as did his gaze, in fact, a smile broke out across Aoi's face which in itself was a rarity, no matter how subtle the grin was. Perhaps this was something Maija needed to hear. Maybe he shouldn't have been so forward about it, but he wouldn't lighten up in place of honesty. He waved his tail almost happily waiting in response, eager to know if he'd made an impact on the female, hoping that she agreed with him, and started on her path to happiness. If he were to be successful, the warmth that Aoi felt internally would glow much more intensely with the feeling of helping someone significantly, which is all he really sets out to do in situations like this. Speech,

The walls were slowly going down in front of Aoi as Maija listened to his words. She didn't know why she had broken down to him, but then she remembered that he was there when she had fainted and that was a big deal to the golden female. Someone who didn't show the compassion he had would have left her for dead, and her life would have probably been extinguished that night. Maija owed her life to Aoi - in a way - and she had never forgotten that. He was a permanent wolf to stay in her heart of hearts...that was rare for anyone. His words sunk in and she took them to the icy heart that still beat in her chest. Tears faded and her tail slowly began to wag behind her. It would be hard to push the remaining feelings for Dragomir away, but Aoi was right. The past was the past...maybe it was best for her absent husband to remain there. A burden felt as if it had been lifted from Maija's chest and mind. The headache started to pull back, up, and away from the golden crown...Maija felt free. An unfamiliar smile appeared on her own maw, something that was rarely seen on the woman's face as well as her companion's. Her features brightened and she felt lighter in regards to the sadness that had surrounded her thoughts. "You don't know how much you have helped me, Aoi..." She gently said, Romanian tones showing the new happiness that shined in her soul. "My only challenge now is how to tell the man of my present how I feel and what has been going on since he first met me..." Golden form showed a relaxed woman, a new woman. She wasn't going to be all happy-go-lucky to everybody she met, but to the ones she held close, it would be a definite change. "When he comes back from the war, that may be a good time to do it." speech here