Sand dunes. That was all the female had seen for hours on end. Nothing but rolling hills of dried waves as far as the eye could see. Tiny granules clung to the hairs around her paws, including the long hairs feathering out around her ankles where her strides had kicked up the sand. Where ever she walked the thick, dried and cracked pads of her paws would ache in protest, both from the long endurance they had endured and the heat of the sand on which they walked. Behind her was a lonely trail weaving through the dunes with no obvious direction in mind. She had been traveling all day, for several days in a row, attempting to reach anything other than more sand dunes. If she had known when the first sandy mountain had appeared, that there would be nothing but identical dunes for days on end, she would have stuck to the coast instead. 

She let out a huff as she stomped at the ground, a puff of sand blowing out around her in response. It seemed idiotic and reckless to enter the sands now that she had plenty of time to think back on it. At the time it seemed like a reasonable option, considering she wanted to head east, but she had no idea there would be endless sands awaiting her. A dry, rough cough rippled out of her throat due to the sand she had kicked up, causing her to wince in pain. It was a harsh reminder that she was in desperate need of water. Just the thought of the cool, clear, liquid had her attempting to wet her lips, but even her tongue had gone dry. Great. Just Great. She was going to die here.

"Are ya thirsty kiddo?" A tiny voice, high in it's tone but low in volume, suddenly asked. Odette chuckled to herself, "Ah, here comes the hallucinations. You really are going to die here." She shook her head and dropped it to face the ground, attempting to drop her head in shame, but a pair of large, green eyes stopped her. Large eyes sat squarely on a tiny, round face, with long white whiskers hanging from a pale pink nose. It looked like.. a kitten? "Hallucination? Ya think I'm a hallucination do ya? Do Hallucinations do this?" Suddenly the tiny, adorable face contorted into a face of focus and fear, launching itself towards Odette at an impressive speed until something sharp slashed across her muzzle. She jumped back with a squeal, lifting a paw to the bridge of her nose and finding tiny lines of blood. Enraged and confused she turned back to the tiny kitten with a deep frown. "What in the world are you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the blonde creature. 

Instead of answering, the tiny thing started walking to the left and away from Odette, a black tipped tail twitching behind it. "I'm the sand cat you oaf. Cordonia, Queen of the Dunes. I have been watching ya for the past couple hours, and ya are clearly lost. I know a waterhole nearby, and ya definitely look like ya could use a drink." Then she disappeared behind a dune. For a second, Odette hesitated. This could still be a hallucination, right? Leading her to her doom? But the tiny scratch marks on her snout told her it probably wasn't. So she took off, sand kicking up in her wake as she charged over the hill and found Cordonia already on the next, her head turned and waiting for Odette. Together they walked and walked, in pure silence, with Odette watching curiously as the feline moved. She spoke like an adult, but looked so young, it was bewildering the wolf. 

Suddenly the cat came to a stop, drawing Odette's attention to the scene before them. A large pool of sparkling, dazzling water laid in waiting, caressed by the dunes and sparsely growing trees. The life force was lined with small patches of grass, making the scene glow with life in an otherwise dead terrain. It was an oddity for sure, to have a gathering of water in the land of sand, so strange in fact that once again Odette was faced with the possibility that this was all an illusion. "Well?" Cordonia questioned, gesturing to the pool with a dumbfounded expression. "Why aren't ya going?" Sighing as if she already knew it was all a big, cruel joke, Odette somberly walked down towards the water, expecting nothing but more sand to meet her paw as she reached out to splash against the hallucination. Instead of a cloud of sand, a wave of water rippled across the pool, and droplets turned back to rain down on Odette who was as surprised as she was ecstatic. "It's real? It's real!" She cheered, launching herself in the pool with the sand cat cackling by the shore. 

"Odette" "Cordonia"

She hated this desert. Luckily, Ashen was headed home soon. These sands would soon be an unpleasant memory. Bourbon, her mate (it still felt strange to think) had stayed behind today to help organize her stores before they shipped it all back to her home by Wolfpaw Lake. Returning to normal couldn't come soon enough, especially because she felt a queerness brewing in her body. There was change afoot within her. Lucretia couldn't put a paw on it yet, but the coming weeks would reveal that she was pregnant. For now she was still blissfully unawares. For all she hated the sands, it did provide some particularly rare and useful plants. Aloes and water-rich succulents seemed to thrive in these barren wastes and it would be good to cultivate what she could before they were out of easy reach. Lucretia was searching for useful herbs alongside her handy companion, Feverfew. The albino raccoon was slathered in a homemade talc sunscreen - she was dusty, uncomfortable, and feeling more than a little belligerent. "oh, come on, few. you know this is important," Luce chided, folding her ears back and fixing the raccoon with a pointed stare. The creature simply sneezed in response. "alright. I'll watch your nose with the sunscreen next time. I'm still perfecting it," she admitted. The unspoken criticism was fair. Nothing went perfectly on the first try as much as she'd like it to. Healing wasn't an exact science.  The sound of distant shrieking pierced her ears. Due to her distance she couldn't quite make out whether it was joy or pain - regardless, they were close enough to Ashen territory that she was duty-bound to inspect the noise. Luce sighed and padded towards the source of the sound. As she approached the oasis, she spotted a stranger frolicking in the waters while a sand cat stood by and laughed. Feverfew sat back on her haunches and began to groom away the excess sunscreen from around her eyes and nose. "hello...? are you alright?" she called, a note of disinterest in her voice. It wasn't an Ashen wolf in distress; this sidebar only distracted from her gathering. Lucretia took her duties as a healer seriously enough that she at least had a passing interest in the welfare of a stranger. It was the only thing keeping her from turning away. "lucretia mutters..."

Odette had been, quite literally, soaking up the refreshing liquid. The cool water seeped into her fur and cooled her burning skin, but that simply wasn't enough. The female plunged her snout into the water and felt as if she had lapped up half of the reserves. Her stomach groaned with the added water weight but Odette paid no mind to it, instead she relished in it. The dreaded thoughts of dying from dehydration were pushed far into the back of her mind. She was so enveloped in the waters she did not even hear the approaching company until a feminine voice called out. Odette's head snapped up and in the direction of the wolf, seeing the white and black creature not far from her. A tinge of anxiety filled her chest, knowing all too well that her conversation skills are not the greatest. She waded closer to the shore so she could speak more clearly. "Yes, I'm alright now. I just.. needed water." She attempted to explain, embarrassed that she was even in this position. "I.. um.. I'm lost."

It was then her eyes found the small white creature traveling with the female, it almost looked like a painted raccoon but she couldn't be sure. "My name is Odette, I'm.. new around here." She felt so out of placed and her anxiety only grew. Why did she tell a stranger her name? Why is she telling her so much? Shouldn't she be on guard or holding her tongue? For all Odette knew this wolf was here with dark intent. Cordonia stayed in her position upon the dune, simply watching the wolves interact with each other, her curiosity with the creatures ever growing. 

"Odette" "Cordonia"

Marshal cried the alarm, the gliding shape of the vulture appearing above him as the Titan paused, letting the carcass he had been stripping fall from his paws. an intruder? well, it was about time things spiced up a little. He got to his paws, leaving the coyote, coat half removed from the body, lying where it had fallen. He fell into an easy lope, following after the shadow of his winged companion. He could sense Bast in the trees, more a natural instinct of knowing how they worked together as a team then an actual sighting. He was unimpressed to find the Ashen healer had not only entered his land unannounced, but approached the intruder before he had gotten the chance to. The Warlord frowned at Luce, but said nothing as he moved to the waters edge to see the small wolf she had located before him. “Lost and intruding, it seems. You realise you’ve entered the land of the Ashen Armada?” he asked cooly as he looked to the pale, creamy wolf that had decided his main source of water would make a nice bath. "Speech"

Luce had conveniently forgotten that the Armada had taken up residence in these lands. Truthfully, the scent was so well entwined with the scent of Ashen itself that she hadn't noticed the small but perceptible change. Regardless, Belle had assured her that all Ashen members had equal footing in Armada territory. They weren't just guests, they were sister packs. She flicked an ear towards Sirius, a muted expression of confusion flashing across her own face as he frowned. Was she not welcome here? The shamyn bowed her head briefly in deference to the warlord before settling in to observe the exchange.  He chastised Odette for intruding. Fair enough, Luce supposed, but the white female had admitted she was a stranger to these lands. It wasn't so long ago that they'd arrived here themselves, lost and confused. Their only boon was that the Kleins were united by their shared history and strength. Odette seemed to have no one. Lucretia felt a distant pang of sympathy.  "I am Lucretia, shamyn of Ashen. We answer to Deathbelle, Empress of Ashen and the Klein Empire," she added after Sirius spoke. Her words were stiff and she kept one eye on Sirius. The titan could be unpredictable. She trusted him but tended to be a naturally anxious wolf, regardless of who surrounded her. Luce scanned Odette more carefully, looking for any signs of contagion or disease. From a distance she appeared well, if a bit underweight. The telltale pinkish skin from a bad sunburn could be seen at some spots where her fur was finer. Luce had plenty of experience treating this particular ailment - her brother was albino, after all. She wouldn't offer any treatment until Sirius finished his business out of respect and deference to her Empress' warlord.  "lucretia mutters..."

Having conversations with one wolf was nerve wracking enough, but when a second wolf, an over sized brute of a male, Odette could just about pass out from all her stress and anxiety. He was cloaked in shadow dipped hairs, the darkness seeming to only be interrupted by ghostly white slashes across his face, as least all she could tell. The male towered over Odette, and even more so over the black and white female she had previously been addressing. As if being an unnatural height wasn't terrifying enough, there were teeth, so elongated, that they peaked out from under his upper lips and came to a rather threatening point. Her legs begged to shake like earthquakes, but the fawn woman did her very best to refrain from such action. Something about these wolves.. the way they spoke, told her showing weakness was not going to be in her best interest. Her blue orbs nearly bulged out of their sockets upon hearing the territory she had been blindly lost in, was indeed claimed, and the male did not look happy about it. "I-Intruding? I..I'm so s-sorry I didn't, I mean I would never... well not on purpose.." Her tongue stumbled over her words to the point Odette could only snap her jaw shut and hope her distress could be seen rather than heard.

The woman spoke next, informing Odette her name was Lucretia, which made her feel a little less anxious for some strange reason. Perhaps because now she had a name to go along with the wolf who would surely witness her death in a matter of moments. Both of them spoke of something called an Ashen, but Odette did not have the slightest clue what that meant. She did recognize the terms Empress and Empire, as they were synonyms for Alpha and large pack. From there she could piece together that these two were members of a pack, probably called Ashen, and they were upset she was in there territory. That all made sense enough, but Odette failed to figure out how she was suppose to rectify the situation.. in the most non-violent way possible. "I.. I mean no disrespect to.. your Empress or her.. Empire. I just was lost in the sand dunes.. and needed water.. I-I can leave now." It was her best attempt, and it was quite pathetic despite it all. She was absolutely positive this was going to be her final moments, that the male was going to tear her limp from limp and toss her remains back into the dunes to feed the vultures. She couldn't quite decide what was worse; a long drawn out death or having her eternal grave be those infernal dunes. 

"Odette"

His caution was only minor, not so much at Luce crossing the territory, but at her approach of a trespasser in lands that were under his control. Still, for old times sake, he offered her a slight smile, so she would know he meant nothing by his frown but contemplation. His attention, for the most part, was on the woman who had dared to cross into Armada territory as though she owned it.

“Intend or not, you have done so. Continue your drink, Luce here will see to your injuries. After that, we will speak” he glanced at the healer, his face a question - if she did not wish to, he would call for Io. after all, she was not his to command. He said it only because of the way she had been eyeing Odette. He believed she wished to aid the wolf, but refused to offer and step on his paws a second time. He gave her a brief nod, giving her permission to proceed either which way she desired. No point upsetting the sister of his Empress, and besides Luce and he had always had an understanding - that Deathbelle’s safety was their priority.

Lucretia bowed her head briefly in deference, agreeing to Sirius' offer. She would like to tend to the wanderer's wounds, if only because she was insatiable in her need to practice her art. "Where are you burnt the worst?" She asked, considering Odette's pale fur and markings. If her skin was light underneath then she had surely sustained a number of possibly serious patches of sunburn. Hannibal's had once gotten so bad that he had turned up with leaking lesions. Lucky for Odette, she didn't seem nearly in such bad shape, but dehydration was difficult to tame. "Careful that you don't drink too much at once on an empty stomach. Too much water too quickly and you'll make yourself sick," she advised. Vomit was detestable. Lucretia gestured over her shoulder towards Feverfew to fetch the sunscreen and supplies they had stashed nearby. The white raccoon begrudgingly turned and trundled off towards the cache.

Odette swallowed the last of her drink, barely feeling the water as her throat began to feel a different kind of parch. Her throat felt so swollen she couldn't answer the beastly man, only managing to nod her head as her wide eyes turned to the white and black horned woman. This stranger was suppose to tend to Odette, but where she came from wolves who just met tend to get to know each other more before they... tended to each other. When asked about her burns, Odette's brows knit together as she tried to calm her beating heart long enough to feel the pain. She had been so focused on finding water, the woman didn't even feel the pain until now.

An ache could be felt on top of her head and around her shoulders, a sure sign some type of sunburn had struck her. But the strongest burn came from just around her nose where the darker of her hairs gave way to the white, leaving her more exposed to the elements. "Oh um.. maybe around my nose? Or um.. my head?" She stammered, unsure what the right answer should be. When she was warned against drinking more water, Odette didn't feel the need to protest. Her nerves had struck her desire to hydrate long ago, now that she found herself pinned between two wolves, her fate uncertain. With curious eyes she glance between the two; a beast with razor sharp teeth and a woman with horns that looked sharp enough to impale her through. It was then Odette knew, she wasn't leaving this waterhole without their blessings.

"Odette"

Luce took the lead and was quick to ask questions of the woman. Sirius saw no reason to hang around. He would bet Luce on taking on the scrawny stranger if it came to a fight, and he wouldn’t be far away. “Thank you, Luce” he said, taking a step towards the water-logged woman. “You are to address the healer as Lady Lucretia and show her respect. I will deal with your trespassing later.” he drummed in the idea she would not be getting away scotch free, and then turned back to the healer. “Call if you need anything” he said, and left her to her work. "Speech"