Heat. Misery. Summer. All three words had one thing in common: HELL. The mere fact that she was dealing with all three at once was a pain in the ass. Maija didn't particularly care for the season that brought her womanly cycle with it. Her heat wasn't the only thing she wished never happened to her. The heat and humid atmosphere that came with her birth season made her despise the summer with every cell in her body. Why did all the crappy stuff have to happen to her? It didn't help that she was out on her own. Ever since Rotterdam had disappeared, whereabouts unknown, her attitude towards the world had become more sour, more negative. Some would probably think that she was travelling to different regions of the large continent because she missed his company. Missed him? Pfft. As if. In her mind, she was glad that the sonofabitch was gone. It was his other half that made her heart ache with wants and desires. Dragomir had been it, the number one male that had found his way into her heart. He had worked through the layers, a little bit at a time, and when he had finally found a crack - that weakness - she had to admit that he had successfully found his way in. Now, as she made her way around the hot and dry part of the West, she came to a forest of swaying willows. The sight of trees such as these was unusual to the female. Why would they be out here, near a desolate wasteland of deserts that were a few miles away? She shooed the questions out of her mind and immediately picked up her pace. She needed shade, and she needed it now. Maija knew that her body wasn't built for the summer. Her fur was thick and long, but only until it stopped above her elbows. The rest of her legs had short fur all the way down, giving her solace to that she didn't have to endure the agony throughout every part of her body. Gold tainted her fur, like the color grain had after growing for a certain amount of time. The color either took in the sun's heat or dispersed it; either way, Maija was miserable. Once her pads met the cool earth beneath the gold and green willows, she sighed in relief. For the moment, her guard was down. She didn't care if she ran into anyone, but then again, that would change as soon as someone appeared. Her nose quivered for any scents that would possibly appear. None traced their way around her, so she padded towards a shallow pool of water and began to lap up the delicious, cool liquid. At that point in time, she was -- however hard it was to believe - relieved that she had found this tiny piece of an oasis from the rush of summer heat. The breezes took away the heat that danced around her and she felt the cool touch on her skin. It was delicious, and she closed her eyes before sitting on the cool ground beneath her chosen willow. speech here

Dempsey had been minding his own business, which meant he was mostly bored out of his mind. Truly he was trying to figure out what he needed to practice more, self control, what after the past couple of nights, or tracking, which had always been his weak spot. Just as he was about to make up his mind a scent wafted in on a gentle breeze. Shit. Looks like he would be getting a combined lesson today. The scent belonged to a female traveling who knows where, but the worst part was she was in heat. Dempsey's mind drifted back to his experiences with Aspasia and he groaned in remembrance. This was going to suck for sure. Picking up his pace he easily caught the next marker she made on the ground. Her scent was so strong, tracking should not be too hard. he followed each of her footsteps closely, but made sure he was paying close attention to his surroundings at the same time. He had made that mistake already and had unwittingly bumped right into his target. Dempsey was a expert at moving only down wind. It was one of his first lessons as an assassin, and it had become mostly habit by now. Almost no one detected him unless he was being especially careless. Finally, he was close enough to the female to discern her general location ahead by the noise she made, which wasn't much, and her distinct scent. A good approximation would have been about twenty feet ahead of him to the right. Now the grey wolf began to take extra care and stay in the thick part of the woods. He didn't need to be seen at this point. His plan was to get as close as he could to the female without her noticing, and he was aiming at about seven feet. Unless of course she was particularly oblivious, in which case he could practically touch her without her noticing. As he broke the fifteen foot barrier, the full force of her heat scent hit him in the face. He scrunched his nose quickly, trying to dissipate it. Oh yes, this would be an excellent lesson in self control. Each step he took threw more of her heat smell into his nostrils. Each foot he put forward made his brain just a little foggier. Behind a particularly thick bush he shook his head out, he was still over ten feet away from the femmae. This was pathetic. A silent snarl of annoyance formed on his facade. This demo was almost sad. He officially needed to work on self control around females. Aspasia was not going to like that. Thinking of her beautiful face and the way her body felt beneath his he stepped out from behind the bush. Air brushed past his fur and his eyes when wide. Damn. He had just moved up wind and his scent would be flowing directly into the female's face. "Well you blew it stupid," he muttered to himself as he walked out from his cover and went to drink at the same oasis. Hopefully, she had been paying so little attention to her surroundings that she didn't notice how close he was when she first noticed him and he could just idle here and then move away. Speech,

Even though it seemed that Maija wasn't aware of her surroundings, she was. She had gotten used to being aware of everything when she travelled by herself as a young one. That habit decided to stay, and it was definitely a good thing that it did. If she had chosen to let her emotions run around like crazy, she would have been worse off than before. (In her mind's eye, that was what sounded correct to her.) Although, if she had been more open to others, she probably wouldn't have been as alone as she had been. Ah well. You can't cry over spilt milk from two years ago. So, in the present situation, Maija was appearing to be distracted and out of it, when in reality, she had all senses heightened and her focus on certain areas of the surrounding forest. She had first realized there was another in the vicinity before he had made it within that distance of ten feet. His paws had rustled against the ground, making her ears turn in the direction he was coming. Her tail had twitched behind her as she lowered her head to lap more water from the small stream, giving a false absentminded persona. So far, it seemed to be working. What she hadn't expected was that the stranger would mess up his stalking. He moved up wind, giving her full advantage of his scent. If she had been a gazelle, she would have run and gotten the hell out of Dodge. However, she was no gazelle, and she was definitely not a chicken wolf. She remained where she was, stubbornly thinking that she had been there first. Maija then rose her head from the stream, chin dripping from the water that clung to her fur. She watched him as he went to his own part of the stream, lowering his head to enjoy the cool water, too. She backed up a couple of steps, ears flattening to her skull and tail flicking irritatingly behind her. Maija's defensive stance took hold as she narrowed her eyes and protected her neck with her thick scruff. Teeth were shown as her lips pulled back into a silent snarl, a low growl then escaping her clenched mouth. Then, just as soon as she reared her ugly side, Maija's body began to relax. Her ears remained pressed flat against her cranium, but she rose from her defensive position and idly walked towards her chosen willow tree. She rubbed her right side against the trunk, leaving a trace of her own scent. The golden wolf then kept her gaze on the gray stranger as she prowled around him, making sure that he didn't try anything as she slowly padded in the opposite direction. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if she tried to say something to someone once in awhile. With that crossing her thoughts, she made her first attempt. She snorted once, voice dry without humor as she stated, "You can do better." Her tones were thick with her country's accent: Romanian. She prided herself being the one that left others surprised after she spoke. When she told him her brutal opinion, she was speaking of him trying to hunt for his prey. If there was anything Maija knew well, it was how to track and catch her dinner. Of course, the male didn't know that and she wasn't going to tell him. Not just straight forward, anyway. speech here

The female backed away from the water as soon as he had arrived and a low growl reverberated behind him. Man, he was really trying to avoid the whole conflict thing. Though obviously she wasn't. "You can do better." Dempsey rolled his eyes. Of course he could do better if she wasn't so damn distracting. He picked his chin up and it dripped with the cool water. His salmon tongue licked his lips to make himself more presentable before turning around. The brute sat on his haunches and stared at the female for a minute before opening his mouth. His voice was smooth and came out in a low base timbre,"Of course I could." A little irked at her critic he let his eyes wonder over her body, tracing every curve and hidden place before taking in a large breathe of her heat smell and saying,"In more ways than one." There was no term of endearment at the end of his sentence for he did not particularly want to woo this woman. Screwing a woman because she was in heat and wanting to woo her to keep her around were two completely different things, especially to Dempsey. With his unique skill set he knew he didn't really need to woo a woman to have her. Dempsey wasn't like that though. He didn't like to force woman into things. Mostly because he got more joy out of caressing a woman to let him inside of her than just forcing himself upon her. What was the point if he got more of a kick out of a willing woman? Sure in a pinch he could probably rape a femmae, but that would have to be one tight pinch. However, he knew he could have tracked better. He also knew he should have better control on his mind set for future missions. "Actually miss, I'm a decent tracker. Though it is not my strong suit, I would not have normally made such fatal flaws." He cocked his head towards her,"but you are a special case are you not? To track you, a man must have, what shall we call it..." His voice lowered a bit and trailed off to create emphasis before turning his brilliant platinum eyes on her own,"A lack of a manhood? Doll, you really are screaming "screw me!" right now. Makes it just a tad difficult to think straight." Speaking of thinking straight, did he really just say that all out loud? Probably. He was in one crap loud of trouble. Speech,

The fact that her own scent made it obvious that she was in heat was humiliating. It only made Maija more irritated, more bitchy, and more ready to rip the male's throat out. However, she kept her whirlwind of combined feelings inside of her and maintained a cool composure. She shook her golden head and merely flicked her tail out of habit as she sighed with a false pretense of humor. "My dear," she cooed, tones dripping with venomous sweetness, "my heat had nothing to do with how well you tracked me...until, that is, you stepped into the wind as if stopping a bullet." She raised one eyebrow, leaf green opts softly glaring at the gray male in front of her. Although she wanted to attack, Maija was able to take a few steps away from him before stopping again. She stood at her fullest height, vivacious form unknowingly showing off the curves that she had been blessed with. Another flick of her tail and shortly after, she looked him over with a feign interest. "Since you are so hyped up on how I look and the thoughts that are running through your mind are anything but suitable for others to see-" she snorted lightly again, "I won't offer you the chance to learn from a pro." There was a challenge in the female's words. Whether or not she was a people person, Maija enjoyed a good competition. Oh, it had been years since she had experienced such glory, honor, and pride...dominance was also one of her favorite weaknesses. "First lesson: never let anything in your surroundings cloud your mind when you are tracking. Especially when you have a soft spot for the soft spot of others." Her words were bold, but a hint of truth rang in them. She wondered what his reaction would be after she said them. Maija watched with glassy eyes, waiting to see what he would say. speech here

Dempsey couldn't really contradict her when she mentioned his idiocy of stepping into the wind. Mentally he was already kicking himself though, so why not let her do it physically as well? However, when she called herself a pro he couldn't help but snort and roll his eyes. Dempsey was a pro, he just hadn't had any work in awhile which meant little practice. Of course she didn't know that, but he didn't mind irritating her as much as possible. "First lesson: never let anything in your surroundings cloud your mind when you are tracking. Especially when you have a soft spot for the soft spot of others." Obviously, this femmae hadn't paid much attention to his sign of displeasure. Rolling his eyes, he opened his mouth without thinking first, "Oh trust me love, if I had a soft spot for your soft spot, I doubt you'd have a problem with it." The handsome grey brute cocked his head at her and his platinum eyes spoke of bold confidence. Why shouldn't he be confident in his sexual abilities? There were more than enough females in this land to back up his claim. Aspasia would probably volunteer to show the woman for goodness sake! Not that he would mind in the least that is. The woman's instincts seemed to be showing though as she showed off her curves to him unknowingly. Poor thing, probably never had anyone sate her heat before. Though I have to admit, you would probably be more pleasant if I did." Winking at her, he wondered if she would let him 'help'. Oh he loved when males used that line. He has used it himself in fact. 'Why don't you let me help you, I think I have the time.' Damn right they had the time! Dempsey chuckled despite himself. Females really would fall for anything. "Let me guess, love," The endearment slipped from his mouth before he really noticed. "The heat, it feels like an unquenchable fire in your belly? And every time you see a male, or maybe even a female, I won't be one to guess what floats that pretty little boat of your's, it flairs up and seems to force it's way almost right out of your skin." The male threw his head up in laughter. Man it must suck to be female! His eyes sparkled with harsh amusement. "Shame there's no one here that could fix that little itch for you, doll." Standing, his facial features hardened, "Maybe if you hadn't been so damn condemning or had a little sense of diplomacy," He spit at her feet then. Oh yes, she had made Dempsey mad. He admitted it. Her choice words about calling herself a pro insinuated that he was not indeed a pro. His anger was slow to boil it was true, but when it did you better hope you had an escape plan. Never is it a good idea to mess with a skilled assassin. "I think I'd rather watch you burn in your own fire than put it out for you though," Flames seemed to dance in his eyes as his nasty side emerged and he imagined her literally wrapped up in flames, "I doubt you could convince me otherwise with a body like yours." Oh yes, he was pissed. If she couldn't tell she was probably hit in the head with a brick as a puppy. However, the dare was full fledged and he threw it right up in her face. Make him want her. It would be a hard task with his anger burning so, but part of him wished she would try and succeed. ooc: For some reason I kinda really like this reply :) Maybe it's because I haven't played an angry Dempsey yet! :P Speech,

She had made him angry. Oh, what a pity, she thought. Maija didn't really care that such verbal and physical actions depicted his emotions. The golden-furred fae had been used to receiving it from her husband's alter ego. It wasn't anything new to her, which was a shame indeed, because no one should ever have to deal with such abuse. Maija knew that she could have left anytime she wanted to avoid the pain and agony that came with it, but she felt a devotion to her beloved husband's primary personality that she had stayed. Of course, this stranger had no idea that she had endured such misery from a husband whose split personality craved for the negativity of their relationship. She supposed that she should have been more understanding and open-minded about the opposing male. When a woman is in heat, however, especially one of her nature, it wasn't an option. Heat ran through her veins, making the ice move to various regions of her body. It was a good thing he decided to get mad. She was torn between amusement and being angry, but either one could take credit for moving the ice surrounding her heart to the areas of her body that needed to be cooled. Her heat then stopped making her form boil from the aggravation and she began to relax. Maija's eyes were still stony, but they didn't hold as much apprehension as they had before. She continued to watch Dempsey, his gray form towering over her in his state of anger. "My, my, my," she delicately said, "I seemed to have stroked a fire inside of you that quickly sparks." A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips then, making her facial appearance more beautiful than it had been with the stony expression. "Who knew that would happen so easily?" She ignored his action of spitting at her paws. Maija had endured much worse from Rotterdam, that she could say for sure. When others did things that paled in comparison, she didn't pay much attention to them. Instead, she merely sidestepped the wet piece of ground and softly said, "If I was a caring, considerate kind of female, I would surely apologize for my words and take back all I said...but alas, I am not like that." She blinked a couple of times, pondering what her next moves should be. Then, she chose them and walked past him to reach the river. Lowering her head to the running water, she took another few laps of water to quench the thirst that threatened to revisit. "I will take your compliment to my body without any worries, though. At least that proves your mind is still working correctly in the aspect of a male who enjoys himself with other females." Her tail twitched again behind her as she raised her head to meet the angry gaze that still burned in their sockets. "I would do no such thing for you or anyone that considered themselves perfect for the job. Perhaps that is why I am such a bitch." Her ghostly smirk reappeared. "I will admit it, no doubt about that. Not many would be honest enough to say that about themselves." Maija then walked past him again, walking back to where she had been when she had first sniffed his presence. "And if you plan on watching me burn, then by all means, support my decision by attempting to taunt me even more. I do so love a good show." speech here

Dempsey scoffed. Since when had he said he was perfect for the job? "Miss, anyone with a dick would be perfect for the job. That's really the only requirement so to speak." Rolling his eyes at the woman. Though he would admit he was more qualified than some of the other scum running around this poor place. Dempsey was good and he knew it, so what if he was cocky about it. Obviously this woman was too much of a bitch to have much experience herself. "What made you so damn uptight anyway? Trust the wrong brute who met the requirements?" He sneered at her and walked to her other side. Though he kept a good distance of at least five feet. Only an idiot would walk close to this horrendous female right now. Unfortunately, he had already lost his cool, so why stop now? "Maybe you even married the poor sap." Chalking up a bark of laughter, he continued to stalk her to her other side. The female had made a mistake when she had backed herself up against the water. Of course she could always swim away, but she was at a large disadvantage if he were to jump from the shore to where she was. He didn't really want to fight her though. That would be too much effort, and he would risk injuring himself before going to see Alena. That he could not afford. What kind of a father figure could he be if he made their mother take care of him so quickly? Not a very good one that was for sure. He needed to show them what a real male was like, strong, brave, protective, not weak, injured, and complacent. Damn, he was probably already late and she had been waiting for him to show up for weeks now or something. Shit. He'd better get his scrawny little ass down to her side, and that meant no time to ripe this woman's throat out for being an arrogant fool. Maybe some other time. He thought about it for a minute with a smirk on his face. Perhaps he would rape her first to make her realize what an excellent offer she had turned down. Psh, like the bitch deserved that. "I'd love to show you why I'm better at satisfying a woman's needs than that moron, but I have another engagement to attend to." Taking a few steps backward to create space between them, he showed her his teeth once more. "But if I see you again, I will take what you have offered." With that Dempsey spun on his haunches and took off at a lope toward Amenti. Speech,

She watched the male leave, definitely more angry than he had been before he came. The golden female's gaze didn't leave him as he retreated. His words didn't affect her like they would have someone else. He had spoken the unknown truth and that was something she didn't feel he deserved to know. After all, if she was such a bitch and he actually wanted to know why she acted as such, he would have simply asked. But, it wasn't as if she would have told him anyway. When he was finally gone and out of her range of sight, Maija's defenses relaxed. The heat was unbearable and in a combination of her own misery, it only made her body more restricted. She wanted to jump out of her skin, and the only one she would ever allow to relieve her of it was gone. So, she settled for the next best thing. Her paws carried her to a wider and deeper part of the bubbling stream, one that was big enough for her to slip into without worrying about being swept away. Although, at that point, she would have been okay with it. Without hesitating, Maija stepped into the water, letting the cool stream take away all of her problems. She closed her eyes and lazily rested her head against the cool ground. Her form folded into a laying position and she found a comfortable piece of the stream bed to let her weight collapse. The water swept around her and she took it without a fight. Ears bent against her head, being her eyes as she let the numerous thoughts of her past and Him swirl into oblivion. For that moment, she didn't care. -EXIT Maija- speech here