Never in a million years could she have imagined she would come back here.  Phim was certain her life in Alacritia was long over, and yet here she found herself once again.  What she witnessed had stained these lands with blood and terror for her, and yet...  She tried not to think about the death match.  The memories she tended to call up about her parents were the happy ones; the ones where she tumbled along after her father in the hopes that one day she would be just like him, the ones where her mother watched her with a loving gaze as she tripped over her own over-sized feet.  Phim had lived a blessed childhood, the kind many would be envious of, but it had ended prematurely.  Before she even knew what it meant to be grown, she had to be.  She watched her parents murdered at the hands of a vicious killer who fell dead immediately thereafter in a moment of karmic horror.  She was never given the chance to wish for revenge, never thought to feel hatred or loathing, only thought of her survival. Well, hers and her brother's, of course.  Dai was her rock.  He was her other half and he was the only family she'd had left, so they'd proceeded together.  They'd gone out into the world and fended for themselves, teamwork and love getting them through (at least in her eyes).  She knew that they could get through anything together and that they needed no one else, but someone came to them anyway. "I don't think there's anyone here," she murmured quietly, glancing at Dai beside her as they marched on.  Her gaze returned to the female in front of them, the stranger who was apparently much more.  "Aunt Narfi, are you sure this is the place?" she asked, a little louder now.  The land was beautiful indeed, even though a thick layer of winter fog shielded it from the rising sun.  Phim's eyes drifted over the ruins and landscape before falling back on her newfound family, anxious for a reply.  Any wolf would be lucky to live here, but by the scent of things any who had were long gone. ""

They had left these lands behind, fled the pain and death that marked the continent in their minds. Both parents struck down before they were even fully grown. It made the boy uneasy to be back, a sense of unease causing the fur along his spine to rise slightly. They had fled in self-preservation, and he could not yet say what coming back served but he went where Phim went and did little complaining. Not that there was much to complain about, they had been practically joined at the hip since birth and as long as he had her he was in a decent mood; even if you couldn’t tell. So they were here, marching through an unearthly fog that didn’t help his unease, following a woman who claimed to be their aunt back to the place they had once promised never to return to. He had his stony gaze fixed on the woman now, he didn’t trust her; it was plain and simple. Still he wasn’t about to go abandoning the woman… not yet. Phim spoke, snapping his attention away from their aunt for a moment and he nodded thoughtfully, casting his gaze around for a moment and scenting the air. He gently nudged his twin in reassurance and continued on with them, now switching between scanning their surroundings and watching the woman ahead of them. "Hear me speak."

could be a chill point for a bit then move on for another thread? looked back and arcanum lands were soulless forest & the rio grande

Now that they were here, Narfi was realizing they had much farther to go than originally planned. Eyes narrowed in thought, displeasure crossing her features and a flick coming from her tail. Storm grey and toxic green eyes pierced through the fog, running across the grasses and trailing along the unnatural stone structures ahead. A delicate voice, something the woman wasn't used to just yet spoke up, drawing the woman's ear to swivel around towards her new found niece. The girl murmured something at first to which she didn't catch but then spoke up, asking if the dark woman was sure this was the place. Narfi breathed in heavily and exhaled just as heavy, rolling her shoulders and give a low huff. ”We have a long way to go still.” Voice was monotone, not particularly thrilled or annoyed about the realization. Without another word she would wave her tail for the two to follow, paws carrying the woman to the side. For now they would settle here to rest a couple days, get a good meal and regain their energy before continuing on further north and then cross a river to the east and they should be there. ”We stay here, regain our strength and move on.” With that Narfi made her way to a collapsed structure, sitting back on her haunches and begun to remove her backpack. "Speech" Awesome table by Eldarwen <3

Sounds good to me! Sorry about delay in posting, been busy and museless.

Dai didn't offer much in response to her but a nod and a nudge were enough.  They said he not only agreed with her words, but shared her feelings and her worries.  Where was their aunt leading them?  How long had she been gone that the supposed masses that had resided here were completely gone?  The emptiness of the lands made her seem more suspect than she had before... But, as though she was reading her niece's mind, the woman gave reason to her actions just as Phim began to question them. "Oh..."  There was nothing thrilling about learning they had farther to go.  At least they would rest a while here.  After journeying for so long, it would be unreasonable to just keep walking.  Phim just hoped that they weren't getting their hopes up only to stumble upon empty lands again.  She could imagine few things more dismaying than that as long as she continued to block certain dark memories from her mind. With a sigh, Phim padded softly to a stone relic opposite Narfi and lowered herself down on the cool ground, resting her head on her paws and looking to her brother to see what he would do. ""