Sometimes, solitude was peaceful. She rather enjoyed it sometimes, though it certainly amused her. A couple years ago, she was extremely outgoing and talked to everyone. Now, though, she was content with not... really talking to anyone. She knew she had to get out of that shell, though, because wolves were not solitary creatures, and as much as she wished, she could not just ignore the entire pack except for Lark. Nope, couldn't work that way.

Besides, there were new pups about, and Lillianna couldn't help but to smile at them and their playfulness, all while being thankful that Storm got to deal with their misbehaving... though it seemed they didn't misbehave much. Not while Lillie was watching, anyway. Chuckling at the memories of playful pups, it reminded her of when she was a pup, though she had no siblings or younger wolves to play with. That was okay, though, because her adoptive parents were more than enough.

With a nimble bound, Lillianna perched herself on top of the rocks that Bass would use for some meetings. It really did give a nice height advantage; she could see well over everything and see most of the territory she was in, and anyone in it. It was relaxing, too, in a way; perhaps there'd be someone out there that she ought to speak with? She knew there were a few she needed to talk to.

""

art by SpiritoftheNightt

The weather had turned nice recently and Sparrow found herself loping lazily across the lands. She was always a thinner girl, but her added fluff made her look more like a tree trunk than a wolf. She figured now that it wasn't smoldering outside, she could work out more and maybe build her stature a little. Maybe she could work on becoming more athletic, then she could work on fighting.

The landscape blurred past the small wolf, her eyes scanning the horizon. The rocks blurred past her vision until a dash of muddy red appeared on one of the rocks up ahead.

She knew that color.

Oh no.

Sparrow's stomach dropped and she skidded to a halt, diving behind one of the rocks. Did Lillianna see her? Oh, she really hoped the woman didn't see her. Should she walk away or stay hidden? Sparrow backed away a few steps and peered over the rock. Lillianna seemed to be looking away, and Sparrow continued her backwards walk.

Slowly slowly...

Lillianna's head turned.

Sparrow froze.

Was she looking at Sparrow, or just in this direction.

She was pretty sure Lillianna saw her.

Shit.

Nope.

Not today.

Sparrow turned tail and hauled ass like there was no tomorrow.

In the back of her mind, she kind of figured if Lillianna caught her alone enough, she was done for. Surely she was safe in the pack lands, right? Lillianna wouldn't risk getting caught doing something bad inside the borders, right?

Right???

She was just scanning, looking around, gazing out, when movement caught her eye and she looked over to spot... Sparrow. Who promptly froze, with an oh shit look on her face. What the...? Lillianna blinked in pure confusion, her brows furrowing as she stared at Sparrow, who was still frozen like a fearful deer. Was something going on that Lillianna wasn't aware of? Lillianna's head swung left, swung right, swung behind, but she spotted nothing. When she turned back around, Sparrow's form was already starting to move away, running away from... her? What the utter fuck? Lillianna knew Sparrow had issues, especially with her, but she didn't expect it to be... like this?

Her mind already made up, Lillianna bounded down from he rocks, her longer legs already eating up the ground as she chased the shorter-legged wolf. Nuh-uh, there was no way that Sparrow was going to look at her, freeze, and then run away without any explanation. It made no sense. Either way, she approached the other wolf quickly. Even with her being somewhat lazy since getting hurt and recovering, she'd still worked on her stamina and speed a bit more, things that came natural to her.

"Sparrow," she called, the confusion clear in her voice. "Stop running for a damned second and explain what's going on!" Because hot damn was Lillianna confused as all hell.

""

art by SpiritoftheNightt

Sparrow only briefly saw Lillianna's reaction before she ditched. She looked around. Was she checking to make sure no one else was in sight? She couldn't do something like... whatever she was planning inside the pack! She would be caught! Did she really think she could get away with anything she did now? Had she become daring enough to try something in the pack? Maybe she could, Sparrow thought. She had gotten away with so much already. Lillianna could probably say she found Sparrow body pre-mangled and her father and Lark would just accept it.

No! They couldn't! She couldn't! What was she thinking?

Sparrow had already been running. She was already winded. She was shorter. Lillianna called out to her, but Sparrow could barely hear her past her heartbeat and breathing. She knew Lillianna told her to stop running. Like hell.

"You first!"

Sparrow tried to use her height- or lack thereof- to avoid the taller woman. She ducked and weaved, looking for any narrow passage that might elude the other woman.

"Stop chasing me and I'll stop running!"

At least eventually.

The frantic, stubborn tone of Sparrow's voice nearly made Lillianna skid to a stop in absolute exasperation. What the fuck was this woman's problem? "You're the one who started running in the first place," she shouted back, her frustration bleeding into the words clearly. Seriously. What the fuck? Taking a deep breath, she put on a burst of speed, watching the ferns and such tremble with Sparrows movement. Weaving and ducking through the vegetation meant Sparrow was absolutely unaware of where she was going - she was just blindly running away. From her. Seriously, this girl had issues.

It did, however, mean that Sparrow was slightly unpredictable, and instead of just trying to catch up, Lillianna just ran forward - a much quicker path than chasing Sparrow all over the place. And when she was close enough, and Sparrow kept diving under bushes, Lillianna took that opportunity to jump over the bushes that Sparrow had dove under and was wiggling through, to land in front of her. Lillianna spun around and huffed angrily, her green eyes narrowed and flinty as she stared down at the much, much shorter wolf. "What is your problem?" Lillianna growled. "Why the hell are you running from me?" Her confusion, bafflement, and all around 'wtf' reaction was clear in those words. She didn't understand, one bit, and she wasn't budging until Sparrow spit out some words that made sense.

""

art by SpiritoftheNightt

Sparrow wasn't even sure where she was going anymore. Her direction had devolved into somewhere "more into the pack" in hopes that someone would be there to stop or at least witness whatever happened next.

Dodging under brush often led to Sparrow busting through foliage. Branches scrapped at her sides and her paws got tangled in the taller grasses. She was moving too slow. Lillianna was gaining on her. After one more dive, Sparrow came up to face Lillianna directly, barely stopping in time to not plow into the larger woman.

Sparrow backpedaled, only to bump into the bushes she had just dove under. She looked for a means of escape and when she couldn't find one, she braced herself.

Sparrow pulled her ears back and rose her hackles, her paws spreading out and her legs bending for agility. Her nails dug painfully into the ground. Her shoulders rolled, covering her neck and hiking her excess scruff and fluff around her throat. She kept her head level with her spine and her tail flagged out for balance. She tucked her chin to cover the space between her neck and her scruff. Her eyes narrowed and her nose wrinkled, though even she wasn't sure if it was in defense of her face or out of pure distrust of the woman before her.

She knew at any moment now, she could be fighting for her life.

Lillianna questioned her. She asked sparrow why she was running. She seemed confused.

"Bitch, don't act confused, you know what you've done," Sparrow thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sparrow growled between gritted teeth, "You just surprised me then started chasing me, how was I supposed to react?"

Bullshit. It was all bullshit. Sparrow couldn't confront her though. Not now. Now alone.

And the moment the smaller female realized Lillianna had caught her, she tried to back away and then fell into a fighting stance, as if Lillie was going to attack her. Lillie's jaw dropped as she took in the wary stance, the mistrust, the narrowed eyes, and wrinkled nose... and then she started laughing at the bullshit that just came out of Sparrow's mouth.

"Oh really now?" Lillianna drawled, the growl disappearing and the larger woman sat down abruptly, head tilted and eyes narrowed in calculation. "So when surprised, you regularly freeze at the thing that surprised you and then start running as if your damned life depended on it?" Maybe with that wording, Sparrow would realize how badly she lied. "And when I finally catch you because you're running for some damned reason you immediately drop into an attack stance as if I'm going to try and kill you? And when I ask you why the hell you're acting like this, you fucking lie and come up with bullshit?" It made absolutely zero. fucking. sense.

"I realized you didn't like me - you made that much clear from the very start - but what the hell have I done to make you afraid of me? What the hell have I done to make you hate me that much that you'll still attempt to lie when it's complete bullshit? Because it sure doesn't make sense to me and I'm not just going to sit here and take it. If you don't spill right now, I'm just going to go to someone who will." Meaning Bass, or Lark, or Starling, or someone else whom Lillie was sure had no idea Sparrow was acting this way. And then they'd get the answers and Lillie would get them regardless.


""

art by SpiritoftheNightt

Fuck this. Fuck everything.

Lillianna called her on her bullshit and Sparrow wasn't sure how to react for a while. Why was she acting so confused? Was this how she was when she was around Lark and everyone else? Did she think she could act confused and just get away with it?

Lillianna sat suddenly and a snarl ripped through Sparrow's chest without her meaning to.

Lillianna asked if she normally froze and ran. "I spook easily and I'm small. I have every reason to act like this," Sparrow hissed. Though now that Lillianna was sitting, Sparrow relaxed a little.

Lillianna continued to blabber like she normally did and Sparrow did her best to not just blow up on her right then. If Lillianna knew Sparrow knew all of her secrets, she would be dead for sure.

Sparrow went through all kinds of excuses in her head to explain herself, but then Lillianna threatened to ask someone else. So she really did think she could go to her family and get whatever she wanted? Maybe her dad or Harmony would tell Lillianna. Lark and everyone else was still oblivious to Sparrow's discoveries. The thought that Lillianna was trying to blackmail her into talking was just enough. Sparrow scoffed at first, her snarl curling upwards as she began to laugh for a moment.

As if somehow, by mentioning going to other people, Lillianna had confirmed everything Sparrow had thought about her. She was right, wasn't she? This whole time and Lillianna truly believed she could get and get away with whatever she wanted in this pack. It was almost too much.

Sparrow laughed a little louder, then her eyes met Lillianna's directly. Maybe she would die, but she was right. As long as she lived, she wouldn't tell Lillianna what she knew until she was good and ready. Lillianna could ask whoever else she wanted, Sparrow wasn't scared.

"Fucking provalo," she spat, half of her smile falling while the other half remained. Her eyes glittered. Maybe it was the adrenaline talking, but Sparrow was ready for anything.

Lillie knew that Sparrow was unhinged, now, but she wasn't expecting Sparrow to be this unhinged. She sat down... and Sparrow snarled violently. It honestly startled Lillie, and she jumped just a little bit before eyeing Sparrow. Was she about to get attacked by a deranged munchkin? Because it seemed like she was about to get attacked by an deranged munchkin.

It wasn't until Sparrow began to laugh hysterically - or so it appeared to Lillie - when Lillie was finally done with her barrage of angry questions that the red woman finally realized just how insane Sparrow probably was. Her jaw dropped open, and she stared at Sparrow with wide eyes as she continued to laugh... all without answering her questions. Recovering from her shock, she snapped her mouth shut.

"Okay, I'm talking to a broken, deranged munchkin," Lillianna muttered to herself, though not so quiet that Sparrow wouldn't be able to hear. Sparrow was.... clearly unhinged, and now was ready to attack Lillie. And not only that, but she was... smiling-not-smiling? Holy crap that was an insane expression. Lillianna stood then, backing up slightly and eyeing Sparrow all the while. She didn't understand the second part of the curse that Sparrow spat at her, but either way, it wasn't good. "IIIIII'm just going to go talk to Bass now... or maybe Lark, and maybe one of them will be able to explain what's going on." Lillianna narrowed her eyes at Sparrow briefly as she thought as she also backed away. She paused only when a thought hit her mind. Was Sparrow... jealous? Was Sparrow angry at her because she's friends with Finch, Starling, and uh - well, kind of... uh, something, she didn't know what, with Lark? Kind of friends, kind of lovers? Anyyyway. There had to be more to it than that; surely even jealousy over that wouldn't cause this sort of reaction?

But it fit. Sparrow was fine with her until she started talking to Starling. And then she grew even more angry when she found out that Lillie was also spending time with Finch. And then now... this, after Lark. Was it really just jealousy? Was it really just... Sparrow didn't want to share her family? But.. why? Sparrow didn't even spend time with her family. Hell, Lillie spent more time with Sparrow's family than Sparrow has in the past several years. Was that... because Sparrow had some sort of crazy thing in her mind that was caused by jealousy?

-exit if allowed-

""

art by SpiritoftheNightt

Oh. Wait. What was that? Was Lillie scared? Maybe she realized that Sparrow wasn't scared of her anymore. If Sparrow wasn't scared anymore, then she could tell Lillianna's secrets so everyone, couldn't she? Maybe Lillianna realized that. Maybe that's why she looked so scared.

She called Sparrow a deranged munchkin. Sparrow scoffed, "I wonder what that makes you, then?" Surely is Sparrow was considered deranged, Lillianna was considered something much, much worse. Sparrow's smile grew again. She couldn't believe Lillianna was actually scared of her. Had she won?

Lillie said she was going to go ask Lark of Bass and that they could explain to her what was going on. Hah! Funny. Sparrow leaned forward, "Or maybe you can finally explain yourself to them," she nearly cooed, a cocky smile remaining on her face.

An idea popped in her head, "Better yet. Race you!" Sparrow burst forward, aiming to narrowly avoid ramming Lillianna with her shoulder. Whether or not she actually had the confidence to go to her father again was up in the air. She was sure she could find Lark or... someone, though.

-exit-