Aslatiel liked this place. She liked the name of it. She liked the mist that hung over the ground. She liked the wet, musty smell even. She particularly liked the plethora of small prey.

The big clearing at the center of the forest was her place. She'd been spending quite a lot of time there and it showed. Bones littered the grassy space. There were corpses hung from trees. There was on overall scent of decay that permeated the clearing. Yes, this was her place.

Asla hadn't brought anyone else here yet. Eraithus had found her, but it hadn't been her idea. It was a good thing though. She really liked Eraithus. He was a bit like her. He'd caught a second fox for her so that she could make matching skulls for herself and Azure. She hadn't given him the gift yet. He was too busy for her. They all were. It gave her more time alone. More time to stew in the anger that her father had brought upon her.

Today, the small, striped girl lay in her clearing. Her head was rested on the side of a young antelope. It's legs were broken and it was struggling to breathe. The rise and fall of its ribcage was soothing to the girl. As the broken thing struggled, she merely sighed, lost in a daydream. In her dream, it was Malalia struggling to breathe, or Banshee, or Zabrina. In the end of her dream, they always died. Pity it wasn't that easy in the real world.

Azure was worried when Asla dipped out of the promotion ceremony early and as soon as they were dismissed, he set off to find her. The constant stream of creatures he and his sister had mutilated and killed at least had served purpose in teaching him tracking, and Az was growing more confident in his ability to hunt because of it. Her distinctive scent was not hard to follow, though he was surprised to see when it lead off territory. Approaching the forest it was obvious she'd made herself a second home there, and he agreed with her furnishings. His lips spread in a grin as he admired the corpse-hung trees, and he cleared his throat as he came close enough for her to notice his presence. "I like what you've done with the place." He teased softly, stepping closer still. The antelope beneath her barely crossed his notice, he assumed she had reason for using the barely alive thing as a pillow. "Are you okay, Asla?" The boy asked after a moment, lowering his head as he came near to where she rested. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Rustling in the foliage brought the girls vibrant purple eyes opening to mere slits. When she noted that it was just Az, she released a sigh, but didn't get up. As he inspected her little clearing and commented on her decoration, she smirked. "I've been keeping myself busy." Now she rose from her place upon the dying antelope and rummaged around in a pile of bones. Extracting a small fox skull, she presented it to her much larger brother. "I made this for you. I have one that matches." She'd painted both skulls with her star paints. His had the star that she'd named after him upon it in vibrant blue, the stars around it in muted colors. Hers was just black with a few speckles of purple. She didn't name a star after herself. When asked if she was okay, dark ears slicked back. She had wanted to talk to him about this, but held the fear that he felt the same way as her father did about the situation. Everyone seemed to love Malalia. Everyone but her. There was only one way to find out though. "No, I'm not okay. Our father gave our name away." That name was so important to her. He was watering it down. Giving it to the garbage of the world just because they shared a sob story with him. It wasn't right. He had started the name, but it wasn't only his anymore. It was theirs. Casting her amaranthine eyes towards Azure, she continued. "I hate Malalia. Part of me hates father for giving her our name. I just want her to die." She had come to stand behind the broken antelope and sunk her claws into its hide. The deer struggled anew, but made no progress in escaping. She'd seen to that. "You probably like her too, right? Everyone does." She was so alone now. Even killing innocent creatures didn't raise her to excitement like it once had. "Speech"

Presented with her gift, Azure couldn't help but smile. He gently grasped the skull in his oversized paws, turning it over to admire the painting upon it. "Thank you, I love it. I can put it by my bed so I'm reminded of you every morning." He took a few more moments with the decorated bone before gently placing it down back upon the forest grass beside him so they could talk. It was not surprising to hear that Asla was angry about Malalia's naming, and the boy's smile fell off as his lips formed a thin line. She was asking his opinion, waiting for him to tell her that he too liked their new sister. Azure knew he needed to tread carefully, because to comfort Asla he'd need to do more then simply explain to her that it was irrelevant in his mind who did or did not bear his name. "It didn't cross my mind to be angry." He admitted. "I think we're lucky that our family name begins with us. There are generations upon generations of Kleins, so many opportunities to damage the name and reputation with one unworthy wolf, and the good ones weren't around to prevent it. I think if Malalia did our name wrong, our father would do something about it. There's that at least." He paused and sighed, looking over at his sister in deep thought. It was hard to express his thoughts in a way that may be comforting but not a lie while keeping his sister in his good graces, and he struggled to explain the way he wanted to. A frown turned his lips towards, and he chewed the inside of his lip as he considered. "I haven't told anyone, but I'm mad Sirius chose mom. She was a slave, unworthy of the crown and given it because he loved her. I've heard rumors. She didn't earn it with strength, and I hate that I share her blood. It's something I need to just deal with because she'll always be my mother, even if it makes me angry. I wish she'd die, too." It was a hard admittance, and he worried that it may spoil the way his sister saw him. He didn't want to turn her against his mother also, he just wished to share with her that more wolves then just her held grudges against their family and that they could overcome it. After all, Malalia was their family now. "I care about our family name as much as you do, but I've accepted that there are wolves who will wear it who may not deserve it. I can hate them, but hating them may keep me from my crown and I'm not willing to let that happen. If I play a role in our future, I will protect our name with my last breath. The best way I can do that later is by letting it go now." "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

[/b]

Asla watched with happiness as her brother looked over the gift that she had made for him. He said that he would keep it near his bed and the girl was very pleased. Behind her, a striped, snow dipped tail swished happily back and forth. That all stopped when the conversation shifted, however. Their words were too heavy for happiness and wagging tails. After listening to his reasoning, Asla spoke once more. "We should keep our name pure. Father should have given her a different name. Something that all of his adoptive garbage could wear." That was the thing. She was now lumped in with orphan trash. Rather than let the anger consume her again, Aslatiel sighed and rubbed her face with one paw. "I just want to leave sometimes. That's why I've been coming here. No one even bothers to look for me." She'd had to jump ship and move once Venom found her place on the beach. It worked out though. She liked this place much better. And it was out of territory. Hearing that Azure hated their mother and wished that she would die pricked the girls ears forward. That was interesting. The slavery bit bothered Az, but Asla had heard that their father was also a slave. Should she tell him? No. The striped youngling decided to keep her mouth shut on that issue. Instead, she nodded. "I don't have any feelings about her at all." Their mother was strangely absent. Most days, Asla forgot that she even existed. Especially when she stopped sleeping in the communal den with the rest of the family. A slight shrug was given. "Maybe we could kill her." Purple eyes sparkled. "We're older now. We could do a better job of it than when we tried to kill Resin." She understood that he wanted to clear the way to be heir and take the throne. It was a weight that she would never know and never wanted to know. Between the siblings, she was pushing for Azure to take the throne. Their like-mindedness would make things go much more smoothly. So far, Mort was too pure. Too good. Though she would support him if he won, she couldn't help but cheer for her bear pawed brother. With a groan, Aslatiel rubbed her face again. She had been getting nasty headaches lately. "I'm just so unhappy lately. Father has his new, better daughter. You're busy. Mort is busy. Indy is busy." Her brow furrowed and she brought her gaze up to meet her brother's blue eyes. "You know I was gone for two days and no one came to look for me? Maybe I should just go, eh? See the world." She wouldn't stray too far for now, but it was nice to say it outright. Be a little dramatic. "Speech"

Azure's lips downturned at her reply, unable to keep the sadness from his face. The pup was not one of many feelings or thought - at least any that didn't derive from anger and spite - but it was hard for him to see her this way. She was his closest sibling and she was in pain, and while on one hand he wanted to do anything he could to lessen her hurt... he couldn't bring himself to. Didn't she understand that he couldn't afford this line of thinking right now, not after receiving a strike already for attacking Malalia? "Asla, I think you're blowing things out of proportion." He began carefully, face softening as he spoke. "Sometimes I go out away from the territory too and it can seem like nobody cares, but there's always someone watching. Even when I was given permission to do my first hunt and told I could do it alone, I could sometimes see Marshal hiding in the trees. You're loved and protected even if sometimes it doesn't feel that way." The boy sighed, torn ears pulling back to his skull in frustration. At the mention of killing their mother Azure's expression shifted, and his empathy vanished. His eyes darkened and his stare grew cold. "Asla, you can't say those things." His tone grew serious and deadly, his lips tightening into a thin hard line. "You are my best friend and the things you do and say come back to me in the end too, it's not a secret to anyone how aligned our thoughts and interests have been since birth." Az's heated anger was rising and his lips pulled back to reveal teeth. Threatening her with the display was not intentional but instinctual enough he was unable to stop himself in time. "I love you, but I won't risk my throne for anyone. Rabid dogs get put down and I will not be seen allied with you if this is the way you're going to act. Killing mother - jesus, Asla. Father would kill us both if he'd had even heard you say that." Suddenly Az felt like standing before him was not his sister at all, she was a stranger. One that would one day cost him his throne if she continued in this way. He wanted to hurt her as he'd never wished to hurt a family member before. Sure he'd indulged the idea of killing Mortis once upon a time, though the guilt of even entertaining the thought had began to eat away at him instantly. This time there was no resistance within him and the knowledge of what would happen if he let himself go frightened him. Azure snarled, tearing his gaze from his sister's face and turning away from her. The painted skull he'd abandoned beside him on the ground on his way past. Love was weakness, love had changed his Warlord father already in ways Az did not agree with. He'd not let himself fall victim to mercy or sympathy or love, not if it meant choosing another wolf over his crown. He continued away out of the forest without looking back, off in search of something to kill in place of Asla. -attempted exit- "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

She watched his expression change but in her current state of mind, she didn't care. Azure, the one who had tried to kill Resin for wronging him, was chastising her for thinking out loud. What a hypocrite. She didn't want to kill their mother. She had only suggested it as a joke and she didn't care who heard her. It was how he haff handled his problems in the past and she found the humor in it. Pity that he was too full of himself and his position to realize that.

Azure's aggression ran right over the girl. As he huffed and left the clearing, Aslatiel began humming a happy little tune. Moving to where the skull lay on the ground, she hooked one curved claw through a painted eye socket. Turning it to face her, she pretended that the skull was talking. "Hypocriiiite" she made it say in growling tones before tossing it back in the pile of bones at the base of the tree.

Dropping back to her side in the grass, Asla rested her head upon the side of the young antelope with the broken legs. She continued her upbeat humming, tail swishing happily to the beat. The antelope was no longer breathing.