The girl stumbled uselessly behind her mistress, lagging behind with each step, the distance between her and the demon getting greater. Dark green orbs remained upon her paws, simply following using scent. She knew her new mistress? scent inside and out by now, having practically bathed in it. Her body protested with each step, her right foreleg aching worst of all, the long scar running down it flaring with pain with every jarring step. Her legs were shaking both from lack of use and from lack of food. Her ribs protruded from her bodice, ivory and ebony pelt hanging limply off her like a coat that was ten times too big. Her walking was awkward, lifting her paws as high as she could and putting them down as gingerly as possible, but that did not stop the aching in her paws. The pads broken and sensitive. The boarder was drawing every closer and with it her cage, the prison below a metal roof, and she assumed Canttina?s own den. The woman wanted to stop, to turn and run but she forced herself to take a step over the border, stifling a sob. How did this get to be her new life? Speech,

Renewed vigor traveled the uncharted lands. It had been a whole year since he saw his sister...he was sure he would have come across her by now...he traveled all over Alacritis, from shore to shore, everywhere...but he hadn't found a trace of her. His heart began to sink, what if that mountain lion had gotten her? The last time they saw each other was during that attack...then, vanished. He missed her so much, his heart sank at the thought of having lost her. He couldn't bear the thought of it, she was all he had left in this world. A single tear would drip down his muzzle, streaks beginning to stain his face the more he thought about her. The weight on his shoulders became heavy, hope becoming lost. He stopped then, looking at his surroundings, completely unaware of his surroundings. He would scent the air, testing the winds to get some idea of where he was...and then, it hit him. He turned his head sharply, his heart pounding. That scent...it was familiar...but somehow, it was different. It smelled strongly of blood, infection, despair... His legs began to take him at a run, tail flagging behind him as he followed the scent. A slight twinge of hope began to flare up in his chest, could it really be? Or was it just his imagination toying with him again? He raced forward, running full pelt across the frozen grounds, hoping...praying. As he came over a rise, he saw a figure below...He stopped on top of that rise, staring down wide eyed as the figure seemed to struggle as it walked. His breath caught in his throat, was it...? Yes. Her pelt was unmistakeable, and being his twin, her scent would always be recognizable. His heart felt like it stopped as he noticed that many things were wrong with her...he could see blood trailing behind her. Overwhelmed, he ran down the slope as fast as he possibly could, snow spraying up on all sides as he barked madly. He had found her! His hope had began to waver, but here she was at long last. He would skid to a halt the moment he reached her, excitement and worry coming off of him in waves. Without spoken words, he reached forward and covered her face in licks, nuzzling her neck as tears seeped down his face once more. "Gretel! Sister you're here! I found you! What on earth happened to you!? I'm so sorry for abandoning you..." His words came out in so many bursts, questions reeling in his mind as he saw all the wounds she had...what the hell happened to her!? Speech

Lazily a scent drifted towards her upon the crisp air. Gretel stopped suddenly head lifting and ears perking, she snapped her head around, green gaze scanning the horizon. Was it only wistful thinking? She could have been mistaken, her mind playing a cruel, cruel trick on her. But then she saw it. The dark figure bounding towards her, his right ear flopping as he bounced through the snow. It took all her strength not to run towards him, beg him to take her away from her. But she remained where she was staring at him blankly, ridged, unmoving. She wanted to scream at him to be quite, the barking would surely bring Canttina back around and he needed to be out of here when she came around. Her jaw remained tightly closed however, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, the scar running down her jaw stinging some. It was a rare expression on the beaten woman. He crossed the border, intent upon her. He reached her, covering her with licks and burying himself in her neck. She shook, a hoarse sob breaking from her parched throat. She couldn?t stop herself as she began to lick him back, wanting so much to assure him. After all that was what she did. She had always been the voice of reason. With another shaky sob she forced herself to pull away, she would fulfill her role, be the sane voice in his ear. She kept her gaze down, only glancing up to meet his eyes once or twice. It was a habit she had learnt early on, she couldn?t even look him in the eye for too long without feeling nervous so she avoided his searching gaze. ?Hansel? you-? Her voice caught, how could she tell him this. ?You can?t be here.? The tears came then. ?Hansel you have to leave, I am not a free wolf? Not anymore. I belong to a monster, she will not let me go and I... I couldn?t bear it if she took you too!? The woman was shaking non-stop now, the tears streaking down her face. Speech,

The feeling he had now was beyond description. His shoulders would shudder slightly as tears of happiness spilled, it had been so long since he'd seen her. "Hansel...you-you can't be here." His eyes would open as he took a step back, her words pushing him away. With a saddened expression he looked at her, about to ask why until she explained more. "Wh-what? Gretel...what are you talking about? You're a slave!? Who the hell does this to my sister! What happened when we got separated? Have you been here this whole time? I've been looking for you for seasons just...to find that..." His voice would cease, his body shaking with uncontrolled emotions of rage, sadness, desperation, and hurt. He looked at her again, moving forward to lick at her wounds. He then gently lifted her paws, a horrified gasp at what he saw. Her pads torn and bleeding, he was sure infection would settle into her soon if she didn't revieve medical attention. Gently, he licked each of her pads to try and soothe her pain. Following with caring for each open wound he saw upon her body...seeing her like this pained him, enraged him, he hated seeing her like this. "Sis, I'm taking you with me. And if the one who did this tries to stop me, I'll tear her apart!" Speech

She had to turn away, not even able to look at him. His words cut deeper than Canttina?s attacks had. The blows had struck at her skin, but her heart had grown hard, this? was an emotional blow, knowing she had to be the one to break his heart while hers was falling apart. His voice stopped and she lifted her head, looking up at the sky, the tears rolling down her mismatched face. ? I tried to lead the lion away from you, you were out and defensless, I was aware and could fight back, but? I couldn?t find you. I tried to find you but?? She trailed off, trying to form her explanation. I?ve been here for a while yes? It wasn?t too long after we were separated that I happened upon her. Since then?? This time she didn?t pick her sentence back up. She flinched some as he moved forwards to lick her, a shiver running down her spine. She closed her eyes as he began his inspection of her, lifting her paw at his instance. She didn?t have to look to know that he had seen the state of her paws, hearing him gasp. His tongue running over her broken paws felt soothing, but she knew it couldn?t last. His words, made her shake her head. She stepped farther away from him. Hansel? you can?t,? she sobbed, continuing to put space between them, ?She has an army now, and we wouldn?t get very far, not with me in this condition.? A rustling made her freeze the fear clear in her eyes. ?You have to go!? She begged. ?Please, she can?t get you too!? Speech,

The tears would fall, sliding one after another down the mans face. Never had he experienced such heart breaking pain before. Torn between two choices, but his sister forced him to take the one he hadn't wanted. He knew why she did it, but in retrospect he would have traded himself for Gretel's freedom in a heartbeat and without a second thought. He didn't want to see her like this...he had to do something. A constriction would settle itself into his throat, making it hard for him to breath as his sister continued. His gaze would stay on her, however, unable to turn away. She was here, and yet she was not...he was unable to take her due to his sisters fear at what might happen. He was ready to take her far from here and seek refuge in another pack, even if just for a short while until they could disappear to new lands. But from the way she talked about her captor, it would seem that she would stop at nothing to keep her property. And Hansel didn't want to bring trouble to other packs that didn't deserve it. "Gretel...please..." His voice would come out as nothing but a whisper, unable to really break through the wall that rose in his throat. She was pushing him away...and he knew why. She was being the voice of reason now, just like she always had, even though this decision pained her. Watery blue eyes kept on her, taking in as much of her as he possibly could. Suddenly, she would turn at the sound of something not far off. She began to panic, telling him to leave, even though he didn't want to...he was prepared to leap and tear at the bitch who did this to his beloved sister. His only family...He would move forward, pressing his body into hers to give as much comfort as he could, licking the side of her face and shoulders. "I promise I'll come back for you...you won't be here much longer. I'll return and challenge that bitch and free you and any other slaves here. Or I'll die trying. I promise you that...trust me. I'll be back soon..." he pressed his head gently but firmly against hers, a whisper escaping his muzzle like a gentle breeze. "I Love You, don't forget that. I'll be back for you...I promise." Slowly and reluctantly, he would back away. His gaze flicking over towards where the rustling continued, and then he would give her one last parting lick before turning and running towards where he came. Hansel ran fast and hard, the stinging in his eyes threatening to spill over...his heart hurt the farther he got from his sister. He wanted to badly to go back and challenge the wicked wench now, but knew that he was not strong enough just yet. He knew where he would go from here, and so he made for a direct course towards Eastern lands. As he moved, finally out of sight of the wicked womans domain, the tears would fall. The more he thought about his sister and the promise he made, he would move faster as the tears left a steaming trail. He would be back for her...he meant every word. And if it meant him dying for her freedom, then it would be a price he was willing to pay. Speech Thought Others