White.

She couldn't see anything in the blizzard. Where was the trail she had been following? She shivered, brown fur coated with white frost. Traveling along the northern coastline had been a mistake. Now, she was lost, freezing, and beginning to worry.

For a brief few seconds, the snowdrifts parted, revealing a hulking, decrepit shape in the distance. Shelter. She raced forward, slowing as the structure loomed over her. It was made of metal, but it was like nothing she had seen before. The ship creaked and moaned in the wind, making her doubt if it would be any shelter at all. Still, if she didn't get out of the cold, she could freeze to death. Arayne was a temperate-climate wolf. Her fur wasn't think enough to live in this kind of region 24-7. With sigh, she began examining the wreckage. A gash in the hull drew her attention, and she stumbled inside, grateful to be out of the wind. As her eyes adjusted, she looked around at the area she had found. It was a wide space, with wreckage heaped in one corner. There was little light, but she would manage.

She sniffed the air, but couldn't detect any scents of inhabitation. Maybe it was the storm outside. With a sigh, she found a comfortable place to sleep, spun a few times, and flopped down, curling up and drawing her tail over her nose. Her tired eyes watched the snowstorm for a few more minutes, then slowly slid shut. She'd just have to wait the storm out.

The bitch was back and forth. She was now an Empress. The daemon of the Red Wood, though she planned to switch her territories if she had time. She was currently on her way back to the S.S. Antiox. Her paws thudded down upon the field of snow without fault. Her tail swayed behind her and her ears swerved around. Though, she picked up a scent and her lips curled. With her lasting limp the Empress slithered on and on. She saw fresh paw steps within the top layer of snow. The smell emitting from the human creature was horrible. Blood would stain the floor from her various kills. As she found her way up the deck and into the top room her yellow orbs settle on a brown fae just taking a bit of a nap within her home. The woman with the wolf skull mask snorted and growled. "Is it a custom to sleep in other peoples homes from where you are from? The last bitch whom walked into my home without permission now rests upon my face." She was not lying. Talk like this

The howling of the storm and moaning of the ship had filled Arayne's dreams with ice demons, whose skeletal lupine forms clawed and bit at the ship, attempting to tear their way in and freeze her.

So when her eyes opened to see a wolf's skull inches from her face, it was understandable that it would be a shock. "Gah!" she yelped. She backpedaled away from the specter, but her claws were unable to get traction on the metal floor, and she tripped, landing in a pile of debris. "Wh-who are you?" she managed, attempting to regain her feet. When she could finally stand again, her ears were plastered to her skull and her tail looked very close to tucking itself between her legs. Was this some sort of evil spirit or something? Had she intruded in it's lair?

Her eyes darted towards the hole she had come through in, trying to assure herself that it was still open. She wasn't a fighter, if worse came to worse than she would need to make a break for it. As if to taunt her, the wind increased in pitch for a few moments. It was stand her ground, or risk freezing.

Canttina was instantly amused as the little fae popped up in a flurry. Canttina just stared at the creature. She watched with extreme interest. Was the little creature really that scared? The Empress thrived on moments like these. It skittered back and her head tilted. A short tongue flicked across her own scarred muzzle. Though the creature let forth words, words it would regret. The woman limped forward and snorted, snot shooting from her black nose. "You dare ask me of my name within my home?" Her chest slowly rose and flattened in seething anger. Her eyes shone with rage. She puffed out her hackles and snarled. "Bitch you speak to Empress Canttina Cael." She rolled her shoulders, oh how she loved that title. "State your purpose." Talk like this

On instinct, her head went down as the beast approached, although, as the brown female began to study her, it rose slowly again until the two were on eye level. Now that she had realized the hag wasn't a demon, Arayne felt less frightened, although she knew better than to let her guard down totally. This "Cattina" looked haggard and ragged, not exactly royalty. Arayne knew what noble bloodlines looked like, she possessed one herself.

Not that that would help her much here.

"Empress?" she repeated, a bit more incredulously than she meant to say it. This skull-wearing hag was an Empress? Empress of what, a rusty hunk of metal on a frozen coastline? Scents left by Cattina near the entrance usually ended up being blasted away by the blizzards, but little did Arayne know that farther into the ship was the witch's lair, festooned with grisly trophies. Cattina would have come home to an empty ship had she seen it, as she would have been at least a mile away by now if she had. "I'm just here to wait out the storm." she replied defensively. "I haven't hunted or taken anything."