It took all of her willpower to keep herself away from her brother. She sat perched in one of the many gnarled trees of the Mile-high Woods, the spot quickly becoming her hiding place for when she needed to clear her mind and thing. The cold winter air blew by in a quick gust, ruffling her fur as she stared out into the trees. Liberty's words from the day before when she had found Vereux with blood running from his eyes. "The queen and king, they have fallen ill with this disease. It is contagious, and we must be very weary young heiress. Our defenses are falling quickly, we cannot risk infecting others." Isardis, Sendoa, Vereux... Who else had been affected, she wondered. How many more of her pack's members would sucumb to the illness? Athena sighed, crossing her paws in front of her on the tree branch as she sank deeper into thought. What could she do? She knew very little if anything about healing and the only wolf in Glaciem with any extensive knowledge on the subject was Eris. She felt sorry for the Overseer, knowing she was probably run ragged with all of the sickness going around. And then there was her father who had just recently gotten back to health, only to be hit with this new illness. Her mind was reeling, but none of this showed outwardly. Her face was smooth and calm, her shoulders relaxed. She had to keep up appearances after all. ooc: This is totally supposed to be in Mile-high Woods xD I'll get a staffer to move it. My bad. Speech Thought Others

The world as she knew it was crumbling at her paws. Disease had swept through the lands at an alarming speed, infecting not only the king and queen, but other members of Glaciem as well. Liberty did not know why Ramses and herself had been sparred from this plague, but she was grateful. She would cast a glance toward her feline companion as they strolled through the mile high woods, thankful that he had avoided the sickness despite coming in contact with infected wolves. Ramses would glance at his mistress with his amethyst eyes, a warm smile gracing his features as their mismatched gazes aligned. "Liberty..." The leopard would coo before running his body along Liberty's legs, his head pressing into her shoulder as he nuzzled her comfortingly. She would do her best to bring forth a smile, her lips meeting his forehead with a gentle kiss as she embraced his warm touch. "I will protect you, my love. You will not fall ill with this disease." He would reassure her, his tones gentle and sincere as he gazed upward at her, hoping their eyes would remain glued to each other. "And I will protect you too. We wont let this kingdom fall... and we wont let ourselves either." She would comment, her azure eyes flicking downward as she gazed at him with a slight smile. As much as she wished she could believe him, and herself, they could not prevent the inevitable. If the plague wished to take them it would, and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Her Speech" "His Speech"
'thoughts'

ooc: assume they are passing beneath the tree she is in at this moment

Voices and scents caught her attention, pulling her from the turmoil going on in her thoughts. She blinked, turning her head to peer down from her perch, eyes following Liberty's monochromatic form and the form of her companion as they moved through the woods. She caught bits and pieces of their conversation as they passed under her branch, their sentiments bringing a small smile to Athena's muzzle. It brought a little relief to the princess to know that someone had hope in all of this and that at least Liberty had someone watching her back. That was one less wolf she would need to worry about. Athena rose from her perch, carefully turning and stepping down the branch till it was safe for her to leap down to the ground. "Liberty!" she called after the Overseer as she trotted over to her, slowing to a stop a foot or two from the pair, her gaze drifting from her cat companion to Liberty's blue gaze. Athena smiled faintly and dipped her head, saying, "I wanted to thank you for stopping me from being with Vereux. It's hard to be away from him, but I know it is for the best and I appreciate you looking out for me. You and Eris both." Speech Thought Others

The faint crack of a limb beneath a sudden shift in weight was enough to stop the overseer in her tracks, azure eyes lifting upwards to see the silvery heiress climbing down from her perch. "Liberty!" The girl would call out to her, and she would remain where she was while waiting to see what Athena needed or wanted. She would trot toward the pair, Ramses amethyst eyes following her movements as Liberty's azure gaze went from him to the girl, aiming to align their mismatched stares. She would dip her head in response to the girls silent greeting, a feeble smile playing across her lips as she listened to her speak. "I wanted to thank you for stopping me from being with Vereux. It's hard to be away from him, but I know it is for the best and I appreciate you looking out for me. You and Eris both." Ramses would look from the girl to his mistress, his amethyst eyes growing wide as he stared up at her admiringly, proud to admit that she was his paramour. Liberty would not notice this though, as she kept her frigid and unwavering gaze locked on the heiress.

"You're welcome Athena. I know it is hard to be away from the ones you love, but we will find a cure to this, I know it. We are Glaciem women, an unstoppable force." She would say, hoping to give the girl some courage to keep her chin up and fight against this illness. "We need to act now. It seems like you, Eris, and myself are the only able bodied wolves left. Any suggestions on how to stop this?" She wanted to hear what the heir had brewed up before she suggested anything she had come up with, that way they could combine their ideas if necessary and go from there. Ramses would remain silent throughout this, keeping a close eye on their surroundings while dropping in on the conversation.

"Her Speech" "His Speech"
'thoughts'

Liberty would speak of the force that Glaciem women are and it would bring a smirk to Athena's muzzle. She nodded in response and made a note to keep that in mind as she went on in this troubling time. The whole of Glaciem, not just the women, were a force to be reckoned with and she was determined to see them through this sickness. Liberty questioned her plans and Athena settled down on her haunches, tail curling around her as she sank back into her thoughts. "First off, I think there needs to be a meeting. We need to know if it is really only you, Eris, and myself left or if we have more help. More minds working on this the better. She paused, thinking as she spoke. "After that... I suppose this is a game of trial and error. As far as I know there has never been a sickness like this before so no cure is for certain. I know father will not approve, but if we can not find the cure then we will have to reach out to the other packs. Perhaps start with Tortuga and go from there." Speech Thought Others

She would recline onto her haunches in sync with the heiress, allowing herself to relax a bit and enjoy the company of another healthy pack member. She would listen eagerly to Athena's suggestions, nodding her head in acknowledgement and waiting until the heiress had completely finished before she would respond. "Yes, you should call a meeting together and we should discuss this epidemic with the pack. That way we will know how many sick members we have-" Ramses would interrupt. "and we can quarantine them. Some of the side effects include aggressiveness and unpredictability- look at your queen for example. She's acting like a nut." Liberty would pick up after him, wanting to finish what she said. "Yes, I believe quarantining them would reduce stress on the other members and help prevent the spreading of this disease. Then, like you said, we must begin the process of trial and error. We can start mixing herbs and seeing if it reduces the symptoms or cures them completely, maybe mix in a few procedures as well to reduce pain and irritability. I don't know much about this stuff, but from what my mother told me when I was young, i'd say this is the best route to go. As for other packs... you are right. We need to ensure our sister packs safety and figure out if this disease has spread across all of Alacritis." She would fall silent as she shifted her weight, waiting for a response from the heiress with anticipation. "her speech" "his speech"