? ?Syrinx was not accustomed to this world yet. He was used to silence and being left to his own devices. Now, he was facing those that cared about him and those that wanted the best for him regardless of where they came from. There were people like Arian -family- that he did not know that he needed to come to terms with. He was doing his best, but regardless of his best, it was a painful and it was an odd thing to him. His best wouldn?t protect them; not while he held no power to do anything beneficial to them. A sigh wafted past his lips and the canine kept his head gently placed between his massive paws. The night was the time where he could do his clearest thinking. It also used to be the time that he used to prowl. This was the time that he had used to be a terror and to place his name. Never of malevolence; but out of the need to be taken seriously. Of course, his own indifference had cost him more of his features. It had almost cost him his life. It was Chrysanthe?s husband to thank for his life, but that wasn?t exactly an option. He wouldn?t bow to the things that were supposed to be of his past. Not even that. ?Laying there he could think of the fires and the way they curled around his body. They seemed to grab his flesh and pull and peel back. They needed to burn the life out of him, and in a way they had succeeded. For the first time, having standing there so near the sweltering heat, he realized his mortality was evident. He realized more than just the possibility he had of dying due to some outer cause, but also that, even if outer sources never cost him his life, there would be no doubting the fact that age would one day get to him. No amount of training would ever be enough to keep him from the gruesome paws of death, but that was alright. One day it would all add up. Before he died all he needed to do was make sure that his bloodline was safe and that they were thriving. ?Naturally, the constant contemplation got to be enough for the russet king and he would hoist himself up and deliver himself from the cave in which he laid. There was no point in mindlessly racking his brain with things that he had already thought over and there was no point for him in trying to make something of what was in his past--of what was nothing. A deliberate shrug rolled from his body as he stretched his shoulders and continued his dance beneath the night sky. Syrinx had no reason to pretend he would enjoy the oncoming days, but he had every reason in the world to think on his family and the fact that maybe--if he would calm himself for more than five minutes at a time--he could even find himself having some sort of pleasurable experience. Table by Lu

She had not traveled to the warmer segments of Alacritis in a while, mostly staying within the frozen confines of Glaciem's walls to supervise the children and hunt for the pack. On this warm night though the frigid mistress wished to defrost beneath the moons illuminated glow, weaving through the endless rows of various fruit trees like a weightless ghoul. Occasionally she would find fruit that was still ripe enough to eat, and she would greedily scarf it down to subdue her aching hunger. At first she had presumed the orchard was abandoned and that she was alone, but the deeper she traveled into the trees, the more overpowering his musk became. It was as if she were making a direct v line toward him, because within a few more minutes of stealthily weaving through the trees a large figure would come into view. She would freeze as if she had been struck with ice, her eyes growing wide in astonishment as she watched an enormous male sway his hips only yards before her beneath the night sky. Something about him seemed oddly familiar, and his cologne, it smelt like something she had come across before, as if they had been in the same room together, but hadn't met face to face. She would slowly approach him, her crown raised confidently toward the heavens despite her meager size, and her tail lashed out to align with her spine. "Hello there." Softly she would coo a greeting to him, offering a dip of her head and a bat of her luxurious eyelashes. She would aim to keep enough running distance between them should this meeting turn south though, since she still couldn't put a paw on who this man was. Speech

He was a danger to her; but she did not know it. Honestly, he didn?t know it. However, it was not the liberation of her familiar scent that would meet him first. No, it was the grotesque musk of Isardis, and she seemed to wear it strongly. Why? The burly man would rotate on his paws (and this time it was somewhat graceful) and he could hear the light whisper of the dolls lyrics string themselves through the air. Alas, he would let his eyes be his guide beneath the moonlit sky and his eyes would glue to her body heavily. This was her this was Liberty but alas she was with the bonds of another, one that they had previously saved her from, and for a moment he thought that they had lost her and he would feel a tinge of anger and remorse strike him. This was wrong, ?I thought we had saved you,? the solemn whisper of just those words was enough for him to feel anger begin to stir beneath him.

His vision was trained perfectly on her because he needed to know, but still, she stood proud and she stood with an amicable amount of pride. She was happy to be where she was at and immediately a scoff ran free of his throat and a smirk enlightened his glorious features, ?Your mother would be so disappointed,? He understood that Aislyn had been a grand and remarkable warrior in Valhalla. Now her daughter were turned enemy. Those that had sheltered her and promised her love had been turned against. Treacherous. Such was the only words that rang through his mind.