What became of a creature when they no longer felt like whom they were at birth? What was to be done about those who strayed from their intended path, carving out their own, living by their own mistakes and sins? Was it wrong? Right? Necessary? Was it possible that all of those options could be correct?

The red-brown girl who walked along was no Sovari child. The blood ran in her veins, but disowned by her own mother, a beast who put her own needs before her children, no, without even warning her children... Arisu didn't care if Vi ever reconciled with her. At one point in time all she longed for was acceptance from her mother, to grow into a soldier for the red woman to mold and shape into nothing by a weapon at her disposal.

Then came Fia. The sister who gave her word to not do as their mother did and abandon her crown. Yet where was Apollyon now? It was in the hands of some other pack after getting disbanded. The girl would give a snort of disgust. Acidic eyes were narrowed, suggesting little sleep had been granted to the beast since she began traveling back here, back to Alacritia. 

No longer was she going to try to be what she was not. No longer would she live for the sins of others or in their shadows. A year and a half she was, and the girl was ready to live and die by her own fangs and claws. A hard lesson had needed to be learned first. But it was that lesson, and the phoenix that gave it to her, that made Arisu realize her mistake was trying to live for the sake of others. To live, to truly thrive, you needed to put yourself first... and damn the rest.

Nose would flare as she breathed in the scent. The memory was faint, but oh she would recognize it anywhere. Arisu would stop, close to the borders of Ludicael, not that she knew the place by name. But the phoenix was here. The girl would throw back her head, giving no heed, not shame in how different the howl would sound without her tongue. Such things no longer bothered her and, those who dared make a mockery of it with no right to do so, well, they just became her target practice.

Call made the girl would wait. She would not sit. No... she would not let her guard down, even if this was intended to be a visit of "peace". Ears would prick some, frosty breath expelled from her breath. Would the woman show?

Warped call reaches her ears and path averts immediately to seek it, interest pulled by that howl's quality. Something in the back of her mind responds to it more than she can explain, demanding that her presence before the stranger occur soon. Mercury, sensing her intrigue, takes up a gait beside her, feeling as if he has missed out on too many border greetings already. The white mangroves at the edge of the territory are more thin and they come into each other's view when distanced about ten yards. Jupiter recognizes the woman instantly, ears pressing forward as she takes up her usual authoritative stance as an alpha, flaunting her power just enough to make her position clear upon sight--and no more. Train of thought wanders as she remembers having taken the tongue of the babe. Her own pokes out slightly to draw along dark jowls, recalling the feel of it between her teeth. Paws itch. "Interesting seeing you here," she murmurs evenly, neutrally, almost affably. Though it may seem surprising to some, Jupiter holds very little animosity towards the girl. The woman fought for what she loved, which was more than most of this land could say. She had just needed a little bit of teaching as to her place. "What can I do for you?" Voice rolls as a purely casual drawl, interest a distant glimmer in her tone.

The phoenix would come, her stance one of authority, showing her power clear, though it appeared to be but the normal show one would give when approaching a loner at the borders. The woman was no less impressive then the day Arisu last saw her -- fought her. It is a day the red-brown girl remembers well, without fail. It is this woman who took her tongue from her, forever warping how she would speak, and yet, it is not out of anger that she shows her face at the borders of this woman’s territory. Not at all.

As she is addressed Arisu would dip her head deeply, respectfully, to the phoenix, her tail held at a respectful position. “Perhap’ ‘o.” The female would pause for a moment. “I came ‘o ‘ha’k you. For ope’ing my eyes. ‘o co’gradu’a’e you as we’.” Arisu’s acidic gaze would lift to the woman, not trying to hide how she spoke. Showing no shame. Her tail would give a small flick, ears lifting as a smirk finds it’s way to her face.

“I fou’d i’ righ’ ‘o owe you a favor... A’d 'ere I am. Fighting... Or even poisons. Such interesting little things. Just a small dose on an unsuspecting victim could slowly work through their system. Depending on what you wanted to do to them... Kill them... Or just make them suffer miserably. Yes... They were beautiful things. She would offer to do this service, or to fight, for the sake of the one who had earned her respect in the one way that truly showed strength -- through battle itself. She would wait to see if the phoenix wished to call upon the favor now, or, perhaps, to save it for a rainy day.

She observes her posture, the stance of her tail, the lack of defensiveness in her body and she is irreversibly intrigued. Jupiter cannot deny the slight streak of satisfaction that quivers through her gut at the woman's marred speech, pleased that her punishment is permanent. Deciphering the woman's words is a little difficult at first, but she quickly picks up on them. Confusion and bafflement crosses her features for a brief seconds before melting to something with more potential to be dangerous--pride. What a warped Stockholm babe that has found her way back to her creator. Confidence burns suddenly beneath her casual guise, pulsing through her gut with certainty. How she could have ever doubted Arisu's return to the craftsman of her character suddenly became unfathomable to her, for the dark woman has just set the standard for the behavior of Jupiter's punished--undying o b e d i e n c e. "My child," she croons, that undercurrent of pride glistening lightly through. "You need to offer no thanks." Twisted--it is all twisted. In a logical world, in a mind not wrenched by years of pain on a once-gentle conscience, she would have told the woman that she was not the one that should be apologizing. Jupiter should not be proud. She should be ashamed. But she isn't. "You have done right to return." Soft smile pulls up the corners of her lips as she takes a step forward, the motion almost possessive in its very nature as the woman claims the wraith as her own. Jupiter gazes at her with pride."Kill any who mock a voice so strong from here on out." The fae wears her maimed vocals with pride and the phoenix admires that strength, that confidence. "What have you learned?" What skills? What morals that have brought the woman back?

The world itself was a twisted beast, and she had merely twisted to become one with it. It was her turn to live the path destined, no, to forsake what destiny thought it had in store and create her own. The dark female's acid eyes never moved from the phoenix, the one who showed her without a single doubt the path she needed. That first step, that push was given. Arisu had been awoken... and the darkness inside her was kindled by the spark of the phoenix. It had risen now into it's own burning flame.

Perhaps the phoenix knew not just the wonderful gift she had given the red-brown female. Perhaps not, but did it matter? Arisu respects the one before her, and the phoenix seems pleased with her return. The younger girl does not flinch as her elder takes a step forward, her motion almost possessive, yet Arisu does not seem to mind. Stockholm Syndrome... it is certainly plausible the girl has developed such a thing. But though she respects the phoenix, she knows well enough the reason for her own return. If the bright woman was to ever show different than what Arisu came to understand, the red-brown fae would not hesitate and bite the paw that created her...

...Be that a win or lose.

Arisu would give a firm nod, somewhere deep within feeling a sort of appreciation and pride for those words. A voice so strong... a recognition of her bearing her punishment as she should, and not faltering as a lesser being would. "I sha'." She responds simply, keeping her gaze level. But the girl knows better to let her ego grow too far from a simple phrase of praise. She is no deity nor good, but Arisu knows she has the potential to become something greater than she is now.

Arisu's gaze shifted just for a moment, towards the Phoenix's companion. He is, in his own right, respected. Acid orbs shift back, however, as she is asked a question, and Arisu speaks with no hesitation.

"I have 'ear'ed 'ha' s'e'g'h, figh'i'g for w'a' you desire is 'he proper way 'o 'ive. 'hose w'o do''t figh' do''t de'erve wha' 'hey have." Her words were hard, memories flashing to Hestia. "Co'ards... s'ould be pu'is'ed." This sentence was given with a growl. "I've 'ear'ed more of figh'i'g... a'd poiso' as well. How  'o make 'hem suffer..." If you didn't fight for what you wanted to protect it should be taken. Strength was respect. If you faltered, were a coward, you deserved to be punished. To die. Arisu would give a small flick of her tail. Yes... there was a great reason she was back in Alacritia... and it wasn't just to meet with the phoenix again.

Words stoke Jupiter's interest infinitely. What a wonderful revelation the youth has awoken to--how perfect, how desirable. The weight of the other's inflections are noted; Jupiter remembers all too well the bitch the woman had so passionately defended, remembers the identity of the dark woman's family. How sad it is that the lass has been born into a bloodline of cowards. "Those before you may have been weak," comes her reassurance, gentle in tone but firm in its nature. "but you are of a different breed." Crooked smirk pulls at the corners of her lips. "Poison..." she muses with interest. "That's something you'll have to share a few tricks with me on, sometime." Voice echoes in almost a feral purr, but a rumble echoing from her chest. "You have proved yourself in battle to me before--warrior shall suit you, if you wish." Jupiter offers the younger wolf a knowing look. "We'll keep the poison as our secret. We'd hate to spoil the surprise, no?" Something wicked and venomous by its own right drips into her tone as she considers the strength Ludicael has just gained. Jupiter rises, turning halfway away, dial angling towards Arisu. "Come. Would you like a tour?"

Ah those words brought some ease to a twisted heart. A reassurance that her revelation was right, that it was not in vain. Her family held weakness. She still longed to seek out Fiamette, to give the older sister a chance to redeem herself with explanation of her abandonment of Apollyon. Arisu would not be able to forgive Hestia so easily, however, when the black sheep had stood there and done nothing for her own honor. No... There would be no forgiveness for her, just as there would be none for her mother Viridiana. The former red queen would someday fall, and, with any luck, by her own fang. She would not resort to the mercy of poison for that.

“I assure you i’ wou’d be my p’easure ‘o show you.” The test preformed on the little Northern hunter seemed to work well enough after all. It was heavy enough to do damage, but not kill, providing that the healers of her pack were competent. But there would be time to tell her leader of that another time. She would answer only to the woman’s beck and call, and no other. No other deserved to hold her loyalty in a pack any longer. Her own smirk would find it’s way to her lips and her head would be dipped in a respectful manner.

“You are ‘oo ki’d.” The female would rumble. Head would lift, acidic gaze sparking with life. Yes, there were some plans to be made, and training to drop into. The idea of serving Ludicael certainly appeals to her.

“’ha’ wou’d be sple’did.” A thought occurs to her, that neither she nor the phoenix knew each other’s name. “I am ca’ed Arisu, by the way.” She gives her name in a manner that shows pride for it, but does not tack on the surname she had originally been born with. She was no Sovari after all... Since her mother disowned the female children she had. Vi... Would rue the day she made that mistake. Arisu swore it it.