The carmine coated viper has not been back to the soulless forest in a very long time. Artemis had left her, Ody had vanished right from under her nose... there was nothing left for her there but agonizing memories of what she could not hold onto. But, for some inexplicable reason, today she has an impulse to return to the mist cloaked forest. Perhaps it is the hope that Artemis will return to her den that urges her conscious to act on the impulse. Fiamette gives into her overwhelming curiosity, and allows herself to be drawn toward the borders of her former abode. There are multiple scents here now, as if an army of wolves had trampled across the mucky territory in the pursuit of war. Idly she begins to wonder why, her robust appendages carrying her toward the heart of the territory as she sniffs her surroundings for any lingering wolves. The heart of the forest was where Artemis kept her den. She feels a flutter of emotion devour her stomach as the small opening of her former den slips into her view, and she suddenly stops in her tracks. Instead of entering the den she is hesitant, her volcanic orbs staring at the dens opening as if something would emerge from its depths. She stands there in silence for a moment, her mind obviously placed elsewhere. She is not paying attention to her surroundings at this point. "Speech"

Kalliope immediately regretted not not turning around the moment she felt those pesky roots and underbrush tugging at her paws. She recognized them the moment she tripped over the first one, her mind flashing back to the day she had last been here when that loud woman had told her she was, quote, "fabulous". But, she had made her way through a wide part of this continent on one side of this forest, making her way in a loop and ended up back here again. She wanted to cross to the other side of the territory and repeat the process, but working her way blindly through this forest was nearly impossible. It was slightly easier than the first time, but her steps were hesitant and slow. There were many muddled scents here now and it was hard to distinguish one from the other. All of these scents were stale though and when a fresh one met her nose it was easy to pick out. From the scent she could tell it was a female and she turned her path a bit to head toward the scent, curious to see who was hanging around in this forest now. She came to a stop a couple of feet away, her attentive ears perked forward to listen to the woman's breathing to help guess where she was. "Hello," she said simply and waited to see if this stranger would acknowledge her. "Talk" "You" Think

She is not aware of the strangers presence until a soft voice breaks the silence that surrounds her, and immediately the fur along her nape and spine stand straight up. She turns quickly, the front portion of her body twisting around swiftly to face the stranger. Her eyes are filled with warmth as she glances at the woman before her, but the expression quickly fades as she realizes this is not who she was looking for. It is not Artemis. Her eyes glaze over with ice, her eye brows narrowing to glare at the stranger with her usually emotionless stare. "Hello..." She says lightly, her voice a mere whisper as she responds to her greeting. She feels vulnerable now, and curses herself silently for allowing a stranger to creep up so close without being detected. Marco must be somewhere close, and she does not doubt that he will come to her aid should she need it. For now she remains completely still, her gaze locked on the stranger standing feet away from her. What does this girl want? "Speech"

It took a couple of moments, but eventually a soft greeting met her ears in return and she relaxed a little. Something about knowing someone else was near by helped her feel like she didn't have to constantly watch every little step she took or constantly be on guard. Of course, in reality, she she didn't know if this stranger was any safer to her than she would have been on her own, but she liked to think that your typical wolf wouldn't let her just walk into danger and would at least let her know if she was about to walk off a cliff or something. Kalliope settled onto her haunches, her gaze turned toward where the quiet voice came from, but still not really focusing on anything in particular. "Not much of a talker either, hm? Or maybe I'm not who you want to talk to." A slight smirk touched her lips and she shrugged. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to talk to the blind klutz stumbling around a tangled up piece of forest either." "Talk" "You" Think

The stranger shows no signs of aggressive body language, and idly reclines onto her haunches. The former empress does not remove her gaze from the woman, her pupils adjusting to the darkness as a wave of thicker fog passes around them. The woman speaks, and Fiamette remains silent for a moment instead of responding quickly. This woman definitely isn't who she was hoping would be here, but it was better than no one being here. Maybe she knew why there were so many different scents lingering here, or maybe she was just passing through her former kingdom. “I can take you to the borders.” She offers, knowing the soulless forest is hard to navigate around if you weren't native to the forest. “I know every inch of this forest.” She adds as she takes a daring step forward, aiming to draw close enough to where the stranger can see her face and the upper portion of her body. This woman was beautiful no doubt... So why was she lingering around here all alone? “Speech”

For a moment there was only silence and in the eerily quiet forest and Kalliope thought for sure that she had run the stranger off. Jeeze, good going, Kalli. You finally find someone to make sure you don't kill yourself trip- Her thoughts were interrupted when the woman finally spoke again. Kalliope's smile faltered a little. She knew she needed the help if she was going to get out of here sometime this week, but there was just something so demeaning about someone offering their help. She sighed softly, her useless gaze staring out into the distance. "You don't have to do that if you don't want to. I've made it out of here before, I can do it again." She heard herself saying these things, but really in her mind she was thanking the stranger for being so kind. She just couldn't make herself do it. "I'm Kalliope, by the way." She through on the introduction as more of an afterthought, her voice quiet as she tried to keep her tempter in check. She had already flared up at two strangers that had offered their help, she didn't need to make that a habit. "Talk" "You" Think

"If you need the help, I can give it to you." This time she responds quickly, wanting to reassure the woman that she could help her if she needed it. The woman seems to be hesitant, either she didn't really want the help, or she didn't want to ask for it. Surely Fiamette would find out which it was soon. When the woman gives Fiamette her name, she repeats the name silently to herself a few times to memorize it. Then, she gives her name in response. "Fiamette." Again she takes another step forward, hoping to completely compromise the woman's personal space. "If you can't see because of the fog, I can lead the way..." Her voice trails off as she waits for an answer, her snout aiming to linger a single foot away from the stranger flesh.

The pale woman gave a small nod at the stranger's reassurances, but she wouldn't respond right away. She knew it was all in good intentions, or at least most likely was, but Kalli's pride knew no bounds. There was a pause and then the woman gave her name as well and Kalli would say it to herself silently. Fiamette. It was a gorgeous name. If only she could see the woman to see if her looks matched the name. Kalliope noticed that Fiamette's voice had gotten closer, but Kalli wouldn't flinch away. Instead, she was too distracted by Fiamette's comment about the fog to be worried about whether this woman was too close to her. Kalliope scoffed quietly and turned her head in the direction that she thought Fiamette was, her blank stare looking in the woman's direction. "I'm afraid the fog isn't really the problem. I wish it was as simple as the fog. I was born completely blind." She wondered sometimes if her eyes looked just like everyone elses eyes. No one ever seemed to catch onto the fact that she was blind until she told them. "Talk" "You" Think