She had felt almost like a new woman now that the sickness was over her. Was she a woman? Seemed like a funny thing to say. She had always been much more reserved and obedient as a child though all the more snarky with her peers. Kefka had taught her that one day she would to believe herself more superior over others. Maybe she did feel that way but she wasn't dumb. She wasn't going to throw herself places she didn't belong. She never really had that head strong pup-tude.

She found herself back where she was born though the only early memories she had were of the fireflies and... Her eyes shifted looking for the ghost of Agria that had seemed to leave her alone after their encounter, making the sickness deepen and drive her mad. But the pink faze of the woman who she never saw as her mother to begin with seemed to get her point across and go back to where she came from.

Relm walked across to the lake where there was not a single firefly in sight. It was eerie, given the name of the land here and she knew what it was supposed to harbor. With near silence she came to the lake, her eyes lost in the reflection of herself as her thoughts wandered back into her memory of Kefka killing Agria.

"Speech"

It hadn't been long since his symptoms had begun to fade, but already Alastor was feeling a million times better than he had been the past season! Manea had smothered him with love and affection in the wake of his sickness, and seeing his own children making a full recovery had been the cherry on top of the proverbial cake. Now the Elysium band was preparing to move, and Alastor was helping to make all the necessary preparations to travel with the world being as strange and foreboding as it was. He'd headed back to the mainland to do some hunting, returning with a binding of wild hares hanging from around his neck and shoulders—snacks for the road. His children were growing like weeds in the rain and they would need all the sustenance and nutrition they could get, especially since both of them would grow sizable thanks to the dire genes of both their sire and dam.

Alastor passed by the Firefly Lake on his way back home, although the aptly named lake housed no fireflies to speak of this evening. It was dark and lifeless, though he couldn't help but wonder if all the fireflies in the world were currently following his supernatural friend Penumbra. The entity clearly held control over the bugs and had claimed dominion of them, so it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to think they followed him at will. Dark form pushing its way through the reeds and cattails, Alastor was struck by surprise to spot the flashes of bright color from another wolf at the edge of the lake. The neon pink fur gave away the young lupine even in the darkness of the eternal night; camouflaged she was not. Raising a curious brow, the Mendacium patriarch skulked closer, eyeing her up with caution.

It was only once he came within a few feet of her did he realize he knew this wolf... sort of. He'd met her when she was but a wee pup, back when he had been a Mirovis wolf promised to Lurid. This was Relm, Kefka's daughter. But where was the bizarre clown brute? He wasn't with her and his scent was nowhere to be found. Peculiar... "You know, I can't think of a single place on earth where pink would be a vial camouflage color," he quipped as he came up towards the much less smaller wolf than he remembered. Alastor flashed his razor sharp teeth in his usual smile to Relm. "It's been a while, Relm! How have you and your father been getting on?"


"Alastor"

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
____________________

Lost in her own thoughts, when Alastor's voice came through her ears she nearly jolted to turn her head towards him. She too hadn't known him well, but she wouldn't forget a face. Though she couldn't say she could pull a smile for him.

He mentioned her bright colors, and she looked back to see her cloak revealing a good mid section of her body. She reached back pulling the cloak back over her coloring properly. But she was highly tense at the presence of the man. She stayed silent almost as if ignoring him would make him go away. Her eyes scanned around them for the sign of Kefka, just like her meeting with her uncle she was going to associate Alastor's presence with her father. It was obvious that maybe something, someone, was after her. She was looking for them. That was not the case at all, and he let her know rather immediately not that he was aware of her own worries.

She sighed, her gaze moving out to the lake again while she started to relax slightly. She couldn't be too careful, it could have been a trick. But she still tried to not let the worry overcome her. "We separated." It was bold, and maybe her young mind an attitude had showed more irritant at the mention of Kefka than she intended. But she still couldn't say she was happy with the black brute's presence.

"Speech"

Alastor wasn't an idiot, nor was he blind. He saw the way Relm tried to hide herself behind her cloak and the way she turned away from him in sullen silence like she were trying to pretend he wasn't there. She was tense, like she was trying to hide from something or someone. She didn't want to be seen. Hard to do when your entire body practically glowed in that garish and ostentatious pink. The cloak helped, he supposed. Finally, she answered him after a moment of checking her surroundings. The clown wolf had separated from his daughter—or maybe the daughter had separated from the clown. It made no difference to the dire brute. "Is that so?" Alastor glanced around the lake as well, noting no presence of Kefka to be detected. No tracks, no scent, nothing. Relm really had left her father. "Hmm... pity. Oh well! Congratulations on your independence! Ta-ta!"

Turning from Relm, Alastor moved past the standoffish wolf along the rocky shore, bound back north in the direction of Alias. He had no ties to Relm nor Kefka, no interest in their wellbeing or investment in their lives. If she didn't want him around, he didn't exactly want to be around either. She and her harlequin father were nothing more than bad mementos of a life he no longer lived. Lurid was dead, and with her his past as well, and all those that came with it. Alastor had far more important and pressing things to tend to with his family.

- exit Alastor -


"Alastor"

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
____________________

It seemed they could have had the same thing on their mind, or the most disinterest in each other. And Relm could have cared less.

Or maybe not. When Alastor went to turn away on his merry way, Relm found herself on her feet and stepping forward after him, "Wait!" She had nearly called out, biting her lip in response like maybe she could have just held in the urge. She paced up to him had he tried to ignore her like she had to him. Though there was only so much she could do to get his attention. "I can..." She hesitated, she felt capable of herself but not so much since the presence of Agria came to see her. "Do you know somewhere safe for me to stay for a bit?" A cave, an island, a pack, she was running low on options given her more standoffish attitude. "I..." She stopped again, not able to get out the fact that she was scared, scared of her father finding her. But did she even have his attention?

"Speech"

Alastor would have been perfectly content just going about his way and forgetting he’d ever even found Relm again, but the girl’s cry for him to wait caught the attention of the departing dire wolf. A single red-tipped ear flicked back and he slowed his steps, turning to face the effigy of his past once more with indifference in his abyssal eyes, gazing down at her with a quirked brow. She started to say something, then stopped herself short, then asked if he had somewhere safe for her to stay. Now Alastor was baffled, but highly intrigued. The garish-colored wolf looked genuinely scared, even though she refused to admit it. That was fine, he didn’t need to hear the words to read her body language.

"Running from something?" asked the dark-furred brute with a bit of humor in his deep voice. The longer Relm’s genuine worry remained on her visage, however, the more Alastor’s teasing slipped away. He looked at Relm with grim seriousness. Realization dawned on him. "No… hiding from someone." Suddenly he understood her reluctance to talk about her father, why they had separated. Had Kefka done something to his own daughter? The fatherly side of Alastor bristled, instantly assuming the worst. He knew he’d disliked that fucking clown from their first meeting when he tried to fuck his then fiancée, but this…

Alastor nodded his head, considering his options for a moment. If he turned Relm away, there was a good chance the next time he’d see her, she’d be a corpse, if he ever saw her again at that. Though cold and violent, Alastor was not the heartless bastard he once was. "You can come travel with my family’s band," he offered, motioning with a nod of his head for her to follow him. "We’ll be heading south soon. You can stay with us as long as you need, provided you pull your weight." He had no doubt she would. Relm had always been mature beyond her age and highly independent. But if she needed a little extra security to commit patricide, he’d be happy to provide what she needed.

"Alastor"

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
____________________

There was a sense of relief that Alastor could have had at least the idea for her, but she was still tense. Her shoulders pulled back lightly but she was still clenching her jaw. Alastor's previous humor was more overlooked by her, her father after all had the same outward attitude. She felt his own drawback though, but she couldn't read his mind to exactly what he may have assumed. She wasn't quite open about it either. Just what she had expected Kefka would do had he found her, but not anything that he had done to her up to this point in her life.

"I've never been apart of a group before." She admitted, but she certainly wasn't unwilling. She had been alone for quite sometime and was well capable of herself. There were only ways to prove that opposed to her expecting Alastor to believe her. Sure Kefka had an allegiance to Lurid, but it was no secret that the group of them weren't so close knit. After all, they were all separated now. She had only seen Kichi occasionally since Kefka left the northern territories. "He was down in Auster but I've been down recently and haven't caught his scent around." Like he was gone or dead, but she didn't believe it. She did get the sense that Alastor understood what troubled her without her saying it. "I don't intend to stay for a long period of time but I appreciate the thought."

"Speech"

Relm explained that she hadn't seen her father in some time and that gave Alastor a little peace of mind. If the clown was hunting her, he wasn't doing a very good job of it. So she'd last caught his trail in Auster, but now she was up here. That put a good half of the continent between them, potentially. He nodded in understanding but said nothing yet. Relm then qualified that she had never been part of a group and didn't intend to stay for a long time. Alastor immediately dismissed her claim with a shake of his head and wave of a paw. "You can travel with us for as long as you need," he stated. It was an offer, but he was also making it very clear that he didn't intend for her to decline it. Relm might not have been a child anymore, but any wolf who willingly planned harmful things against pups was lower than scum in his mind, and to the best of his knowledge, Kefka may very well have always intended to have Relm as his since the moment she was born. He would not give the bastard his sick desire.

Alastor motioned for Relm to follow him with a nod of his head in the direction of Alias Island. He began walking, expecting the young woman to follow him back to where the band was staying temporarily. "Our band isn't strict, there's not much you have to do or worry about. Don't fight with the others and don't get pregnant. Anything else you do is your choice. We will protect you, but any consequences you bring from your actions are yours. Other than that, just stick with us, hunt for dinner when it's your turn up, and everything else is provided for you." That was it. Relm would stay with them or at least near them until Kefka was found and dealt with. Oh, and what fun Alastor would have dealing with the clown one final time.


"Alastor"

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
____________________

Relm still wasn't so sure about joining the band. She had been so alone almost her whole life. Kefka had made her that way. She wasn't very comfortable in the presence of others in general, but thinking of having responsibilities even as little as Alastor gave her, it was stressful. She nodded in response because she knew she could push through just that one thing, or if he had ended up asking her for something else too. If it made her overall life at ease than she would work on her socializing and team work skills.

She followed him onward to the island, perhaps waiting on a proper introduction. She didn't take much to heart at least. Kefka was her father after all so most things didn't bother her at least in voice.

"Speech"