Auriga felt the chill of polar-cold air against her snout. Her shoulders rolled as she took to her usual traveling pace-- a plodding sort of jog, one meant for endurance rather than quick travel. Auriga, as a hunter, knew a great deal about matters of endurance.

Of course, as a Saxe, she knew these things for multiple reasons.

A little smirk on her face, Auriga loped across a chill-ground field, darting into the cover of thick trees. Here, this far north, she was certain to find something interesting. She slowed to a confident stride and scented at the air, tongue hanging between jaws that were quirked in the usual Saxe smirk.

She was smaller than her brother, true, but the two had some resemblance.

A satchel hanging around her shoulders -- that she had stolen from a now-dead traveler -- Auriga began to search for herbs. Anything she could find would do, but Dandelion was the main order of the day.

The monochromatic fae had been contemplating once again venturing out of the Sound before her time had come. Sephiran had not allowed it quite yet- but it was tiring to continue waiting for a chance to prove herself to him, and who knew how many time it would take in the end. Her only solace was the fact that she was not a quitter. Absinth was a female of great pride in herself, unwilling to back down from the challenge of leaving this opportunity alone. Besides, she was far too attached to Aresenn now to prefer wandering off by herself. She wanted to see how all this would turn out.

Her usual trek across the expanse of the polar sound came to a head when she scented a newcomer. Not a bear again- no. A someone. Absinth took to tracking down the stranger, seeking to find out just who they were. There had not been many souls to venture here, so why now? Her mostly snowy form took well to the terrain, eventually coming to find an earthly-toned figure searching the ground for what she assumed was herbs judging by the satchel clinging to their shoulders. Absinth decided to approach after ensuring there would be no ambush, her voice carrying on toward the other wolf casually. "Strange place to gather herbs, wouldn't you say?" Her emeralds flashing curiosity- but also confidence.

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Auriga heard the stranger's approach, and she raised her head, one paw moving to pluck a singular yellow-headed flower between her claws and place it in the satchel.

The dry tone that came from her jaws was amused, at least. "Only if you've no imagination." Auriga's lips twitched into a smile that was more sincere than her smug little expression from before, and she continued on her way, circling slowly towards the stranger. Her yellow eyes, beady and cold, narrowed slightly as she took Absinthe in. "And what, pray tell, has you this far North?"

It sounds almost like an accusation. Almost. Almost. Auriga continues her search, though, because she had come for a reason, and though the woman was appealing, she... needed to multi task.

The other woman answered dryly, her lips set in an amused curl. 'Only if you've no imagination.' Ha. The ash and mud stranger took a moment to assess Absinth, while still her movements continued on searching for herbs to pluck from the earth. Absinth couldn't help the grin twitching it's way across her lips, her snout wrinkling in the process. Her inability to control her expressions rearing it's ugly face again. "Oh you know. Making friends." She rumbled with mirth, an edge of snark entering her tone. "The polar bears have been great to play with- they make comfortable beds too." Absinth quipped with a laugh. Her eyes seeking contact with the strangers, peering down at the satchel once again. "Got a purpose for those?" She sauntered closer to the other woman slowly, testing the boundaries of this interaction. And why not ask? No harm in new information.
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The other woman seemed to have little problem getting closer, and Auriga took quiet note, drifting closer, allowing the satchel to be presented in a somewhat tantalizing way as she plucked another herb from the earth, pinched it between her claws, and put it away. Another dandelion. They grew here, and she was pleased with that. What an odd place to find them, certainly, but oddity didn't matter much at all, did it? The stranger grinned at her, strange and jackal-like, and Auriga's brow-points rose slightly. She stepped, like she was moving away, and then she spun on her heels, face near to Absinth's, a twitching smile crossing her face in turn as she leered at the other woman. This was Saxe to the core: the bristle of her nape, the saliva that trailed between her fangs. "You'll find me not so easy to rest on as a polar bear, my dear, my darling." A low noise in her throat, something wild in her eyes, something aching to hurt, to punish. "And my satchel is for the flesh. The herbs go wonderfully with a little--" Closer, so that her jaw brushed against the woman's ear, her voice a low rumble that crossed to a laugh-- "Red meat." Then she passed by the woman, brushing against her all the while as she went. "But you don't seem the type to understand." Her goading was obvious, now, and Auriga turned to look back at the woman beside her, a satisfied, smug twitch of the lip-- that smile again, that god damn smile -- "... you seem too... domestic to savor the finer points of life." Temptation. "Auriga"

The subtle closeness they were both procuring did not  go unnoticed by Absinth. Did she care, however? Not really. It was fine entertainment. She watched as the other woman gathered another dandelion and tucked it away. There was something… something familiar about her. Nothing she could pin down exactly- but the inklings of malice began to flood Absinth’s cortex. But how to be sure?

There was a brief moment where she believed the newcomer would walk away from her- in which case she was prepared to follow and prod her for more. But the instance never came. What did happen though was a thrilling surprise. The woman had spun around quickly on Absinth. A smile and a wicked look in her eyes as she spoke bluntly of the bear rug- and some words of endearment. Ah. She felt it now clearly. A touch of madness. Wonderful- exhilarating, but a treacherous thing she’d have to maneuver about. In the moment it took Absinth to make such an observation the other woman took an opportunity to draw ever closer. Her jaw coming into contact with Absinth’s ear and sending a tingling sensation down her spine at the laugh which followed closely.
“Mm.” Absinth played casually along with the provocative behaviors of the stranger, a hum of appreciation for the bodily contact- but not lustful. She didn’t need the problem of what might come along with it. “I’m not just a pretty face- the mind is a hell of a thing to explore.” She aimed to keep the dandelion woman occupied with conversation, accepting the teasing and offering a new topic in exchange. “Not quite. But do tell me, what the untamed do in their spare time- finer points and all. Or do they merely collect yellow flowers with a smile all day long, flirting with us domestics?” Tut tut. She did not hope to anger the woman- but a little more intensity in the interaction wouldn’t hurt.

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Absinth didn't run and Auriga laughed, seized by a deep and wild strength -- she snapped her head to one side, ear swiveling as she listened. Listened to...

Her head tilted back towards Absinth. "... come, now. I'll show you."

She didn't say what she heard. Instead, Auriga took off like a shot, jaws parting as she thundered through the grasses and small trees. As she exploded through a thicket, she seized something in her teeth and twisted, throwing it back towards Absinth--

A coyote bitch.

Jaws parted in a pleased smile. "Now! To business!" The rest of the coyote pack burst out from hiding, snarling and screaming in fear, in rage. Auriga dodged one's lunge, countering with a kick that connected with the coyote's throat. There were four all told, not including the one she had thrown at Absinth.

The monochromatic fae watched and waited for a reaction from the other girl- and it did not disappoint. The earthen female took off after something, leaving Absinth with the question of whether or not she was going to follow- and why the fuck not? Her heart thumped in her chest once before she set off in pursuit.

Coming up on the other girl she was graced with a quite dramatic scene. She had begun attacking coyotes! Just as suddenly as Absinth had approached again did the stranger throw her a gift. How considerate. Immediately she seized the smaller candid by the throat, slamming it down into the ground before pulling the esophagus out with a great splatter and gurgle of the fallen yote. Absinth spit the jugular out, her face and chest stained now by a pretty red. As she peered over she caught sight of four more playthings.

A grin grew across her inky, bloodied maw- a low giggle erupting from her exhilarated lungs. Absinth barreled into one of the poor things with a tumble, catching it between her fores for a moment; she proceeded to clamp her jaws into the back of its head and stood upright again- the coyote caught by its skin, hanging there for all the others of its pack to see. Then she turned to face it towards her fun accomplice. Show ‘em something nice.

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The coyote she threw to Absinth didn't stand a chance; it was slammed down, torn open in a moment. Auriga slowly approached the one she'd kicked in the neck before jumping to the side, avoiding the lunge of another coyote-- she had a target, and the woman behind her laughed, loud, pleased. Auriga snickered and her jaws parted, saliva trailing from upper to lower jaw as she lunged forward, catching the coyote by its snout. With a jerk of her body, she tore back, catching the coyote's nose in her teeth, shredding the dark-felt appendage, leaving its muzzle a noseless waterfall of blood; the coyote screamed, scrambling back as Auriga charged towards it. This was a game. This was fun. It didn't last long, though. Half-mad with fear, the coyote fell over itself, presenting its belly-- and Auriga dove her head down, tearing open its abdomen and yanking out a glistening strand of intestine, shaking the organ in her teeth, flinging blood over them as she shook it like a goddamn ragdoll, like a toy. She didn't bother to kill the coyote. Not when another one ran at her and latched its teeth onto her rear end, resulting in Auriga turning around to headbutt it. "Take one alive, would you? I've... an idea." It ... didn't sound like a pleasant idea, as Auriga bulled over the coyote she now faced and placed her paws on its neck, watching it struggle for air. "Auriga"

Absinth watched with her teeth still holding the captive audience within her vice grip, tail lashing at the gory scene ahead of her. She saw the kick- the blood absolutely pouring from the face, or what was once a face, of a coyote. Poor thing got so shell-shocked, so full of primal fear that it tripped and all at once the other female gutted the thing. But it laid on the ground, legs moving- twitching as it could not comprehend what had happened to it. Its eyes were wild and growing ever dull; gurgles coming from its maw as it was forgotten about in favor of another target.

The monochromatic fae chuckled through her teeth, slamming her captive down as circling it as it struggled for breath- to which Absinth lowered her muzzle to its throat and took it into her jaws; a loud snapping noise echoing in the clearing. Just as she was going to raise her head and check on her acquaintance the last standing coyote struck her. It got hold of the scruff of her neck, trying to rip furiously into her for revenge. Absinth growled in anger, her lips peeling back with a vicious snarl. “Parasite.” She craned her head and with jaws splayed she came down on the little beast with full force, pulling it off of herself in the process.

But now she had a choice, which to take alive? They only needed one.

A thought struck her. With a glance back at her companion- making sure their endeavor was going well-  Absinth set to work. First she pinned her captive down and slowly went around breaking all of its legs; which got easier as the number of functional limbs decreased. Then she waited for her new friend to finish up and come over. “Why not two? Twice the fun.” Emerald eyes gleaming with satisfaction not entirely quenched.

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Auriga stood over the coyote that she had knocked over. The young male struggled underneath her, and Auriga found herself developing a savage sort of sneer, her tail twitching side to side; if she'd found a woman, this would be going... incredibly differently. But this was a boy, and Auriga had no such interest in men. Absinth had a captive coyote, and Auriga had one; the bulky bitch grabbed her captive, watching him struggle, and dragged him close to Absinth. "Two... two is good." Now they had their captives. Now the fun would begin. Absinth got to her grisly work, and Auriga watched, satisfied. She made her captive watch, too; the boy wept for his father, and scrabbled at the earth. Auriga leaned down and spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear, pretending to whisper into the boy's ear. "A game. Let's play a game. You be entertaining, boy, and when we're done with this bastard, we'll ... let you go." She stepped away, but not far enough for the boy to get an idea of running. He was shaking, and he looked ill, only becoming more sickly-seeming as Auriga began to sort the organs of his twitching relative. She rent flesh from bone, and undid the guts, splaying organs upon the earth and harvesting the skins of intestines. She snickered as the boy stood, listening to his family die, listening to the pained cries. "Do you not understand? Entertain us, boy!" She began to wind the gut-strings together. "Are you hungry? Is that it?" As she worked on her grisly task, winding guts into something more substantial, Auriga shoved the carcass towards the boy, towards Absinth's captive. "Well?" Auriga murmured. "If you're too weak to be entertaining, you must be hungry." "I'm not--" The boy staggered back as Auriga struck him across the face. He stumbled against his limb-broken father. "You're not hungry? Then why are you being so fucking boring, eh?" She tightened gut-strings. Already, Absinth could likely see what was being made here: a snare, the sort that caught prey by the neck and hung it high. "N-no, I just-" "Or should I bring you back to my brothers? They'll fuck you to death." Auriga said it so bluntly-- her ears twitched forward in amusement as the boy cried out and shook his head. "Then eat, you little whelp. Eat!" She reached out, grabbed the boy, and pushed him face-first into the steaming abdominal wound rendered in one of his relatives. As he bent, Auriga peered at his neck, and made a slight adjustment to the way she wove guts together. No, no. She needed to make it a little... looser. Enough to make this fun. "Auriga"

Absinth was vaguely aware of the show she was putting on for her accomplice and their other captive. She was much too invested in her work to fully acknowledge it. Her jaws snapped the limbs easily, blood dripping in a steady rhythm from where her teeth pierced, exposed broken bone peeking out for all to see. When she was done permanently immobilizing the poor thing, she turned her head to look at Auriga with a grin. It would seem she had a young boy coyote, and what a little bitch he was.

Absinth did not speak as Auriga began the true torment of the boy’s mind. It was so strangely reminiscent of the manner in which her father evoked terror in others for the sheer pleasure of it. She grinned as the other woman left the boy in a fear stricken state, moving off to eviscerate a fallen coyote. A rumbling growl of appreciation for the woman’s cruelty left her inky lips. This boy wasn't leaving here alive even if he put on a fucking talent show. “You stop being amusing, you die.” She purred in clarification, approaching the boy and circling him closely, close enough that he could smell the blood on her breath when she spoke. “Come on boy, piss yourself, something! That’ll be funnier than this fucking trembling you’ve got going on.” The words were hissed, her fangs on full display as she berated him. Then, her new friend had a fun new idea! Hunger sure did make you act funny, didn’t it? The maniacal nature of the other woman was infectious. Just as it had been with her father. Absinth was drawn into the chaotic mood exuding from such a truly fucked up situation. But, really, who cares. The victims sure wouldn’t after they were dead.

Tut tut. The boy made the mistake of speaking instead of doing. She could point out almost every false move the kid was making, starting with not doing as he was told. Zero survival skills. The strike sent him into a stumble into his father, still agonizing on the ground in shock due to the rapid succession of broken bones he’d received. “I think he’s a bit slow-witted. He’s not getting the picture.” Absinth cackled, stepping over her captive to toy with the ragged edge of bone coming out of his thigh. Eyes darting up briefly- she glimpsed the noose Auriga was fashioning. What a wonderfully wicked woman you are!

Would the boy eat? Would he be fucked? Absinth was eager to find out. As his face was plunged into the cavity of guts that used to be another coyote; she waited for the answer. Reaching down to silence her own captive, who had begun to beg and plead, with a snarl, she grabbed his scruff and adjusted him so he could fully witness the entertainment. “Shut up. Look. Watch. The show’s just getting started.”


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Absinth appeared to be equally a fan of this tormenting performance. As Absinth demanded the youth piss himself or be otherwise entertaining, Auriga snapped her teeth at him and shoved him -- tilting so he couldn't see the noose she slowly began to wind. Fibers laced together, twisting into thin, skin-cutting strands. She knew how these worked, and knew how to make them so that the prey suffocated slowly and tried to scream, but couldn't. Her eyes raked over the coyote. How high to hold the thing off the ground, eh? She had to find the proper height. Height that held her prey off the ground almost too far, forced him to stand on his toes until his legs gave out and -- A smirk crossed her face. This would be perfect. But the boy, who had understood, at last--? He began to sob, broken, and he lowered his head. His teeth scoured the meat before him. Coyote vanished down his throat. Bite by bite. He choked on it, and Auriga laughed, slipping a paw through the noose and feeling how thin she'd made the fibers, slowly constricting her own leg. "Bring yours over! Call it a -- heh. A family dinner!" Eyes flashed. "Auriga"

Absinth cackled loudly as the boy began to crumble. His maw dropped to the flesh of his kin. He consumed. Disgustingly ripping and sending chunks of his own kind down his gullet, to never be disgusted within his stomach. She felt no pity, no bile in her throat- all that bubbled up from her was the intense satisfaction of watching a weakling be bullied into something so horrendous. It was hilarious. Swept up by the atmosphere of depravity she immediately obeyed Auriga’s beckon, dragging her broken-legged quarry over to the grotesque scene.

To her own captive, she shoved him into the cavity of the meal-coyote and commanded him to eat, but the pained yote refused. He spat blood and bile, cursing Absinth and her new friend with death. Insulting them. Absi hummed when he sputtered into silence and weeping, attempting to comfort his boy with a few soft ‘don't be scared.’’s Pitiful. She put a stop to that talk, snapping at one of his broken legs, twisting it to hear an audible crackle. He didn’t quite shut up, but at least he was screaming too much to formulate any more irritating words. “So weak. So pathetic. All that you are, all that you will ever be, is a moment of fun in my life. ‘Don’t be scared?’ You’ve got to be shitting me! Hahaha! What else is there to fear except the end of your lives?” Her voice was wild with sadism, a condescending tone heavily enveloping every word she spoke. Absinth cast a glance to Aurgia, smirking at the noose and its future use. What would the finale be?
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