Enyo stood atop a crest of sand, her eyes scanning the barren dunes as the sun blazed overhead, unrelenting in its assault. The air shimmered with heat, the land stretching endlessly with only an occasional cactus or withered tree breaking the horizon. Her paws shifted on the hot ground, grains of sand slipping beneath her weight, but she stood firm. Her choice of setting was not by accident. Deliberate. She wanted Erebros as uncomfortable as can be, to feel the pressure of the sun and burning sand on his paws. To understand.

Her anger was still fresh, simmering beneath her skin like a fire. Medusa had no right to be there, to challenge her in front of their family, to leave her scarred and humiliated. And what made it worse was that Erebros had allowed it, standing by as if Medusa were one of them. Enyo’s pride burned, and it was a flame that demanded to be addressed.

She had sent Foberos with the letter at dawn, demanding Erebros meet her here, in this unforgiving place. She wanted to confront him away from prying eyes, where there would be no distractions, just the raw truth of her anger and his explanations. She needed answers.

Enyo narrowed her eyes against the blinding sun, her gaze fixed on the direction her brother would come from. She would not leave until he arrived. She was determined to make him understand the gravity of what had happened, the breach of trust she felt. As she waited, her heart pounded with a mixture of anticipation and fury.

"SPEECH"

CODE BY SIN

Érebos was a methodical, cold and calculating man. everyone knew this, that knew him. the scene at the mandatory fight training was a mess. he would admit that, but medusa acted out in a way he didn't see coming. her unperdictability didn't have to be an issue, but in this case it certainly was. even if enyo did not speak on the matter, it crossed his personal boundaries. his sister, as headstrong as she was, was still his responsibility. he expected much from her tongue this dawning day but his patience would be according. had she chosen to act out in a childish way, she would receive a abrupt correction. despite the wrong doing of medusa, he aimed to discuss the matter with enyo in private and controlled way. so when his sister's falcon came with a message, he took it.
not that he had to.
his walk was wide and purposeful- a hefty breath as he flared his nares like a mad bull. his muscles swiveled and danced beneath his rugged thick coat, his mane bouncing as his enormous frame intruded the barren dunes. a place that was arid, dry and hot. it made him more primal while he began to pant. the dunamis were not use to such conditions. their homeland being more cool than boreas. he didn't pay too much mind on her chosen setting as he prowled closer, finally locking eyes on his sister from afar.
he stops panting then, slowing to meet her head on with jowls that hung loosely, smelling her as he remained tall atop the warm ground. the sand burned but he did not falter, his body tense with twitching anticipation and testosterone musk high in the wind. his tail erect as his ears cupped forward- all his attention gravitated towards her with unyielding scrutiny. his voice then was a booming force that crashed into her, his eyes empty, stoic & harsh as they bit through her. "Enyo Dunamis." greek accent draped over his words-, a powerful greet yet concise. a sober man, he came to hear what she had to say and he came to lay down what she had no choice to bear. his demeanor was tight, crushing and pushing against her. a feeling of distaste before them. unease, the line was thin here. what this meeting would entail was unknown to Érebos, but he was entirely geared for whatever enyo would try. however so, his energy was thorn-like with the promise of retaliation flaring out like the sun itself. his eyes unwavering as he stared her down, giving her a moment to carefully get it out.


"Talking" - "Thinking"

table by scarlet

Enyo's frustration seethed beneath her calm exterior, her muscles tense as she watched her brother approach. The scorching sun cast shadows over her face, highlighting the scar that now marred her features. A mark trailing from her left eye, cutting across her nose bridge to the right. The wound was fresh, still raw. The sting it left behind was nothing compared to the searing betrayal she felt within her chest.

She waited for him to reach her, her tail flicking behind her in agitation, ears erect, and demeanor unyielding. As Erebros approached, she could see his demeanor was tight and guarded. His broad frame moved with a purpose that mirrored the authority he carried, but Enyo’s anger burned hotter. When Érebos greeted her, she took a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly, before speaking. Her ire was too great to hold inside.

"Brother," she started, her voice thick with tension, "tell me why Medusa was allowed to intrude on what was supposed to be a training session for us? For family." Enyo's tone was sharp, her voice rising with every word as her emotions uncharacteristically surged. She took a step forward, her eyes fixed on her brother, the scarred side of her face catching the light as if to emphasize her grievance.

"Do you see this? Would you have liked it if one of us allowed a similar situation to happen to you? To blindside you? If I allowed it? Everyone knows they couldn't do to you what was done to me for they would have to deal with me . Tell me, if she was anyone else. Any stranger we all would've killed her on the spot. So why is it that a new woman, a stranger mind you, allowed to do so? You cannot deny we don't know her. Not truly."

Why didn't he protect her? She was hurt, truly. She wanted to lay into her brother and brand him as she was. Enyo's hackles rose, her anger palpable, the sense of betrayal in her voice impossible to mask. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her composure, but the sting of betrayal was overwhelming. Of all people... Perhaps, she was realizing, that her brother may not be the pillar for her to lean on as she thought.

"Medusa is not a Dunamis. She is not one of us until you marry her. Until then, she has no place interfering in our affairs. Even then, she was not raised as one of us. Tested as we were. She will never be a Dunamis by blood."

Her nostrils flared as she inhaled sharply. "I want your word, Érebos, that this won’t happen again. Medusa is not Dunamis until you marry her. She had no right-none-to be there, to do this to me." Her voice trembled a mixture of anger and the bitter taste of vulnerability.

"You need to swear, Erebros," she demanded, her voice heavy and loud, "that you will not allow something like that to happen again. Not to me. Not to anyone in our family. I will not tolerate her overstepping like this again. This is my warning. She isn’t your wife, and she isn't family." Enyo's eyes burned with a mixture of rage and hurt, a pleading note entering her voice that she despised but couldn't help.

"We don't marry for love. We marry for advantage. So to keep someone so unstable and unpredictable... imagine her in a more delicate situation. A situation where everything could be on the line. Is she someone you could rely on?"



"SPEECH"

CODE BY SIN

there were.. dangerous rifts he caught; a water full of needles that rushed over him. to which he allowed-, enduring the many errors of enyo that swept from her untamed lips. would it be a situation he needed to cancel out? they both held power in their clan.
but Érebos would always rule over her no matter the volatile behavior of his sister. women were never suppose to be leaders.
demands slipped out Enyo's jowls as she held a look of anger. her words trembling as if she had been on the brink of explosion. with the lack of bodily cue from Érebos, it was hard to see that he was too? he had been a ticking bomb in every situation, playing his cards as the other's played theirs. enyo had to walk this rope in a certain way to avoid being taught yet another lesson. one enyo could not argue about later to her family; one she could not be protected from.
she went on, demanding he explain himself. she took a step forward even, and it brought his tail high over his back like a wavering banner of assertion and pure dominance. a warning for her to back down and to certainly move away from his body. her signals were aggressive but he kept them at bay with a gleaming glare of vigilance. had her threats become too bold, he would see to it that they ended the second he wished them to.
as rigid and dogmatic as he was, enyo was still left to speak her mind as if she did not stand before her leader. he remained tall with splayed toes, his fur erect and his body itching for the slightest offset as he watched her body language closely. his binary eyes harsh and choking her features alive while he assessed her with analytic tendencies. Érebos was the king of swords. "Calm down." his guttural voice was thick, baritone and daemonic with its depth. he gave her an order, his barrel wide chest heaving a growl that sneered past the cavernous cage of his mouth. fangs clicking, Érebos' brows pressed as he addressed her then with words she'd do best to not forget. "Remember who I am to you. I am not just your littermate, enyo. Had I ordered you to be maimed, you could have fought against the right. But you cannot fight the blood and legacy that course through your very veins. You are condemned to play your part as all of our elders have been." his voice never cracked, never ceased the heaviness on the wind. enyo didn't have to like the way things were, but she had to submit to them. his snout puckered then at her next few words. his body lunging a step forward as his fangs bore through, flashing red gums at her. the male's face a spew broken rigid lines displaying his own irritation now. "I will tell you what you will and will not tolerate." his growls were louder and his temper bled out when it was necessary to.

he gave them some moments of silence before he added on with less aggravated vocals. yet his body still pumped adrenaline- muscles quivering, yearning to be activated. "I understand your fury and you have a right to feel slighted. however, you will not speak to me with demands laced on your words. I will see to it that you are not harmed by my mates again." his tail lashed, eyes never moving from Enyo's blues. "But when you sleep tonight, remember I am not bent to your will, dearest sister." another aggressive tail flick. "Medusa will pay for what's done in ways I see fit. For the mark she has given you, she will give unto me herself and become a dunamis by marriage." medusa did an assault that no one would've gotten away with had she not of been his mate at the time. medusa had to be given an ultimatum. he assured enyo, his face never letting up from the wrinkled snout and hateful glare. his ears flattened then as he went on. "Yes, I trust medusa. These mistakes will not happen again. Not from you, not from her. Not from me." his growls finally did halt but the look in his eye held an inferno enyo had never seen before. they had to compromise and he hoped medusa would as well, otherwise their relationship would have to be severed for the sake of order amongst his clan. there was much to discuss with the queen of insomnia after tonight.

"Talking"

table by scarlet

Enyo stood rigid as her brother's lecture washed over her, his voice booming with authority, the weight of his dominance bearing down on her like the relentless desert sun. The raw power he attempted to project was unmistakable, yet Enyo saw through it with cold clarity. He was trying to assert himself over her but to her, it only highlighted his own fragility. Erebros' confidence was a veneer. She knew he couldn't maintain if the roles were reversed. If he had faced the humiliation she had, the sting of claws, and the shame of being beneath. He couldn't have endured it with the composure she had managed to muster.

She thought of how men like him, her brother included, believed themselves above solely for their position. Yet she knew that they could never handle the burdens she bore, never navigate the tightrope she had to walk every day to prove her worth. Most men wouldn’t last a day in a woman’s shoes, let alone someone like her, who had to constantly challenge the expectations of her gender and prove she was just as capable, if not more. To wisely submit despite every instinct screaming that she was stronger... That she was better.

As Erebros spoke of Medusa, her ears flicked, and a wave of confusion swept over her. Marriage? How was that supposed to be a solution? Why reward Medusa, why give her even more power within their ranks? Medusa had already overstepped, and now Erebros was offering her a place within their family. It felt like a slap in the face as if her pain and betrayal were being used as bargaining chips to secure Medusa's position. Enyo didn’t understand why he would consider it a good idea. She knew his thought process but they did not need the Bone Queen that bad. If anything, Medusa needed to be put in her place. Not given more leverage.

"Was there any rhyme or reason behind her behavior?" she would ask once he finally shut up. Repeating the same lines she heard her whole life about the patriarch. The power. She would give him the same stare she gave every patriarch before her.

Yet Enyo knew better than to challenge him further. She stayed silent, her blue eyes unblinking as she met his fierce glare. She didn't nod, didn't bare her throat, but she also didn't defy him. The look she gave him was blank, a carefully curated mask that gave nothing away. She let his words sink in, and though she was content that he had promised to maintain order, she couldn't help but feel displeased with his decision. Marriage as a solution seemed weak, a compromise that benefited Medusa more than it did anyone else.

Enyo held her brother's gaze, her expression unyielding, but inside her thoughts simmered. She was determined not to show how dissatisfied she truly was. Let him think this was over. Let him believe his word was final.


"SPEECH"

CODE BY SIN