She thinks she is far enough away from me but she is wrong. I didn't like the way she walked away after everything was said and done. It just seemed so...final. Ghosts are supposed to disappear into a cloud of mist as they leave you but she didn't, her figure visible long after she walked away. Curious of this, I follow her, wondering if this is another test. Maybe she wants to show me my next conquest, show me what I am to do next to regain my soul. I am silent, sure that a ghost would be aware of my presence anyway but when she doesn't turn around and glare, I figure I'm safe to follow her unimpeded for now. The show I end up getting is strange and yet oh so right, grief striking my golden gaze as I watch her cry and roll around on the ground where I can still smell Fathom's perfume from here. She must have come this way on her way to Diveen, to find me, to let me know that she did what I wanted. She became successful, a leader, even. And then she died fighting, killing, just like any child of two assassins should. She shouldn't have died first. A parent isn't supposed to bury their child. I didn't even get that honor, though. When I came back for her body, it was gone, leaving only a trail of blood. I don't know if someone dragged her away to bury or what but in that moment, all I cared was that it made it final. She's really gone. Natalya rolls in the scent and inhales deeply, my soul crying with her. I guess even a ghost can grieve, or it's just reminding me of what drove me to this, what was the first building block before I found out that I'd lost my soul as well as my daughter. She continues this trip and I follow silently in her wake, unaware that I'm not the only one watching. I'm too distracted by her as she moves from place to place, rolling and smelling. Suddenly something changes and she sits up, growling, her yellow eyes gleaming with something sadistic and merciless. I lean forward instead of flinching back, my eyes suddenly hungry to feel the heat of that wrath. She has reached the spot where Fathom fought and killed her attackers. There are bodies scattered, already rotting and decaying but no one has moved them. Scavengers have started eating them and some bodies have been dragged further than others but all in all, the scene is still intact. Natalya goes around now smelling them, inhaling their scents. I tilt my head, wondering at this but I would probably want to know the smells of those who killed my daughter too, if only for the piece of mind, maybe even to seek out family members and end them too. I quiver with anticipation at the thought. Maybe this is my next step, maybe this is what she's showing me. I should be hunting the family members of the attackers. She moves on but suddenly she tenses and turns back, her yellow eyes seeming to find me and go right through me. She calls out to her followers and I inhale sharply. Surely she must be talking to me. I notice now as I watch that she's put on some weight, this ghost. Can a ghost do that? It's almost as if....no, I cannot fathom the thought. I shake my head as if doing so will clear it, my eyes blurry with my turmoiled thoughts. Natalya seems to forget about her stalker, or maybe she just doesn't give a damn anymore. She starts walking ever so slowly back toward Diveen and I watch with grieving golden eyes. Only then do I notice movement in my peripheral vision. My hackles stand at attention instantly, my protective side coming back with a vengence for the silver female before me. No one touches her but me. Ears prick as I snap my head around to see a dark male standing up and walking out of the bushes toward her. My nose twitches, gathering his scent. Was he following her too? I was too preoccupied or I would have noticed. My lips curl back, fangs glistening in threat. I listen to his words and now I'm seething. Forgetting her wrath when she finds out that I was following her all this time, I launch myself out of the bushes, landing in between him and her in two strides. My stance is widened, my fighting stance, ears pinned flat to my skull, jaws stiff and chomping at the bit, my golden eyes piercing him like poisoned arrows.
"The kind that only a lower vermin would notice." My eyes narrow in challenge, muscles rippling beneath my midnight coat as I stare the male down like my midnight snack. I'm already gauging his distance to every tree, every trail that leads out of here. Unless he gives me a reason to spare him, I don't plan on letting him out alive, not after insulting my imprint. I notice the scent of Iromar on him but pack scents don't really mean much to me right now. All I know is that he is a threat to my imprint and so I plan on making sure he's never a threat again.