twelve - no heart - no soul - Spirane

Natu was no longer a youth - that time had come and gone in a flash. With each year a newer, wiser Natu took her place until she looked back and realized so much time had passed since the last memory of her complete happiness. She is prone to bouts of depression. Memories will do that to a person. Eat and eat and eat at the mind until all it can do is muster muted images that inspire vivid heartache. In truth she longed for companionship once more and perhaps children of her own. If Lilith didn't want her's then Natu would certainly have taken them from her, but that is neither here nor there as they are two completely opposite creatures. There would never be a friendliness between them that in this moment is feigned.

It is only because of her wisdom that the white female slowly becomes aware of a sense of wrongness that hangs about the pair. Lilith is polite, at first, and oh-so-convincing with her expressions. A lovely rendition of true kindness but always with the false edge that, if one is looking, can be spotted. She might have been more alert at the beginning presence of the Iromar wolf if she hadn't been so overcome with a rare sense of lightness. Freedom from the oppression of her mind.

As Lilith shuffles closer Natu's relaxed pose begins to morph into one of tension. She rolls her weight onto her paws and pushes herself up, a slow rise so as not to spark the beast that her instincts tells her lurks before her. But she does not know. It is the only thing that keeps her from growing sharp.

Yet as soon as Lilith speaks about dying Natu's ears lay back, her serene expression becoming one of wariness. She is not slight but Lillith outweighs and outsizes her by quite a bit. "There are some things worth dying for, but not the world itself," Natu answers softly, her ice-blue eyes no longer welcoming. "I must be going. Good day to you," she murmurs, not wanting to turn her back on Lillith but needing to do so to leave. Taking this wolf head-on would be difficult - not completely impossible - but unrealistic. Mayhap she is wrong and Lillith is just a weird sort of gal.

Instead of circling around Lillith she heads off to her right, following the fissure now on her left side that has opened up to the grotto below. One ear is pricked forward and the other swivels back in case the black female indeed intends her harm.