Their gazes locked, neither of them losing concentration enough to break the gaze. For as much as assassin was studying the fiery pup, she was being watched even closer. The midnight portals never strayed from her comrades green orbs, every minute emotion taken into account. Nova wanted to know everything, from the surface of Azula to what made her tick inside. She cared naught for the words that would have tumbled out of her Elder’s mouths; she had learned with pain inducing time that words were nothing more than false niceties that wolves fed to each other. What mattered were the miniscule twitches and reactions during their speeches, or their reactions to the words of others. Marx had already taught her, without realizing it, how to hide her emotions. She had practiced in her time alone, which though few and far between, were spent with care and practiced discipline. And as Nova listened to Azula she spent more energy watching the ess and her subtle movements. But with a trained assassin such as Azula is was much harder to find these twitches and quirks. Azula was the best of the best at what she did, and being the assassin she was she must have been highly trained to hide her true motives.

Nova like Azula, craved no pity and was happy to receive none. A simple nod was all she had needed. Azula stood to stretch with the fiery pup, small dust particles floating into the air. The dirt had begun to seep into her fur, she felt the dry particles nitched in her fur and she wanted to get it out. Nova decided she needed to find a fresh water source and bathe, there would be no other way to get it out, but on the other paw she was becoming part of Abendrot. She could feel its darkness enveloping her as it had with Marx and Halina. She felt the shadows hugging against her flaming fur, quieting and shading her. She was becoming part of Abedrot and she loved it. Nova looked to Azula as she nodded to the trees and started to pad into the shadows once again. Nova’s question echoed in her ears and into the barkless trees, but Azula’s response drifted to her as she trotted in pursuit. “I’m the Epsilon here. I’ve chosen to take on the role of Assassin. I was trained to kill and hunt down enemies, but my ways are not as forefront as the soldiers, though I could fit in with them as well. I was taught how to get to my enemy before they even knew I was there, to sneak up on them and take them out before they had a chance to do much. I caught the scent of Marx on you, will you be training as a soldier?” Nova nodded, she liked Azula and the way she presented herself. Even as an assassin, Azula spoke with brutal honesty among her packmates, making the fiery pup all the more content with her choice of home. If you could call it that. Most wolves thought of them as an army, which there was no doubt of, but they were a family too. They protected each other unlike Nova’s previous home. It was a place of survival, and with Nova’s outcast appearance her survival was a greater surprise to most wolves.

The mud sucked at Nova’s paws as she treaded beside Azula at her shoulder. “As Marx’s trainee I do assume to be a soldier, but I do hope to mix a bit of disciplines. Attacking outright can only get you so far, but as an assassin you could so much more in addition to being a soldier. I am only as useful as I make myself and I will be all that I can be.” Nova looked to the assassin, a more serious look upon her face than before. What she said was true. She wanted to be anything and everything. It was her forte afterall. She was the copy-cat. “How many assassins does Abendrot have?”