That call of victory from the plains has the hair on the back of my neck standing in a perfect obsidian display of disdain, rage fills my young form that Mother could lose yet another battle. Those wolves were more than twice her age, and still that weak bitch couldn't defeat them. Russet lips pull back over perfectly white knives, a dark growl much like my father's escaping me as I trudge away from the marshes of Iromar. Once again that strumpet has failed to make her throne her own once more, and I find I am sick of her failures. I am half grown, standing at nineteen inches tall, I am nothing to bark at. I will be one day, I will be able to topple the empire those interloping bastards have raised in our absence. Until then, I must fight and hunt and train my body to respond in all manners. I have to condition myself to be used to the pain others can bring, not just the fangs of my mirror. Gehenna is a merciless training partner, but even our spars do not compare to what happened to Mother.

She has lost an eye and half her ear in the pursuit of a crown, and I will be good and dead before I go losing body parts. I want my throne, I want the birthright I was promised, but I have to become better than them if I hope to win. They hold experience, and I am but a pup looking for trouble. Time will make me great, I simply have to wait and plot.

My trek from Iromar brings me through the Aplos, where a familiarly strange scent assaults my nostrils. Hood rising to scan about, I search for this tantalizing tendril of my father's scent. It smells like him, and yet not like him, more like the Angel line of Diveen and less like the Grotto we are known to inhabit. The trademark of any good predator is curiosity, and I am not without the instinct to investigate. I follow this trail as far as the fields of Ruieze, knowing this terrain intimately as I remain deathly silent on my gloved paws. Russet trimmed black feet make hardly a whisper as I move along, spotting a white female ahead of me and moving in to wonder at her grace and trim physique. Obsidian organ raises in the sky once more, the glistening surface of my nose twitching as I catch the teasing scent of her.

She seems confused, lost, and maybe a little crazy even. Her fangs revealed on more than one occasion as I trail behind her. Why does she smell like my father, and not like my father? Is this wolf a mistress of his? An imprint that he found? A mate? If so, Mother was going to be furious that he disappeared with her. She halts and I make sure to stop with her, though this pause is much longer than the others, perhaps she was well and truly lost. This is my cue to move, and my tri-colored form trots up along side her, giving a bit of a huff as I don't want her showing her fangs to me.

I might take that the wrong way and chew her face off.

Upon nearing her front - provided she hasn't struck at me yet - I notice the mask she sports. Cinnamon at the edges, the eye spots slowly fade into black around her eyes and I find myself blinking rapidly in recognition of those gleaming orbs. Gehenna sports eyes like these, only rather than black splotches, she has a ring. Who is this wolf? And why does she look like my family? "Are you lost? What is your name? Are you looking for something? Where are you from?" A barrage of questions leaves my lips unbidden, shock evident on my young features, and confusion marked there as well. Shaking my head a little, I come back to myself, cheshire grin on my face appearing more sheepish than anything I have expressed before. "Forgive my manners, I am Widow, daughter of Jaidah and the shadow that follows her. You smell like my father, so I got excited...Have you seen him anywhere? I can't find him, he was supposed to be in the cave, but I didn't see him there." Excited tones and quick backpedaling makes my voice seem more childlike than I want it to, but I cannot help myself.

She could lead me to the wolf who could teach me everything about battling. She could be the key to finding my father and bringing him to my mother so she can stop feeling so lost herself. Maybe having Reaver with her would give Jaidah some strength and she could actually win something. This female could be the key to my kingdom, and I would do anything to find out just who she was and why she smells so much like Father.