It was funny. Really it was, in a ironic and sarcastic sort of way. For her entire life, Yayoi Miyako had been brought up on the premise that love was for the weak, and so in order to prevent others from viewing her as such, she had had to keep her relationship with Eisukuro secretive. It would not do for the last remaining full-blooded sister of the queen-to-be to be seen as weak. As it was, she had been born of the weaker gender, and had had to fight that much harder in order to trudge a way through the trenches and move up in the battalion. Her sister Ainae‘s cruelty came naturally from the first day she was sentient, but Yayoi‘s had developed in bits and pieces out of necessity. And so yes, she could be cruel and sadistic, but never to the extent of her sister. It had all originally been meant to create a mask, a façade, in order to hide her soft tender heart, but somewhere along the line she had evolved into this complex creature who lived in the land of the various shades of gray, not the black and white. But her reason for hiding her relationship with Eisukuro had been twofold… For the punishment would have been severe indeed if Ainae had discovered them, for as members of the four points of her Compass, they were not allowed to be involved in a relationship any other, for Ainae’s jealousy rolled in monstrous tsunami waves that destroyed anything and everything in their path... That is, until they had been released from their stations. Until Yayoi had been named a queen herself, given freedoms she had never dreamed possible before. Always she had been a protector to her sister, a loyal subject… This sudden 180 in her role had thrown her for a spin, for although she had always been there to watch her sister rule, she had never done so herself. And despite all the pressure and the responsibility, she had been happy, for she and Eisukuro finally free to be together. And that… That was when fate had thrown its nasty little curveball, cursing her lover to what seemed to be an eternal slumber. It seemed that they were ill-fated, starcrossed lovers indeed, for he now lay under a tangle of thick vines, healthy and protected yes, but unreachable. Untouchable.

For years she had endured torture for the sake of getting stronger, resilient. She had tortured others for information or to test their own resilience. But this, this… it had sent her spiraling. Her weakness could no longer be hidden, it shown brightly in the worst sort of way. Her eyelids were puffy and red from tears that never seemed to cease, and she was morose constantly. And so, of course, she could not be seen, not by anyone who mattered. With the believable excuse of wanting to check in on her sister now that she had fully claimed the Faraway throne, Yayoi had left suddenly, heading to Faraway, where she knew her thick body shield of armor would be quickly re-implanted. The long journey there and back, along with an unexpected extended length of stay, had kept her from her pack, and as she now trotted back to the edge of Blossom Forest, she knew she would likely have a fight on her hands. It may be for a physical fight, if another had claimed Mona Toforan for themselves in her absence, or simply a battle of wills… For who knew if anyone stayed when she left. But she knew that she would have at least one other, one who would arrive in the coming days or weeks who would be joining her ranks, and she could not help but smile. For while she had been in Faraway she had picked up the one thing that was a testament to her love, to the love between her and Eisu. Yet… The full truth was still secret and would be difficult to explain. Still, it gave her hope and a sense of renewed faith in the gods, and the fates. She paused, standing on the precipice of a cliff just as dawn broke, and it rose behind her like a beacon, so she lifted her jaws, tilting her head toward the sky and let loose a call. Not just for her own kind, but for any wolf who would listen. The past had proven to her that she was not like most others of the kalak bloodline, and it was about time she start acting like it.

Word Count: 764