The crimson girl felt like she had waited for days on the edge of the battlefield, when in reality it had only been a few hours at best. Skyfire had done her best to look tough, determined and yet pleasant. She was not going to run up and down the boundary line like a brute, bellowing like a moose and showing off how admirable she looked. Machiara had taught her better than that. Yes, she was a fighter! Yes, she was a powerful hunter! And, yes, her fiery coat was rather striking. But she could attribute none of these accomplishments to herself yet. The young female was still forging a name and a legend for herself here in Moladion and she would rather do that with allies than enemies.

Ice blue eyes had strayed down to her white paws where she started to watch the insect life scurry around large paws. She had been watching a little black ant carrying a huge piece of leaf when she … felt something watching her. A shiver ran up the girl's burgundy spine as she watched Ruby emerge from the emerald swaths of grass. The pair locked eyes and in truth, Skyfire almost wet herself looking into those glowing yellow eyes. Clearly, the midnight lady was older, but they almost stood shoulder to shoulder and their weights seemed to be relatively even. At least this would be a fair fight.

At first, Skyfire braces herself, expecting Ruby to launch at her, using the familiar lands or Iromar to her advantage. But, surprisingly, the first thing to fall from between those sharp teeth are words. The mountain girl pauses, almost taken aback by this turn of events. In her birthlands; might equals right. Negotiations were very rare, to the point she had never heard about it happening in her old pack. She tilts her head to one side curiously and listens to every word. Was this a trick?

At first, she did not answer, how could she answer that question? She had dipped her head to the superior female and thanked her for her time. And then she turned her back and left. She could leave a battlefield without needing to spill blood. What? The trek back to Spirane had been long, lonely and confusing. Skyfire tucks herself into her cold den, which she could barely fit into anymore. She had fallen into a light dose before the rains passed over the mountain summit. With a sneeze she awoke from her sleep as the running water cascaded past her little cave and down her nose. With a grunt, she gets up, shakes herself off, and plods back down the valley towards the swamps. She turns a single ice blue eye back to the mountain. Spirane had been good and kind to her, but did she belong there?

Slowly she drags herself back to Iromar’s edge. Blood red fur clings to her flesh and she looks like a drowned rat in the early dawn light. But she’s looked far worse before. Jaws part and she howls across the swamp for Ruby’s attention. As instructed, she has come alone. Better to earn her place with trust than with spilt blood. She closes her eyes and allows her tail to hang behind her while she waits … again.