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The wound was fresh. Very fresh. Hours old, fresh, and her mind was in the thick of shock; heart pounding against a heaving chest, deafeningly. Her stomach felt heavy beneath the fur, almost like a liquid that threatened to melt into a puddle. It was just as she, stumbling out of the wastes, so desperately wanted to do. Melt. Disappear. Grief had a way of rattling ones core. But the wolf that wandered just beyond the Redwoods threshold appeared fine. No trails of blood. No gashes to be found. A healthy young female, by all accounts, of less than a year and growing stronger by the day.

The pain would not subsided however, as it radiated from within. There, in the space one holds for compassion, for love, for family, in her heart of hearts, a deep soul cut had been made that day. She blinked, and her minds eye took her to dark fur pressed sleekly against a large skull. Bold blue eyes peered back at her... through her... as she shook off the illusion.

What she needed was a distraction. To collect herself before returning to Wood Rot's side. Hell, perhaps she'd find another companion to travel with and never see her brother again...

That would teach him to betray family.

... But even that thought seemed to stall out just as it surfaced, losing traction and instead triggering fear. Again, her head shook to relieve the building tension and her gaze refocused on the world ahead of her.

Fen Mire moved away from the Redwoods and towards the forest, but at such a slow pace that the wastes behind her only seemed to inch further and further away.

"Oh...Silver Tongue..."

It can't be real, he can't be gone. I definitely saw it though... for sure, I saw him. Lying there an--They're idiots, both of them, such idiots... I hate--



The train of thought vanished. There was no crash, no stutter... just poof, gone.

And in its place there loped a stranger.

"H-hello! Hi, hello! Yes, hi!" Fen Mire's tone went from off-guard to thrilled in seconds, like the master bluffer she was, and the female's bounding was met by her own high-footed trot as the gap bridged in just a few strides.

Once upon the other female, what would normally be a polite greeting of minimal contact turned into a flurry of wiggles, yips, whines, and the excited snuffle of a nose, beneath a skull, violently scenting the air around her.

The flustered energy that, initially, had no place to go morphed into anxiety as Fen Mire reeled back and lowered herself flat to the ground; tail sweeping like a rudder at her back.

The feigning of submission had not only been taught by, but had earned her the affections of both siblings each and every time she displayed it. So, conditioned, her eyes rolled up from a bowed head and she panted heavily in wait for...

Well... affection. At least thats what she thought she wanted.

Well this was a pleasant surprise. The mixture of building excitement and the positively reinforced behavior only leant to Fen Mire's ruse, and she continued to play into the interaction. All but forgetting about the weight of her grief.

When the other wolf began to speak, her ears shot back and a gleeful 'smile' peeled her lips; exposing clenched teeth. The wiggling subsided for only a moment, allowing her to breathe out, "I've never been here before! I am from the Wastes... My name is Fen Mire! My brother and I are--" when pawed at, Fen gave an excited whine and shuffled forward, rolling to her back. Forgetting her place in conversation entirely, she instead used her forepaws to swat at the air around the female.

Play? "Oh! I'D LOVE TO PLAY!" Her legs kicked frantically, tail-end sweeping at the dirt while the skull she wore clattered against the earth. She was a chaotic flurry, worming her way closer and closer to this strangely inviting female. "What games do you know?!"

She really wanted to suggest the hiding game her brothers never let her in on, but just thinking about them kept her from doing so. They didn't have to be present to keep her in-line...

One of them didn't have to be alive at all, in fact.

A tongue poked out from in between her teeth before the whole of her jaws unhinged, heavy breaths accompanying her display.

Tag? "Oh, um!"

Though her eyes never left the other female, Evie's explanation fell on deaf ears. Fen Mire broken the illusion by falling silent, then righting herself into a state of stillness. Tag... Tag... Tag... What was tag... had the boys ever played it? Did they exclude her from that, too? Maybe they never told her about it... Why couldn't she remember?

Was she forgetting about him already?

"... My brother never let me play...that one..." She muttered abruptly, mouth barely moving to ensure she was heard. And her gaze had fallen to the forest just beyond them; staring without actually seeing anything at all.

It took another moment, a deep breath, before the memories pulled Fen to her feet. Beneath the skull she blinked hard, and the thoughts grew foggy... steadily dissipating... so she blinked again... and again... until the other female came back into view. Her whole body took to wiggling again, but with such intensity as to distract from it having ever stopped.

"Okay! Show me how um... what's your name?"

“No… but—” the topics came and went far too quickly. Evening Storm… no… Evie… was already several topics in another direction, leaving Fen Mire in her wake. Foreboding. But it was no matter, for in the end the words lost all meaning and the sound of Evie's voice was drowned out by a singular realization:

Fen… had a Friend. Someone who wasn’t a part of 'the family'. Someone who… didn’t know Wood Rot... she was pretty sure of it. Someone all her own.

You won’t take this one... you can't have her…

~boop~

She leaned into Evie’s paw before it broke contact, satisfied with where her FIRST real encounter with a stranger was headed… only to quickly shift gears when the other female took to a sprint. Fen Mire bolted after reflexively, feet pounding, willing her entire body to utilize what speed and strength it could to close the gap.

The mechanics of the game were second nature… or so she thought. Even if she had lost herself to her own musings; ‘chase’ was in her DNA. She was built for it… And yet the distance between the two furthered. All the confidence in the world could not elude that of inexperience... for which Fen Mire reeked of.

“H-hey!” She called out, barely aware that they had, indeed, started the game. "Wait up!"

Tag. Touch. Tackle? Right.

Fen's legs were struggling to keep upright as much as they were trying to keep up, but she forced a response all the same. "Okay!"

With every sharp turn or action-packed maneuver Evie exhibited, Fen Mire, taken off guard, would hesitate. When she thought she was close enough for a tackle, she'd undershoot or over compensate and go skidding off to the side. And when Evie powered through the berry bush, Fen managed to get part of her long fur stuck on a twig, ripping her back into a tumble.

"Agh!" She fussed, her ego the most damaged part about her. "This isn't fair. You're too fast!"

Maybe this was why her brothers didn't ask her to play? Maybe they'd call her a cry-baby or not fast enough. Not smart enough, even...

Well she'd show them.

Fen shifted, feigning injury by lifting onto her feet slowly and then sinking back onto her rear. If she couldn't win the right way, she'd just have to win her way.

"Ah... Ow! Hold on! I need to---sssahh, I need to get up!"

Fen Mire continued to bait. She was good at this... conditioned for it. Her posture remained low, reclined, deep breaths heaving her chest to give greater show of her... exhaustion? Pain? Saying nothing in response to Evie's concern. Until...

Until she was just close enough. In sprinting distance.

Her blue eyes flicked up quickly. Were they glowing brighter than before? And though her countenance was dipped, a feral grin peeled her lips back. And it was hard to miss. "Got'cha." The octave of her tone knocked down a peg or two, sounding guttural, almost. Less like Fen... but not exactly not her.

And she leapt forward, pushing off the earth with strong hind legs, flinging herself towards Evie. Beaming with pride.

I'm going to win.

As the attempt failed, Fen went into an internal rage. Or, well, mostly internal.

"But you still can't catch me, nah, nah." She mocked, but even that was disrupted by dirt-mixed saliva; fueling the fire burning within her. When she finally found her feet, Fen peeked over the bush to see Evie on her way out. Several strides out, as a matter of fact, and gaining distance fast.

It left the dark brown, brooding wolf in the dust. Fuming. Calculating. And realizing that the odds were not in her favor.

She was out of tricks. And the game was no longer fun because she couldn't win... legs that nearly had a mind of their own propelled her forward at a slow jog. When she rounded the bush, a quick sprint helped... but not by much. It took her a moment to realize it. To accept it.

But Fen was bested.

Defeat played out behind her eyes, while every other part of her kept moving. Trying. And failing. When at last she was near Evie, but no where near catching the she-wolf, Fen Mire called out.

"Alright! You win!" Breathless in her efforts, she slowed to a stop. She was winded, a cough rasping from a dry throat. "I-I'm done playing. This was stupid."