The star girl slipped through the forest. Typically her noises here were shrouded by the lush greenery, but as Orangemoon took Helovia in full swing, each step produced a satisfying crunch. The canopy still cast dense shade, setting the ceiling ablaze with oranges and reds and yellows, allowing few rays of light to dapple the ground. She was enjoying the vastness of the forest. It was lonely, and she desired nothing but space to clear her head. Unfortunately, it had been an unsuccessful venture so far.

Some ways off, an obnoxious racket caught her attention. As profanities cut through the air, there was a sense of familiarity with the voice that called them out. She diverted her path, winding through the trees, sticks snapping beneath cloven onyx. Stepping through the trees, a form came into view, and a twisted smile fell upon her lips. A deep earthen buck, stained by golden filigree, fought a bush with an almost impressive vigor.

She stepped though the trees, stark and blue against the fiery backdrop, with a splash of sunlight falling across her face. A laugh escaped her at the ridiculous display. This brown and yellow boy was the same one who had attacked her, totally unprovoked, when she suffered from the dripping black of the rift. And now, here he was again, and she was unhindered by disease. It was perfect. With everything going on in her world, she needed a good outlet.

Eyes glittered in the light, glinting like a hidden dagger being drawn. "Well, well, well," she mused, slinking forward. "Look who it is." Stormy grey traced his body, steely and cold. She stopped, head held proudly, feeling venom seep into the words she desired to hiss at him. But she stayed calm on the outside, like the eye of a storm ready to surrender to vicious gales and harsh rain. She was feeling dangerous and destructive. "You're an angry thing, aren't you? I can assure you, though the branches move, it's not a living thing. There's no need to fight it."

Her tail coiled around a rear hoof. "So tell me, darling-" the last word was a misleading purr, as the word twisted from endearment to a kind of insult, "-what is it that brings you to this corner of the world?"

Though none of her business, she couldn't help but linger, heart steady, thankful there were no mountains towering as walls around her. These were the wilds, no man's land, and there was nothing tying her to her broken persona, one of warmth and friendliness and softness. That wasn't her. She wasn't the delicate flower her mother begged for. She was the viper beneath the blossoms, ready to strike.

Whatever rushed in, whatever filled the cracks in her wounded soul and broken heart, felt so much better than the despair that had settled upon her. So she faced him, waiting and willing and eager, begging to complete their unfinished business.

words
OOC|| <3 So, Ki'irha is kinda having a rough patch, and of course the first one she sees is the wonderful Rikyn. Glad to see you're back!! @Rikyn ~

Feed me to the wolves, let them have my flesh. I am something that skin cannot hold.

He reacted to her like dynamite, volatile and vicious. His ears twisted, and his gaze was molten as it caught her steely pools. She wanted to push him farther, make him twist and snap and bite. And if he lashed out at her, if he gave her a single reason, she lusted to cut him down at the knees, let his blood wash her of her past sins to create room for future transgressions.

His spat his words at her, casting insults that she easily sidestepped. Unperturbed by his venom, she tipped her head ever so slightly and raised a brow, looking as though she were trying to remember the answer to a difficult question. "Hmm," she sighed, stepping closer. "I'm not sure what it was that crawled up there. Though, you do share quite the resemblance to the rodent that did. Perhaps a sibling?"

The star girl was unable to suppress a snicker as his adversary clung to his leg. "Also, it appears your bush friend loves you back. Perhaps you should apologize and make up. Your language was atrocious, I'm sure she didn't appreciate it." Though the gilded beast was huge compared to she, and could be compared to a freight train barreling towards her should he decide to, she was unrestrained in her humor. Her wicked amusement was like the thrill of taunting an angry bear, or grabbing the tail of a rattlesnake. She was stupidly dauntless despite the possible repercussions. She had nothing to lose.

Did he even deserve her callousness? Certainly his tongue was sharp and she had plenty of reason to hold a grudge against him. But her bitterness was derived from something much deeper, a wound she would let fester before she admitted it had broken her. She let the infection poison her heart, replace the softness with something dangerous and barbed.

"I don't believe I caught your name during our last escapade. Care to share it now?" Would an asshole with any other name smell as foul? "If you'd like, I can help separate the two of you if you can't play nice. As long as you promise to refrain from attacking me as you so rudely did last time." She took another step forward, closing the space between them further. She hadn't seen him in some time. Didn't he belong to the Basin? If their meeting went sour, would he be missed?

Would she be missed?  
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words
OOC|| @Rikyn ~

Feed me to the wolves, let them have my flesh. I am something that skin cannot hold.

He snorted, and he huffed, and the blue expected that next he would begin stomping his feet like a petulant child. Maybe she was being a little too hard on him, but she needed a punching bag and there he was, caught in a bush, waiting as though the gods had left him as a reward to stumble upon. But her lighthearted taunting was turning into something more vicious than she had originally expected. (What had she expected?) Her anger mutated into rage as a cruel laugh escaped him. She visibly recoiled, ears twisting back on their polls, nostrils flaring, her muscles tensing. Of the few things that rattled her, being laughed at was high on the list. "I said nothing funny," she snipped, tail lashing angrily behind her for a moment before she recomposed herself, and it coiled around a rear hoof yet again. "If you want to traipse around here with a branch stuck to you, be my guest. Just know you look ridiculous." A joke about the 'ugly tree' and hitting all the branches flashed through her mind, but it was a little much, so she allowed it to escape without saying it out loud.

The corporal let out her own snort, nearly as soft as the velvet that rimmed her nostrils, as silver eyes rolled dramatically. She didn't have time for this. This had gone from enjoyable to annoying, and she was over it. She began to move past him to continue her venture, feminine form swaying with each step, but before she made it more than four steps her eyes fell upon his shoulder. It was obvious, emblazoned on his deep pelt, the mark she had already left on him. It was a brutal fight, and in a distant memory she could still remember the smell of his blood through the seeping ooze that had swallowed her senses during that fateful time. But looking past the scar, his shoulders were broad, sturdy, the muscles carved deep beneath luscious browns. Each limb that held him upright, one dipped in vivid gold, carried him in a prideful manner, as if he believed the world should bow for him. Eyes traveled down the curve of his back, down the outline of his haunches, sweeping under and falling briefly where her sight didn't belong. She averted her eyes quickly, embarassed, eyes landing on his face. The star girl caught herself admiring his sharp jawline and sculpted head. Even his face was trimmed with gold filigree, as if his golden crown wasn't enough. He was handsome, and despite her disdain for him, she couldn't help but appreciate his striking aesthetics. If he wasn't such an ass, she would entertain the thought of being attracted to him.

The blue's distraction came to a grinding halt. Her jaw clenched as he asked if she were crazy. She had no sly response, no witty comeback to fuel the fire that they were tossing kindling into with each jab and insult. Was her behavior really that unwarranted? But perhaps it hadn't been his fault. When the black had claimed the lands, dark and dripping and suffocating, it had driven many mad. Even she had fallen victim to vicious hallucinations of her father. So despite fighting for her life against the dark buck, maybe he wasn't the one she had been fighting. Her mind was spinning with her current problems, and now her attempts at explaining his brutish behavior were adding to the crazed mix. Still, she couldn't release her hold on the distaste she held for him. She couldn't decide whether he still deserved her sharp tongue, or if he should be granted a little mercy.

"I apologize that I have no warm and fuzzy left in me to lend to you." I wasted it on someone else. "You attacked me. You still have a souvenir to prove it. Do you deserve what kindness I have left?" She wasn't making this situation any better. Her hostility ebbed, and she sighed. Her expression softened ever so slightly, though her brows remained furrowed as she locked her eyes on his. All the poison drained from her words, leaving behind nothing but honesty. "I am not daft, I am not vapid, I am not crazy. I would even go so far as to dispute your opinion that I am a bitch. But you don't know me, as I don't know you, past our initial encounter which, obviously, has tainted my opinion of you." She scowled. Was this where she was supposed to apologize? "Perhaps who I met previously was not who I stand before now, but my impression of you still stands. So this can either be a turning point, or we can continue to despise each other until our bones are dust and the gods have been forgotten."

She would not bend to his desires, and would not apologize first for the wrongs committed against her. And though something suggested the stag wasn't one for apologies, she calmed long enough to give him a chance to sway her malice. "After what you did, do you care to tell me why you deserve anything other than hostility from me? Or perhaps you care to provide an explanation on what pushed you come after me the way you did. I would love to hear it, I really would."

She leaned back, cocking a hip as she relaxed, and waited to (hopefully) be surprised.

words
OOC|| @Rikyn ~

Feed me to the wolves, let them have my flesh. I am something that skin cannot hold.