Neverwinter Forest I walk in circles.

They had bid her in a general direction, and Andalusia had followed their prompts and then some. Over rocky mountains and loamy shores, walking and wandering for what felt to be ages, finding traces of millions but none of the woman for whom she searched. It seemed today fate had the same end in mind. A heavy fog clung to the forest surrounding her, and nothing but a moist chill met her scanning nostrils when she breathed in the sharp morning air. She would find nothing in these woods, and the Ostrega had begun to accept the reality she would find nothing of Chehlia elsewhere, either.

Andalusia tread lightly atop the frosted ground, picking her way through the visible trees and paying heed to those still concealed behind the disconcerting mist. The forest had merely been dark when she'd entered it the evening before, and the fog that had rolled in overnight posed an inconvenience to her day of travel. Thoughts of what might dwell in these woods did little to frighten her, but the Ostrega knew she could not afford to act in haste. She had found her way into this forest, and she was confident she would somehow find her way out.

Thanks for lettin me join :D

The regal cat was on her way back from the coast when she came across a shadowy forest. She didn't remember coming through it on her to the ocean, but it looked like she would have to go through it on the way back. She didn't like forests such as this too much. They were too gloomy, too wet and full of mushy leaves. Nothing a queen should have to travel through. But Kiiyea sucked in a breath, lifted her head high, and padded into the gloom.

The frost did little to help the sticky wetness of the mud from soaking into her fury paws and she grimaced in disgust. She should have just gone around. But it was too late for that now. Pushing her way forward, she soon caught a glimpse of another creature in the dark woods. When the scent reached her weary nose, she grimaced even more. A wolf. The mangy dogs infested her kingdom like fleas and she was tired of running into them. Maybe someday they would learn that this was her land.

My pleasure! (: Thanks for joining :D Feel free to take this thread any way you wish - conversation, spar, I'm up for anything (:

Andalusia proceeded through the shadowed woods with strides that did little to reflect her growing confidence on the foreign terrain. Gradually she found scents easier to decipher, and the Ostrega could soon pick out the subtle aroma of the wooded trees and the sharp tang of earth buried beneath the cover of frosted leaves. But nothing revealed what she was searching for, and the air brought her little more than frost-nipped nostrils as she filtered her way through the woods.

Nothing until she picked up a warmer scent lingering soft on the air. Andalusia's nose scrunched up at once and she lifted her head to scan the deep shadows of the woods. She was quick to realize the eyes of another upon her, by feeling rather than seeing, and the Ostrega carried her gaze across the trees with scrutinizing care. Someone lurked in the shadows, and no wolf at that. Acutely aware of the potential danger the cat posed to her, Andalusia stood her ground, but made no further move. Fear did not rule her mind: she would need to keep her judgement sharp, especially with the fog impairing her now.

The part wolf turned and looked at Kiiyea, her eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched up. How dare she scrunch up her nose at me! Kiiyea thought. She was the queen after all, this mutt should be bowing at her paws. But instead she was scrunching her nose?! How ignorant. The royal feline thought it good to teach the half wolf a lesson.

She stepped closer to the she wolf, her eyes narrowed and her hackles rising along her spine. She kept her claws sheathed however, as she placed one paw in front of the other.

Despite being smaller than the wolf, Kiiyea raised her head high in a regal manner, her yellow eyes scanning the wolf's features. She must be part coyote, from the smell of her.

"Why are you not bowing, peasant." she asked as she looked over the wolf, her own nose scrunched now. Her voice was light and airy, whimsical almost, but it held deeper notes that signified the position she thought she held as queen.

Search no further. From the shadow of the trees emerged a smudge of grey and Andalusia raised her head with a stifled chuff. This was the cat who watched her? With her regal walk and head held high, the lynx could have been intimidating - if she had been five times her current size. The Ostrega struggled to keep her face taut as the lynx drew nearer, a kitten next to Andalusia's towering frame.

Andalusia did not falter beneath the lynx's scrutinizing gaze. Peasant? The corners of her mouth quivered and she gave a slight turn of her head, bemused at the girl's display of royalty. "Oh? Are you queen of this land?" Stretching her neck for dramatic flair, the Ostrega let her gaze wander all around the dreary forest before she turned her placid eyes upon the lynx again. "Not much to rule here, is there?"

Kiiyea smirked at the half wolf. It was always amusing to the feline when dogs like this one judged her for her size. She may be small, but she was fast and deadly, much faster than she assumed this coyote would be.

The regal cat chose her words carefully as she let her scrutinizing yellow gaze examine the mutt in a slightly disgusted way. "You're right, there is not much here. Especially not anyone worth my time. But every now and then a good queen has to deal with the bottom dwellers of her kingdom." she said matter-of-factly, her head still held high and her bobbed tail raised as she met the mutts eyes with disapproval.

Andalusia couldn't be bothered to take offence at the contempt running through the lynx's eyes. If anything she found a tickling amusement at the situation, and any sense of danger she once thought the cat held had since vanished from her mind. The cat could have these woods. The Ostrega had no desire to settle here: she had more pressing pursuits on her mind. If she could not find her sister here, she found no reason to remain.

Yet the Ostrega did not dismiss herself from the presence of the self-proclaimed queen just yet. The woman's attitude intrigued the woman, and Andalusia continued to match the lynx's stance without waver. "You are quite correct. Can't have those pesky commoners running amuck now, can we?" she quipped, ruffling the fur along her shoulders with a gentle shake. Her eyes met the cat's with false concern. "Leave them to themselves and before you know it, they'll think they're the queen."

The half wolfs ability to shrug off her obvious insults annoyed Kiiyea immensely. So she decided to play along and see how their little game would end. Ruffling her fur, she took a few steps closer to the wolf, but not exactly towards her. More like around her, as if she was going to leave.

"Yes, I haven't seen any other commoners other than yourself, so I may as well get on my way. You seem to know you're place." she huffed, her yellow eyes sparkling with false understanding. If she could only get the message through to this mutt, then she would be happy.

"Do me a favor, mutt. Don't let any of you half breed friends step out of their places either." the regal mannered cat proposed, flicking her tufted ears with authority.

Andalusia remained unfazed as the lynx approached, quirking her brow and casting the cat a sidelong glance. Amusement now lighted upon the hybrid's steely eyes, and the intrigue of the feline's display had not yet been lost on her. The Ostrega knew her place, and it was nowhere beneath the paws of this cat.

She listened with half an ear while the lynx drawled through her speech and felt a flicker of indignation at the derision that marked her words. Though Andalusia had come to accept her heritage for what it was, she still held a flame of resentment for whichever ancestor had blemished their line with the blood of a coyote. But despite the sting that nestled its way into the Ostrega's heart, the proud woman refused to let the cat know she had struck just the right chord to provoke her. With her head held high, she gave the girl's proposition a dismissive flick of her tail. "As long as you don't step out of yours."

The dog's eyes remained the same throughout her whole speech and Kiiyea was starting to get bored of the little game they were playing. She yawned large cat yawn and stretched a little, enjoying the feeling that came with it.

"Oh honey, why would I? You on the other hand, you actually have a reason to rebel." she purred, smirking at the mutt. Kiiyea was happy with her life, but if she was a mutt like this little one, then she would indeed want to wreck some havoc.

"But don't, because it wont be fun for you." she finished, her gaze turning a colder shade then before as she looked over the wolf in front of her.

"Do I now?" The thought of her, rebelling, brought an uncertain grin to her taut face. Among her siblings, she'd always been one of the better behaved, though she supposed next to her brothers even a vagrant looked tame. In the shadow of their eccentric ways, she stood as more of a bore and often flew under the radar of those who spoke louder in words and ways. But she couldn't complain, for though she hadn't received the attention some of her siblings had, she had earned her ultimate prize through patience, discipline, and hard-work: the respect of her elders, and the trust of her foster parents.

She was keen to hold onto this reputation, but instinct told her acting against this lynx was hardly an act of rebellion. The cat held nothing over her. She took careful note of the shadows that felled her companion's face, sinister in the draping hues of the forest, but did not let her cool visage and warning words dissuade her from speaking herself. "You know, I think I've grown a liking to this part of the woods. Something about the fog and mushy ground just calls to me," she said, and a spark of mischief played into her silvery eyes. The Ostrega was confident she could handle whatever the cat threw her way. "I think, maybe, I would like to be queen."

I think maybe this is the end?

Kiiyea chuckled at the wolf's play at confidence. It was funny, the way she though this would bother the arrogant feline.

She smirked as she met the half wolf's eyes with her own large yellow ones. "Then you can have this dirt pit. Serves you right. Only a half breed would want such an ugly place." she purred, turning away from the half wolf and facing the shadows that blocked her way home.

Padding away with her head held high, she glanced back at the wolf who was now cloaked in shadow. "Enjoy getting warts on your feet." she teased haughtily before turning back to the trees and padding away, the shadows dancing on her peppered fur.

Sounds good, thanks for the thread! (: Sorry that they never got to sparring. I enjoyed their "cat-fight", though! xD

The cat would not take her fire, and Andalusia let her shoulders roll back as the lynx's airy laugh played through the air. The Ostrega could almost admire how the woman did not let the coywolf's words get the better of her. Almost.

With head held high, she cast her gaze casually into the lynx's haughty stare, arrogance creeping across her own features to mirror the cat. The verbal war ended all too easily, and her win was bittersweet. Likely she would prove an inefficient monarch, and already made plans to abandon the foggy kingdom in a few days time.

But as the lynx and her purring retorts disappeared into the murky shadows, Andalusia piped her voice in a dry farewell. "Don't worry, your majesty!" she called with half-hearted enthusiasm. "My half-breed kin will build a glorious home here, warts and all!" Then, she turned, and took her leave in the opposite direction. The cat would find her own way out, but Andalusia would rest here a while longer. She was the queen now, after all.