There was a time she thought she would live and die among the trees of Ravensblood Forest. For awhile, she had lived - flourished, loved, grown, done the things she'd dreamt of doing and then she had died. 

Palisander had grown to mean more to her than she'd ever thought possible and without him her brash temper got the better of her. She had stalked the cat, with her small size it took months to claim her victory. In the end, true to her talents, Isley had undone the beast with hemlock buried within the breasts of a fat hare. Isley was worse for the wear, her brilliant appearance now marred by the claw marks of the monster she had staked her revenge on. 

Still, she pressed back into the lands she knew and to the forest she loved, if nothing else her family needed to know that her mate was avenged. She dropped the skull of the cougar down and lifted her head, calling for @Arturo - she did not need an audience with anyone else at the time. 

She didn't have to wait long to see the masked leader, his piercing eyes met by her expectant gaze for a mere moment before she placed a paw on the cougars skull, picked clean and preserved not only to Palisanders memory but as a gift to the Family as well. She swallowed back a sound, lips pressed together over her teeth as he said her name. "I stalked and killed the cat that took Palisander from me - from us." She said softly. "But.... Isley... Feels like a whole other woman. One we buried." She had not made the choice before she heard her name from another mouth but it seemed wrong. "Call me Hemlock." 

She could not quite put to proper words how she felt. Still hollow. Still broken. Still aching. But the vengeance she'd hoped for had not softened the loss she felt, she did not find any sort of comfort in the minor victory over her husband's murderer. She gave a soft sigh, blinking back the distant look in her gaze and the sadness that rushed to fill it and Hemlock lowered her head. "I broke my word to you - to the Family. I do not ask for forgiveness, nor do I expect it. I brought back the hellcat's skull as an honoring to you and Teaghlaigh." She no fool - even in her anguished, clouded mind she should have done something more, should have reached out and shared her plans. She had not. She did not have the hope of coming back home, but she had the desire. 

Thus far no one had ever addressed her by anything other than Isley. A name given to her by her mother, some long gone mistress of plants and a promise of what her future would hold. Hemlock felt foreign still, but it was how she had killed the cat, and so it would be who she was. "To be honest, I did not expect to survive."  Maybe she hadn't wanted to. Maybe she'd hoped for something different - for death to being her to Palisander and to the familiar comfort he brought. "I.. I am happy to see you. To see the forest. How is Chusi? And Olive?" She she becoming more animated, the slightest wag of her tail given at the mention of his daughter but she stilled herself, sobered up. "Sorry...That probably is not appropriate."  Still, she worried over them - she cared for them, even with the distance. 

She did not know how she felt now, on the cusp of the lands she'd helped to claim, but it left a chasm wide and deep in her. She missed her home. She missed her family. 

She trusts Arturo like she trusts no one else, now that she does not have Palisander to turn to. It had been in his forest she had taken shelter, it had been with his family she had proudly stood. No matter what happened she would always respect him and his cause. To hear that Chusi was growing brought a small smile to her face, even at the way he admitted her defiance. She was a willful child and in that, Hemlock could see strength. It would need to be tempered, lest she make the brash sort of choices that Isley had that had lead her to trouble. It is the next words that Arturo offers that takes her breath away, that she is still one of their wolves, and before she can take that as a balm to soothe her war-worn heart Arturo speaks of Olive and children. 

She had hoped to bring the first young into the forest, fire in their eyes and souls - but fate had not been so kind as to offer them the chance. It seemed so far away that she had spoken to Arturo about it, but then to hear in the same breath of the disgrace of the pair made Hemlock's body stiffen and her fur bristle. How selfish were they? "Do they seek retaliation from Teaghlaigh or from the culprits?" She asked, lips twitching a bit as her tail moved in irritation - she did not hide her emotions as she never had from Arturo. "If you have need of me, I could move as Furiosa did on your behalf. The scent of the Forest faded long ago from my pelt."  She cared little for danger, if he needed a scout, she could do the job. 

Hemlock pushed a breath out, certain if she held it any longer she'd burst. The pressure was too great, a sensation starting somewhere in her heart up to her brain and her lungs felt like they'd explode too. She swallowed thickly, eyes fluttering for a moment before she turned her gaze back to Arturo. They acted like victims. Victims. When they'd betrayed their family and their pack and then they wanted to be considered the victims? They had everything! They had one another - their children!, Teaghlaigh, did they not realize their fortunes? A wild thought, tempered and wicked ran through her of the pair being discarded. Hemlock would have taken the children, protected them, raised them, taught them the ways of Awenasa and Teaghlaigh both. Inside she raged at herself for the thought of it but she could not turn away. She would not run from this. Inside her was a darkness she hadn't seen before but still, she had to decide how to progress herself.

Arturo told her that they'd be moving and the woman tried to steel herself. She had to be strong, she'd only just come home - literally just made it back to their doorstep but she would have to move on. They all would. "I will stay near the Forest to keep watch while you are gone." With new lives it was hard to take any of their wolves to scout on but perhaps if she was present, lurking as an outlier, it might help distract from any intruders. "What preparations need to be made before we move?" 

Pregnant. Lotte was pregnant. The actions of Olive and Dakarai seems even more reckless, even more wild and Hemlock feels the weight of the world suddenly swallowing her whole. How has Arturo stood this long with the knowledge? Her eyes closed for a few beats and she refocused herself, listening to Arturo. "I will keep her safe. I will keep them safe." She promised. She had no rights to do such a thing and make such a statement but she could not help herself. 

Hemlock took a moment to consider what he was saying - the Family would decide what would happen to Olive and Dakari. It was what they had done with those that had betrayed them, and idly she wondered if she had earned such a meeting. Her rank was reinstated as well and it suggested perhaps she had not warranted the severity but she felt guilty still. "I will be by your side." Hemlock promised, lowering her head in a bow for her Ceannasach.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest and for a moment as he called her closer - to his lady and love even - she paused in her steps. It was hard to come to terms with what she had done. She had left, pursued her rage, abandoned her family for the sake of a vengeance that had not helped them either. Still she had gone. She had pressed on. She had done what she had done, but her crimes had not brought the fury of another pack onto them. She licked her lips, glancing again to the skull before choosing to leave it on the border a grim marker before she joined Arturo and took her first steps into the Ravensblood again. After meeting with the Banrion she had gone off to visit Palisander, feeling burdened and uplifted and overwhelmed all at once.