So much had happened recently that her head was still spinning, emotions flickering back and forth between anger and sadness as she thought back to the one-eyed dick. One minute she hated him, and then the next all she wanted was to be around him. It bothered her and, as hard as it was to do, even made her regret having volunteered to leave the mountains in place of her father. Maybe she should have let her brother go on this journey of hers instead, maybe then she wouldn’t feel so… so—ugh.

Despite the threat of death that hung over her head—honestly, she doubted he would actually kill her—Sorina couldn’t leave the area. She abandoned the forest, keeping to just looking at it from afar, but the treeline was never far beyond her gaze. She didn’t know why she stuck around or what drew her to her enemy, but not knowing didn’t make it any easier to just up and leave. So she stayed and stared and stayed and stared until, finally, boredom overruled whatever else she was feeling and drove her towards the coast. She kept along the river—she’d familiarised herself with it recently, though it wasn’t all too interesting—meandering and doing her best to not look behind her.

Which became a shit ton easier after spotting a dark mass up ahead, towards whom she marched. And as she got closer, she yelled out, “Hey,” hoping for some kind of distraction—or someone to take her frustrations out on, it all depended on his response and her mood the second after.

Sorina continued towards him, refusing to stop even after speaking. She wanted a distraction, something that would take her mind off of the one-eyed dick and give her something else to focus on. She even considered not yelling at him, maybe doing something that would entice him to hang around, if only to prolong her state of mindless antics—well, that had been the plan, anyways. But his tone threw her off, distracting her from her distraction and feeding into the rage that was always budding deep within her.

Poor, innocent titty shanker.

A scowl of her own engraved itself into the girl’s features and her pace picked up, carrying her on a path right towards the boy with no intentions of stopping. In fact, if he chose not to move, she’d ram right into him without so much as a second thought, and shouted either way, “Do not talk to me like that!” Was she overreacting? Definitely. Did she take notice of this? Possibly. Did she care? Not at all.

A distraction from her distraction wasn’t exactly ideal but, hey, it worked! As she speed-walked towards her target like a mother out back-to-school shopping, not a single thought of the one-eyed wonder crossed her mi—oh fuck, no, scratch that. She’d been so close to successfully forgetting that asswipe until this new dude’s attitude dragged those memories right back up. Skidding to a stop, she stared him down whilst her tail lashed behind her, trying to figure out what she wanted her next step to be. She could always continue her planned assault, or she could do something else—literally anything else. So many options, so many things she could do—

—lmao, nah, she went with her usual.

“You will not,” she shot back, lip twitching with the rage of a thousand scorned women (because dramatics are in this season). “You’re going to shut your mouth and start again—this time, speaking nicer to me. Got it?” This will be her new and improved one-eyed wonder, with two eyes this time and, hopefully, way better behaved.

Of course, he demanded a reason for being nice, at which she huffed. So far, this new one-eyed wonder was off to a pretty awful start. Couldn’t he just roll-over and listen like a good boy? Just once, she’d like for that to happen—it would save her so much time. But, sadly, he would not be the first to deliver and what a shame that was. “Because,” she began, only to realise that she didn’t have a legitimate reason ready to be fired. “Just because. You’re not supposed to be an asshole to girls, you’re supposed to listen and do as your told.” As was the mentality she was raised with; the only male she’d ever listened to without question was her father but, even with him, the women of their family still had more say in decisions.

“Besides,” she started again, only this time she actually had her words planned in advance. “If you listen to me, I won’t be forced to hurt you—who knows, maybe I’ll even feed you if you’re especially good.” Sorina hunting with or for someone other than herself? What was the world coming to!

—nothing was changing, really, because it was doubtful that she’d actually follow through. Though she would think of other, less-involved rewards to give him for his good behaviour—she was at least a little bit fair.

The fur covering the nape of her neck bristled under his wandering gaze, eyes narrowing as she dared him to speak against her. And of course, he did, challenging her abilities. But the bait set was not something she so eagerly shot out to take, keeping away from it and, instead, fixed him with a glare and another, prissy huff. “I can catch plenty,” she retorted. Gradually, her expression shifted into a smirk as she returned the favour and looked him over, noting how they varied in terms of health. “Definitely more than you. Just look at you—how pathetic. Can’t catch enough to keep that mouth of yours stuffed shut?” And he had the nerve to question her abilities? Hah!

Swinging a single forelimb forward, she took a slow step towards him, eyes settling back into his. “You’re not being very good by questioning me,” noted the snake, her opposite limb moving forward as she inched closer to him. “Guess that means you won’t be getting fed.” She stopped, now close enough to reach out and touch him, should he have kept still throughout her approach. And without a care in the world for personal space and various other sorts of boundaries, she reached out with the intention of aiming a nip at his nose.

The girl’s tail lashed back and forth behind her like a cat ready to pounce, a dangerous glint in her eyes. She couldn’t keep a smirk from settling on her lips as he retreated, clearly amused. But her enjoyment of the scene didn’t last long, his words ringing through her head on repeat—bitch stood out, tearing the playful smirk from her lips and allowing a scowl to be engraved back into her features. How dare he insult her! Did he not understand that she was offering him an opportunity at a life greater than the one he’d lead on his own? That she could keep him fed and fit enough to serve as her personal guard, that she would praise and reward him for his good behaviour? Evidently not, as an apology had yet to flee his lips.

“Apologise to me. Now,” ordered the serpentine she-devil, stealing several steps closer to make up for his previous retreat. “The sooner you apologise, the easier I’ll make your life with me.” Because wow, why wouldn’t he follow her after all of that?

Suddenly, there was two of them and only one of her—how terribly unfair!

Sorina stiffened where she stood, staring between them and then narrowing her gaze at Screech. “You get away from him,” she countered, hackles rising. “What are you doing here? Go away.” Of all the wolves—no, creatures—in the world, he was the last one that she wanted to see. He was awful to her, never listened, and had a bad habit of just up and leaving without her giving him permission to do so. She wanted to make the other boy, the new one, take his place but he seemed bolder now, having the support of a friend—why didn’t she have any of those?—at his side.

The world was most definitely acting against her.