Haunted Wood I should probably know this shit by now, but no.

She was on the mend and she spent her days tending to her warlords wounds as of late and keeping up with the borders. She check on the young ones occasionally and hunt whenever she saw something scurrying on the ground which was mostly field mice as of late. However every so often she'd catch a rabbit and fill the caches with it after making sure she fed herself as well.

So now the female simply trekked forward.

@Tzila

Brows pinched down together, a scowl was held on her dark face. In the past few days the Haunted Wood had come alive with activity. Violence...bloodshed. That in of itself was nothing new. What was different was that this time, it had originated from the pit, the attack directed squarely at the leading pair. Vengeance and Serem themselves, the fury unleashed from the silent, steel coated captive.

At the thought of the skirmish for which she had not been present (she had been away scouting) the scarlet hairs on her nape bristled. Her teeth clenched, lips peeling back over her gum line. While Tzila did need to work on expanding her social connections in the pack, Vengeance and Serem were two of the few individuals she respected. Even liked. 

The Warlord, she knew would heal with time, under the attentive care of his Consort. But what about the woman herself? Though a practiced medic and capable of looking out for herself, Tzila felt compelled to check on Serem, to make sure she wasn't wearing herself thin. Inadvertently neglecting her own injuries. And besides, the two females had some catching up to do. Spotting her, Tzila chuffed, approaching with a high tail and an amicable bounce in her step.

During her patrol she heard a rustling of leaves that made her head swivel towards the sounds origin. She was tense at first but once her eyes adjusted and she saw the  female and gave a small sigh of relief. "Hey." She said simply not having anything else to really say since they hadn't been properly introduced.

Tzila could understand Serem's momentary tension. She had been involved in a scuffle recently and the Nightwalkers wasn't exactly a pack of friendly wolves. Unless vexed, Tzila saw no reason to unleash her own personal fury on the Consort. 

"Serem." She stated, more as a means of re-establishing their identities, between the two of them. Tail still held aloft and waving in the air slightly, she circled around to her side. Silver eyes ran over her body. Over the healing wounds. Visually inspecting her general state for herself. "I heard what happened the other day. At the pit. I was in the area and wanted to see how you were coming along." She said matter of factly. When the male, Revui was first deposited there, and Serem visited, Tzila had had her back. And she still did now.

She returned the greeting and serem was glad to see someone whom she could tolerate. "I'm doing okay, Tzila. Thank you I appreciate it." Her wounds were on the mend and even though it was slower cause she could barely reach them; they weren't infected so she was grateful. "He caught me off guard but that won't happen again." She would get better.  "I heard about that pup on the borders as well, you knew her personally I heard?"

Tzila only offered a simple nod in return, not bothering with a formal 'you're welcome'. She just wasn't the type for such little pleasantries. "If you need any assistance tending to the more difficult to reach sites..." She took a single step forward, examining Serem intently. "...then I will assist, if you like." Her interest in herbs, specifically the toxic ones, was growing. But she could never see herself as a healer. More of a creative assassin.

Ah, yes. The lost pup at the borders the other day. "Not as well as you may think. Her name is Minnow. She and I previously resided in the pack Elyisum, just beyond the Sunspire mountains, in the Hushed Willows. Black Hat and I stopped there on our journey. They have apparently since disbanded." She let a small, cruel little smile grow on her lips. "I had since noticed their crumbling directly after the Grizzly attack that took two of their family. I knew it would only be a matter of time."

She was appreciative of the female and would take her offer under consideration in the days to come. She listened on as she spoke of her old pack. The what came of the pup made sense. "I believe I buried her mother." She said simply. She respected her  for a time but at the same time wondered what had been going through her head when she had done so.

Tzila didn't care who Serem had buried. Yet she still knew that a number of fallen Elysium wolves were in the ground, at the Hushed Willows. "Seeing her without her family, it was no wonder she was distressed." Her voice held no hint of sympathy. "Wherever she is now, she is long gone. She is too soft to have survived amongst us." She concluded with a dismissive wave of her tail. The days of Elysium were behind her, and that was how she wanted to keep it.

Eyes narrowing with a knowing glint, she gave Serem a direct look. "Now as for you... I believe congratulations are in order for becoming Consort." Tzila tipped her head at just the right angle to appear smug. Though there was no trace of jealousy in anything about her demeanor. At a time, she may have considered standing by Vengeance herself, if only for power. But no. She didn't want it appointed to her. Tzila was the type of woman who would rather attain it herself. "I think every woman had their eye on him, at one point. So, what drew you to him?" She pried.

She thought of the young pup and remembered how she screamed when she witnessed the sight of her mother. "Yeah, this place isn't for the faint of heart." Was all she said on the matter. She really didn't care at that point.

She then congratulated her and she wasn't sure why. "I didn't even really try if I'm being truly honest." Maybe that's why he chose her, she didn't know. She turned her attention to her next question. "Well firstly I saw a wolf of whom I could follow; one worthy of what skills I had to offer; I accepted his proposal because I saw a male who would produce offspring for when I decided to have my own brood." She didn't think about it often but occasionally. "Then the power of course but leadership was never my thing."

Tzila had moved into a seated position, listening quietly while Serem listed off the reasons Vengeance had caught her eye. Her dark ears tipped back, remaining upright when Serem stated she saw him fit to follow as a leader. When she had finished, Tzila was left with several curiosities, of which she would voice. But first... "I despised the idea of pack life. When I met him, over time, that notion changed. I have always been used to living by my own rules." Tied into those words, was the clue that she, at her core, would never be content as just a follower. Still, she did a damn good job of appearing content.

"Ah yes...I see. A strong partner for strong offspring." Sensible. She had never considered motherhood, but wouldn't mind passing on her genes, should a male worthy enough come along. "You say leadership was never your thing. Though, now that you have it, does that change your mind?" Sometimes you needed a little taste, to know if you truly wanted what was placed before you. Some would latch on and never let go. Others may decide it was not their cup of tea and turn away. And sometimes, it had to actually happen to uncover a true quality like leadership, that was buried deep down all along.

She thought about all the woman said and it indeed had her thinking. "For a time packs weren't my thing either; no pack would accept a wolf of my nature either way and I wasn't interested in taking being kind." They would have to take her how she was or not. She didn't speak much of the other reason. "I have yet to reap the benifits of leadership." Was all she could really say about the matter really.

She considered Serem's response, intrigued somewhat. Looking her in the eyes cooly, Tzila offered up something in return. "Well, if you find the role truly suits you, guard it well. Especially in this pack. You know how tough the competition is." She reminded her. Before Serem could jump to any conclusions, she added. "Not that I want it. If I did I would have made it clear already." She smirked some, but not in a threatening way, unsure of how Serem would take that.

Rising to her paws, she stretched, letting her muscles loosen. She paced in a half circle around the dark Consort, looking her over. "So what do you say? Feeling up for a spar?" Tzila changed the subject, tail lashing. "We...haven't exactly had the chance to see what we've got. Let's change that."

The dark woman enjoyed this other females company and listened to what was said about the wolves in this pack. "Oh believe me I know; I feel a wolf is already making jabs at my rank." She wouldn't say names until she was asked but before she could speak again; the woman asked for a spar and serem wasn't one to turn down an opportunity to train and better her skills. "Sounds interesting." Finally a wolf she actually wanted to spar with.

 Tzila's expression darkened when Serem stated that someone may be eyeing her rank. Hela was too young to take a mate. Alison was a possibility, but as General, she seemed content enough and disinterested in Vengeance. That only left Vanity, whom she had yet to meet on a personal basis. She said nothing, contemplating on investigating if there was any actual truth behind Serem's words. If she did, it would have to be done subtly, which shouldn't be a problem. Or, she could simply cut down the white-faced female herself.

Putting no more thought into the matter, she was pleased that Serem had agreed to a spar. A rush of excitement shot through her nerves and mentally, she prepared herself. This spar would show how worthy (or not) the dark female was to truly be in a position of power. Some wolves gave their opponents warning. Visual clues, like a flick of an ear or the tensing of the muscles. But not her. There was no warning as the shadow Queen shot forward like a bullet, uncoiling as viper would. There was no sound escaping her widely parted maw, teeth aimed to latch onto the junction where the neck and shoulder met.

The red female didn't have to speak; her body movements answered for her and the dark woman loved it. Serem watched as the woman lunged; her canines aiming for her neck, even though it was a commona area of attack Serem was determined to avoid it. She attempted to dodge her attack and if she succeeded Serem would retaliate to a bite to the woman's shoulder.

Thanks to Serems attempt to get out of the way of her attack, Tzila did not hit her original target. Instead of the soft flesh of her neck, she found her jaws clasping onto the firmer bone of the Consorts elbow. But no matter. A hit was a hit, and that's what counts.

Unsurprised by Serem's retaliation and aimed bite at her shoulder, Tzila stepped away and back, in hopes of avoiding such a hit. She was quick to reel back in, this time rising to her hind legs in an attempt to lock her forelimbs around Serem's shoulders and force her down. It wouldn't be easy - they were closely matched in size and weight.

The others teeth merely grazed limb and she braces herself for the pain that ensued after. Her hit was dodged as well and the female had backed away; giving serem only a few seconds to catch her breath before she leaped for serem. 

The dark woman for a breif second and thought about her option before she pushed forward and attempted to throw her weight into her to knock her down

In any fight, be it for practice or life and death, there was little time to think. Tzila learned that from her last attack, which gave Serem the chance to act. It was almost entirely instincts - any decisions had to be made in a fraction of a second, and wisely. 

Letting out a snarl not of rage but of thrilled pleasure, she turned to angle her shoulder up and into the weight of Serem, to try and avoid being pinned. As she did, she craned her neck to the left, reaching around to grab and bite down on an ear, if Serem didn't pin it out of reach quickly enough.

She was able to avoid being shoved to the ground by the female and as she went forwards she watched as the woman attempted to grab her ear and Serem tried to tuck it in quickly but failed to do so and released a small yipe before aiming her jaws at the woman's neck or shoulder in hopes of either getting her to release and back up or force her to by a tying the area.

Serem's teeth clamped down onto the flesh around her shoulder, to which Tzila only uttered a growl of annoyance. To her, crying out in pain or protest would be a sign of weakness. To show she was still very much in the mind-set that this was only a spar, she released Serem's ear.

Unable to stay balanced on two legs for long, she dropped down, trying to take the female with her. Seeing a possible opening, she swung her jaws around towards Serem's face. Her teeth clicked, aiming to graze her cheek so she would let go.

Her attack made its mark and she was careful not to clamp down too hard due to it not being a real fight and the woman released her ear and seemed to stumble which made serem release her hold resulting in the woman's teeth the graze her cheek and serem took a step back and smiled. "That was exhilarating." She said not seeing any point to continue; she seen all she needed

Tzila felt a tinge of pride when it was Serem, not her, who released her grip and stepped back. The spar was concluded with both females having sustained only superficial scratches. The Shadow Queen relented in her assault, moving aside and loosening her defenses. Smirking, she had to wonder if Serem really would have yielded as easily in a real battle. "Yes, that it was." She said, tail waving slowly. "I am impressed...you held your own." Sliding past her to take her leave, she offered her a knowing glance. "We will do this again someday. We mustn’t get rusty." And then Tzila was gone, off to resume her own business.

It was a magnificent spar and serem felt great when it ended I like her many others she wasn't tired, instead she had an adrenaline rush which she would expel in a hunt later on. She gave Tzila a small smile. "I look forward to it." And with that left as well.