Frostfire Ridge He's a loser on the dance floor

feel like I might ironically start using super poppy songs for her titles XD

She'd been scarce for weeks, though this was hardly an unusual state for her.  Citali and Noctli, she noted, had settled in rather quickly... already they seemed more at ease with the 'locals' than she herself, and she'd been here months.  A part of her scoffed at it a bit, affectionately.  Doubtless their leader would have shared her own hesitance to dive into the social buffet, but of course she was paired with a healer and a diplomat.  Her confusion with their thoughts was hardly new, but it was intensified when faced with a situation like the one they were in.

Her mood had not improved much in the last few weeks, but neither had it fallen.  She was in a constant state of impassiveness, one that did become wearing but was better than the despair she'd felt a couple days after her initial hope was banished.  It was better not to hope, and yet to plan in vain, than to allow herself be flattened once more.

She pawed idly at the grouse she'd managed to take down, not terribly fond of getting a mouthful of feathers and so attempting to get at least some of them off beforehand.  She was distracted, though, constantly looking up and about.  The day was sunny and ideal, but this was lost on her.  She didn't really expect anyone.  She knew that the prince was out recruiting, and her sisters were running about as well, but she remained.  Likely, she thought sardonically, it was better for their cause that way.  As far as recruiting went, she probably wasn't the best face for the Ridge, and she wished to keep it that way.  She wouldn't allow herself to grow in affection for this place, knowing the betrayal that would be.

Mind if I join you? :P Keeping it a little vague because IDK how her thread with Tyrr is gonna go. (Also ilhuitlalo means 'a feast day is celebrated'; so Xiuh is kinda saying 'good eats, nice day' all at once.)

Perhaps this land was the perfect place for Tezcacoatl and his ridiculous idealizations. Perhaps it would be the resting place of his plans and thoughts, or even his very spirit. The gods would not want him, Xiuhcoatl was assured of that, at least. A man with a spine deserved to have that spine torn out, slowly, and painfully; and yet, that was the one thing Xiuh was not allowed to do. She would find a way to drive this boy out of his so-called kingdom, and if that didn't work, there were other options. Either way, Xiuhcoatl was in a piss poor mood as she explored the cold lands around her. No amount of sunlight nor warmth could ease the tension within her body, or aid her her angry spirit in recuperating.

The fool of a boy would doom them all if they lingered. She knew it, the other Amazons knew it, and yet their devotion to him was what infuriated Xiuh the most. Even now - with the Prince off on his adventures, tailed by who knows how many of his garrison - Xiuhcoatl was left out of the loop, and thus he was allowed to perpetuate his ridiculous desires. The woman scoffed to herself, and pawed uselessly at some summer grass; tearing it up by the root with a few hostile drags of her paws. 'This will not last,' She thought to herself, as she marked the ground one last time and began to carry on in her wandering, 'He will not win. In the end, the gods are on my side.'

Perhaps an offering was in order? This thought made her smile. A brief, malicious expression passed over her features - and then faltered, faded, as she caught sight of a familiar silhouette. The woman was poised above a kill of some sort and looking around with every second glance or so, as if something would swoop down and take the pheasant. 'Manauia,' Xiuh recognized her quickly enough, and headed in her direction without a second thought.

"Ilhuitlalo, Manauia."

If she was hoping not to be disturbed, she was sorely disappointed. Scarce had she taken a bite when a greeting sounded, but the terminology was so surprising that it took the annoyance with it. It had been a long while since she'd heard the terms of her home. "Ilhuitlalo, my Queen." she returned, rising from her kill to give a small bow to the woman before her. Xiuhcoatl might be second to Quetzcacoatl, but she bore the royal name and therefore was afforded the respect of that line. Manauia was a guard to the core, completely true to the wishes and desires of her command. She might argue, but when it came down to it, the diplomatic queen's word was law.

"I had heard you were here. It is good to see you." Unlike she had before her sister, she did not feel the guilt. It was not this queen she had wronged in her mistakes, though her presence here held some trepidation. It meant that they were growing impatient. Once again she felt a twinge of resentment, the condition of her birth rising against her - would they expend this much energy to seek a lost sister? Why for a male, heir or no? But it was a feeling that she had long ago been forced to deal with in light of her Queen's (somewhat unseemly) favoritism. As always, she would question, but she would obey.

"You as well." She responded in kind, planting her rear in the soil so as to pay a proper visit. Manauia looked well enough. She was a true warrior, and from what Xiuh could recall, a shrewd one at that. "I am pleased to find so many of the sisters together here. Nochtli does well for herself, following after the boy, and Citlali is attentive to everyone's needs, as far as I have seen." It sounded like a morning report or something, but these were compliments given in confidence. Xiuhcoatl was eager to see results and hoped her arrival would result in some. A little praise might help. "And you? Have you fared well? You are still here after all, so I do not doubt your devotion."

And what of the others? There were two or three more in their party, if Xiuh remembered correctly. "But I have not run in to any other sisters yet. Was the garrison not a unit of six? Of eight? It wouldn't surprise me if my sister had attached half of our warriors to guard her son." The woman scoffed softly at this, her teeth flashing at the very thought, but then in the next moment she regained her cool composure.

She was well enough. Bored nearly out of her mind but suitably fed and at least few sought to bother her. What she wouldn't give for a good skirmish though. A large part of her waited eagerly the day someone tried to take a run at them here. She might not claim these lands her own or care if they remained in Tezca's hold right now but gods she wanted a little action.

"Well as can be expected." She returned, not commenting on the compliments passed to her sisters. Both were capable, of course.

The mention of the others caused her ears to twitch back slightly. "We were five. Apparently Amoxtli and Eztli did not make a meeting with the others. I was already away. I don't know where they are, nor do the others. But they too are apt, so I hope for the best." That it was merely a detainment that kept them, and not something more.