The Heartwood Fear of power invisible.

He'd left the valley with Merrick's blessing as far as that would hold, and had spent a good few days perusing the mountain chain, having decided on his claim yet spent little time there; a few hours at most, pulled in one direction or another. Eventually he was pulled in a new one: down the other side, along and then across a spindly creek, and through a patch of woodland black as pitch.

It wasn't the mountains. His claim was behind him now, and he should head back to it. The lure of the familiar landscape tugged at something deep within Revui; he could not turn his back on that feeling. He had said he wanted a mountain of his own — and when the distant Moonspear came in to view surrounded by ominous dark clouds, he felt a stirring of hunger.

The wind did not feel right, did not smell right either. It was sharper. The mineral quality inherent to rain was overpowering, and there wasn't as much heat to the summer air as he might have anticipated for the season. Everything felt wrong, here. He lounged in the shade of the Heartwood for a few more hours, wanting to get closer but feeling somehow deterred by the darkness crowding the sky.

These days skies were stormy and grey. Huā did not know how long the rain would last, and thought to herself that her sister @Mei was likely distressed by the shift in nature, as aligned with her religion. Huā was distressed in a different way- already the stress of the saints, and now once again the cannibal, loomed over her head. And now the earth decided to being about greater catastrophe by drowning them. Perhaps this was the way things were meant to be. 

She took cover in the dappled shadows of this woodland, which she slunk through with a heavy mind, whose worries practically leaked into her low posture and slow gait. Droplets dappled her brown coat, and she shook them out every so often as she walked unfamiliar trails. Soon enough, though, a certain scent caught her attention, holding some trace of familiarity. She tested the air, unable to put a name to him just yet without seeing his face again- and so she hunted, eventually spotting the stony male lounging in the shade. Ah, yes- one of Ying's old possible suitors. Strong-looking. R-Revui? Huā called hesitantly from where she stood some distance away, unsure whether she should approach any closer.

Note to self - he has a deep bite wound on his neck from previous thread.

Of all the creatures he'd expected to cross paths with here, this woman from the seaside was not one of them. Her voice carried to him between the trees and he turned his head sluggishly, like a bear still half asleep, and watched as she slunk closer. She was smaller than his sisters — although they were the first to enter his mind, they quickly left it when he studied her — and her voice was almost frail, much more shy than anything they would utter.

He did not know her, whoever this was had been a brief visitor to his life, and upon departing this wilderness she had been purged from his memory. He grunted all the same — yes, that is me. He appraised her, as he did most being he came across, and deemed her unthreatening; except, it was odd that she knew his name, especially after so many months off doing his own thing.

She did not smell like Moonspear; just salt, wind, and wolves he did not know. His stare was blank. You know me? He queried a moment later, squinting.

He grunted, stared at her in a tired way- no recognition in his gaze, and his words only affirmed that. She felt small in his eyes, and frowned slightly, shuffling a dark paw, trying not to feel hurt that she wasn't remembered. Whatever. He was closer to her sister anyway, right? Or so Huā thought. Why did she care to be remembered by someone who was basically a stranger? 

Yes- ah, we met one time at the beach. She shared awkwardly, not wishing to mention the vomit and hormones of that day. And, um. Ying- she is my sister. And I, I am Huā. Empress of Yuèlóng. She figured some of her words would not ring a bell, but that was okay. Probably better for her if he didn't recall their first meeting at all... perhaps she could start again on a slightly more dignified foot.

He was short on patience, not that it was this woman's fault or anything. The ruddy red of dried blood still plaqued across his skull at the base of one ear, diluted a little from the rainshower he now found himself beholding. A similar stain soaked his neck but it wasn't as dominant; washed out by now, with a crudely healing wound at the terminus point of his neck and shoulder. He had seen combat recently. Perhaps the nagging aches were what drew him closer to home.

The woman explained herself and he appeared to listen, with his eyes fixated on the distant mountain shrouded in layers of graphite clouds. Her name meant little; so too did Ying's, except it brought to his mind the memory of his last encounter with Arcturus for some reason, and his jaw clenched.

Hua — Yuelong. Should he know of it? He has been away for months now, and months were a long time to a wolf. In remembering the competition with Arcturus he recalled Hydra, her teeth, the feeling of betrayal upon waking up in the field with his sisters — and Kukutux, telling him to go your own way.

Revui huffed softly, his breath a thin plume despite the season. The rain was picking up tempo and chilling the air tremendously. You are from the coast. Why are you so far inland? He wondered aloud, watching her too-blue eyes against the stark backdrop of her petite face. As much could be asked of Revui — what was he even doing here?

Revui seemed to think for a moment, and yet whatever thoughts and memoried floated in his mind were unreadable to Huā- she had no more empathy than the average individual, and Revui was not the most outwardly expressive of wolves. Her gaze trailed slightly down to the remnants of blood upon him, but his huff brought her back to the moment and seaglass gaze shot towards his broad face again. 

A question- should she answer? Had she known his association with Merrick, she would've held her tongue. But Huā had only known him among Moonspear- and now, even away, she could not imagine that he might switch to the side she seeked to hunt. And so, she answered: I did not want pack to get trapped on island. We stay in mainland, for now. Once again her gaze fell awkwardly to his reddened furs, Are you- you okay?