Ankyra Sound One time friends, I had a ma, I even had a pa

Truth be told, Niamh hadn’t expected a terribly upbeat, warm welcome from Raleska- she’d half-figured the girl might resent her. What she got instead was confusion, which was at least better than spite. Still, she reached out to touch the girl’s cheek to let her know it was OK to be puzzled...And also as an apology. She knew the questions that Raleska would want to ask- and heard them voiced instead by Svalinn, whose presence stole her attention away for just a moment. 

She offered them a somewhat sad, wan smile, knowing that she couldn’t validate what appeared to be their hopes. Raleska even brightened up at the suggestion that she’d followed them with the aim of joining them. Niamh only had the chance to partially shake her head when the turn of her muzzle brought two other forms into her line of vision.


Neither were Caiaphas- and she instantly regretted seeing both of them, though Rosalyn held back. Her companion, though, charged boldly forward and had already zipped across the distance between them by the time Niamh looked up. Raleska moved and Niamh gritted her teeth and hissed, wishing she’d spotted or scented Erzulie earlier. In that split second, she’d closed in- and Raleska, bless her heart, had moved in to protect Niamh. 

Niamh didn’t associate the two pairs, and assumed in that fragment of an instant that Erzulie was attacking simply because she spotted Niamh- not because she knew Raleska or Svalinn. There she’d been standing, calm and peaceful as a lamb among sheep when Erzulie made the decision to attack, leading Niamh to believe she didn’t know the adolescents- as surely she wouldn’t have endangered them had she known them. 

There wasn’t much she could do to avoid hurting Raleska at this point- had she lunged, she would’ve pinned the girl between them. But Niamh wasn’t going to allow a youngster to take a hit for her- so she sidestepped briskly, hoping to shoulder Svalinn, at least, out of har’s way and launch a slightly delayed attack at Erzulie, hoping she’d managed to veer away from Raleska enough to avoid hurting her.