Northstar Vale It's just a lightyear and a day

Vespera paused when Reiko stated the philosophy of Reneian that this was a place of new beginnings which was what the woman first stated when Vespera first got here. Her violet orbs slid back to look at the blue eyes of Reiko as the woman was now facing her and retorted to her philosophy as not answering her question which the woman had to admit that she really didn't give a straight answer. The Empress restated her question with a sharp inhale and the dark woman felt a little empty, she was hoping that Reiko could just read her mind but she knew that the white female couldn't do that. So the Duchess craned her head up and looked at Reiko dead in the eye with a more certain expression.

"No, I wouldn't have," her eyes were stone as she made her statement with a firm tone.

"Because if I had the take out some of the shitheads that hurt me in the past then I would have, I would have because I don't want others to face the same kind of abuse I have gone through," her heart began to thump with anger as she began thinking of all the trauma that she had to endure. It was hard to fix a broken record, but not impossible. But, Reiko was starting to break down more with her lips quivering as she tried to speak her peace about how much she loved Yuudai but then brought up the word rape with painted a scowl on her face. Her claws began scraping the ground as her blood began to boil, this man raped her and he is still breathing? Her scowl only deepened as dark thoughts started to cloud her judgment, how could Reiko let this go on for so long? If she needed help she could have asked the pack to help her get rid of him!

But what really broke the straw on the camels back was that she called Yuudai an idiot for standing up against Takeshi. At this, Vespera quickly got to her paws, her eyes were now sparkling with rage as the tear streamed down Reiko's face. The Duchess slightly curled her lip, "You call him an idiot for standing up in what he believes?" Her voice was becoming a slight snarl as she did her best to fight her own fury, "You call him an idiot for speaking out against false authority?" Her tail was beginning to sway behind her in annoyance, "You call him an idiot for dying for what he believed in?" The girl's ears began flattening against her head, "Yuudai had more courage and honor that your oh so lovely husband, and you call him an Idiot for making a stance which could have been handled in a more sophisticated way?" A growl was rumbling in her throat, "and yet you let Takeshi deliver a fatal blow? And yet HE is not the idiot? You let this man ABUSE his power and demote everyone who opposed him? You let him kick out Awenfen and Yuudai is the idiot?" 

She was getting into this so much that now her brain was starting to convince herself that Yuudai was actually dead, "I'm the idiot for not standing with Yuudai and taking a stance!" She flicked her head up and snorted, "So it's idiotic now to have a goddamn opinion? It's idiotic to live in a pack where the members can't voice opposition like how a pack should? Or am I mistaken? Because so far I see that this is a dictatorship where fear and power rule this pack!" The Duchess's words rang as she battled herself for volume control of her voice, "This isn't his pack Reiko this is your pack! And I will be damned to see him take away your dreams like this!" Her breath was becoming shaky from conflicting emotions, even some tears began forming a line in her bottom eyelid, "you may not believe me when I say that I care when I see someone like this?" Vespera breathed, "I know what's it's like to be beaten down," she said slowly, her tone slightly softening.

"When I was at Easthollow... Valette was a kind and gentle soul... an angel... But once her husband stepped into power, he became a tyrant, the title was all that mattered to him..." She turned her head away from Rei to look at the mountains, "he never gave me a reason to respect him... He attacked me because I wanted to comfort... But apparently I am not allowed to do that... Valette tried to get us to start clean, but the bastard didn't want to... And when I tried to give him my reasons... He turned away and didn't listen to me... So I ran." The wind picked up her fur, "I shouldn't have ran... I should have made my case but I didn't, and I'm an idiot for not doing so... because I have a voice too," Vespera then turned her face back to Reiko with a hurt scowl, "and so does Yuudai," she stopped a moment to let the moment settle before picking up again, "some have the opportunity to have a new beginning... and then thew throw it in the dust..." Her eyes darted away for a moment to cease the swelling of her tears before looking back at Rei, "That's what happened to me..." She grumbled, "but this isn't about me, it's about what is done now... And what you can do because I know you can do better because when I talked to Ira, she spoke highly of you, she was proud to have you as her apprentice." Her expressions were becoming a bit softer, "I don't know about you, but I am never going to let this man sit on a throne that doesn't belong to him," she craned her head up as she was sticking to this mindset now more than ever.

She wasn't going to run again.

Not ever again.