-Far From Home-

[Mama Z]

It was a long way from home here. A place she never traveled to and a home she rarely left. But she was here now and hopelessly lost. She had no clue what drove her to run, but run she did. ANd she didn't stop. She ran for what seemed ages and when she was forced to sleep, did so. But then she was up again and running.

Perhaps finally, after all the years at home restlessness was settling in. She had no mate to call her own, no pups to help out with. Even the family she had was growing up and doing their own. Her nieces and nephews really no longer needing her guidance. She was, in a sense, ready for her own life.

If she made it out of here that was. She hadn't realized she had traveled into Giaku territory till she had to stop to breathe. She was a smokey black color, her eyes a deep purple. She was hiding near a rock, hiding in the shadows. She needed to move on, but she needed her strength and nightfall to come faster. Hydra hand't planned on this, but she was determined to make it out alive.

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[Oki]

It had seemed that the herds were on the move once again. Crouching down, Shuusui studied some hoof prints, likely made by sheep. Lowering her snout to the one of the prints, she took a few stiffs then raised herself up and scented at the air. Twisting her head in the 10 o'clock position, she found that's where the scent was most strong and trotted in that direction for a little. Verifying her assumption, Shuusui bounded off in that direction.

Shoulders tired, the female was currently in her wolfess form, appearing like any average wolf; one tail and no wings. She needed to feed her family and the prey she has been trying to follow seemed to know she was hunting them as they kept moving further and further away from the borders of Shinkou and even questionably close to the Giaku. Not wanting to give up and start all over, Shuusui took the risk of following them further.

Dusk came quickly and Shuusui had still had nothing to show for her two day excursion. Not wanting to return empty pawed, it was beginning to become more difficult to see; she decided to make camp for the night. Using her own flame as a light source, she soon created a nice warm bed for herself consisting of laying down white pine branches as bedding and pulling low branches to create a roof. Though not going to sleep just yet, she stayed up, thinking. Not necessarily specific things, but things that kept her awake enough that she couldn't fall asleep until they have been processed within her mind.

However, unknowing of her surroundings, Shuusui was completely unaware that another female wolf was residing in the same forest as her, not too far away. If the other was observant enough, they would be aware that she was there.

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[Mama Z]

The hours ticked by slowly. But that was fine. She saw no signs of other wild life besides specific grass eaters move by. That was a good sign. She had heard rumors this place was packed to the brim with wolves, but it seemed thaqt was a rumor. Finally, the night came and she slowly slunk out from her hiding spot to gaze around.

Still nothing. This was her chance. Breathing out she set up at a quick trot, moving through the forest as quickly and as quietly as possible. She was gazing around, stopping to peer around and listen to make sure she wasn't being followed.

She was moving forward when she caught the light and she immediately froze. EYes narrowed ahead as she tried to adjust to the brightness of the fire. Someone was near. She frowned and then slowly moved left, out of the way of whoever it was.

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[Oki]

One train of thought led to another as Shuusui continued to dwell within her mind, making mental files and storing them for later. Every once in a while, she would hear a snap of a twig or rustle of leaves. Lavender eyes would look around and dart from tree to tree, trying to see if there was a distinguishable animal or being that was making these noises. Not being able to see far ahead of her anyway, her searching was for naught.

Settling back down, things were becoming quiet once more and she was running out of things to process and think about. Sighing, she turned onto her back, legs sticking up in the air, they pushed against the low lying branches of the white pine. Figuring her mind was at ease enough to fall asleep, Shuusui's eyes finally closed shut.

More brushing of branches and shuffle of footfall on the ground continued. They sounded similar to the ones before and they were louder, indicating they were closer. Continuing to listen, they seemed to travel a little closer then stopped suddenly. Heart picking up pace, she knew someone or something was close. Not moving from the safety of her shelter, Shuusui reached up and started to climb up the pine tree. They were the easiest to climb as the branches were always close to one another and created an easy ladder. She was fond of trees, often perching in them from time to time leisurely. Climbing to a height of about 5 meters off the ground, she peered out between some branches to see if she could spot what she heard, granted still it was dark and she couldn't see much, but could spot movement.

Hearing another shuffle of leaves, her sights darted to where she thought she heard it, noticing a shadowy figure moving around a little from behind a tree. Eyes narrowing, she figured it was something her size. She was debating whether to encounter it or retreat further to avoid a confrontation. The latter would create noise, but so would the former, though not as much. Holding her breath, Shu began her decent down the tree.

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[Mama Z]

Hydra was unaware that someone was aware she was around. She made sure to b e close to the ground and stick to the shadows where they were the darkest. One thing she knew too, she had to keep moving. Stopping now would be dangerous on many levels.

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[Oki]

Finally reaching her bed again, the sounds of someone slinking around continued, making her heart race with the fear of her own safety. However, she was confident in her abilities to keep her safe as best she could. Still not being able to see the unknown figure, Shu came up with an idea. Using her Hotaru attack, she laid down and held out her forepaws, wrists touching. They began to glow a dim green. Firefly type orbs seemed to flutter away from her pads and quickly filled the vicinity, creating a soft proximal glow within a 10 meter radius. All the while looking. She didn't detonate the orbs...at least not yet. Shadows became more pronounced and thus making forms more visible. Eyes narrowing, she thought she saw something, a wolven silhouette. Stopping, the flow, she began to creep her way towards where she saw the figure last. The green orbs Shuusui chose not to detonate, but allowed them to linger. They only lasted roughly a minute so she had to make it quick.

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[Mama Z]

A sinking feeling settled right into her gut and Hydra was looking around frantically. She couldn't afford to make any bad moves, but nor did she have the element of surprise on her side right now. But thats when she saw the glowing light, and she immediately decided she'd rather die running than sitting her on her duff. Hydra immediately darted out in the direction she was going. Her legs hauling ass as she just ran in a zigzag pattern, trying to make her movements hard to track.

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[Oki]

A risky move, while illuminating the area around her, it also made it easier for whatever she was looking for find her. It was one she was willing to take. Lying low, Shu tried to tread lightly, continuously searching for other movements, sounds or even smells. In uncharted and likely hostile territory, she needed to find whatever she saw and incapacitate it. She feared if it belonged to the Giaku, it would report an intruder, even with the chance that they would reveal she was from the allied powers. A slight pause was between each step, ears sharp and nostrils flaring. Then the sound of something darting off and away came and a pang of panic came to her. Almost cursing aloud, she too darted off in the direction the other was going.

Instead of following on foot, Shuusui jumped up and kicked off a tree trunk. "Wall jumping" her way up onto a tree branch, she then kicked off that branch and followed the other that way, continuing to kick off from branch to branch. The dark made it difficult to judge landings and once in a while she would feel herself slip and loose momentum. However, she finally caught up and instead of doing something now, Shuusui pushed forward a little more til she was a few meters ahead. One final jump, Shu shot down from the foliage and landed, skidding on her paws. Swinging herself around, she hopefully took the other by surprise as she stood with her tail high, head low and growling. Intimidation was key to get the other to stop, however she didn't want to reveal her powers yet, at least fully.

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[Mama Z]

Hydra was just running, she refused to look back at what was following her. She needed to get out of this territory now. Her chest was heaving as she zigzagged through the underbrush. She could hear something trailing behind, but where exactly she was unsure. Sh was ready to tak another turn when something suddenly jumped in front of her.

Hydra came to a skidding halt and looked at who it was. She was growling, already showing signs of dominance. Hydra wasn't sure what to do, but growling or fighting was not going to be the answer. She didn't like the idea of cowering down, but she was far from home and had no power of authority here. So she did so, lowering her body a fraction of the way but her eyes remained on the other. 'Let me pass.' She stated, 'I just need to get through.'

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[Oki]

Taking a breath in each low growl, Shuusui tried to recover from how fast she was going. Surprised at how the other was, she exactly wasn't a fast one herself, but she showed a spark of her clever thinking. Hopping from tree branch to tree branch had proved itself just a tad bit faster, though taking quite a distance to achieve it. She was certain they were almost a half of a kilometer away from her makeshift camp, if not more. Batting away the hair-like fur that hung over one side of her face, Shu looked the other one over.

Finding they were black, no wonder it was hard for her to see them. Nonetheless, she had stopped them. Sniffing at the air, something smelled familiar, yet unfamiliar; though she could tell it was another female. It was questionable, so Shuusui kept her domineering look. Finally, the unknown female lowered herself and spoke. My, so calm, she thought to herself. "Why? So you can report to your superiors in Giaku of my location? I don't think so", Shuusui barked at the other, assumptions being made she was uncertain of. On the inside, she was frightened and fearful of her life and didn't want to get caught. She had stopped growling, but still kept her posture, narrowing her eyes at the end of her statement.

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[Mama Z]

It was a tense moment, but the growling stopped for a brief moment. Hydra watched her but the other didn't yield. Rather, gave another comment that had Hydra narrowing her eyes slightly. Hydra raised herself a bit, her posture relaxed, non-aggressive. 'I am no member of Giaku.' She stated making that fully clear. "It's why I was running. It was from you, whom I thought belonged here.'

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[Oki]

Tense the moment was, Shuusui fearing her life was in danger and the other wanting free. Many assumptions ran through her mind and didn't want to kill, but she began to rationalize in her head, finally settling on it being self defense if it resorted to it. However, after she had made her statement, the other female relaxed a little and seemed somewhat confused. Becoming a little confused herself, a brow slowly raised as the other spoke. Sounding sincere, Shuusui almost instantly lowered her guard. Eyeing her, Shuusui sounded unsure, "Eh? ...Wait, so you're not part of Giaku? Because I know for sure I'm not...Then where are you from and why're you here?", she questioned. Still a little iffy, Shu kept an eye on the other; though if she were to ask similar things in return, depending on what the females response was, Shu would give her own answer.

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[Mama Z]

This could have been disastrous on many levels. Almost a fight to the death had things not transpired how they had. Hydra was still wary of the other, not fully trusting her or the words coming from her mouth. She arched a brow gently, 'I should be asking you the same thing.' She wasn't about to give out information on herself. 'A huge risk too chasing someone like you had.'

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[Oki]

Shuusui stood a little more relaxed and not as threatening. Though she still held herself straight and tall as she could, tail still mostly upwards. She always preferred to talk things out before she ever fought and this is what she tried to do, pulling information out of the other. Glad the other complied at least that much, her gaze softened a little, but still watched the other. Expression changing, Shu became a little more open and not as tense. "Very well, I'll state where I'm from first. I'm of Shinkou Ookami, if you've heard of it....Aye a huge risk, but one I took for the sake of my location and life. Not any different from making decisions everyday really...we all make life threatening decisions at one point or another", she justified, feeling that the other should know.

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[Mama Z]

And the irony kept getting more, well, ironic.

Hydra watched as the wolf relaxed a few degrees, her posture changing but the tension was clearly seen still. She was ready to spring should the need arise. Hydra's tail twitched slightly and she tilted her head. 'How was it you landed here?' Hydra felt so had an excuse. A dumb excuse, but an excuse all the same. Why would another wonder ere like this?

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