The snap that she had responded to did have a source…and it was indeed Phobus. She watched as his body slunk out from the darkness of the forest. Her eyes widened as his words almost slithered out of his maw, her head instinctively dipping slightly downward to reveal her horns oh so similar to her father’s. ”How’d you know? I’m surprised The only thing that gave me away was stepping on a stick?” Honestly? What were the odds of her guessing right? Though, the lass knew that it was not necessarily that, it was more so because he was the most recent on her mind. But at this point, relaxed somewhat from the initial scare, Phobus spoke once more, stopped in front of her, and his expression first looking somewhat disinterested? “You’re out here alone, practicing the names of members of the Pack. I have to say, that’s quite unique.” Her excuse was not entirely a lie, she needed to recall everyone’s names. She glanced to the side, followed by a nervous laugh, barely catching his own side glance of potential disinterest?

When her china blues glanced back, they landed on his maw, of which was… graced …with a small smile. Ayara’s eyes widened once more, her white pillars backpedaling slightly. If feeling more rushed, she surely would have tripped over herself. Her black ears flicked as Phobus spoke once more. “You’re Mabbit’s daughter, aren’t you?” Ayara nodded, sitting down as she realized Phobus may talk more. Was Ayara the most comfortable? Not really…the onyx male was still intimidating after all. ”How do you feel about him being with Themis? I know it might be a bit weird seeing your father with another woman besides your mother. I wish I could sympathize, the whole new spouse thing. I never knew my father. I’m a bit jealous you have a good one.” His last words were not so coherent, as Ayara’s china blue eyes flecked with red watched as Phobus sat next to her. She got the gist of his words though, and feeling flooded with some guilt, she averted her gaze to the floor after Phobus’s own crimson locked on her own eyes.

He continued to speak, Ayara listening as he spoke, trying to maintain eye contact but also feeling intimidated by his size and the red eyes that she really should not have been. Her father had the same eye color, after all. But there was a difference between her father ”Deimus and I were surprised when we returned to see her with someone. She was known to be a bit promiscuous in her homeland. That’s how we came to be. That’s what the stories say.” Ayara’s ears perked, listening intently. Was Themis really as Phobus spoke of her? Her eyes expressed multiple emotions, ranging from interest, confusion, anger, but her body remained rather stiff, almost as if paralyzed. ”W-well…” she spoke, trying to compose herself. Phobus was next to her, after all, and just as she thought before, he was attractive sure, but not the kindest wolf here. The thought that this might be just a spinning of lies did not cross her mind, but even if it did, Ayara would doubt it. She knew nothing of others’ pasts and was not the type quick to judge.

”Frankly, I’m upset that my father has found another…” She spoke, refraining eye contact with a glance to the side, her voice trailing off and softening. ”But I also do not know what happened to my mother. If my mother has passed…” The black spined lass almost choked speaking those last words, her eyes averting to the ground again. That must have been the truth, right? Surely. Did Ayara want to accept it? No. She looked back to attempt to meet Phobus’s crimson eyes. ”Then I guess I understand. But…” She looked away once more, her voice at a mutter. ”But if our parents have the same…habits…” She could not finish her sentence, as it would been seen as admitting the possibility that she refused to be true, but surely Phobus would understand how it would be completed.

Her eyes darkened, hooded by her droopy eyelids and the black spots around her eyes making those china blues seem even darker. Surely that was not the case…right? Her black ears folded against her head, her gray tail tightly curled against the opposite side of her body, the side facing away from the giant, pitch colored male. Ayara felt her eyes well up. She normally was not the emotional type, and she refused to admit it sometimes, but she was angry. Why did her father, the only person she really had in her life as of late, have to go and find someone else to spend his limited time with, let alone, take up a role so demanding that time with his princess was even further limited? The black, gray, and white femme knew little of her siblings’ doings either, all she knew was that Valkyrie was now in Amberjorne. But she had not really thought of Phobus’s and Deimus’s feelings either…

She turned her head back towards Phobus, eyes looking down before meeting his. ”You and Deimus…were on your own for a while?” She spoke, her tone soft and caring. Ayara knew that they, her and Phobus, would have to get along, for they both had the potential to usurp the throne one day. That is…if Themis and Mabbit did not have kids of their own. Ayara did not want to even start to think about it. She sighed, looking away once more. ”I’m sorry.” An empathetic sorry left her maw. The possibility of the two brothers being without their parents for a while upset her. She was without Mabbit for a while herself, but Ayara did not keep this space for long, as she discovered the lands of which her father wanted to call home, Amberjorne, and joined him shortly after their arrival to Starfall.

Actions & Words.