And on this night began to wonder why

Miriam didn't stray too far from the Floral Meadow, though one night did she find herself sleepless, and her paws wandering to the outer bounds of the glorious flower biome. She didn't realize how far she had gotten, and continued to move along, her white starlit eyes looking above to the twinkling of stars, and the full moon that shined a path below.

She felt so small being within these parts, no trees to cover, and only the occasional bush and stream to accompony the endless grass and wheat fields. Her head rose high to the sky, a twinkle within her own eyes to match the stars above, and her voice, a howl crossing to the empty territory. A song for the night, as Miriam prayed to the Goddess within her heart.

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Something beyond her comprehension beckoned her towards the voice as it rang out across the valley, eerie in its loneliness. Annika couldn't understand why she was drawn to the voice, but her legs carried her forward without command. It was only when the wind shifted and her scent danced along the breeze that the woman slammed on the brakes, panic sweeping up her spine like a wave.

There was someone's scent among her own, one that brought back those familiar aches of heartbreak she had been struggling with for so long. Was it.. her? Had she done this damage? Annika frowned as she parked herself several yards away, paws anchored to the ground.

No, it was.. it was another scent.

"You, lady," Annika murmured, eyes locking harshly onto the stranger. "Who do you smell of?" Because if Annie was correct, things were about to make much more sense.

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She was a bit surprised on the sudden bluntness the other held, it gave Miriam a bewilderment look. She wasn't particularly expecting anyone to be out around this hour, and it gave a rather wariness how @Rosencrantz or @Guildenstern were in a distance. Purposely leaving them just to explore a bit further was perhaps a wrong choice, especially as the nervous wolf had already experienced how territoral the natives were - she wasn't sure about this one.

"Uhm, a few wolves that I travel with?" She wasn't really knowing the other expected named, but the demand in question was a strange one. She took a few steps back, eyes avoiding the other and the feel of the need to run. She didn't know what irked this stranger, but wolves rarely had a reason to attack - and that scared Miriam.

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The woman's answer did very little to soothe the storm raging in her mind. It was agonizing to stand there so vulnerably and still not have an answer, not even from the woman who smelled so thickly of.. of someone from her past. Annika's mind reeled as she grasped at the watery thoughts, intangible and taunting as her mind struggled to process.. everything. The stranger herself was unfamiliar, but the scent -- the scent!  The she-wolf took a step closer, hesitating, and then scented the air towards @Miriam cautiously.

Oh, but the lady looked frightened.

"I not.. I not hurt, I just.. I wake in this place alone and one smell is.. is familiar?" Her icy gaze melted into pools of melancholy as she lowered her head, even flicking her ears against her crown in order to convey how little of a threat she was. "I thought maybe wolf I recognize would.. be able help remind me of what happen," she admitted with a sigh, but it hardly looked like Miriam would be willing to help her now that she had spooked her. 

"My name is Annika, I.. sorry for scaring."

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"Do you perhaps.. Know Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?" As the other didn't mean to be so intimidating, Miriam softened a bit and asked so. She too walked into an unknown place and could understand the confusion, it was scary. While the silver wolf willingly left what she knew behind, she wondered for some time if others had similar instances.. It seemed to be true as the woman named Annika, confirmed this.

Though what was definitely strange if the scents were familiar, and it wasn't that she was, but those who were around her.

She stepped closer in a reassurance of sorts, and forgiveness to the other that originally frightened her. No more was she, "It's alright, i'm Miriam, Miriam Iris Willows.. I arrived similarly, into somewhere I did not know." There was a touch of sympathy to the other, almost she wished to touch in reassurance, but refrained. It wouldn't do well for a stranger to be so familiar, and she knew of that fine line of what is appropriate, despite the desire.

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Annika considered turning to leave. She considered abandoning all hope of ever figuring out why these faces haunted her, why they caused her such grief and pain.. but no, not when she was this close. Not when she was within touching range of an answer, be it good or bad. Surely figuring out why these faces kept tormenting her would bring some semblance of closure, right? It was better not to live in ignorance, right?

Annika didn't get the chance to decide, because @Miriam spoke a name that slammed into her like a tidal wave. Rosencrantz. No, no..

Her mind felt like it was being constricted, teetering dangerously on the edge of snapping entirely. "Rosencrantz," she murmured, repeating the name to taste the familiarity on her tongue. Was that.. yes, the man with the scarred face. Rosencrantz. Annika saw him clearly now, saw how they had clashed within moments of meeting each other only to spend the week inseparable. He had promised her he would look for her, to see if their unions had brought any whelps. He had promised to come back, he had promised..

And he hadn't.

Annika's eyes snapped open, her paws carrying her a step backwards uncertainly.  "He promised. I loved him and he promised," she whispered, her eyes gazing down at the grass between her toes. Rosencrantz had broken her heart, and she was only now realizing that it would have been much easier to remain unaware. The grief of his abandonment crashed over her, but Annie refused to cry. Annika did not cry.

"Rosencrantz is familiar." The words were directed towards the unfortunate bystander as if her display hadn't convinced her enough that she recognized one of them. "Fuck," she swore, dropping onto her haunches in order to gently rub her head with a front paw. "Fucking.. bastard." How quickly her pain turned to anger, how quickly she wanted to storm off after him and shred the other side of his face to ribbons.

Annika had only loved once, and now she understood she would never allow it to happen again.

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"Is he.. Your mate?" Confusion was set alongst with worry as the name of her companion was thrown around. It wasn't that both of them were, but only in particular to @Rosencrantz. The woman seemed to crumble, in a despair of sorts until an anger settled in. Perhaps the better term Miriam should've used was ex-mate, for the way she spoke and presented herself was no longer of love, but something like a heartbreak to a young woman.

Did he betray her? The vision she saw was but a stoic man who was willing to help, despite a rather frosted front. She grown to like him as a companion, and it was quite disheartening to hear how far this wolf fallen toward him. She would hope maybe, it was by a mixture of names, but at the same, the other recognized his smell. There was hesitation clear on her face, but Miriam attempted a stretched paw out to the others shoulder to try and reassure.

She opened her mouth, but Miriam imagined if she said it was but a misunderstanding, it would draw even more rage. Remembering her own heartbreak on the thought of her children's father - while not love, it felt like there was a betrayal, to herself and to her Gods. Her words would only result into more pain and suffering, more anger and frustration.. Even she knew words were useless. She could only offer silence and an ear to listen to, as a pitied and sorrowful look was given.

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^^

Miriam went off again on her own. Rosencrantz was no babysitter to keep a close eye on her at every moment of every day, and so as she wandered off, he drifted back to the light sleep the knight always seemed to find himself in. Resting but still alert to a certain degree. Yet this time even the light slumber did not come as time went on and Miriam was still away. Surely Guildenstern would have preferred her disappearance but the half-faced brother seemed to have grown a little softer in time and her absence was worrisome... especially when she had caused herself so much trouble before they met.

And so reluctantly he got up, slow, sluggish movements until he felt comfortable enough to follow her path. He had no intention on invading whatever she was doing, only to simply check up on the smoky woman to ensure she was not getting herself into trouble again and then go back to sleep with a clear conscience.

It was the sight of another with a dark back that had him continue toward the meeting of women. His face stone, cold, stern as he approached. The darker woman seemed furious over something, and his golden eye flickered from her just to land on Miriam. A part of him wanted to sweep her away from the furious woman - who looked almost vaguely familiar in this light - but as Miriam seemed fine, comfortable, trying to comfort the angered woman all he did was wait for now. “Miriam, all is well?” Skepticism was clear in his tone.

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Her head throbbed in agony as she paddles through a stormy ocean of conflicting thoughts. Why was all of this happening? Why was it so painful to simply fucking remember her own memories? Her teeth clenched in frustration as she was caught in the undertow, pulled out by a riptide and then immediately spilled back onto shore. Nausea crept up her spine, but the gentle touch of the stranger -- no, Miriam -- soothed the raging in her head. The icy depths of her eyes softened at the comforting touch of another, and it was all Annika could do to prevent herself from begging for more. A hug, maybe, or some cuddles to just.. chase the grief away. Platonic stranger cuddles were a thing, weren't they?

Ah, but she'd asked a question.

Annika shook her head slowly, afraid to move her skull too much lest she lose her supper. "He attacked when first meet. I taunt him after I beat him, we talk and be friends, I say I want puppies.. he stay for my heat. He promise he come back to see.. if expecting, when he never come I realize I love. Not healthy, but.. he never come and.. no family." Her ears wilted against her head. "I never expected to stay or be mate or father, but hope. It stupid, please no make fun.." Annika couldn't handle that kind of emotion right now, thanks.

And then her sleep paralysis demon showed up in all his glory, acting as though he didn't know who the fuck she was. Had she not been already nauseous, she certainly was now. His blankness only solidified what she's known from his broken promise: she hadn't mattered to him and she never would. It had all been a game, a joke, something to laugh at with the boys on weeknights. Annika's closed her eyes to will the tears from spilling, but one slipped out against her will.

"It nice to see you, Rosencrantz. I sorry for intruding.. I go," she said, flashing a final pathetic look at Miriam before turning to slip away. Rosencrantz clearly had his own reasons for not returning, and Miriam was far prettier than Annika could ever hope to be.

Annika only hoped he treated her well.

--exit unless stopped!--

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Sympathy, pity - she could understand well how the wolf had felt. Similarly long ago when she was in heat, Miriam thought that the father to her kids, was one of the God's Warriors, and expected to be protected. Rather then so, later in life did she wound up pregnant, only to find out not only her own, but multiple litters. There was sadness and heartbreak, that someone she gave her first was a man not bound by any, and how chaotic the life grew forward. She forgave him in the end, for he was only a man trying to make everyone far too happy, at the cost of a disarray that was a 'family.'

What she couldn't understand was what drew them to love, but perhaps the clash of feelings brought an admiration, just as Miriam has for the two brothers. Providing protection brought a warmth to her heart, just as it brought to Annika, "many in this land lost memories.. Perhaps it was the same?" a wariness for her words, but she uttered so. Forgotten pasts were oh-so common, even parts of her own seemed like a blur. She could hope, and pray that truly Rosencrantz forgotten, and not left behind.

Like a switch in places though, he appeared, and she saw herself out. Miriam looked at the white paladin, there was like a trust that was broken, the heart twanging in the despair what he did, and the hope it was not true. Starlit eyes turning toward him, then her, and back, a look that said 'go after her.'

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He didn't catch the words uttered between the women as he approached. He could barely see the dark one's mouth move in the dim light and his lack of depth perception, but he was certain there were words in the breeze that he could not catch clearly.

Upon his arrival, the women and their gazes naturally shifted to him, but what held within them was alien, strange - something he could not remember ever seeing before. Betrayal, hurt, confusion a mixture of it all in both their eyes in varying levels. Pale brows furrowed in his own confusion, and the darker woman's words, of which he heard this time, only made the perplexity of the situation that much worse.

What the hell was going on?

He watched her walk off at first, glancing down to Miriam with that same bewildered expression as though pleading for her to explain to him what happened - with his patience waning a little thin. However, he was met with her own silent plea for him to follow after the dark, stranger(?). With an annoyed groan, he sulked off to trail after the woman who seemed to be turning his new world upside down already. He cast one last glance over at Miriam, “Go back to camp, I'll meet you there.” Because once he was done with the other female, he had things to clarify with Miriam too it seemed.

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There was relief that Rosencrantz was going after the other - something was unresolved between the two, but what was strange that the white wolf seemed to not recognize her. At the same time there was doubts that maybe, just maybe, it was a ploy.. However, Miriam had no reason to distrust him at the moment, as the three are companions and he's been providing a guardianship of sorts, she wanted to hold faith. Though the anguish of the woman could not be forgotten. 

She would wait for him, for some sort of telling to what had occur. Though now the thoughts were at the back of her head, did her two companions have families before here? She too, had her own children that had yet to be shared.. It felt unnerving, the amount of secrets that there was. 

With a rather muddled mind, she returned to where they were currently resting at, awaiting for one to return.

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