I'm drawn to you, something's magnetic here

@Hydra ofc I forward date the thread, tooooo the 16th?

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The beast came in within his own rolling mist. Plumes of white pouring from all around at the foot of the mountain that held Hydra and Dirge's smell. They numbers were strong, still much stronger than his - but he was creeping up on them and their numbers. No longer was he feverishly jealous as they were holding on strong back in Blackwood.

There he stood for a breath, taking in their numbers and health before calling out to the Queen herself for a little chat. It had been some time since their last meeting, and so, they had much to talk about. @Célnes had already met the other part of their coalition, @Crux, but did he want to bring in Empyrean as well or greedily keep him close to his own belt?

Allies made them strong, and he was diligent in keeping tabs on them all. Ensuring that nothing would perturb their peace without his say, without it being in their favour (which hadn't happened yet and most likely won't be for a long ass time, so sit your ass down Ven). But even with many allies, should he share the fruits of his labour and chose to turn against one in greed... would the others follow? Who would they choose to remain loyal to? It was a risk... and perhaps a risk he was not willing to take with the mountain queen.

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Hydra was feeling... good. 

Better, even. Although she yearned for the things and beings not yet found, she was confident they would be. And in the meantime...

Well, she would do as she ever did. Continue to build, for one thing. And that she and Dirge had accomplished in their own christening of this place. Life went on, and Hydra would do more than roll with the punches. She would hit it back twice as hard. Grow and expand in this place as she had the last. She was learning, and this place did not seem a dangerous one... and the wolves surrounding her, they were also not the same. Not quite so dangerous as the ones she had known in the last. 

And not nearly so dangerous as she herself. 

She was pleased to hear the familiar note of Vengeance; it was something she had, in the Wilderness before, never thought she would hear again... for what reason was that, she wondered? It mattered little; she navigated the treacherous mountain to make her way to him, singing a low note in turn that she had heard. Near enough to meet him swiftly, she was shadowed in the distance by her twin who kept onward. 

With new life expected, Hydra's own territoriality had doubled just as it had in the past. 

“Vengeance,” she greeted, plume squarely above her hindquarters. “It is good to see you,” she drawled. And it was; his company was one she delighted in, in that he understood her nature... perhaps better than most.

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There was no waiting as he was greeted swiftly by the shadowed woman. She was glowing, but he couldn't be certain why she seemed different than the last time they had met. Without her belly dilated, there was simply no guessing for him nor did it matter for the time being as they had things to discuss. With his travel as far as it is, it was never just a simple visitation for shits and giggles - not yet anyway.
 
“Hydra,” A slow greeting of his own as he watched her approach. “Likewise.” With the queen of the mountains here, it was now that he took the time to relax onto his haunches and sit. Letting his shoulders roll downward with a casual sit to chat with an old friend.
 
“Your numbers keep swelling, will this mountain be able to contain your kind?” A half cocked joke, knowing very well she could be a powerful ally and enemy if he wasn't cautious. Granted few could be spared with his greed and so, her claim in the mountains left little to his imagination that they would clash any time soon with him desiring the South of their reaches. 

A conversation they would have here.

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Vengeance's question was answered with a grin, and it was not without some measure of triumph that Hydra hummed knowingly, “and this will only continue,” as she reclined onto her own haunches. It was a mothers knowing, this thing. Each year, she and Dirge had succeeded to expand their family; here, it was to happen again. The sense of... normality it brought renewed the matriachs confidence that all was as it should be, with the exception of those missing pieces... but they would come, too, in time. 

And in the meantime, Hydra would do as she did best. 

“I imagine it could, for its size, but size means little should the prey grow scarce. Our claim will reach beyond this Nameless range soon enough,” she drawled, though this she did bide her time for. With the future to consider, Hydra would handpick her own candidates to aid her in this cause. She watched, and waited, for the worthy—and instructed all the while. With her own firstborn son just returning, she again considered him... and then, there were others too. Desdemona she did not think would ever wish it, but the woman came to mind all the same as a worthy woman to lead. 

Licking her chops, Hydra drawled with some curiosity, “and what of you, and your Nightwalkers? Surely, there must be a good deal compelled to run with you,” with a flick of her ear, “and that brindle woman... have you killed her yet?” Hydra had been keeping her eye out for the enemy Crux had mentioned, though had not caught wind of her. Perhaps because Vengeance had already dealt with it.

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Hydra's grin was returned with one of his own. Twisted and stained in comparison to her own more pristine dentures. “I have no doubt it will.” And of course, so long as both would stay out of the other's way, he was certain no problems would arise from her numerous members and his own greed spreading in the south. Of course their methods differed and yet it seemed to work in keeping both leaders rather satisfied with one another.

As far as he was concerned, there was no friction between himself and Hydra ever since day one. Neither force opposed the other and instead supported from a distance with no real need to intervene with the other.

“I have not.” A bitter tone overtook him at the mention of the brindle woman he sought. Still she evaded him and yet there was no news of her return or presence elsewhere. “We found where she was residing in a mountain near Blackwood, but her scent faded with time and she seemed to have moved on elsewhere.” A disgusted snort shot mucus from his nostrils as he tried to ease the vexing he felt.

“As of the Nightwalkers, we are steadily growing. I have shed our identity as mercenaries, no longer will we be hired as goons but focus on our own. Speaking of which, the reason for my visit is to announce I plan on monopolizing the South. Take its resources for my own and tax those who wish to reside in the Temperate regions unless they wish for war.” Now was the time to test the waters and see if Hydra would approve of this move, or if she would for the first time... oppose his decision and become troublesome - of which he doubted.

If he even had an inkling she would, the conversation would not have come up so casually as it did.

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“The foolish are not long for this world,” she drawled. Be it here, or there, the woman would die. Though it was a shame neither of them could be the ones to see it done, who knew? Maybe someday they could, should she not have perished already. To know where once she lingered was good, in any event; perhaps, should the woman return, she would make another foolish decision to travel from the same direction. Many did utilize routes they knew best; Hydra would be mindful of such. 

Vengeance spoke on the progression of his own, and Hydra felt pleased to hear he was no longer offering his services to just any. 

And as he continued, Hydra listened. Ah, again she saw they shared similar spirits—even if their methods were differently executed. All to the same end, in any event. And his plans did not interfere with her own, either. “Good,” she hummed, thinking it better for an ally to control the lands to the South than any stranger. Was she not doing (or, intending to do) the same here? Had she not begun to do the same in the Great Bear Wilderness? Worse, perhaps; whoever was not already an ally to her would not be permitted to loiter here within the mountains without her say so. 

Too many might be troublesome to their own resources, her own children (who, along with her pack, would come first)—those of her neighbors too, who would surely share in her concern. 

“Have you a wife yet, Vengeance? Has Spring favored you this year?” Her voice was as low as it ever was as she asked this. It was not for gossip sakes that she made the inquiry—Hydra's own mind also expanded beyond where they stood at present, on two opposite ends. Vengeance was a powerful man, and she a powerful woman... her own husband, a powerful man who stood beside her in all things. Did Vengeance have such a woman? 

Traditional, painfully so, Hydra did not consider he might have a man at his side—

But her wondering was not simply in contemplation of his loneliness. No, it was for the future. What perhaps could be done between the progeny, of such individuals? A union? A thought she only humored to herself, at present... For as she knew it, he did not.

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“The foolish are not long for this world,”

No, they are not. Vengeance was not the smartest man and nor would he claim to be. He was good a few things, fantastic at others - but he was no genius. Instincts drove his actions, and he trusted them more than anything as it kept others from often thinking ahead of his actions. However the brindle woman seemed to even lack that instinct of basic survival judging by their first and last encounter.

It was only fitting that there was only one left standing after their coldwar. Maybe this world showed the bridle woman mercy and took her away before the beast could find her himself.

And of course Hydra would approve of his decision to take over the Southern regions. Of which he had little doubts and was certain she was already plotting something similar. “I had a feeling you would think so.” A part of him remembered their time in another life, wishing to take over some other region for their own and suck up its resources for their own usage. It only came natural to them, and though this time they would not strangle a land together - they would be neighbours. 

“I will not be taking a wife.” He said simply, holding nothing back as he sputtered the truth. A wife would only bring him trouble, thinking herself to be his equal and capable of leading with him as opposed to just producing the next generation. Hydra of course had her husband, believing in something completely different - which to him was such a shame. They could have a wonderfully strong litter themselves, but alas, it didn't seem to be in his favour. “There is a pack south of the Temperate where their Queen will give me my first litter here - and another bitch in Nightwalkers who will mother a litter there.”

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Interesting, his choice; she wondered how a litter between packs might work in such a way, mother in one and the father in the other. As far as protection went, she wondered if that meant for the time of their youth he would live with the Queen... or if he would trust his cubs in the paws of another pack so completely. Given the fact that he claimed them as his own, she did not think them illegitimate—nor bastards, given the same line of reasoning. 

“Our cubs, they must meet someday,” she drawled, equally wanting to meet the woman he had paired with. Was she worthy, or had she been available? She imagined the former, if Vengeance claimed them, but wanted to make sure the woman was suitable for her own designs that she imagined Vengeance might share in. Their ambition was far reaching, and while she would not touch what was his own as surely as he would not were the roles reversed, ...perhaps, together, they still could reach elsewhere... “Spring has favored me once more,” she finished, notched ear twitching. 

The future was bright, and she worked toward it actively even as she took hold of the present to make it her own. But she, too, remembered those days—and her mind imagined that their children could do the same, together. A strong union, though that depended upon the woman who Hydra imagined was no waif—she would like to find out.

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So she was pregnant once more. It seems like every year she would bring new life - then again, was that not the way of a female? And with Hydra's genetics it was only a blessing rather than a curse. Granted was he any different? Already he had two if more more litters on the way, it somehow felt different however... not being the one to carry them and instead his life would continue as though nothing changed just as it did time and time again.
 
“They will, the ones who are mine to keep.” For he wasn't even certain if the Elkshire brood would even be his to toy with. Celnes and Vengeance both had their own beliefs, their own way of doing things and she was a queen. Certainly she wouldn't want a man like him lurking around beating the snot out of their children for the sake of toughening them up and making sure they would not embarrass his genes. 

Unless she requested a father figure - he would remain distant from that litter as he did in the past. They would not be Nightwalkers, but Elkshire residents, and he had long accepted that with stride. “Perhaps a union will come of it, and our alliance will grow stronger.” He could hope. If he could not take Hydra himself, there was always the possibility of their children instead.

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She hoped he acquired the strongest of them, though Hydra doubted any he claimed could be considered weak for very long if any such existed; he seemed the sort comfortable in using a fist, his fist, fashioned to bludgeon any material into the shape he desired, his progeny included. As a parent, Hydra could not fault the man whatever method worked for him so long as they survived it—

And if they did not, well, it would be a kinder fate than what the wilds might have in store for it. She was not dissimilar, not really. Hydra did not want her cubs to be taken advantage of in such a way, and so they must be strong. For themselves, and for their family and those that came after. Nothing else was acceptable. 

His supposing was in line with Hydra's own thoughts, and she said agreeably, “what a union that would be,” with a sway of her tail. Two insatiable beings, rulers of opposite ends, and their young together—it certainly enticed her. More conquerors, to take in their name. “I look forward to their meeting,” she hummed in earnest, and asked, “do you know when your cubs are to arrive?”

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At least he had Morag's to look forward to. Mould them to his vision and hopefully get some kind of union out of them with Hydra's children instead of the Elkshire brats who may never be his to play with. “Indeed it would be.” Should it happen, he couldn't think of anything else than a more powerful union. As they would rule the mountains and he the temperate just below. Their children in the middle to aid on either side with their own claim.

Perhaps if all goes according to plan - maybe all it needed would be a little push on his end one day. 
 
“The ones due in Nightwalker claim would be by the end of next month I suppose.” Casually he states with a certain air of nonchalance. He wasn't quite good at keeping track of them, only watching to see how fat they would get before bursting with a bunch of little ones. Clearly the ones he spoke of in a different land didn't interest him all that much.  
 
“Perhaps by winter we can find a place between our claims to introduce them to one another.” Once they were all weaned and strong enough to walk on their own.

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