Her father and brother were gone.

For the first time in her life, her grief had exploded into an anger. So raw and unimaginable that she kept away from everyone unless she spoke things that could not be revoked. All she could think of when she thought of the Sanguine leader was how disgustingly stupid. It, in turn, disgusted and guilted her to think of her own father in such a way. It shocked her to her very core each time a horrible thing wiggled its way through her brain. Yet she was dizzied by what she could only think to be selfishness.

Their elder had died. Then a child had died.

He had gone away and as if it wasn't good enough, Matos had gone with. She could not fathom a single reason at all that would have been good enough for them to go. News of death didn't change, it would always be the same outcome. He could have...waited. Only he hadn't.

It meant that those who could have answered this call were slim pickings and it was unfortunate for all involved that Eclypse skulked her way there. Head splitting with an ache from gnawing anything she could get her teeth on. The stress had morphed her into an unkempt creature with seemingly permanent bed-tussled fur and her features sunken.

The figure on their borders hardly looked much better.

What do you want? Her tone was a pointed sword of judgement and the stance she took made it abundantly clear of who belonged here.

What new stupidity was this?

Eclypse wondered if they whole world had lost their brains and she simply hadn't caught the message. Her nostrils flared and her stance only further edged into a flaring dominance. A stranger who came to make demands of nothing. She found the thought impossible.

I want you gone if you really want nothing. Once eyes of soft moons had become gunmetal, hard and cold. So is that your final answer? Nothing? The problem was that there could be possibly no right answer to give. If they wanted to join, Eclypse had sunk the ship and the leader was away anyway. If they wanted to see someone, she would have turned them away just as sharply too.

Neither one of them could win and Eclypse only seemed intent on making sure this woman was miserable with her.

She was right, but it didn't matter. A stranger had no say here in these lands. At least not as far as Eclypse was concerned.

It was unfortunate that this stranger dug her next words into the gaping wound of grief. The yearling held more grief in her heart for her grandmother than anyone else she had ever lost or been saddened by. It was unfortunate that she might have been excited to meet more family any other times or connect lines with relations.

Yet the thought of her grandmother was too much. Her head roared with pain and emotions that exploded into harsh words.

What does it matter if she's dead? Her tail had now come to sit fully over her spine, her head lifted tall and her words had been accented with the peel back of her lip. There was a hatred so vile and venomous on her face. A hatred that was so terribly misplaced.

I think you're right. I would've wanted you gone regardless, but I'll make sure you leave now.

It felt like a rock to her head. It felt like blood pooled in her skull or ran down her face. Tears felt like blood to her now and she had not realized it. It was not her head that had been cracked open but it was the emotional well within her. Her anger and grief seemed to toil enough that words could not be a release now.

Her body was acting before she could have stopped it.

It was the worst part about being a yearling, full grown but hardly fully mature.

She launched herself at once with jaws wide and aimed directly for the woman. Tears felt like blood, but she need actual blood now. To taste it, to feel a warmth that wasn't this gaping cold in her.

It did not feel good.

Blood on her teeth, her tongue. No amount of blood shed would possibly bring back anyone who had lost their own. Yet it was the only thing that brought her out into the world. The promise of violence had rustled her out of the depths of her misery, but it had launched her into something else entirely.

The goading only solidified her choice to continue.

This time her teeth aimed for the woman's shoulder instead of her face. Eclypse wanted this woman gone, but she wanted there to be a reminder of her when the time came for them to part bloody ways.