The scent of blood was everywhere under the cruel, burning sun. The dense grassland writhed under the thick coat of dried blood as the flaming orb in the endless cloudless sky, craving for rain to cool it, for snow to fall, for a single breath of wind to lift the glaze of heat. Unrelentingly, the sun beamed down on the Red Plains, cracking the aged blood of countless warriors from long, long ago. The day itself became fuzzy and intense with the summer's wrath.

A single figure crossed the land, slinking through the tall blades of grass with the familiar lupine gait. The soft, dry grass brushed at her ginger pelt, swishing as it touched her fur. Intense amber pools surveyed their surroundings, glowing almost blood red under the influence of all that laid around it. The figure was a she-wolf, not young but definitely in shape. Muscles rippled under her shaggy pelt of layered hues as she continued to tread the earth, dead stalks of grass crunching softly and feebly under her paws.

Suddenly, a swift breeze blew from the northlands, carrying a vaguely familiar scent. The lithe she-wolf paused in her trail, lifting her snout to sniff curiously at the breeze, hoping to catch the scent again. She smiled grimly, now knowing exactly where she was. After years of restless wanderings, after keeping hope after her companion gave up and journeyed into the paws of Lupus, she was near. The regal looking femme picked up a hint of her infamous speed, zig-zagging through the sleeping battlefield and through the summer heat.

The Zaburian scent lingered all around, she realized, and it grew as she neared the northern border. A stretch of highlands appeared, just beyond the blackened skeletons of some trees. The wolfess stopped again, cocking her head and peering startled ahead. She neared the Volkenoneka-Zaburian border, she saw nothing but an endless stretch of destruction. Mixing with the heavy odor of blood that lingered 'round the plains was the pungent smell of volcanic ash.

What happened here? The femmora wondered, stopping in shock and gazing, stunned, at the once lush lands that was her home before the great wars. It was obvious that Ember Mountain had erupted from her point of view. The question now was, Was any one alive...was there still a Volkenoneka-Zaburi? Was there a home to return to?

"A shame, isn't it?" The she-wolf turned, surveying the hybrid that spoke. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head, taking in the full appearance of the loner. She looked to be in good shape and would pose a threat in a fight, the she-wolf concluded. She took a disguised sniff of Kimoyo and found that she was of coyote heritage as well as wolf. Smirking a miniscule bit, she remained on her toes, ready to attack or defend.

"Certainly is," she replied softly, guarding her haughty expression. It wasn't in the blood of Volkenonekans to love half-breeds and Larenzeta was no exception. "Twas a beautiful land, Volkenoneka..." She rasped her coarse tongue over her lips and turned back to gaze at the burned trees, keeping an eye on Kimoyo.

As the coywolf mentioned the state of the pack, she let her irritation show with a flick of her ear. She turned her eyes back to her again, parting her jaws in a grim smile. "What would you know, coyote..?" she growled mockingly, eyes cold with hidden annoyance and a very well guarded fear. What had happened?

"Perhaps we should go see? What of the Volkenonekans? They are survivors, they are..." She snarled a bit, baring her teeth at the stranger but making no move to attack. She would not start the battle here, but if forced, she would most vertainly fight.

She narrowed her eyes as the she-wolf spoke again, inwardly satisfied that her half-breed jibe had gotten to the wolfess. She herself was very good at reading people and had not missed the momentary unease of the prideful coy-wolf. She snorted again, listening to the wolf's foolish-sounding words

"Sure I mean you and me...that is generally the meaning of the word "we"." She looked appraisingly at the hybrid, a glint in her dark red eyes. "Why don't you come with me? You seem just as curious as I am..." She tossed her head as if a fly had been bothering her. She sideglanced her as Kimoyo gave her name, Heart Beat.

She looked at her, arranging her expression craftily. She nodded at her, expression guarded as ever but softened just a bit, convinvingly. "Well hello, Heart Beat...I am Sakryda, a loner from the south..." She lied expertly, using her mother's name for her own. She didn't need to tell the younger varg about herself and would be unwise to, she decided, looking at Volkenonekan territory again, expression indifferent.

Without waiting for an answer, she padded forward, heading for the territory that was her own. She felt her heart drop, longing to see her packmates. It had been too long, was he still Alpha? Or had Renaj taken over...and Mica...Mica would be grown now.

She narrowed her eyes and flattened her harks as Kimoyo questioned her wanting to see the state of Volkenonekan territory. Turning to face Heartbeat again, she smiled grimly, nodding. Taking a step closer to the coywolf, she flicked her tail at the burned trees.

"Aye, I do," she told her, not caring if the coywolf knew or not. She wouldn't give more information than she was asked and would dodge the question if she wanted to. "I mated one of their less pack-obsessive ones on one of my journeys north...I had a daughter in that pack." She told her calmly. Wondering if the coywolfess is believing a word she was saying, she chuckled to herself, going on with her game. Besides, she wasn't lying about having a pup into Volkenoneka, even though Hatsuyume is currently in Baridiganda-Zaburi according to the loner she met near the springs.

Sighing, she allowed her gaze to fill with a hint of worry as she refocussed on Kimoyo's face. "I figure she must be a bit older than you are...but you understand that even I feel that...motherly instinct, I trust." She sighed here, completing the effect, and it was true. She did want to see Yumi again and though she was sure EmberPaws was dead, she longed to see what became of the pack. Of course she did not let this show on her face, instead, she adopted an unrecognizable expression and waited for Kimoyo's response.