If you heard the healthy sound of of a baby's first cry

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Silence, it was deafening. She could hear it all around her and more as the ringing of her ears and head became a symphony. Little to no interest was in the garden of ice she aimed for. Maybe if cabbage grew, any variant, she'd be here more often. This was an unusual trip for her to take but she decided it was for the best. She had not been feeling well from the fatigue caused by the stresses she now constantly felt. The guilt that rattled her core. She had tried to work as hard as ten soldiers, adding hunting and extra patrols during the pandemic as the numbers had decreased. The lack of sleep and exertion, no matter what she did would not go away, causing phantoms of shapes to dance around her psyche. And it lead to a tragedy she could not fix. Yesterday she had overheard of this place from a bird she shared her carrion with, and so she came, wandering if there were herbs or animals about to eat. Albeit resting was the miracle medicine that would probably cure her, but the life of a loner did not often allow that. These feelings of guilt, alienation, they plagued her like a new disease that she alone was solely responsible for the creation of. She had even started to avoid other strangers, feeling like she might spread it, taint them with her grimy soul. She felt like she could not fit in anywhere in this life, a hypocrite who wanted change and now doubting it. So much for conviction.

As she made it to the top she found herself freezing to a halt, ears twitching. Something was eating among the rustling of bushes. The wind was in her direction so she could not smell the creature, but she hoped that it's meal would be distracting enough. Crouching, the large brute began to stalk until she could spot the wrestling of bushes. She saw a flash of white among the green, convince it was perhaps a small polar bear she quickly burst into a run towards it, her face curled up in a silent snarl. She was large and loud, stealth was not her game, her goal was just to get close enough to pounce in hopes that her short burst of speed from her powerful muscles were enough to catch it.

Getting into the hunt she let out a powerful snarl as she leapt successfully onto the creature. She was a sight to fear, battle-scared with sharp teeth and a rage like no other. Her snarling quickly died and an expression of horror came upon her face as she realized the one underneath her was none other than Reiko. For a few moments she was merely dumbfounded. It had been a while since she saw the other. A mixture of embarrassment crept in as she realized how close she was to the beautiful wolf, she could feel her body moved as she breathed beneath, and her smell with the mixture of berries was intoxicating.

With a pathetic yelp of terror, she got off the other and fled a good distance, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, I thought you were food-I..." She winced, this felt just like when she tried to apologize about Gyrfalcon. Instead, she took a deep breath and turned away, her eyes became downtrodden as her head hung and she began to walk away without another word. Silence was the best option. She feared the other's disappointment, she could not bear to see it again.
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Vera continued to sob as the other spoke, her words were heard, but the larger woman needed a moment to cry and regain her composure. After a few minutes that future would be near as her sobbing grew quieter like a flame before it died out into smoke/steam to be lost among the tears. The thing about crying was that after the tears were gone, there was nothing left to do but move forward. When was the last time she had cried like that? Probably when she saw her sister's amalgamated body hung and feasted upon via birds. In this world it was her first true cry, symbolism of her new life with the relief and emptiness that came from it. It had almost happened when she had first met Reiko. The start of tears had emitted. If...if she had just let herself cry fully then would things have changed, even just a little?

Slowly, the large mass moved, finding her legs to stand, eyes puffy with her blind/irritated eye looking even worse. She had nowhere to hide weakness from Reiko. She had to accept that. The flash of passion with her previous words were gone like bravado. Having a bit of control, Vera dipped her head with closed eyes. "My apologies, that was far too unsightly." She said, monotone in voice before opening her eyes again to look at the other that had no idea what to make of her. They could both agree to that end. What was she? How was she suppose to act when she was not a brainwashed soldier of a cult?

To her own surprise, she found words to speak back with, her voice hoarse after the tears that were spent. "I cannot deny that I am in the wrong. But that is not the point I am trying to make. Rules are rules after all. It's the set-up and your black and white ignorance that bugs me." Vera would make strict eye-contact at this point. She wasn't finished though, some of that passion entering back. Perhaps she was being a bit unfair at this point, but this may be the last time she would ever get a chance to speak to this wolf. She didn't need to conform to her morals and standards anymore.

"You say you don't believe in such brutality and it's for me to make amends. But you...you are a fucking liar, you're just taking the easy route. You understand how rough the world is and you want to hide from it. I have regrets like this situation, but I accept that is part of life and that is what I have done. Who do you want me to make amends too? To the one I wronged that you try to hide me from like the boogeyman? Or the pack I wronged that I can't step one paw in. There is nothing left to make amends to! Stop acting like you're giving me a choice when there is none. Stop pretending to care and say what you really want. That you stopped believing in me and that YOU are the one trying to make amends." Vera almost hissed out the last sentences. She would make no attempts to go near the other, if anything, Vera herself was tempted to just spin around, to runaway from this.
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Vera was ready to storm off but as she was turning around to leave, a voice she had not expected yelled, no, ordered her to not leave. Instincts of an old time kicked in, she quickly stopped in her tracks, turning around and sitting back with rigid posture, head looking up at the sky to expose her neck. Vera looked down at Reiko through the corners of her eye, expecting to see another wolf in place. But no, indeed that spirit she had forgotten all about was there as a reminder of the hope she had felt not just for herself but of Shiroshika.

That spirit, it did not upset Vera to see such a look and feeling of ice. She was just more impressed to see it at the moment. She listened, not really able to tune out or drift her attention from the sure oddity of the situation. But a spectacle can only bewilder for so long, especially for one who was use to events of such negativity. Her kid mattered more than Gyrfalcon, guts to admit that. In a way to Vera, it almost felt like the poor clipped falcon was getting disregarded, seen as less value because of birth. Actually, that was a hundred percent the case. Bringing in her daughter to win this argument, how cheap...

As Reiko bristled, Vera mimicked, getting out of her soldier stance to stand on all fours, beginning to feel an edge. It was the words after her kid that began to create a situation that was beginning to make the giant only see in red. She went on and on about how she herself was the problem. It was always her. She was the one that ruined everything. She was trying but it wasn't enough. Now she was trying to live in exile and that wasn't enough. Now that she wanted to leave it wasn't enough. Wasn't right.

The emotions of guilt, grief, sadness, confusion, they mixed with Vera's red anger creating an utter ocean of turmoil within her very core. A single coherent thought could not be made in her head as Reiko's words continued to scream within her.

This situation was similar to another in a way. With Olivia. Being told it was her fault because Vera was always at fault. She was the Dream Killer. No, it did not matter that Oliver was the one who grew bored and felt too uncomfortable because of how Vera looked from her injuries. No Olivia was not at fault for dropping her location to the ones that threw her into wire. That was her fault for not dying sooner.

" If you wish to burn this bridge Vera, you are only injuring yourself further." Her question ignored as Reiko tried to make her dance in her paws. She wanted Vera to snivel and cry more...she...Vera blinked but no matter how many times she did so, she could not get rid of the vision in front of her. The small white wolf now had green eyes and a brindle tail. Ah she got it now. They were the same, on a different spectrum. Both only wanted to hear themselves and ensure what they thought was best. To Vera, unity meant listening and conveying into all sides to find harmony, balance. Reiko was a child with her ideologies, but Vera was not much better off, perhaps worse. A familiar voice entered her skull, each syllable causing her head to pound harder and harder, her vision spazzing at the sight before her before that last shred of decency left. And Vera found herself snap, a broken string of an instrument was all that remained. There had never been any hope for her from the start. She was a follower no longer looking to be saved. She now looked for a world of unity.
Silence, deafening, and yet only seconds had passed during this mental struggle.

Metaphorically,
Even the Buddha may get upset if his face gets punched-in three times,
But for Vera, it took only one...

Vera's fur laid flat as she took a deep breath and let it out. Usually this was how her joy and energy left. Yet this time it only calmed and steadied her. It seems it was time for Vera to grow up. "Reiko..." Vera started, her voice oddly calm. In a blur, Vera crossed the small gap between them, smashing her skull against Reiko's own from an upper perspective like a hammer hitting into a nail, the sound was like trees falling upon one another. It stung, but the larger of the two would likely better off. Vera stood there with a slight wince with her blind eye, blood pouring from her head, some of it was not hers. "You and I both need to learn a lesson it seems." She said calmly as if nothing just happened.
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 He was going to have to tell Ragnar to up his game! This new ugly white wolf was quickly becoming one of his favorites! She didn't compliment him as well as Ragnar did, but she did drop him food a lot of the time. She was a walking buffet!

 It seemed that today she was giving him something extra special. A buffet of wolf!

 He could see the blood staining them both on the head and he let out a raucous caw as he circled for a little while and then dropped down to the inert, smaller white wolf. "Krakaw! Hallo! You catch wolf for food this time, ya? Krak Krak!" He called out delightedly as he hopped a little bit forward between the wolf's shoulder blades. His greedy purple eyes peered down at her lifeless eyes as he clacked his beak happily. Yum yum! This would be quite tasty! "You open for Krakarak, ya?" He couldn't just break skin so easily and he figured his frequent dinner partner would be happy to oblige. Casual cannibalism wasn't a problem for him so he figured it wouldn't be for her.

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Vera scoffed with a small snarl at the bird as he tried to weasel more in, her Slavic accent showing heavily. "No, means no! Now get moving if you want that deal!" She said with a terrifying voice and a snap of her jaws to show she meant it, being oddly serious with the bird. It would upset the balance of life to just make Reiko into a target for all to take from. No one would take to benefit themselves from this tragedy. Reiko was only meant to lose to return to the void and restart anew. Probably brighter than ever if that spirit she showed meant anything.

And so for Vera this was the start of a path full of freedom. She had all the power she needed within, and she would bring judgement upon the land on those who disrupted unity. The disregard of consideration for others was too much in this world. And Vera cared too much. Perhaps it came from being the sister of a Messiah. She needed to shape this world into a place worth living and kill all those who threaten it's balance. Unity, unity, unity-But more importantly she just needed to live her life. Doing so will allow her to encounter for change, it always has.

Taking one last long look at Reiko, at what Vera had to give up to be able to move on with her life. "Fsivo haroshiva...(all the best/wish the best for you)." she muttered fondly as the tendrils of sadness and forlorn urged her to stay longer. But before she began to stalk off, the opened eyes of Reiko...there was a lack of dignity to it that she did not deserve. Quickly crossing back to her, she closed the eyes and the future she had dreamed of with her. Turn around, and left without looking back ever again. To be lost into the shadows of a madness that was oddly soothing.

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Exit Vera. If someone from Shiroshika wants to join this thread to fine Reiko due to to Krakarak then go for it
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 Well, how RUDE! The woman snapped at him and snarled, clacking her teeth in a most barbaric fashion! Quite terrified and very well taking the hint, he fellow away with an aggravating caw. "Krakarak was just ASKING" Okay, he wasn't only just!! asking as he clearly wanted it but shh, she didn't have to know that. The bird flew away across the fertile gardens and out towards the area that Vera had indicated. He'd find one of those stinking, dumb Shiroshika wolves.

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Fade as he goes here

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