run wild.

When she came to, Desdemona had found herself high ontop of the mountain, but everything was unfamiliar. Even the sky and stars was a sight she never seen, and not the place she once knew. Now it was daybreak, and throughout the night she waited, her mind in an disarray. What she remembered as a bustling mountain top was now just whistling of the wind, and the silence that she wasn't used it. An eerie feeling, that brought a heartache to the lonesome figure. Especially as moments ago she only remembered the end, and the timeless nights that came with her solitude on what she thought was her grave.

How she remembered the cries through the air, the bustling roaring from the beast, and the audible snapping that came to her end. Desdemona touched her neck as she took a deep breathe, her cheeks wet. Claws tearing into the ground, feeling the dirt beneath her pads. It all felt so real, yet the reality that she knew was not here. The memories shuffling through of what was Morningside, Moonspear, Firefly Glen, and all those that she remembered. Was it all.. Just a lie.

The rare faint smile that Desdemona gave was of pity and remorse, as she didn't want to believe it was all just a figment of her imagination. She visibly remembered her death, her demise, and those around her.. She could feel at the time her body separate from the mortal coils. Her heart felt warm, as she watched her fellow comrades carry her body to home, and bury her in the earth with those who perished from that night. It was like an endless loop that she watched.

But now as she stood on unfamiliar grounds, it felt like a lie.

No points — she's waking up and hasn't started exploding yet

---

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This was a scent that Hydra knew. If all else was forgotten from that day, there were things that she could never forget. Faces. Perhaps feelings. When it came to her, this scent, Hydra stood rigid. Something like aftershock shook her, but it brought her to movement. Her long-legged strides devoured the earth as she raced toward the scent, willing it to not disappear. To grow stronger. And it did, it did grow stronger the closer she came.

Desdemona.

A sense of loss clouded her mind, but she did no work to make sense of it. Loss? How? When she was here? Found. 

There she was, Hydra could see her. Excited whines and whimpers came unbidden from her throat as she did not slow to bridge the gap between them; now that she was found, Hydra had already determined to never lose her again. Sister then, a soul tie gained in the wink of time between them... time, that now felt endless. Surging toward the dark woman to embrace her, Hydra's tail beat frantically behind her. Nevermind where she had been, how she had got here—how either of them had gotten here. What mattered most to Hydra was that again, they had found one another. 

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It was all a relief when it wasn't but a lie in illusions. Tears kept falling to the familiar figure of a the black Queen descending upon her, the strong stride she held, the presence of a ruler, and the type of family she never thought to have. Everything was to be taken in as she fully embraced Hydra, her tail unusually wild, but the reunion forego all their usual traits that held between the sovereign and the guard. 

Desdemona didn't know how either were here. She doesn't know how the end came for the other, but she could never forget how real it felt for her neck to snap at that moment. Yet the touch between the two, the warmth, felt oh so real, she started to doubt if that itself, was but a lie. Reality and the afterlife was in-between her mind, as she couldn't decide whether it was all but fiction. Either way, she was thankful to not be alone.

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When they collided, and she lost her own breath thanks to the feel of the impact, her own suspicions were all but gone. Real, this was real, like the loss of her breath with the quiet oomph their collision wrought. The smell of her, real—no blood, no wounds, here and in one piece. Where did you go? a thought that could not form on her lips; where had she herself gone, after all? Where were they now? With her sentinel alongside her, she felt more confident in the discovering of that... 

But first was this: the happy, familial kisses that devolved into fond nips (none of which may have landed, given her own excitement and lack of regard); the breathless excitement and happy whines that came thanks to this reunion. Another of her family, home again... and that was what mattered most to the matriarch. She thanked the stars for this, for her return and her being here. Desdemona; home had been far more than Moonspear itself, Hydra understood (and felt) then. This fortuitous return... this felt like home always had.

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Filled with warmth and bliss, she had come to realize, that Desdemona had found her home. From being banished from her homeland, and the abandonment of Morningside wolves, she all felt it was but a vain attempt to grasp her life. She always wanted somewhere, and some place to call but her own, and finally reaching the peaks of the mountain and the wolves that reigned it so, she had found a place within. Though she had thought it was all the end, as her body was buried deep within the slopes, to be in an eternal rest within so. However for her, she only saw an endless loop or her death, and her mortal body being laid to the soil.

Yet, here she was, embracing the queen of it all. Somehow, she was alive and walking, and none was an illusion. Even the unfamiliar place they held to, she could feel everything. To Hydra's warmth, and to the ground beneath their feet, none was fake. The reunion between the two was mutual in the nips and rubbing familiar scent upon each other, to know that they are here, for each other, and for what was to come. However, Desdemona had to know.

"Where are we?"

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Content for once, Hydra was hard pressed to extricate herself from the spidery-limbed woman; but she did, when the question was posed. “I do not know,” she admitted, “I have no name for it, yet. I was thinking, perhaps it might be something we do... all together,” she considered, ears pricking. “There are others still to find,” she explained, looking over her shoulder. But perhaps they might be able to find them here the same way Hydra had discovered Desdemona.

Which... “were you waiting for me long?” she wondered; how long had Desdemona been here? Several days for Hydra, but this mountain seemed as gargantuan as Moonspear... and Hydra had plenty to learn of it. In fact, her gaze then darted around them, looking for landmark features to commit to memory. Where had Desdemona awoken, exactly, upon this nameless place?

+1 Discovery Point

---

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---

"The rock we are on reminds me.. Home," her gaze took a sweep to the landmass that she had been staying on for a full day. It had not been long since she had had woken from the eternal slumber, but throughout the night she had arrived, Desdemona was unmoving. It was like an endless waiting for something to come along, yet to Hydra, "not long," is all she would say. Her dreams were filled with the horrors of her own death and the comrades that had happened during that day, but it all seemed like a distant dream..

"It is like the one we would sunbathe on." Fondly so did she remember the days her and the Queen would lay upon the flat rock and sunbathe the day away. Particulary so, the rock they were on was a bit high, but the flatness was still a perfect replica to what she had done on her more joyful days. A blissful nap through the day..

+2 Discovery Points

---

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It took a moment for Hydra to realize she had bounded up to Desdemona; so familiar an action it was to do what Desdemona had mentioned, it was something like instinct. When the wintry days were particularly cool, Hydra would warm beneath the sun with Desdemona (and her twins among them, now and then); shifting her weight upon the spot, she marveled at it. As though her yearning mind had conjured more than just the familiarity of Desdemona. As if the thought of home brought more than just her here. 

Circling to find her favored spot upon the rock, Hydra found it; something like a chaise where she could lay in regal repose upon, curved and perfectly suited for the shape of her. Stretching, and then moving to lay, Hydra was glad to know Desdemona had not waited too long for her. “It feels like the very same,” she breathed, eyes aglow as she gestured alongside her, resting her chin upon her foreleg.

+1 Discovery Point

---

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Following along, a sun spot close the queen herself, and stretched over the warm rock. Though her eyes remained open instead of a blissful sleep, for while it felt familiar and comforting, and more so with the other around, Desdemona knew they still were in unfamiliar grounds. Especially as she looked around and the scattering of trees, differently placed from what she had remembered. Even the rocks that haven't moved for centuries, were something she did not know.

"Do you know about the rest?" Desdemona couldn't help but question the thoughts. They were once homed to many, many wolves, to the point the group had split into two. Though now, all she saw was Hydra. Were they still.. Alive? Were they even around these parts? Vaguely she could remember some, it was like her memory was blurred.

+1 Discovery Point

---

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names mentioned are who have arrived I think pre start of this thread? that she's interacted with 

---

 

As Desdemona settled alongside her, Hydra's own gaze touched the places which the woman's did not. There were several parts of this place that were unknown and unfamiliar; Hydra sought to investigate these nooks and crannies, and did so vaguely with trailing eyes. Coniferous trees that stood tall and proud dotted around this quaint little clearing; what would this place look like, without snow? Would there be flowers here? It was small, and by no means a meadow... a comfortable little area, where they could find some rest and reprieve. 

Did she know about the rest? Her gaze drifted to Desdemona. “I search for them,” she drawled. Even if she did not know them, she would when they came across her as she had Desdemona. It seemed the forgetting came for those not here... be it because they were unseen, or not near, Hydra was determined to find that out. “Altair, Dirge, Lyra, Bronco... Osiris... They are all here. Osiris, I think, is on his way,” she recalled his howl days ago. “Nightly I sing for them, so they might know where it is we lay our heads at least.” She paused for a moment, thinking, before adding: “We have a newcomer among us. His name is Element; he is a kind man, it seems.” A little lost, but lately... she felt she was, too. Something was missing beyond the someone... and she was still figuring that out.

+1 Discovery Point

---

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As names were mentioned, so were the faces that came to. Yet, there was still a handful that remained blurry, missing from her mind like an annoyance. Desdemona wondered why, she couldn't remember closely to who were close, and those she cherished, and yet vaguely so, she could remember the land that they were at far easier then the wolves, "This place reminds me of the mountain. Surely, those who feel the same will gather." The guarding spider though, had awoken on this step, she could only hope the rest were the same.

"Is this, the new claim?" Though, are they still what they once were? The place they were at where tall like the mountain it was before, stones that leaved a labyrinth for any who turned, and guarded by the large trees before. Though the peak, was still a question, the stars Desdemona had saw were not the ones she was familiar with, and now she wondered, what did they look like at the very top?

+2 Discovery Points

---

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“That is my hope,” she openly admits. The grandeur of this place was similar to Moonspears own, if not greater (which she would never admit aloud). This place felt ancient, and Hydra was none too interested or invested in the spiritual aspect of things. But her late mother, @Amekaze, had taught her all about the earth and its many facets... some things could be felt, and known that way. Stability, or the lack of it. Would a place crumble beneath the weight of them, or was it strong enough to stand the test of time? And when Hydra had seen this mountain, somehow, it felt... like a thing without time. Eons might have passed, but this mountain was fixed to where it stood, unweathered and stalwart. 

She shifted to her side, one foreleg hanging languidly from the rock they lingered upon... and even still, it felt the very same as they sunned upon in Moonspear. “Yes,” she answers, “it is. But it is not Moonspear,” she drawled, “we begin anew here. A name for us The Nameless Mountain, and for what we will become here, will surely come,” she hummed, “though I am open to suggestions...” here an ear swiveled backward to hear if Desdemona might offer any ideas.

+2 Discovery Points

---

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"I was born in a place named Blackrock Forest, the best I can offer is Shadow Mountain." The mountain reminded her much of the Moonspear mountain, the unwelcoming outside and the warm inside, she felt a name that was 'pretty' wouldn't do it justice. Desdemona felt something either ominous would work, or menacing. Something in the neutral mix, but she wasn't the best at naming, and never had the need to, thus the skill was extremely dull.

"I'm not the best at naming, but I can guard while you search for the rest." That was always a granted.

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last for me in dis one <3 now we need ANOTHER

---

 

Hydra listened to Desdemona, and considered the name Shadow Mountain. “Was it named that way for being cast in the shadows, or the creation of them, I wonder?” Here she peered over her shoulder to Desdemona, wondering if she might know given it was the place she had come from so long ago. Blackrock Forest; perhaps because the rocks were doused in the same shadows as Shadow Mountain... or else created by them. Hydra herself was not so creative when it came to names; she sourced from the places her parents had, and was often inspired by the familiar names of the stars. 

Turning away to look at the things surrounding them (namely the large trees), the matriarch wondered who she would find in the coming days. There was a relief Hydra had never known to find Desdemona alive and well, as though one of those two things were some great shock to her. But for as long as Hydra had known Desdemona, she had been both—perhaps sad, for her past, but never unhealthy. Desdemona had become a core part of Hydra's life in the time she had walked upon Moonspear, and the absence of her was impossible to imagine. 

“Mmm. Alright,” she hummed, accepting of this much; Hydra was clearly not a wonder at naming things herself, so she could not fault Desdemona. And while she wanted to rouse now to search, this moment with Desdemona felt important not to depart just yet. The time spent with her family was something Hydra was all too aware to never take for granted. “A nap first, before all that,” she drawled, her command playful. The sun warmed and soothed her. Exhausted by the way her mind seemed to work as she sought to comprehend, she felt fatigued; a good sleep would provide her with a clearer mind, she believed, her eyes blinking slowly to a close.

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"I could not say, but the light never reached inside." She could not know why the name was so, for the forest of the pines was so dense, that barely did the light reach within. The shadows were inwardly, and outwardly, for the wolves that lived within were just as dark as the world they were in. She remembered too, being within their same path, but the light was given, only when the blood had been spilled. Desdemona shook her head remembering the night she was banished, and looked back toward Hydra.

She too, slowly fell into the same slumber for a rest that she had not received for so long. This time at least, it was not eternal.

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