Jalen growled so ferociously it was bordering a roar. He swept out of the tent and sniffed the air, trying to catch Siara's scent. When he found it but couldn't follow it he growled in frustration and howled before shifting quickly and darting off into the woods, his heart broken howl echoing among the trees, promising it murder to any who dare cross his path.

Aerion's eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she passed out, falling to the side, form the dtress of the matter.

Lerayel put Aerion on the bed, making sure she was comfortable, before slipping out of the tent, grabbing a random horse, mounting and riding after him. She had to stop him; only she knew the impending results of whatever fight he would pick. It didn't take long for her to catch up, but she stayed behind him.

I am not a prey to be stalked, Lerayel... Jalen's voice rumbled in her head, feral as he let his wolf instincts take over to cover his hurt. He was a demon right now, though he had yet to do anything evil. He half pounced ahead and pulled almost a half circle, turned with his side to her as he looked at her with dialated wolf eyes, hackles raised and claws sharp. His body stood tense and he trembled slightly with growls, but he wouldn't hurt her, they both knew it. He was only furious.

Lerayel dismounted as he turned. "I know," she replied aloud. "Please, Jalen. You must obey me. You have never done anything else. I understand...." No, she didn't understand. She had never had a child, never lost a child. She couldn't understand something like that. She looked down, unsure what to say.

He stalked back and forth in front of her, always keeping his eyes on her, almost as if pacing in his anger, which was what he was doing, but in his current form, he looked ready to attack as wild animals commonly do and it was so much more frightening. Thera was my first offspring... Aerion was a strong mother... MY CHILD'S ONLY OTHER FAMILY SLAUGHTERED HER! His last words were nearly a roar to her and he paused in his pacing to face her in an attack position, his body tenser than ever with anger. It trembled and the growls escaping him did not bode well.

Lerayel nodded once. "I know. There is no way to explain it. She is a Kerrigon, Jalen. It is what they do. There is no other explanation. I'm sorry. So sorry. But we cannot lose you as well."

Lie! She is a Kerrigon yes and that means she would not harm a child barely learning to walk, she would kill our best fighters! This was not a war problem, Lera, this was personal! His voice continued to snarl, having a biting quality to it and he looked ready to kill. It hissed and threatened though the woman of which he spoke was no where near. I will avenge my child's death, and if my blood must fall so that her murderer's may be on my claws, then so be it! She will not get away with this and we will not settle this in a war! Something so personal will not be avenged so impersonally...

"They are imbeciles, they kill for the sake of killing!" Lerayel cried. "It matters not to them who is the victim is. They are unskilled enough to murder the most helpless in cold blood. Why should they not go after the child, especially knowing that the emotional pain it causes would be enough in both mother and father to do much damage!"

---

Aerion's eyes fluttered open after a while. ANd now she did not feel grief, but anger. She stood, grabbing the daggers by her side. She would track down her sister, and kill her. Jalent hought it was his job to do, but it was not. It was between the two sisters.

---

She has sealed her fate! Jalen snarled, tossing his head angrily. Killing an innocent child!? I will not murder her, no that would be far too kind. I will slice her to ribbons, I will poison her lungs, I will skin her alive and pour salt on the wounds! Oh, she will not die, I will not even allow her to sleep or faint! Every moment for the rest of her miserable existance will be nothing short of agonizing for her! He returned to pacing again, his head lowered a little as he stalked. He seemed to have stopped trying to go after her, but he was now planning how to harm her in the worst possible way.

"Jalen!" Lerayel said sharply. She sympathized with her friend, she felt nearly as bad as he did, but her duty was to the Sabrellans, and she needed to say this. "Revenge is not our way. We will not lower ourselves to the same level as those we fight. Remember, it is our mission to stop this war with as little death as possible. We are here to stop the violence before it happens, not punish what has already been commited. Leave judgement to Atman ((think along the lines of God)) and focuse on our duty!"

Jalen growled and pounced to her, changing in midair. He landed just in front of her, his face very close to hers and the fury burning in his honey chocolate eyes obvious. "I told you this was not an impersonal matter! My duty and my life are not one, Lera!" he shouted angrily. "The aunt of my child killed her! My only offspring! Her only other family murdered her before she could so much as walk! This is not a matter, as much as you seem to wish it to be, of the enemy attacking a weak spot they found in the opposing side's ranks! This. Was. Not. An. Act. Of. War!" He growled again and turned from her, stalking a bit away and resuming his feral pacing.

Lerayel did not so much as flinch as he pounced at her and barraged her with shouting. She remained calm. She hated acting like this; he was her closest friend. Yet she could not let him do this. She would not allow any other member of the Sabrellans to commit such an act; she could not do so for him. As he resumed her pacing, she spoke again, in a neutral tone. "I cannot allow you to go. You swore to fight for my cause with undying loyalty. If you do this, Jalen, you will be breaking that loyalty. You cannot do this and still call yourself a member of the Sabrellans." It broke her heart to utter the words, but she could not act any different with him than with any other member.

Jalen froze in his steps and his eyes shifted to her before he turned his head as well. "Are you daring to put my loyalty and love for you, against the love that I had for my only pup?" he half growled at her. "You slice my heart with your words... Very well, I will refrain, but know this, you have belittled my character, so do not ask more from me in the future than you expect at this moment, because you won't recieve it.. This is once, and only once, that I will ignore my life for the good of yours, Lerayel..."

Lerayel's hardened face softened. "Jalen... you know I must do this...." She couldn't meet his eye. She knew why he wanted to do do this, and she knew that she could not allow him, yet it was no easier to deny him.

"Knowing and understanding doesn't make it any easier," Jalen said, though he seemed to be calming down. He was breathing a bit heavier and he wasn't looking at her, but at the ground, his posture slowly relaxing.

Still Lerayel could not look him in the eye. She was relieved he was calm. She said nothing, for there were no words at the moment to fill the silence.

---

Aerion walked slowly. She would get into trouble, she knew it. But now there was nothing left for her. In her mind, with the child gone, Jalen would want nothing more to do with her. Her little baby girl was dead. She had no one. And now she had to settle the feud that had been going on for years. She had to make it stop.

---

Jalen suddenly looked up, his eyes darting side to side. "Aerion?" He seemed confused and he looked around as if he could see her. "What's she doing walking around?..." His curious face turned back to camp and he shifted into wolf, trotting back to camp, half impatiently.

Lerayel let Jalen go. She trusted that he would obey her. She still felt bad about her words, but there was nothing else she could have done.

Aerion was on the outskirts by now, taking her time. She would need to wait for a moment when her sister was alone. Then she could strike. She didn't need the entire camp on her sister's side. She realized that she could very well die. But it'll be worth it, she thought.

Jalen caught up to her, hurrying into a gallop type speed to her and half barked, half snapped at her heels, but it was obvious he purposefully missed. He trotted ahead a few steps before turning and returning to his human form. "What are you doing up? You should be resting," he said with concern.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Aerion replied in a murmur as she kept going. "I have a job to finish..something I should've done a long time ago when I had the chance."

"Aerion..." Jalen's worried and half chastizing voice met her, but he didn't try to restain her as she walked past, only turned and matched her pace. He watched her with a frown. "It does matter... You should be resting Aer..."

"yes it does," Aerion whispered. "I've lost everything..and now I have nothing." You won't be with me anymore. the little place you wanted to go to...I'll nevr be there.

"Call me vain but.. I'm nothing?" Jalen said quietly, the hurt written all over his face as he stopped in his tracks, looking at Aerion's back. "The loss of our child was enough... but now her mother counts me as nothing as well? Maybe she was right.." He started talking mostly to himself now. "Maybe I should only focus on the war... I remember now why I devoted my life to her... Because to make it my own.. is like trying to put a light in the dark and keep the shadows.."

Aerion stopped, and turned to face him. SHe was on the verge of tears. "Do you really love me as more than our childn's mother?" She asked softly. "I always thought you just loved me becuase I was our childn't mother."

"You are an attractive, strong, pleasant person, Aerion. I did not only care about you because you were the other half of our infant's make-up, but because you are a good person," Jalen answered honestly, his sweet eyes meeting hers. His heart was aching and it was very hard to pass a compliment right now, even if it was true.

Aerion lowered her head. "I'm so sorry.." She whispered, feeling like an aweful person. "This is..all my fault." She said, looking out into the forest. "My sister and I...we've never got along. Maybe if I had tried harder.." the tears began to well again. she hated being so emotional.

---

Chris laughed silently to himself, watching Siara as she commited her deed, and watching the aftermath as well. It amused him to see each Sabrellan's reaction, from Jalen's intense fury to Lerayel's desperate attempts to calm him down, even resorting to threats. All this he watched in amusement, but now he had decided there was no more to see. He must congradulate Siara; she had succeeded in causing a rift in Jalen's undying care for Lerayel- he was angry with her. That would prove extremely helpful, he was sure, when it was time for them to be eradicated. It was a time fast approaching. Now he returned to the Kerrigon camp, smirking haughtily.

---

Siara sat in her tent, her legs crossed. She looked under her nails, whistling bored like.

---

With nothing better to do, Chris decided now was the best time to congradulate Siara. Having decided, he knocked on the wooden slat outside her tent, her whistling drifting to his ears.

"Enter," Siara said simply, placing her hands in her lap.

It took but a moment for Chris to enter the tent, the smirk still adorning his face. "I'd like to congradulate you on your most recent... expedition," he stated simply.

"Oh. You know about that?" Siara asked, looking up and settling her eyes on his.

"You underestimate me," Chris replied, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yes, I know. And I am impressed. In one simple maneuver you managed to tear up the entire leadership."

"That's not the point of my actions," Siara replied simply, though it had worked doubly in her favor.

Chris shrugged, curious but deciding not to press the matter. "Regardless of your motive, the outcome was the same. Although Orchid might be unhappy that you didn't confer with her first, I believe she will be pleased enough to overlook that."

Siara shrugged, as if she really didn't care what had happened, or about what was going to happen.

"You really aren't in a mood to converse, are you?" It was more of a statement than a question. "Oh, don't tell me you feel guilty!" Chris was suddenly reminded of the incident in the clearing, with Alec. He had felt guilty then... No, he couldn't be weak. He forced the thought from his mind.

Siara laughed. Dry and cold. "No. How could I be guilty for dishing something out to the person who deserved it?" She shook her head. "No. I'm just wondering what affect this is having on someone I know.."

Chris shrugged it off. "Some one you know? Now who might that be?" He sounded genuinely curious.

"Aerion. Do you know why all of this..comotion has been brought up?" Siara asked.

"Not the slightest idea," Chris replied jsut for the sake of it.

"I killed her and Jalen's child." Siara said simply, without any regret whatsoever.

Chris nodded. Of course he had known. "And a good job of it you did."

And then Siara nodded, "Yes. I killed my own niece."

"Are you proud of that fact?" asked Chris as he observed his fingernails.

"Well, I'm proud that I've solved somewhat of a personal problem.." Siara replied, uncrossing her legs in a cat-like matter. She stood, walking past Chris to stand by the door.

Chris nodded. "That is worthwhile." His gaze followed her, resting on her back as she stood.

Siara turned, her cold blue eyes resting on his. "Is there any real point to your visit?" She asked, one hand resting on her hip.

He shrugged. "None other than to congradulate you. I suppose boredom had a role in it as well."

"hhmm...well, you could always go see what dear orchid is up to," Siara said, a slight hint of sarcasim coming to her voice.

"I could. But one never knows how she'll react to a visit." Chris shrugged.

Siara snickered lightly. "Afraid?"

"Me? Afraid? Why would you possibly suggest such a thing?" Chris shook his head. "No, more like I just don't feel like placating her right now."

"We all have our fears, no matter how hard we try and hide them," Siara replied, walking past him again. She picked up the wooden rose she had taken from the child's crib. She would return it to Aerion, of course-after she killed her.

Chris didn't reply. "So what do you plan to do next?" He asked, changing to subject.

"I'm not sure. I'll wait and see what the whelp's up to, I might even go and finish the pathetic thing off..." she murmured, half to herself.

"Sounds like fun. Care if I tag along?"

"You really don't have anything better to do," Siara said, her cool blue eyes flashing up to his face again.

---

Aerion lowered her head. "I'm so sorry.." She whispered, feeling like an aweful person. "This is..all my fault." She said, looking out into the forest. "My sister and I...we've never got along. Maybe if I had tried harder.." the tears began to well again. she hated being so emotional.

Jalen stared at her, his eyes some how lowered without looking down. "This is not your fault," he said quietly, but sternly. "You did not kill her." That was all he said. He couldn't explain things to Aerion, he knew that, and he wasn't about to try. He understood but couldn't sympathize. He wasn't blaming himself or Aerion for Thera's death, he blamed Siara, the murderer. He couldn't even think of himself when his very first offspring had just been killed. All he could think of was his child, and his anger toward her murderer. He sighed and shifted to his wolf form before stalking off through the trees. He knew it was cruel, but he just didn't feel like comforting the hurt mother right now, even though he was the hurt father. He had to follow Lerayel's orders. His heart flared angrily again over what she had done to him. It was unforgivable and he knew she knew that, so he let it go as best he could. For now, he would let Aerion mourn her own way and he his own. He liked her, but she was really no longer his concern.

Aerion shook lightly, still upset. Her child was dead. Killed by her elder sister.

---

"Well," Siara said, "I'm going out. I think I'll see what my younger sister is up to. You know, when you're grieving, death is usually welcomed," she said with a half smirk, heading for the door to her tent.

"So I've heard," Chris remarked. "Well, have fun. I'll go bug some one else, I suppose."

Siara sighed inwardly, then said, "I suppose you could tag along." And with out another word, she stepped out of her tent.

Chris shrugged, following her a moment later. Instead of continuing to follow her, however, he returned to his own tent.

Siara smiled to herself, inwardly glad that he would not be following her out. She continued to walk, then broke into a run, heading back towards the enemy camp.

Some ways into the woods, a wolf shot in front of her and snarled, as if she had just tried to strike it.

Siara snickered, skidding to a hault. She grabbed her daggers, twirling them lightly. "Well, what do we have here?"

The wolf said nothing, only snarled at her, growling and showing it's teeth, hackles raised and ears back.

"Stupid creature," Siara muttered, jumping and pulling herself into the trees, using them to move around him.

The wolf seemed to dissappear and instead, Jalen appeared in front of Siara, jumping up onto a branch just as she landed and meeting her face with a ferocious expression. "Where are you going?" he snarled.

"To pay someone a visit," Siara replied, her cold eyes fixing on his. Her tone was similar to his, though in a more cold and feminine fassion. She wasn't scared by him.

"No Kerrigons are welcome here," Jalen said acidly, leaning toward her as a wolf might step toward a prey it was ready to pounce on.

Siara snickered. "Try and stop me." She whispered. She flipped forward, landing behind him, her dagger ready to strike.

Jalen jumped from the branch as well, but as he came down, he aimed a heel kick to her shoulder.

Siara turned her body, so that his leg went in front of her.

As soon as he missed, Jalen shifted and landed in a crouch, redirecting the force already in his leg into a scythe kick to her shins.

In reply, a dagger flew for his neck as Siara jumped backwards, retreating to another branch.

Jalen caught the dagger by the blade and tossed it quickly to the ground without taking note of the cuts on his hand. He leapt at Siara and got her from the branch, pinning her to the ground without striking her. "What is your business in the Sebrellian camp?" he asked her, his voice a low growl. He didn't attempt to hurt her now, only contain her. Afterall, he had promised Lera.

Siara only smirked in reply, then said, "I don't think that it matters to you."

"As a guard, a Kerrigon's reason for entering the Sebrellian's camp is every bit my business," Jalen told her, his golden brown eyes locked on hers and when he spoke, his voice was only informative, but still a wolfish growl.

"Well, then I guess you'll have to pry it out of me," Siara said, bunching up her knees, then kicking him with her legs so that he'd let her go.

Jalen was thrown back, but he hadn't let go, so he flipped, threw Siara over him, rolled, and pinned her again. "What do I have to pull?" he asked in a dangerously quiet voice and his animalistic eyes flashed as they stared into hers ferally.

Lerayel heard the sounds of a scuffle ahead of her. She had decided it was time to find Jalen, and she didn't wish to be slowed down. But when the two finally came into view it appeared her search for him was over. She watched the two battle from afar, letting Jalen detain the girl, whom she did not yet recognize. But then she caught a glimpse of the face, and her gut clenched. Siara. One of the most loyal Kerrigons, and no doubt the murderer of Jalen's child. She was almost ready to allow Jalen to slaughter her after all.

"Well it depends on what you want to know, and how bad you want it." Siara replied, then added, "I suppse I'm not surprised that the coward isn't hear, sending you in her place..." She spoke of her own sister.

"She is not a coward!" Jalen barked out at her. "And nobody sent me..." He growled quietly at her before it quieted and he spoke in the same rumbling voice, "I want to know what business you have in the Sebrellian camp."

"Again: None of your business," Siara said.

"Then tell me how to pry it out," Jalen said, his face very close to hers and his voice more human, but all the more dangerous for it. "I'm more than happy to pull you apart until I get what I want..."

"And I can't wait to defeat you, showing how shameful you and your pathetic Sebrellians are," Siara replied.

Jalen had to resist the urge to tear her throat out. "I don't see how you can think such a thing of us when your side can't even defeat our real fighters. You have to kill the helpless of our side and your own fighters," he bit out, speaking of Thera and Alec.

Siara laughed. "But it works. It gets the rest of the ant workers angry. Causes a comotion," she said, her eyes staring into his, "Tell me, if you had really loved the child, would you have left it alone?"

The werewolf literally saw red and his body tensed. His grip on each of her wrists turned vice like and his knees stiffened on either side of her waist. His eyes burned of melted gold as he stared at her, slowly opening his mouth to reveal his wolf fangs. "Your blood will be my sweet nectar of life," he said in a voice that was not human in the least. I'm sorry Lera... his human part managed before he shot down to latch onto her throat just below her chin, but he never made it.

Siara had brought her knees up again, though this time she kicked him, forcing him off.

Jalen landed kind of hard and hand to plant his feet firmly to slow the force and stop himself. He glared at her. "You're a pathetic wench. You beat at the weak points of people because your not strong enough to break them at their best. Face it. You're weak," he said to her, still in that same inhuman growl as his claws came out and his eyes became more wolf like. He still showed his fangs.

"No. It's just more fun to well, poke fun at the pathetic," Siara replied, glancing at a spec of dirt under her nails. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned. She laughed when she saw Aerion. "Well, look who's come to join us!" She said, looking back over at Jalen.

Jalen just snarled at her. At the moment, his top priority was to protect the camp and so he saw nothing but Siara. He moved slowly to be between her and the camp, but did not attack or speak.

"What are you doing here?" Aerion asked in a raspy voice, glaring at her elder sister.

"Well, I came to see you of course darling!" Siara said sarcastically, a smirk forming on her lips.

Lerayel watched in growing anger as Siara made claims to her own superiority and the Sabrellan's weakness. All of it was a load of falsities, she knew, but still it stung. Silently she found herself cheering Jalen on. She knew Siara planned on seeing him dead, so she was ready to allow him to return the favor. Go, she replied to the hint of apology she caught telepathically. Defeat her. Do whatever it takes. You have my permission. She deserves it. She added the last phrase with a venom unlike her. The Aerion appeared, and she fell silent, hand on her sword hilt. She was ready to emerge if she must, to protect them, but this was their battle.

Jalen had already been furious, but when Lera had spoken to him, it just made him angrier to know he had needed her permission. "Get out of here," he snarled at Siara. "You aren't welcome. If you want to fight us, do it in battle, not in our beds. We don't need waste like you poisoning our air."

Siara chuckled. "Who said I wanted to fight you? If I remember correctly, you attacked me first. What's wrong with a little...bonding time between sisters?" She asked.

"In case you didn't know, water and oil don't bond," Jalen told her acidly, looking at Aer for 'water' and then Siara when he said 'oil'.

Aerion's hands shook in furry. How dare she come here. Especially now. She had no right to. It took everything in her to just stand there, glaring at her sister. She wanted to rip her throat apart.

"Go back to your camp. You have seen your sister, now GO!" Jalen was furious, but what he wanted to do to Siara, he did not want Aerion to see.

"Not until I finish something," Siara said.

Aerion just barely missed the blade of Siara's dagger. It even cut the fabric of her shirt. She pulled the blade from the tree it had sunk into, and she left forward, using it as a weapon against her sister.

Siara dodged to the side, taking out another dagger. "Just like old times, right?" She said softly, looking Aerion in the eye. "Except this time they're only be one of us in the end."

Jalen snarled and dove at Siara, aiming for her midsection as a wolf.

---

A week later....

Lerayel was making her daily rounds through the camp, making sure everything was as it should be. Soon they would have to move on to the next location, but not yet, she hoped.

A rather depressed but sharp looking amber wolf stalked up beside her, walking with her as if on the prowl, but not crouching. Jalen huffed a sigh, having just come back from cooling off, again, in the woods.

Lera looked at her friend out of the corner of her eye, but didn't say anything. He had been through a lot in the last weeks. Too much. No one deserved it.

"Have you decided on a time to change camps yet?" he asked, his maw moving but for some reason it did not alter his voice. His sharp honey eyes moved about the camp, watching everything that moves, and some things that didn't.

"Soon," she replied. Sooner than she wished. "Within the next three days. We've spent too much time here as it is."

"I know," Jalen agreed. "Shall I help the hunters with food supplies then?"

She nodded. "Please." Her rounds were finished; there wasn't anything out of place.

"Very well." The amber wolf circled her legs once before poucing off into the trees.

Aerion was sitting up in a tree, one of her legs tucked under the other. The one on top was swinging lightly, her hands in her lap. She was biting her lip lightly.

Jalen stalked up to the tree and shifted to his human form, leaning back against the trunk. His eyes hadn't returned from their wolf form since the loss of their daughter, a clear sign of his inner turmoil. "Avoiding everyone again?" he inquired to Aerion without looking up. His glittering gold eyes scanned the trees for movement.

"I need time to think," Aerion replied quietly.

"You're going to have to return to normal soon," Jalen replied, his voice gently now, but still didn't look at her. "Mourning leaves people exposed to attacks, since we aren't as aware..."

"I can't just forget her," Aerion said simply, her words clouded with tears. She whiped at them furiously.

"Remember the happy times, not just.. what happened," the werewolf told her, pushing off the tree to stalk around it, looking out at the rest of the woods. His footsteps made almost no noise.

Aerion sighed loudly in reply. How could she rememver the happy times?

"Well isn't that an annoying sound?" came the sharp voice of Hana the elf. She had her eyes narrowed at them in a chastising way.

Jalen emediately took up an attack stance, growling at her in warning.

"Oh, don't ruffle your fur, down boy. I'm unarmed," she told Jalen, seemingly unafraid of the werewolf.

Aerion rolled her eyes lightly, not speaking a word.

"Good heavens, mopey," Hana said half glaring, half frowning up at Aerion. "You're aura's so dark, I'd think it night. Mind not dampering my day with your emotional proplems?"

Jalen clenched his fists. Who did this girl think she was??

"if I'm such a bother why don't you go somewhere else?" Aerion replied simply, her voice cold and direct.

"Cause your sister's making my side's camp unbearable as well," Hana answered and crouched to examine a small bush.

A flash of something went across Aerion's face, then it was gone. "So, you are an allie of hers?"

"..No, can't really say I am," Hana replied, picking a few leaves from the bush and putting them in her basket, standing again.

Jalen's brows lightened slightly, but he still looked furious. A Kerrigon who did not consider the other Kerrigons allies? What was she playing at?

Aerion let out a "hummpphh," before going back to staring off into the sky.

"Good skies," Hana cursed. "Drink some mint tea and get over whatever is darkening your aura."

Jalen snarled at her insensitivity.

"I said down!" Hana snapped at him and something about her sharp voice made him take a step back, but he still glared. Hana looked up at Aerion again with a light scowl. "You're a bit of a cloud and your mind is cluttered. Do you want me to make you some tea and talk about it with me?"

---

Arianova rp page 8
Arianova