Renozuri drifted along Vermeda Brook, his steps unnervingly silent. Though blind, he felt the world in a way that transcended sight — every breath of wind, every shift in the current, and the trembling pulse of life nearby reached him.

The brook whispered of old sorrows, its waters swirling around him like a taunt, deepening the shadow of his wrath. He was a restless presence, anger etched into the very air as he moved, seeking satisfaction in a world that had long denied him peace.

The dead don’t forgive easily, and Renozuri was no exception. He prowled the bank, the coldness of his touch lingering in the air. The world seemed to recoil, as if sensing the menace that accompanied him. He craved answers, craved release — but until he found them, he would not relent. There was no solace here, only the promise of reckoning.

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The cool night air was a balm to the overstretched mother, who had left her children sleeping - finally. It felt as though she spent all of her time putting out fires that one boy purposefully set, or that the five of them had conspired to set together only to throw one of their brothers into it. While Freja was grateful for the close bonds her boys were developing, it usually meant pure chaos in and around her den. Soon enough they would be too big, so for right now she was grateful to savour the peace and quiet in knowing they were all together in her den.

The gentle trickle of one of the waterways of the Brook was soothing, a calm noise that Freja concentrated on as she ambled along the bank. She might have continued her nighttime stroll all the way up to the borders, perhaps looped back around before settling down herself, had she not hit a patch of icy cold that stopped her in her tracks. Reflexively she looked up from where she'd been observing the water, mismatched eyes searching ahead.

Only to find a ghostly figure stood in front of her.

She froze, rigid in fear.

@Renozuri

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He hadn't noticed her at first. Her life force had been small at first, insignificant, but as he approached — it became larger, intriguing. So delicate, yet something lingered there, in the shadows of her soul. Even still, it was fear that drove him to inch closer, closer — until he was all but upon her. Gazing down, even though his gaze was sightless.

"Who are you?" And what was her place within this land his wife called home. This Kingdom that Cassius had intentions of building up. One would think that death offered such wisdom. To know who each pathetic mortal and their connections to this world. Yet Renozuri was forced to ask questions now, just as he was in life.

How troublesome.

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Freja had very little experience when it came to the spiritual aspects of these lands - of any lands really. Certainly her aunt's and mother had told all of the cubs ghost stories, but as Freja had grown and matured she figured they were mostly just morality stories. To get unruly cubs to behave. And if she thought that might have worked on a single one of her own children she would have tried it in a heartbeat. But there was something vastly different from listening to stories and being confronted with a non-living, maybe-breathing ghost.

Before she could turn tail and run back to her den, maybe hide behind her ginormous sons, it spoke. He spoke, for it was undoubtedly a male lion. Sightless eyes and insubstantial body, but a voice nonetheless. The breath whooshed from her lungs with a squeak. F-Freja, sir. It was instinctual, to address the ghost with a respectful title. She had no idea who she was talking to, no idea the atrocities he had committed, but there was power in his aura, something she could almost feel lingering about him.

@Renozuri

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"Freja..." He says her name in a whisper, as if testing it on his tongue. Tasting it. He can feel the fear coming off of her, even if she hadn't made some pathetic noise. Who was she, what was her purpose here? Renozuri inches closer, the distance between them becomes small and insignificant — like her.

Though perhaps he was judging too harshly, too quickly. "Who are you?" He questions again. Emphasis on who. Wanting to know why she remained here in Vermeda — if there were any connections to Cassius, or Icefang. His head raises high, his ethereal form a looming shadow as he tucks his chin and casts his sightless gaze down at her.

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Somehow, the susurrous sound of her name from spectral lips seemed to scuttle straight up her spine. Her splotched fur lifted, standing on end at the foul sensation, like a giant spider crawling across her fur. Also somehow, someway, Freja managed not to run screaming from the ghostly apparition, who moved closer. She would have given anything to shake herself awake from a terrible nightmare right now, but there was plenty of evidence to the contrary. She was not asleep, this was not a dream.

Who are you?

And Freja knew he meant more than just her name. Who was she, in the grand tapestry of the Brook? Of Amaryllis? It was a question she had been asking herself plenty, even since she'd found out she was pregnant. Her sons grew quickly, but their father had no desire to claim her as anything but a womb, a play thing. Not wife, not mate. It stung, piercing fiercely through her chest again and again. There was, of course, the rather obvious conundrum - to lie or to tell the truth? Cassius had told her to deny connections with him.

I belong to Cassius. She whispered, the truth pulled from stiff lips. The mother of his sons. Fallen at the first hurdle - she had been told to claim Velasco as their sire but she could not bring herself to do it. Cassius gave me over to Icefang for training, I'm Vermeda's Lead Hunter. Probably an irrelevant piece of information for the ghost.

@Renozuri

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She belonged to Cassius. A slow smile curves his lips, his eyes narrowing as if looking straight at her. But that was half of his whole act. To let them think that while he couldn't see them, he could see right through them. This was the pet that had birthed five sons for Cassius. There was no doubt in her stock, then. He would have to encourage his Heir to keep the woman around.

A single ear flicks at the mention of her training. She could hunt as well? How intriguing. "Cassius told me you birthed five sons. Do you know how valuable that is? How does he treat you?" A question that would reveal quite a lot about his Heir, though he wondered if the girl would be honest. Renozuri's form doesn't move, in fact, it's eerily still as the devil awaits her reply.

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