They were just where they left off before Aleu’s triumphant seize of power and Niju’s retreat into his heritage and home. He didn’t win, oh no. But neither did she. Winning in these lands was merely surviving- and they were both still very much alive. This time, there was no Balto or Nava to stop the two forces from destroying themselves.

Her eyes- the impossibly blue depths, drew him in once more. All he could see for a moment was how they sparked with a fire, a fire he recognized in himself. Pride, and maybe a bit of haughty arrogance, though her face showed no other signs of these emotions, he could read them within her. Ok, so maybe Nava was beginning to rub off on him. He’d practiced various exercises with Nava, but had little use for them. As soon as them had come, the emotions disappeared into the wise, and respectful doe-eyes of the young alphess. A very irked juvenile-immature aplhess, yet wise beyond her years, and there was not a trace of raw emotion. 

 It seemed like eons passed, while he waited for the spark to return, for her to tackle him and their world to collapse into one of pulled fur, bloody nails and bruises. Sure- she looked angry seeing as she had everything to lose and he had everything to gain from the impending battle- but Niju saw no trace of the arrogant pride in Aleu had picked up on before. Even if it only lasted a moment, he saw how even the most pure and morally just of leaders could become drunk on their own power over others. He wondered if Nava ever felt that way and if he personally would be able to control himself if he ever became leader.

Oh yeah. The damn roadblock of his power was standing right in front of him.  Pinning her ears and stepping forward in the sand- with bits of wet sand falling from her coat she demanded of him. “What are you doing here?” a hateful emphasis on the ‘you’.

Taken aback by her fools bravery and accusatory tone, he retorted. “ I might ask you the same question.” He turned to face the cragged cliff sides. “I live here, no thanks to you.” Was she really so thickheaded that she forgot his reasons for being here? 

 Aleu had not forgotten about him since the day they had come clashing together for the first time. Two separate stands on an issue that needed urgent attention: survival. They simply could not coexist; one would eventually destroy the other- if the initial splitting up of the pack didn’t destroy them first. There was no neutral when it came to surviving, it was either his way or her way and the pack members had to chose for them. There was no wait and see; the time to act was upon them. They chose her.

Seeing him again gave her a sense of pride- immature arrogant pride. A power over him, and she felt good, almost sinfully good. It was as if her power was an emotion in and of itself, but she was conscious as to how feeling so superior could cloud a young alphess’s judgment. However, she would be lying to herself if, even for the briefest of moments just then, she had wanted to see Niju’s carcass. An obvious victim that had succumb to the elements and starvation, so she could prove just how wrong he had been, and just how right she was in her decisions. She could rub it in his face one last time. She had been right, and here was the proof as his corpse. Her young mind brewed brutal thoughts, but she banished them quickly when she blinked and her eyes became the blue slates they always had been.  Niju was not dead. He stood before her, growling softly and breathing as intensely as his dark blue stare. He waited for her end of the explanation.

“ I am looking for Nava.” She refused to meet his gaze. To do so would involve her looking up at his quite tall form, making herself seem weaker. She could not afford to remind him that he could probably still potentially crush her small wolfdog frame. She had little energy to fight to be honest. The terrible swim seemed to suck all life from her bones.

She allowed herself a peak up into his eyes and saw that his brows had furrowed further. Not a good sgin.

“The old one…” Niju paused when he thought of Nava. He thought of how Nava’s breath could be leaving him this very moment, and how desperate Nava sounded when he sent Niju away from the cave.  “…Is resting.” Niju wasn’t sure if Nava had become one with the spirits yet, but he didn’t want to go back just yet to find out. Ad he’d be damned before he’d actually help that mutt.  After he rid himself of her, he planned to check on Nava. Not speak to him, just see if he was still breathing. If so, Niju planned to bed down in a different cave and sleep alone. Come morning, he was almost certain the old one would be gone.

Aleu’s temper flared- her suspicions seemingly confirmed by Niju’s hesitance. Her voice grew high with a juvenile whine. “Niju! I swear….If you’ve so much as touched him- I’ll…I’ll…”

He decided now wouldn’t be a bad time to mock her, as he padded a half circle around her. “You’ll what…? You have no power over anyone here, mutt.” He softly butted heads with her as he stared down at her.

He refused to give her satisfaction of knowing Nava had not met death by his wrath for vengeance. “So why don’t you swim back to your little clan? You said it yourself- these lands have no longer have anything for the clan.”

As he fiercely invaded her personal space, she could feel his immensely powerful muzzle and jaw-line wrinkle into a disgusted scowl.  She thrust her weight into his solid forehead and shoved him back a few steps- they danced like fighting stag beetles.  “What have you done with Nava?!” She shrieked.

“ Nothing.” His harsh cool tone returned. He knew she wouldn’t believe him- just like he wanted. He wanted her gone, that much went without saying, but part of him just wanted to push her. Wanted to watch the “wise” alphess dissolve into the self-centered, whiney rebel he knew she was.

“Yeah, right.” She scoffed.

He delighted inside-there it was. Such a juvenile utterance, was only to be expected of an immature leader. This was the side he would triumph over easily. The side prone to flares of temper, the side prone to making horribly rash decisions, the side that felt arrogant pride in her new leadership.

 He turned and began to trot back towards the woods, knowing full well she would trail after him. She was utterly predictable, in a dangerously unpredictable world.  When he could no longer feel the sand beneath his paws, and trees surrounded him he heard a twig snap gracelessly behind him.  He could sense the huffiness in her gait as she pushed past him and all but blocked his path.

“Niju I’m warning you. I must see Nava, take me to him- NOW!”  Her adolescent tone prevailed.

“Warning me? You can’t banish me from my own homelands.” A dangerous smirk passed over his features. Enraged, he was prone to making rash decisions too, as had been proven the last time they met. Now he was just toying with her. Making things as difficult as possible. If she was really driven to find Nava, she could spend days searching the cliff’s nooks and crannies, only to find his body- lifeless, as Niju was sure it would be whenever she finally found him. Her skills as a tracker were no doubt subpar. 

“I didn’t banish you last time, you ran.” She impishly snarled back at him. “Take me to Nava.” She attempted to butt heads with him again, showing him she was just as testy.

He gave her head a shove with his before drawing back from her. It never occurred to him how badly she must need Nava if she was willing to knock herself from her pedestal to ask him for his-HIS help. Now he was genuinely curious what she was doing here.

“Why do you need his help?” He noted her slight twitch when he ended with the word “help.” As if she didn’t need anyone’s help to run a pack.

“I don’t have to answer to you, I just need you to take me to him.” Now she’d done it- she’d let it slip. Need. Damn it. She didn’t need anybody’s help- or anything from anyone, really. Especially not this hulking, cowardly, power hungry, brute’s help.

His chiseled jaw gave way to a smirk that had her blood boiling. Her ears down to the tip of her tail were nearly shaking with rage and she was becoming unbearably hot. Like the time Rosy had left her inside with her siblings and the windows shut.  Who did he think he was?! Had he completely forgotten who he was speaking to?

“What was that again, half breed? You what?” He was getting her just where he wanted her, breaching the sharp edge of her wise beyond her years persona, he knew who she really was. He wanted to cause that infantile, temper tantrum, throwing side to appear. He’d never actually seen her throw a temper tantrum, but she was shaking so much she didn’t seem far from it.

 Nava would never approve, but to hell with what Nava thought- there was something about her that caused him to throw his newly learned altruistic tendencies to the wind. He guessed it was supreme irritation and a pressing need for vengeance. But it was Nava’s teachings that were keeping him from snapping her pretty, innocent, little neck on the spot. Plus he wasn’t a murderer. He just wasn’t afraid to use the quickest methods possible to achieve a greater good. The greater good being what was best for the clan.

“I said: I need to see