"Stay out of my memories," Azure snapped without thinking, flinching back from the touch. She didn't want any wolf to know what she had been through. Her eyes sparkled with fear of how much Amai had sensed, but then she calmed herself and replied with a polite bow, "I am Azure, yes, and I am pleased to meet you Amai. Sorry for my harsh tone."

Gladly she accepted the clothes from Renji, careful to keep the worse of her scars from her eyes. Suddenly she looked between Cain and Amai and sensed something there...something more than just alpha to under respect. Affection? Love? She wasn't sure which, but she didn't want to be in the presence of it, not when she had been steadily falling for Cain. Looking down at the cave floor, she said, "I'm glad I helped you Cain. I will return soon, but I have a duty to my old pack. I do not forget my debt and I will return to pay it, but I have to leave." She hadn't' thought it over, the words had just leap from her lips, but they were true all the same; her pack, her mother, her father, and her sisters and brothers, and the rest of her pack, she whined quietly as she let herself think of seeing them for the first time in many, many years.

"You're alpha, however, so if you need or want me to stay, I will Cain," Azure tacked on, wondering how he would respond. In that moment she resolved to not make him feel bad if he made her stay and to run as fast as the wind if he let her go.

Cain heard the laughter break from her lips, it was shaky but it was laughter all the same. He sighed in relief and let his eyes rise to meet with Renji's, Renji nodded and stood with his arms crossed across his chest. Azure didn't release her hold on him but she turned to ask Renji if one of the other females would loan her clothes, he nodded and drifted away to find her clothes. Cain felt her soft lips on his shoulder and his eyes widened before he pulled back to look into her eyes. A soft smile curved his lips and he nodded "it's not something I normally tell" he said and dropped his eyes to the ground. Sudden footsteps made him look up and his eyes widened when he saw Amai standing in front of him. Her sightless eyes settled on to him and she smiled "Cain" she said softly and he stood immeditely and took her gently in his arms and placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Amai, you shouldn't be straining yourself" he said softly and the girl just giggled "I'm fine!" she protested with a soft smile "i've been resting all day, and besides I haven't met our guest" she said reproachfully. Cain seemed to remember that Azure was there and he released Amai and turned to face her with a slighly guilty look in his eyes. "I'm Amai, and its nice to meet you..." she reached out and touched Azures skin lightly before smiling "Azure" she said when she had located a memory containing her name.

How would Azure feel when she found out that there was only one other female alive in the whole clan. The she wolf was a frail creature, and she mostly kept to herself and stayed in a small cavern at the back of the caves. Cain had long nursed a soft spot for the girl and Renji wondered how Cain would handle his feelings for both. A soft rustling alerted him to a presense in the corner and he turned with a soft smile to meet eyes with the petite blonde wolf. Her eyes were a milky white blue now, but they had once been a vibrant sapphire much like Azures, an accident with Cain's alternate side had taken her site but still she cared for him. The girl smiled "Renji" she said softly and moved forward to take his held out hand, she winced as his emotions washed over her and she suddenly gasped "Cain! Is he all right?" she asked holding a fist over her heart in panic. The girl had a special ability, she could read someones emotions simply by touching them and she could also see flashes of their memories if she decided to look. Renji reached out and patted her hair "yes Amai" he said gently and stroked her hair before heading over to where she kept her clothes. "For the new female?" she asked when he reached down to pick some up, he nodded almost forgetting that she was blind but she seemed to know and smiled "I'm glad I can finally meet her" she said and let her brother lead her to where Cain and Azure sat together.


Amai

((I thought I would put some more confusion in there for us, now it's sort of a love web, lol. I hope you don't mind.))

A shudder rippled through her body when she heard the voice and part of her mind recognized it, but she wasn't sure from where, and when Renji spoke his name, she grew all that much more certain that she had heard of him before, if not met him. That's when she remembered, back when she was little and still knew of all the Gods and Goddess of the Wolf Demons. She had prayed to Bishamon for death or the strength to kill the humans, and now she knew why she hadn't received an answer: he had been as bound as her.

When he released her and Cain hugged the she-wolf, she could actually feel the difference in the two and laughter bubbled from her throat, nervous, shaky laughter as she thought about how bitter irony was. The laughter died on her lips and she hugged Cain back, whispering, "Welcome to the world of the living. Don't be fooled, you won't get out that easy, if I can't." Over her shoulder, to Renji, she asked, "Do you think that one of the other females would loan me some clothes? I know this isn't the best time to ask, but I'm cold." Her sapphire orbs turned back to Cain's red ones and she pressed a kiss to his shoulder, as she murmured, "We all have to fight our demons. Sometimes external allies are the best help. Don't worry about trusting me."

Azure's mind registiered concern, but her actions were nothing, but efficeintness, as she began to chew up the plants, even as she shifted into her human form. She spat the wad of chewed up plants into her palm and called to Renji, "I'll need water and cloth to cover this with." Her azure gaze locked onto Cain's and in a steady voice, she told him, "This will burn. It is drawing the poison out. If it gets too bad, squeeze my hand." She accepted the water that Renji offered and pouted it over the wound before pressing the plant salve over it and wrapping it all up with clothe, holding Cain up with an arm. Any attempt to help was shrugged off as she worked and only five minutes later, he was lain back down, with Azure's pale hands wrapped around his.

"Free to be," she replied to the brothers, watching them trot into the cave. As soon as they were out of sight, she spun around and ran as fast as she could. Her nose hit the ground and she started to search for a smell that was hidden deep in her memory. A human girl had shown it to her and it had saved her life. She was stronger than Cain, even if it was only in her mind, and she knew he would suffer worse than she had without it. A bark of joy shot from her lips as she caught the scent and followed it to a small plant, which she shifted into her human form to gently pick from the ground, and then she shifted back, picked them up, and ran into the cave. Afraid to ask the other females were Cain was, she trotted around, unable to follow his scent because of the flowers. A small growl of annoyance escaped her lips, until she spotted Renji and then she trotted over and pressed her nose to his side and asked, "Where is Cain? He needs these before he dies. The poison might have spread by now."

She was silent and stood tense and still for a moment; her eyes sparkled, just hidden in her eyes as her thoughts spun around. Duty to her home back. Debt to Cain's pack. Duty. Debt. Duty. Debt. The two weigh back and forth in her mind, like a seesaw, one side rising and making the other fall dramatically, just to rise again. It was conflicting and confusing and when she started moving forward again, her only reply was a quiet, "Vad kommer att bli, kommer att. What will be, will be."

He paid her an insult without knowing it, for in Azure's pack to refuse a gift or offer it in return, was rejection of the harshest, but she knew that he didn't know that so she hid her emotions quickly. It was silly of her to even let the old customs bother her. Lowering her head in a bow again, she answered, "I will stay with you to rebuild your pack. It would be my honor to help you reclaim what was lost." In graceful movements, she took the sword into her jaws again and rose to a standing position. With little warning, she trotted towards the shrine and found it's sheath, which was made to fit her in her wolfish form. It took little work for her to slip it on and sheath the sword. She smiled at them and explained, "I'd rather not be bare in front of males." In truth, she didn't mind, but in the day light, her scars would be more visible and she didn't want the pups to ask after them. Her eyes danced over her packmates human forms and her tail wagged.