Desert heat distorted the horizon and no matter how much air Snofall blew, Citrus felt hot.

None of this would work out at the end, as Wasting was sure to be dead. And for just a vain idea of him being alive to motivate her, made her ask why?

Well the wolf supposed it started after she met Wasting.

After he saved her life, she awoke one day to smoke. As she crawled from the igloo Swillow and her made, she saw a haze. Kingsbirth had been set ablaze, and no amount of snow would stop the fire.

"I've got to save him," she said to herself. Swillow stirred in her slumber.

"I smell smoke," Swillow muttered, still half-asleep. "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

And Citrus Snow said, "Go back to sleep. Kingsbirth is burning."

"Maybe it will kill my stupid brother." Swillow rolled onto her back.

Dread seeped in, as she knew Swillow wouldn't approve a plan to save Wasting. But Citrus had to sneak off. What better way than by having Swillow do something as well?

"Swillow, we're going looting."

"We lost our bags." Swillow spread her legs and kicked air. "And besides, we can loot a lot of other settlements, but I am not setting foot in Kingsbirth."

With a stern tone, "Okay, Swillow, you are going looting and you are going to like it."

Swillow growled but said, "Fine, Mom."

After Swillow got out of the igloo, they agreed to separate for the time being to cover more ground. Citrus picked the lock to the gate, entered Canida, and sniffed out Wasting.

"Wasting runs down this road for a drink... But he drinks at home too..."

Useless to track scent if Wasting walked all of Kingsbirth.

Winter winds whipped the flames, making them harsher. Hyenas ran around, robbing, looting, and assaulting wolves. On a rock road, Citrus almost slipped on some blood. As she became aware, she stared at the source - an alley. One ending with a dark brown hyena, looming over a dark blue wolf.

Wasting.

As he slapped at the hyena with spells of water, Hemato bit further into his wounds. Wasting struck at the jugular, but got smacked down.

Shock ran in Citrus until a bolt of heroism ran down, enabling her legs to rush forward. She jumped onto Hemato's back.

As Hemato spun around, Wasting bit Hemato's throat and slammed him to the ground. Hemato fled as soon as he knew he'd lose.

"Would have been dead if you weren't here..." But Citrus Snow ran off. And she'd wonder how she'd fallen in love with him.

*

After that incident, Citrus spent little time outside for fear she'd go meet Wasting again.

Swillow fit her fat self through the igloo's frame. "Going hunting, finding something to eat, will be back later."

"What in the world is alive in this insane cold?" Citrus asked. "I fail to see what could survive out there."

"Pfft, South Torn girl can't take the cold, who would have thought?" Swillow stuck her tongue out at Citrus.

"I was born in North Torn, as long as I can believe what my uncle said."

Swillow said, "You were raised in South Torn and not in the Wasteland." She stared out into the whiteness. "Anyway, be back in an hour." She exited. Only a few minutes later, footsteps fell on the snow.

"You're back early." Citrus prepared to tease Swillow for what had to be a light load.

Wasting peered in, and said, "'So, Swillow's out."

Eyes bulging, Citrus demanded, "What are you doing? She's going to recognize your scent!"

Wasting said. "Your first instinct is fear. Now I deal with my share of lawbreakers, and always they use their first instincts, and that's what gets them outed." As Citrus surveyed the outside of the igloo, Wasting put a paw on her shoulders.

"Relax, baby, just looking for a quick date," Wasting told her. "Been feeling a bit alone as of late."

Citrus told him, "Don't call me baby, and start running. Swillow will be back any second now, and you sure have a lot of gall."

"Gall? All I'm doing is making sure you've been fed." Wasting scanned her and said, "Get some meat on those bones."

"You saying I'm scrawny?"

"Well you sure ain't Swillow." Guess Swillow was always fat. "So, I've got a lot of money, and a lot of money that needs spent on stuff. And you look like someone who needs a burger. How about I take you to burgers for the first time you've ever had one, safe and sound?"

In that moment, Citrus remembered every bad thing Swillow said about Wasting. She recounted the tale in her head about how he betrayed her...

"I'll get captured if I go with you," Citrus told him. But he shook his head, and pointed to the badge over his right breast.

"Jobs are hard to find in the Winter, and if I say you're not a Snow, you're not a Snow. Unless, someone needs to be laid off."

Wasting had a plan on how to manipulate others to his advantage, like Swillow said he would. Red flags arose. But did those red flags exist, or were they seeds laid by Swillow?

Wasting headed out, and said, "You don't come along, that's fine, but I will be at a Sotul's diner in the next hour."

Half an hour later, Swillow walked in, and said, "Smells a bit familiar in here, almost like Wasting."

Damn, good guess.

"Well, I went out the igloo, so maybe he came by and inspected it? He does work at the city wall, right?"

Swillow nodded and said, "Know that if I saw him, I would have killed him dead." She laughed.

"Swillow, I'm heading out later to hunt for myself. Will need you to hold the fort, and don't leave for less than an attempt on your life."

Swillow said, "And I can kill guards too, yes or no?"

"Probably shouldn't test our luck. After all, one guard goes away, and you know the rest." Citrus slunk out the igloo.

"Woah, kinda weird how you're going out after I just came back in. Need you to know, if I had found something, I'd be coming back with food, you know drain and dine." Swillow tilted her head. "First I smell Wasting, and now you're running away?"

Had she figured it out? Someone should have been a detective. After a second, Swillow burst out with a laugh. While Swillow laughed, Citrus' shoulders lowered.

"Appears that I may have an old friend near," Citrus admitted, and said, "but we're going to meet alone. So, stay put, maybe I can resolve a problem."

"Problem?" Swillow tilted her head and wagged her tail. "Good, am I gonna sink a tooth in a moron or two?"

Dyrian and Wasting? Well, you deserve at least that if this date goes sour.

"Stay still, and you may get a small reward later," Citrus said as she walked out of the igloo, her focus already on what she would order.

Since Wasting would be paying, he'd have to buy enough for three wolves, and that was just for Swillow.

*

As Citrus Snow snuck into the diner, she scanned for Wasting, hoping they'd have a quick talk and dinner. Wasting laid in a booth, smug look on his face, but he always looked smug.

All the tables had a polished sheen on them, and felt like marble despite being wood. Except for an occasional scuff mark, place looked clean, but uglier than grandma's bloomers. Citrus learned the interior designer was blind, or thought mustard yellow tables worked well with red drapes.

Wasting tapped his menu on the table a couple times, and said, "Well, let's order."

"Don't be a weasel," Citrus Snow said. "How about you tell me why you betrayed my friend Swillow, and why I shouldn't rip your head off?"

"Well for one, we're in a diner," Wasting said, and put his paw up before lowering it to tell her to decrease her volume. "And for two, I can tell you after dinner. How about you tell me something, Snow? Oh, sorry, Miss Citrus of the if-you-tell-others-my-secret-I'll-tell-others-yours order."

"Well played," Citrus if-you-tell-others-my-secret-I'll-tell-others-yours said.

"So," Wasting asked with a whisper, "how has Swillow been?"

"And here I thought this date would have been about me," Citrus said with a rolling of her eyes. "Shame on you. So, Swillow ended up becoming a beast known as the Slaughterhound."

"Slaughterhound?" Wasting asked. He muttered, "Maybe her police training did pay off. And here I thought she was a lost cause."

"Most of the title has to do with the fact she met the Corruptor."

"And did he... You know?" Wasting asked.

"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't." As Wasting's shoulders stayed up, Citrus relaxed hers. "And in any case, why would you care since you're the one who made that happen?"

"Main reason I saved you was so I could talk to Swillow again. But I wouldn't know how to tell her. And there's no way I could just walk up and say 'sorry for framing you. Want a beer'?"

Citrus said, "Admittedly, that's a good point." Citrus Snow stared down at the menu, and said, "Spaghetti. Never had it, and I'd like to try it, as I am a big fan of meatballs."

"How would you get a chance to eat meatballs and not spaghetti?" Wasting asked.

"Papa would only share his meatballs and not his spaghetti, as he didn't like the taste of meatballs."

"Who the hell eats the spaghetti and not the meatballs?" Wasting asked. "Best part of the spaghetti is the meatballs.

Citrus stared at the photo of the meatballs. "Don't know, don't care, don't wanna care, but I am ordering them."

Soon they placed the orders, of two spaghettis, and some wine.

Citrus passed the time by taking sips from her glass. Wasting would tap a claw on the table.

"So," Wasting said, "how did you meet Slaughterhound?"

"My sister and I tried to rob her and kill her. She fought back. And we thought it was best to add her to our group."

"What part of we're in public do you keep forgetting?" Wasting asked as he scanned down aisles to make sure no one heard the rob and kill part.

"Boy, I've been escaping hairy situations since I was eleven, I think I can handle some fools in a diner. A high class, snoot in the air, diner."

Food came out, and Wasting thanked the server. He downed the wine, almost not letting it touch his tongue.

"So why are you trying to reconnect with your sister?"

"Already told you, so I could talk with her," Wasting said.

"Yeah, but you're not saying why you need to talk with the Slaughterhound again. You're just saying you need to talk to her."

Wasting produced a book with an embroidered cover. Wasting's diary. Citrus reached over, slid the book closer, and flipped it open.

Wasting said, "This has the full reasons why. All of what I did to her, in its full, awful detail."

As her eyes scanned the pages, she saw Wasting's side of the story.

"Awful."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I messed up," Wasting said as he scraped the back of his head with his paw. "But now you know why, I guess. At least, as best as I know why."

"No, I mean, her treatment of you when you two were younger."

"Huh?" Wasting said. "Well, I'm sure you and your sister had problems like that too, and it's normal."

"No, Wasting, it's not, it's not normal," Citrus said. "But then again, I've always known she was a brat."

Wasting said, "Just felt like I should apologize to her for what happened, but guess I won't do that then."

The conversation became wordless, as the two dined on their spaghetti. Afterwards, Citrus gave a small, almost inaudible, thanks to Wasting. And Wasting whispered he'd see her tomorrow night.

And Swillow never grew suspicious of Citrus Snow as Citrus made good sure to take a bath after the talks. And Citrus Snow began to see Swillow in a new light, an evil glow.

***

As the travelers saw buildings of sandstone come to view, Citrus asked Snofall, "Is this the place?"

Snofall said, "Yes." They walked down narrow alleys. Snofall ran low on mana halfway into the trip. For Snofall kept the air at a reasonable low for Citrus and during night, deflected cold so so Citrus wouldn't freeze to death.

As Citrus knew Snofall's strain, she figured she'd have to carry the fight, and save Wasting. "Well, Wasting has been down this way," Citrus said as they came upon a water plant.

"Salt filtration," Snofall said.

Citrus Snow nodded. "Now, what about where the queen is?"

"Well, if I know Vycious, then she's at her palace." Snofall pointed to a tall spire in the distance.

While advancing to the palace, Citrus asked, "You know, I thought Vycious disappeared?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure she's around the scenes somewhere," Snofall said, "just hiding, as always."

Citrus assessed the area, and said, "Well his scent is heading towards the palace, so I guess they teleported to the queen first."

"Yeah." Snofall and Citrus came down to the palace.

" Okay, this is Wasting's smell, but why do I smell Khrystol?" Citrus asked.

"Perhaps because we've had a change of heart, assassin." A voice came from upon a balcony of gold. Khrystol hopped down. Before she fell, a cloud of sand wrapped her feet, softening her fall. "And we're serving Queen Rubay now."

Fayldspar and Poinsiet jumped from a different balcony and surrounded the two, before a crimson, Mage, came down the roof.

Snofall blasted open the palace doors with a breath of ice, and both ran into the main room. "Where are the dungeons?" Snofall asked as she looked down pillars. And stared at the throne, while Rubay got off.

And the warlord turned purple with a yellow mane. "Oh, Snofall, you don't remember, do you?"

"Wait, that's the hyena from the statue at the temple," Citrus said, eyes wide. While Rubay walked down, the others brought up the rear.

And so Snofall said, "Vycious."

***

Swillow sat next to the ship.

Grass was damp, despite the fact desert stood a few feet away. A blue figure came over the horizon, taking his first few steps on the grass, a pool of water floating around him.

But instead of a morose Wasting, or an arrogant Wasting, Swillow saw a beaming Wasting. He hummed to himself, a bounce in each step before he said, "Swillow!"

Swillow held back for a second, and Wasting ran up to her. He embraced Swillow. She gasped but embraced him back.

"Swillow, I thought I'd never see you again."

"Same," Swillow said and broke away. "Uh, Snofall and Citrus said I should wait here, as I'm supposed to keep a guard on you." She gestured back to the ship. "And I guess, they were right, but they've headed off to Decay."

"Well..." Wasting stared back. "Guess we'll get them on my way back."

Way back? "Yeah," Swillow said with a nod, and grinned. "We'll get them. And then we'll trash the queen."

"Nah, we're not trashing Rubay."

"But why did you say you're headed back?" Swillow asked.

"Well, you see, I didn't escape. Not fully. While I was about to be killed, Rubay instead showed me around the town. And it's a shit show, Swillow. After all, they have nothing to do, and it's just not a good place. So I thought, hey, why not take up the job to save the town, take down the tyrants?" Wasting grinned.

And Swillow backed off. "Huh?" Her eyes flicked to the ship and back to him. And she knew she hadn't heard him right. After all, the hyenas were still enemies. And had even tried to kill her.

Only reason she had to tell him to stay was, "You shouldn't join the hyenas. We have to go over the ocean, okay?" Swillow knew it was dumb. But any reason had to work.

"Why?" Wasting asked.

Had he been brainwashed or something? "You've had a bit of change in a few days."

"Thanks for noticing," Wasting said with a grin, as he skipped over to the lake and took a drink.

Swillow laid down in front of her reflection. "Wasting, you know how I've said our kingdom is bad, right?"

"Yeah, and you're totally right," Wasting said as he bounced up. "That's why I'm going to take it down, raze it down, and you can blaze it down! As we should. As you've always wanted to."

"But that's never what I meant, not like we have to tear it down and burn it down," Swillow said. "We're talking about reforms. And making things better."

"Why? All of them are just shits anyway." Wasting glowered the clouds. "Bribes, taxes, and the good paying the price, and then the good turn bad." He took a breath. "Swillow, I've had to arrest people who weren't doing anything but being in the way of Ignyous. Or had to arrest those the queen hates. And so, I have to admit, it was hard not to join the hyena revolution."

"But, you're not helping those people," Swillow said. "All the people you had to arrest, all the bad things you did. All of that was... You're not going to help those people by joining the hyenas. They don't stop at queens and kings."

Wasting said, "Well I don't need to, because the normal folk would rather steal and rob. And they spit on us, and act like the police are lesser because they enforce the rules."

"Yes, bad rules," Swillow said. "And that's why the normal folk aren't the villains, they're just abused."

Wasting said, "Bad kingdoms make bad men. All in all, they don't need a hero. But the hyenas do."

Swillow realized Wasting was impervious to logic at this point. No way, Wasting had lost his mind. And so she told him, "You must have had your mind hijacked by the hyena queen or something."

Wasting laughed. "Swillow. Look, I understand, you'd rather we went over the ocean. But that's not going to happen. After all the shit that's happened to me in Canida from Dyrian to you to all that stuff, I'm done. All of them look out for themselves."

Swillow shook her head, and walked over to the top of a hill. Wasting ran after her.

"Swillow, what did I say? Swill, you know what's going on."

Swillow spun back, and slapped him across the face. Wasting tumbled down the side a few yards. As he regained his wits, Swillow screamed at him.

"What is wrong with you!?" Swillow asked. "Are you gone insane?" Half her sentence jumbled with a different sentence, as frustration broke her brain.

"Swillow," Wasting said. "About time you learn I've been watching out for you this whole time. And for what, for you to bail on me at last second? We've gotten over this, we're fine now. You and I, once and for all. We can take down Canida and we can go save the hyenas."

Swillow shook her head, and repeated that this could not be happening. The mantra went on in her head. As she drowned out his words, she thought about how this was her fault. Had she filled his head with these ideas?

"Swillow," Wasting said as he got back up. "We're doing this, you and I. It's you and I, against Canida, let's go."

"Wasting, you've lost your way," Swillow said, the lake in her vision. "You've lost your damn mind."

Wasting took a deep breath. "Swillow, you can stop being a bitch for once, and be on the good side."

"I was on the good side. Back when you betrayed me," Swillow said.

"Oh great, that comes up again, I thought we went over this? We're done with that," Wasting said. "We're over that, and I'm over what you did-"

"What I did?" Swillow asked as she stood up.

Wasting backed up. "Shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have said that. Yeah, I get that, but you have to admit, maybe you were part of the problem? When we were growing up, you caused a lot of... situations."

"A lot of situations?" Swillow asked, and shook her head. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Well, Rubay made me realize I had a lot of problems with you. But had is had. And we're good now. You forgive me, I forgive you, what do you say?"

"I say you're still insane."

"You just, you don't want to be on the side of progress," Wasting said.

Swillow growled. "I've always been about progress. It's you who's traditional! And now here you are again, all, 'I have to save the world!'."

"Hey, someone has to do the work," Wasting said. His face scrunched into a scowl. "And who are you to talk anyway? All you've been doing is running around the landscape, biting butts, stealing souls, and doing who knows what else?" Wasting paced around her. "But no, I try to do something good for once and you don't want to do it. Because you never do. You're all talk, no bite."

"You wanna see my bite?" Swillow asked.

"Bet you don't even have a bite," Wasting said as both went nose to nose. And Wasting went back down first.

Swillow walked down to him. "So this is how it's going to be, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" Wasting asked as he gave a slight stare back.

Swillow pushed Wasting into the lake. Wasting's eyes widened, and he resurfaced back with a sputter. "What the hell?"

Swillow walked around while Wasting got back to the surface. "Don't act like a little brat about this, Swillow-"

And Swillow ran him over with a blazing charge. As Wasting tried to straggle back up, she ran him over again.

And then a third time.

As Swillow went for a final charge, a blast of water flipped Swillow onto her back. Wasting muttered, "So this is how it's going to be. Fine, I've been waiting for this war."

"Angel" - Snofall's Theme

You claimed they tried to kill us

Retaliate, reign supreme

Engage your complex, highness

Fulfill your violent dream

Proclaimed they tried to hurt us

The truth's only a seam

Manipulate the facts

Entitled to extreme

The players are pawns you can sacrifice it's all fine

You can justify it all because you're divine

---