Felicity let out a sigh of relief as she settled down in her new house. The place was all but empty at the moment, only consisting of the soft deerskin rug she curled up on now. Kyra had lent her it, as a return favour for letting her practice fur-dying skills.

Throughout their entire tour of their area of the city, it was all her new neighbour had pestered her about. Dark shades were boring, she had claimed insistently. And her dream was to open a spa, so needed to practice different techniques on other wolves, in case it ever came true. Of course, her new Glitterwylf friend was the perfect choice.

When they'd returned, Felicity had finally relented. Which was why her Pelt now shone a dazzling hot-pink.

Inhaling deeply, Felicity buried her snout in the thick rug, her eyes sliding shut of their own accord. As wonderfully distracting as Kyra was, she was very tiring to be with. All her energy had been sapped away.

Just as she was sinking into the blackness, a voice called her name.

No. Not her name. The name.

"Fliss."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to lose herself in the void. She needed to escape his voice. It shouldn't have followed her here.

"Fliss, why are you ignoring me?"

Her ears flattened against her head, muffling all outward sound. Go away, she thought back furiously. But his voice spoke as loud and clear as always, vibrating throughout everything.

"You look so beautiful, Fliss."

That was it. She couldn't take it. Springing up, she glared at the emptiness around her. "Leave me alone!" she growled, digging her claws into the rug.

"But Fliss," the voice echoed, this time from behind her. She whipped around, eyes narrowed, but she found only darkness. "It's me. It's Felix. Your twin."

"You're not Felix," she hissed, prowling in a tight circle, her gaze sweeping the dim room. "Felix is dead."

There was a laugh. His laugh. Gentle and kind, yet as it echoed throughout the dark, it felt as if it were mocking her. Another reminder of what she could no longer have.

"Or is he?" he asked her, humour still lacing his tone. "He's here now. Is that not enough?"

A whimper escaped Felicity's throat. She was trembling now. Yet she forced out another low growl. "He's not here. He's gone. I saw him... I saw him die."

"And who killed him?"

Felix's voice lost its tender charm, slipping into what felt like interrogation. It yanked every one of Felicity's dyed strands of fur to stand upright, paralysed by fear. Her paws rooted themselves to the spot as she stared straight ahead, into the whispering void.

"That's right," the voice murmured. "Look at him."

Out of the darkness, a pair of eyes opened. They glowed with purple light, deep and ferocious. There was no place to look but straight into the shadowy pupils. Inside them flashed memories. Screams. Blood. Death.

"No," Felicity choked. She tried to pull away, but the air pressed her into place. All she could do was watch as the eyes showed her that moment, in every horrible detail.

He was dying. He was dying all over again.

The same murder.

Her paws moved of their own accord. Claws stretched out. Muscles tensed. She pounced, snarling, fangs revealed as she charged for those purple eyes.

Just as her claws reached him - just as they were about to pierce the dark flesh - something grabbed her from behind, and the violet glow faded from view.

With a gasp, Felicity's eyes flicked open, momentarily blinded by the harsh sunlight filtering through the window. Clearly summer was still shining in full force.

Blinking rapidly, she raised her head, twisting to see what had caused the sudden jolt from her mind. Her paws still shook a little. The dream was already fading into disconnected fragments, but it lingered enough to keep her tense.

Frowning, she scanned the room. Strangely, nothing showed itself. The house was just as empty as it had been when she'd drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps I woke up on my own, she thought, as she rose carefully. I've done that before.

"Boo!"

Felicity nearly jumped out of her skin. Wildly, she searched the room for the source of the noise. The second she found it, the fur settled on her back again.

Kyra stood by the entrance, her tail still half-concealed by the open door. Her face was fighting a desperate battle to stay neutral. At the sight of Felicity's shock, she finally lost, and collapsed to the floor in fits of giggles.

Still darkened by her dream, Felicity could only stare vacantly as the pale Glitterwylf rocked, completely hysterical. It was only as the laughs began to fade away that Kyra looked up, and saw her friend's blank expression.

"Come on, Felicity!" she gasped, breathless. "It was a joke!" Shuddering with amusement, she leapt up and grabbed Felicity's tail, pulling her to the ground.

The bump as her side hit the floorboards was just what she needed. The jolt chased away the lasting remnants of her dream, and laughter burst from her constricted chest, as joy overtook the fear and grief.

For what felt like hours, they lay there together, clinging onto each other as giggles vibrated their whole bodies. Felicity lost any sense of rationality. She was just there, with her new friend, encaptured in bliss.

Eventually, though, the laughing had to stop. Both Glitterwylves took a few long, deep breaths, delight shining in their eyes.

"What's the plan for today, then?" Felicity asked, bouncing to her paws. Kyra followed eagerly.

"I'm going to give you the grand tour!" she proclaimed, leaping in front to slide through the open doorway. Gesturing to a street to the left, she turned back to Felicity. "I'll take you to the Gold District!"

Cocking her head to the side, Felicity slowed her pace. "The Gold District? Then what district is this?" She flicked her tail towards their twin huts, side by side. Kyra's eyes lost some of their sparkle.

"The Fog District." Bowing her head, the Glitterwylf went silent, as if thinking. Felicity sighed. This was just a more ordered system than the hierarchy she'd seen back in Borealton. Not that she'd ever cared - until this war-driven fire had ignited inside her.

It only took a few moments, however, for Kyra's spirit to be restored. She met her neighbour's eyes with a new determination. "Come on! It's really sparkly and shiny there. You'll love it."

With a nod, Felicity curved her snout into a smile, trying to recreate the weightless energy she'd felt inside. But it seemed to have slipped away again. Thankfully, so had her dream. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, breathing in deeply, before bounding after Kyra as she sprinted away.

Her gaze brushed over the huts. Small shacks, constructed of roughly-carved wooden planks, with yellowing grass forming thick rooftops. Come to think of it, they did seem a little smaller than the houses that had first been presented to her at the gateway of Moongarde. But not so different to separate entire classes in the extreme way she was picturing. Perhaps this segregation wasn't as bad as she'd thought.

Soon enough, however, that view was shattered by Kyra's shouted words from ahead, just as the houses began to mirror that of the entrance houses from yesterday. "This is the Leaf District!" So the true golden nature was still to come.

Suddenly, her friend ground to a halt, and Felicity stumbled a little to prevent the momentum from causing a collision. Tail swishing madly, Kyra turned towards her, and then gestured to a small pack of Earthwylves, huddled in a tight circle. "These are my friends!"

At the sound of her light voice, one of the mud-coloured wolves rose, his ears pricking up as delight flickered in his dark eyes. "Kyra! Nice to see you!" His head twisted to the side. "You've brought a new friend, I see?"

The Glitterwylf nodded excitedly. "Yes! Mak, this is Felicity, my new neighbour. Felicity, meet Makas, but I call him Mak." She ran forward and rested her snout under his chin, where it slotted perfectly. Bending over, Makas embraced her, his tail lifting of its own accord. Felicity hid a small smile. It seemed that Kyra had more than just a friend of Earth Pelt.

When they released each other, Mak turned to greet her. "Felicity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." There was humour dancing in his expression, as if he expected her to rush forward and bombard him with enthusiastic comments. He almost appeared disappointed when she didn't.

"Nice to meet you too, Mak," she said with a nod. "Kyra has made me feel very welcome." She raised her head upwards to meet his eyes. The dark pupils stared unfalteringly back. He seemed to stare past her false smile and inward, deep inside. Waves of sympathy rippled through his gaze. You've been broken, his eyes spoke to her, in words she could only feel in his expression. Something darkened your soul. You're in pain.

It took her a moment to realise that he was right. And part of her wanted to tell him so.

But instead, she stared back with the same facade as always. She didn't need that sympathy. She'd come to Moongarde to get away from all that.

She broke away first, turning to Kyra for distraction. Her prancing pink paws offered the perfect escape. "I was taking Felicity to see the Gold District," Kyra told him. "Want to come?"

Mak's eyes narrowed at the mention of the district. But he nodded, moving closer to the pale Glitterwylf. "Sure. Lead the way, my pink princess."

Giggling, Kyra skipped further along the street, Mak following close behind. His fellow Earthwylves muttered amongst themselves. It looked like some sort of argument. But Felicity didn't wait to observe - she was just as eager to stay with Kyra as Mak was.

The three of them ran all the way, Felicity observing curiously as the straw-topped houses grew larger and more elegant. She sighed into the wind. This was even worse than her old home.

They finally halted outside a particularly imposing building. Gold trails laced the delicately carved walls, spreading into bursts of bronze-tinted flame. It towered above them, most likely containing the best part of several trees. Shivering in its shadow, she stared up at it, holding back her true heated desire to charge forward and claw the shining paint to tatters.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Kyra whispered beside her. "I bet it would be amazing to live in such a beautiful place." Her tail flicked and twirled behind her, and she stepped closer to Mak, as if imagining the two of them moving there together. Bowing her head, Felicity clawed the smooth stone of the street, fighting down the voice inside that screamed how unfair it was.

A taunting voice drew her gaze back up to rest on three wolves, emerging from a path to the side. Their fur rippled with varying shades of burnt orange. "Ah, look. Some little Glitterwylves have crawled out of the Fog," the larger of them announced, chuckling to himself. Biting her tongue, Felicity glanced over at her companions, and saw Mak take a threatening step forward.

"Don't you dare speak to them like that, Rowtag," he growled, his eyes clouding to almost black. "They have every right to be here." The orange wolf laughed.

"They don't belong here. Even you Leaf-dwellers know that."

The wolf to Rowtag's left shoved Mak roughly to the side, and he staggered away, glaring furiously at the delighted Flamewylf as he drew further towards Felicity and Kyra.

"I don't think I've seen you around before," Rowtag hissed to Felicity, his snout nearly touching hers. "Are you new?" His hot breath sizzled as it made contact with her brightly-coloured fur.

"Yes," she replied softly.

"Fantastic." His amber eyes glimmered. "Welcome to the big city, little Glitterwylf."

Little Glitterwylf.

Useless, weak and unworthy. A lesser Pelt.

A dark fire rose in her chest, swallowing all common sense. Venomous sparks exploded in her irises. "Let us pass," she growled, the sound vibrating deep in her heart. Rowtag looked a little surprised.

"Was that a challenge, Glitterwylf?"

"Perhaps." She couldn't control the darkness. It spoke for her. "You don't have the right to talk to us like that."

"Don't I?" Anger rasped in Rowtag's tone. "Is a Fog weakling threatening me?"

"Perhaps," she repeated. "Maybe she wants to start a fight." She planted her paws firmly, readying her slight muscles.

A moon had passed since her last fight. She wasn't going to lose this one.