Lexi found herself retreating behind Fiammetta, her gaze flicking between the scarred wolf and Toivo.

Thea was the first to speak. "Katana, thank Luna you're ok!" Rasing her snout, she nuzzled her friend's cheek. Not seeming to register the action, Katana slid away from her, advancing further on Toivo. Her lips pulled back in a low snarl.

"Come to finish the job?" she hissed. "Good luck with that."

Hesitating, Lexi lingered with her jaw half open. She knew what needed to be said. But her voicebox had chosen this moment to lose the courage required to function.

Just as Katana's hind legs tensed in readiness to pounce, someone more fearless finally caught on. "Wait!" Fiammetta yelped, leaping forwards to block her path to Toivo. "Katana, you've been unconcious for a couple of days now, and you missed... something important," she finished hurriedly as the Earthwylf made to dodge around her.

"Important enough to protect a beast like that?" Katana countered, though she didn't move. Behind them both, Lexi saw Toivo flinch, his gaze dropping to the ground.

"Yes, actually," Fiammetta said, her tone measured, tainted with only the slightest uncertainty. "This wolf is important. Dawn-"

Her words faded as a rush of magic pulsed across the clearing, tingling every wolf spine. Even Katana's gaze was drawn to a spot in the trees as the very wolf Fiammetta had mentioned stepped out of the forest, her purple coat dulled by the increasing darkness. Joy sparked silver in her eyes.

"Katana," she greeted warmly. "So good to see you awake."

As she approached, the fire in Katana's eyes dissipated as she bowed her head respectfully. But her ears remained rigid. "I'm glad to be up, Dawn. But please, explain to me why exactly I'm not allowed to claw one of the creatures who nearly killed me." Contempt weaved between her words, but her violence had been subdued, at least for now.

All the Twilytra listened intently as Dawn described her prophecy once more. Lexi took the opportunity to shoot Toivo a sympathetic glance. She could only imagine how painful it must feel to hear such words recited again, in the presence of his new Pelt. Following his gaze, she felt a twinge of unease at the wistful way he stared into the depths of the woods. Now she watched him more closely, his thoughts weren't difficult to guess. She made a mental note to convince him otherwise later that night.

By the time the Mystwylf had finished, Katana seemed more satisfied. There was still a glint of suspicion, far more intense than Fiammetta's occasional frown, but enough to stop her from launching herself at him. 

As she turned away, her legs trembled unsteadily, and Thea quickly rushed forward to support her. Remembering the cause of her wounds, Lexi couldn't help but wince at the thought of such an attack.

It had been terrifying enough in battle with one Shadewylf. She couldn't imagine how Katana must have felt after being beaten by several. All of a sudden, her glares at Toivo felt so much more justified.

Thankfully, Dawn then announced, "It is time for sleep, my friends. Our plan can be decided once daylight returns," and the clearing began to settle down for the evening. Thea laid Katana down underneath a large tree, immune to the Earthwylf's protests, while the rest of the Twilytra spread themselves out in full view of the moonlight. Seeing Toivo curl up in his own patch of shadow, Lexi darted over, anxious to comfort him after the ordeal.

"You alright?" she asked, nudging his flank with her snout.

Much to her surprise, he rolled away from her, his eyes snapping shut. "I'm not really in the mood for talking, Lexi. Let's just get some sleep."

That made her frown. Many a time had they sat together on the hill, or at her house, talking late into the night. It was often difficult to get him to stop. It only increased her suspions of his plan - the one she needed to prevent, and fast.

"Look, don't take what Katana said personally. If she was attacked by Shadewylves, then naturally-"

"I said I don't want to talk!" he growled, his head briefly lifting upwards to flash a deep blue glare her way. She flinched. In all the time she'd known him, he'd only snapped at her once. That had been only a moon ago, and it had shocked her then. Now it made ice-cold fear flood her heart.

No. Not fear. That emotion was one she felt far too often. Her best friend should not be a further source.

"Sorry," she muttered, curling up beside him. "Just... promise you'll talk in the morning, okay?"

The softer look he gave her in reply warmed her heart once more. "Okay."

They shared that look for a few moments, conveying their equal apology silently, before settling down once more. Shuffling closer to him, Lexi twined her tail with his, and let the steady beat of his heart lull her gently into sleep.

Yet still the brief image of Toivo's anger lingered. She did her best to cover it with a blanket of older memories - Peltless memories. His passionate gaze. His giggling laugh. The way he evaded her eyes when he had a secret, until she finally teased it out of him, much to his bemusement.

She was just beginning to escape the doubt and sink into the bliss of the past when a muttering pricked at her ears, tugging her back to reality. Annoyance twitched her snout, but curiosity quickly overcame it as her waking mind recognised the voices. Cautiously, she opened one eye to peer out into the clearing.

Not all the Twilytra were on their paws, as she had presumed, but there were four wolves risen. Under the brightness of the oval-shaped moon, she could just about make out their Pelts - bronze, purple, pink, and black. The latter made her flinch before she realised that it was only Angel, now wearing the starry nighttime cloak of Aire. Lifting an ear slightly, she focused, trying to make out their words.

"But why?" Angel hissed, staring at Dawn in protest. "He left us. Why would he be interested in helping us now?"

"He will," Thea said, her voice low but not quiet enough to evade Lexi's senses. "He's a good wolf. Our new mission is important. He'll want to help." Determination hardened her tone.

"We need all the help we can get," Fiammetta added with a glance back at Toivo. Hurriedly, Lexi closed her eyes, feining sleep, until she was safe from the Flamewylf's gaze. She didn't think they'd be welcoming of her eavesdrop.

Dawn added something inaudible, clearly much better at whispering than the rest of them, and the three nodded. Angel's was more reluctant, but her ears were drooped in defeat. After a glance at their sleeping comrades, they padded across the clearing and darted into the trees.

Immediately, Lexi leapt to her paws. Usually she would stop to consider such decisions more carefully, but the only convincing she needed was a glance at Toivo. Black would never stop being a fearful colour, yet the sight of him curled up, twitching in his sleep, reminded her of the innocent wolf inside. The others could glare at him all they wanted. She knew that she would do anything to keep him safe.

In a way, it was her finally fulfilling her name's fate.

Tearing her gaze from his sleeping form, she bounded into the dark of the forest, her ears trained on the faint noise of four sets of paws up ahead. Luckily, Angel's constantly fluttering wings provided a perfect tracking sound. But she knew she couldn't lose them. Her jog became a desperate sprint.

It wasn't long before she caught sight of them. Her muscles were already beginning to ache, but she forced herself to run a few leaps further before slowing. She had to keep up with them, for Toivo's sake.

It wasn't the Twilytra she was protecting him from, exactly. Despite the moments of mistrust, they seemed fairly harmless, especially when Dawn was about. Yet she still couldn't fully bring herself to trust them - or, more to the point, anyone they contacted.

The longer they walked, the more suspicious - and confused - she became. There were loners that lived out here in the woods, wolves that had chosen to leave society behind and live with only nature to guide them. She'd been taught that most of them were wolves with no family left, or who had grown tired of the Wylfire's command that they simply had to escape. According to history, there had been a lot around at the end of the war, but over the decades less and less had chosen such a risky lifestyle.

To Sergeant Joeonto, they were nothing more than insane rebels.

To her, the idea would have been appealing, if not for the family she had to protect.

It made sense that the Twilytra, being loners themselves of sorts, would associate with such wolves. The question was why they had chosen to contact one now.

Thankfully, just as she began to consider the prospect that her aching limbs may force her to abort, the foursome ahead halted. Staggering to a stop, Lexi crept closer, taking care to avoid the moon's revealing beams.

Peering around the trunk of a tree, she caught a glimpse of their destination.

A hut, with walls of roughly-hacked planks, stood at their paws. The roof had been crudely sewn together with wide leaves, creating a shelter that appeared as if a rainstorm might topple it. Vines crept up the sides, adorned with wilting roses. It might have been a quaint cottage, had it been built by professionals back at Borealton. But this was a loner's hut, made by no such practiced power, and treated with little of the care it might have received in town.

It was a sad sight.

Curious, she looked over at the four Twilytra. Dawn and Fiammetta's heads were bowed, as if mourning. Angel flashed the hut a sullen glare before also tracing her gaze to the ground. Only Thea kept her eyes up, though her tail had drooped downwards. Lexi detected a faint sigh as the Glitterwylf stepped forward, raising a claw to tap the door softly.

There was a pause. Shuffling closer, Lexi kept her ears pricked up, and heard a scuffling from within the house. After a minute, the door creaked open to reveal a wolf the colour of moss.

He wore the scowl of someone who had been left alone for some time, and would prefer it stayed that way. As he limped to poke his snout into the open, Lexi caught sight of his mismatched forepaws. One rested beside Thea's paw, claws glistening with yellowish venom, while the other seemed to be lifted in the air. Further inspection revealed the leg's stumpy, mangled end, cutting it where the halfway point should have been. At some point in his life, this wolf had lost more than just a fight.

As he met the Glitterwylf's eyes, his scowl faded. "Thea? What are you doing here? It's-" A look over her shoulder returned his glower. "Ah."

Guilt flashed across Thea's expression. "I'm really sorry to bother you like this," she said, her tone quiet but determined. "We wouldn't come if it wasn't really important."

"Of course you wouldn't." Any glimmer of hope in the loner's eyes had vanished. "What's the problem, then?"

Thea glanced back at Dawn before answering. "There isn't time to explain. But... well, it's as we feared moons ago. The Shadewylves have returned."

His eyes widened so briefly that Lexi almost missed the action. If she hadn't been watching closely enough, she would have assumed the loner already knew it. "So? The Wylfire and Wylfrost have it covered. As I told you all moons ago, we... you are no longer needed."

"No, trust us." Desperation crept into Thea's tone. "Please, Briar."

"Konrad has reported that their numbers are many more than we imagined," Fiammetta chipped in. "And the Wylfire don't care about their orginal purpose anymore. It's down to us."

But Briar shook his head. "It isn't. You wolves are my friends, and I need to warn you." His gaze drifted past them, into the darker patches of the forest, and he shivered. "Stop trying, Thea. All of you. This isn't your fight. But if you make it your fight... bad things will happen. I know it."

An uneasy thought pricked at Lexi's fur. Her paws tensed, ready to leap out, but she knew that if she was right about the Toxiwylf she'd be too afraid to do so. Digging her claws into the soil, she prayed that she was wrong.

Thea's determined stare didn't decrease her anxiety. "No, Briar. We won't back down. You know that too."

Silence fell as the wolves of pink and green remained that way, eyes fixed on each other. The other three exchanged nervous glances. Lexi held her breath.

It was Briar who finally broke it. Tugging his eyes away from Thea, he glared at the rest of them. "If that's how you feel, then I have no choice."

A pit opened up in Lexi's stomach.

Hidden in the trees, she could do nothing as the Toxiwylf threw his head back and howled.