Cat Fight in the Dog House

Once the guys are well involved in their fight and it looks like Johnny and Wukong are content to hang out and watch, Keys shoulders her backpack and makes her way back into the den. She had planned to watch the fight herself, but after Snow's explosion at the moot she'd changed her mind. Her thoughts and emotions roiled as she slipped into the hall and to the right, where she left her backpack in the old kitchen. The lack of doors makes it easier for her to locate the alpha by sound: she can hear Snow rummaging through her stuff in the girls' dorm, probably looking for that skimpy little blue exercise outfit she always wore.

Keys climbs the stairs from the dining room up to the second floor, where the Coleman lanterns brighten the room and make it just possible to see without resorting to Gifts. She stands by the portal, leaning against the jamb and watching the older woman -- her new alpha -- in silence for a moment. Last year they had been good friends. Now... exactly what they were now Keys didn't know, and she didn't like not knowing where she stood with her pack mates. It was more than the fact that Snow was now alpha, and yet less. One thing Keys knew for certain, though....

"You ain't Jefe," she says, from the shadows of the doorway. Her accent making the statement sound like pleasant conversation, despite the accusation in her eyes. "You trying to be, but you ain't."

Snow had just dug her tank top and running shorts out of her duffle bag and was about to start changing when Keys spoke. Her body went momentarily rigid as the words cut her like a knife, doing more damage than the Irraka could have possibly known. She hoped the darkened room hid her reaction, as she knew she hadn't maintained a calm face. Let no others see your weakness.

She took a breath and regained herself and her composure.

"He isn't here," she said, not bothering to turn around. Her tone betrayed her anger, but she continued to go about her business. Still on her knees near her bag, she pulled her shirt over her head and replaced it with her tank top. "I may not be him. Unfortunately for you I'm as close as you're gonna get."

"Stating de obvious don't make it better," she responds, a slight frown wrinkling her nose. "You been actin' like him, steppin' in and takin' over from him, but you ain't makin' it work like he did. It ain't honoring him, an' it ain't doin' the rest of us no good, neither."

And then Snow was on her feet, rushing across the room towards Keys. She was so angry she could have gouged Keys' eyes out, but instead the long, outstretched fingers of her right hand closed around Keys' thin neck. She forced the Irraka backward until Keys was pressed up against the cold wall of the room.

"But I'm what you've got," she growled between clenched teeth, squeezing Keys' throat but not really choking her. The girl certainly knew how to push Snow's buttons, and there were few times in all the years they had known each other that Keys had seen the Ithauer so enraged. "What do you want me to do? I can't bring him back!"

"You were never supposed to be de alpha," Keys growls at her. Snow can see fire burning in Keys' eyes as the alpha's fingers close around her throat, but Keys makes no move to either push her away or submit. This confrontation has been too long building, and the pack would be off-balance until it was resolved.

"My father was getting Breaker ready for dat, but you jump into his place before Hefe even cold. Now your brother covers for you, not letting anyone challenge you, and you still pretend you can be just like Juan-Vidal."

Snow's lips tremble with savage fury, curling back to reveal canines that seem just a little longer than they should be in this human form. She squeezes Keys' neck more tightly, digging her nails into the dark skinned girl's flesh and drawing just a trickle of blood. She lashes out with her left hand and for a moment Keys must think Snow was going to strike her, but instead she takes a firm hold of Keys' shirt and tugs it menacingly.

"You think I asked for this?" Snow spits ferociously. Keys had attacked her on the very thing that she herself was dealing with internally. She was full of the same doubts Keys was now verbalizing, and it hurt to have them spoken aloud. "You think its some privilege I sought out? That I took it? You think I wanted to be his replacement?"

"This is no picnic for me! Its a burden I have lived with since the moment he fell. Its a burden I was given by the others. They looked to me, and I have carried this weight so you and Bodycount and Breaker and Johnny and our sister who remains in San Francisco and even Wukong would not have to. Do you know what its like, feeling that weight upon my shoulders all the time? Knowing that if I screw up, that's the end? That someone else might die because of any of a hundred decisions I will have to make from here on out?"

Snow sighs and her face slips quickly into a look of desperation. Her grips release, though she does not take her hands off of Keys. "I didn't want this," she admits between gritted teeth and with a shake of her head. Then, as if she caught herself slipping, her face scruntches up into a look of utter rage, her grips on Keys' neck and shirt are taken up again with renewed ferocity and vigor, and she forces all of her weight into Keys, causing the Irraka hard into the wall immediately behind.

"I wish Juan-Vidal were still here, too, you fucking bitch!"

"Maybe if you hadn't been panting after him for de last six months he would have had time to prepare for de attack better, and he would still be here!" she snarls back. For the first time Keys fights back, shoving the fair-skinned woman away and circling around in a defensive crouch as she continues her verbal assault.

"And dat's why you will never be like him! He was born to lead, it was in his blood. We would follow and we would die for him because we knew he was strong. He respected, he didn't fear, and because he doan fear, we doan fear, either. Leading was not a burden for him, it was his life! And he knew Los Sangrientos would go on wit'out him so he doan let dat fear paralyze him. If we die following you, dat be our choice and be our glory. How dare you take dat away from Breaker, and Bodycount, and Johnny, and Wukong, just because you're afraid you're not like Hefe?"

Snow does not move counter to Keys' but stands in place while her packmate circles around her. Her shoulders straighten and she holds her head high. Her eyes narrow and she stares at Keys like a panther eyeing its prey. All Keys would need to do is bolt and Snow would be on her.

"I am not afraid," she says, her pride kicking in, her tone even and strong. She had spent this conversation on the defensive, and she had shamed herself infront of Skolis-ur. Her doubt had gotten the better of her, but she was better than that. Juan-Vidal taught her better than that. "Its a burden, but not one I fear. I simply do not relish it. It doesn't mean I can't do it, and do it well."

"But that's not what this is about, is it?" she continues, shaking her head. Her eyes never leave Keys'. "Its just a cover for what's really bothering you. You want me to lead every bit as much as the others. You need me as much as they do. I can see it. You'd be lost without me and the guidance I've provided. You just can't admit it because you can't see past your own issues!"

"Really?" she sneers, a mocking light in her eyes for the proud stance Snow puts on. "And what do you tink my issues are, O Wise One?"

"Alpha or no, its not my place to tell you your demons," Snow answers. She's still angry, but not nearly so much as before. "They are what they are, and you'll deal with them when you're ready."

"In the meantime, I don't need to take this abuse from you." Snow is slowly relaxing. She is no longer threatening or even watching Keys especially carefully. Its almost like she has completely changed her demeanor and no longer views Keys as a threat. "If you don't like me in this position, then take it from me. Or find one of the others to take it from me. If you or they have the support of the pack I won't stand in the way. I don't lead this pack for my benefit, but for yours and theirs. Until then I am alpha, and you will treat me with respect or risk the well being of this entire pack."