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[sub][right][color=slategray]Interactions:[/color] Linqian ([@Fernstone]) and Greyson ([@AtomicEmperor]). [/right]
[right][color=slategray][i]Burns Home > Flowers and Canvases[/i][/color][/right][/sub]
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[indent] Lyss stood leaning against her motorcycle with her arms crossed, her face grim as she surveyed the abandoned [url=https://i.imgur.com/S7kgdYV.jpg]Burns home[/url]. After ten empty years, the house was decrepit and beginning to crumble. The dark green paint had faded grey. The shutters were decayed or missing entirely, along with rotten bits of wooden trimming along the roofing. The frame of the house still held, each wall holding firm with the assistance of the overgrown vines crawling up their sides. One side of the porch had collapsed, it's banister too rotten to support it's roof.

When Lyss left St. Portwell, she never thought that she'd see this home again. On the ride here she'd sworn not to step foot on the property. She was normally true to her words, and yet... here she was. Soiling the good memories she had of her once beautiful home. Well, whatever good memories were left of it. She figured, if she still had all of her humanity, that she would have shed at least a tear or two over it. Instead she felt an ache in her chest. Enough of an ache to make whatever percentage of her soul that remained seem far too much.

[i]How much longer do I have left, before I look at this place and feel nothing? Would it be better, that way?[/i]

Best not to dwell on that for too long.

Lyss gave the Burns relic one last lookover before she straddled her bike. She got it started, pulled on her helmet, and began to make her way into the city. The ache in her chest slowly faded the further she was from her home.

The familiar drive into the city opened a floodgate to her memories. Memories she cherished, and memories she wished were forgotten. Places where the Stygian Snake had left scars stood out to her. Even after ten years, the businesses and homes that were built over the wreckage looked brand new and out of place. Portwell was both familiar and alien to her now. The thought made her rev her engine and ride faster. She focused on the streets until she couldn't tell the difference between old and new. 

Lyss was hesitant to answer Auri's call a few days ago. The life that Lyss built for herself wasn't all roses and sunshine. Her work was a means to an end. Odd jobs here and there with great rewards. Her partners were sketchy at times, and yet she found some type of fucked up family dynamic with them. They had her back when she needed it most. They knew what had to be done without snide remarks and bickering. Something the Sycamore Coven could learn from.

Yet Lyss couldn't decline the call. It was nice to know that someone from the Coven cared to reach out. Even if it was to deliver grave news. No matter how much Lyss resented the way the Coven disbanded, she knew that they deserved her help. They deserved vengeance. To hear that so many members were missing or had been murdered, including Stone, was enough to convince her to break her oath and return home.

The wolves carved from sycamore trees were messages meant for the Coven directly. Whoever this Father Wolf was, whether it was one man, an apparition, or a coven acting under one name, meant to destroy their Coven. It was already apparent that distance was no issue for them. Lyss would have been roped into this eventually, or she would have been unfortunate enough to find a wolf idol in her apartment and become a martyr herself.

So why not rejoin the Coven? It took one major threat for them to work together, so perhaps this one was doing the same? Maybe they had all grown and matured over the last ten years, and it would be better this time.

[i]With a wolf's knife to their neck, they might be even worse than before.[/i] Despite how cynical she felt about it, Lyss smirked to herself. [i]It's going to be just like old times, then.[/i]

Lyss slowed as she neared the flower shop's location and it seemed she was right. She knew she was late to the meeting, but she didn't think that it would end within an hour. Her old friends had matured physically, just like she had, and yet she could recognize each of them easily. Lyss pulled her bike into a spot a few down from the entrance to the shop and watched as two groups left the building.

The first group to leave had Drake, Sloane, Luca, Simone, and Kali. Drake looked... well enough for someone who had lost his wife. He looked older than his age, which was a lot to say since she was one year above him. Maybe marriage did that to a person. Sloane was sleek and stylish, and yet she carried herself the same way as she did before. Luca, Simone, and Kali just looked a little taller, and better dressed.

The next group was... unexpected and yet expected. Two extremely tall figures, with others in tow. Sully was a [i]man[/i] now, and Lyss couldn't wrap her head around how grown he looked. How much bigger he was. He was a football player back then, right? He must have continued the gig. The other tall figure, well... Lyss hadn't expected to see her here at all. To think that Auri would have called her despite her issues with other returning members was a bit of a shock. Lyss felt no ill will towards Britney, although she'd been disappointed in the decisions she made. To see her with Sully, though, that wasn't a shock at all. Sully stood up for Britney back then. Of course he'd be doing it now.

Lyss watched the two groups head off in separate directions before she removed her helmet. If they were leaving, it was probably best to save their reunions at the next meeting. She came here to meet with Auri after all. 

Lyss cut the engine, and was in the middle of getting off her bike when she noticed two figures standing by the shop doors having a cig. It took her a second before she recognized them as Greyson and Linqian. Linqian had not grown much, yet from Lyss's position she could see how her face had matured. She could also see that Linqian's attitude hadn't changed either. Greyson, on the other hand, was sporting a goatee and looked like he had grown into some money. Not surprising, for someone who had unknowingly taught Lyss some tricks she later used in her new profession.

Lyss threw her messenger bag over her shoulder and took a moment to adjust her hair and jacket. Whatever reservations she had, they didn't matter now. It was time to get to work. Hopefully Auri had some answers already, or at least a lead.

[i]Hopefully I won't regret coming here at all.[/i] She thought with a deep breath.

She began to walk up to the shop, one hand on her bag's strap, and the other tucked into her jacket pocket. As she neared the entrance to the shop, she gave Greyson and Linqian a brief smile as a greeting. [color=SlateGray]"Did I miss the party?"[/color]
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