23rd of Glade, 121
“C’mon, we’re gonna be late.” Brianne called, standing outside her home with a satchel in hand as she waited for Senara to join her. Wrapped delicately within the confines of the twine wrapped bundle was a mix of exotic animal hides and pelts ranging from white rabbits to midnight elks and most recently a dire arctic fox from the mountains. An old friend, one of the clothing designers of the House Novalys and other royal families, had a particular penchant for pelts and Brianne was more than willing to provide such rarities to the woman. Especially with how much she was paying.
Senara soon joined the woman, clad in a simple white underdress and tapping the toes of her short brown boots to the ground to make sure her feet truly were secured in the strange garment. Seriously. She’d never get used to shoes.
“Do I have to ride in?” She asked, brow furrowed as she stared up at the pony standing in front of her. It was a short, 14 hand stocky haflinger mare with a chestnut coat and cream mane and a white stripe running down her face. It’s fuzzy nose poked out towards her and pushed against her arm as if asking for treats. Brianne chuckled, watching as the pony nearly knocked Senara over. She had her own horse beside her, the same black 18 hand draft horse she’d ridden just days ago during their fight with the bull.
“Absolutely. You need practice. Besides, Midnight hasn’t been out to the city in a long time and you need some more clothes..” She said, patting the haflingers rear lovingly.
Senara raised her brow. “...Her name is midnight?” She asked, working to untie the reins from the short post in front of the house. She fumbled at first but quickly grasped the one looped rein between her hands and moved to take hold of the horn of the saddle. Thankfully being a pony, she didn’t have much issue slipping a foot through the stirrup and hopping onto it’s back with a few bounces on the ground first. Though, the first few lessons had not been so successful.
Brianne had swiftly mounted her own horse, Mars, after tying the satchel on the back of her saddle to one of the saddle fasteners. “She was born at midnight, and I thought it would be funny.” She said, smirking to herself a little. Sometimes the fact that she lived alone for so many years got to her. But finding joy in the smaller parts of life had kept her going.
Until Senara. Now, she had something more. Someone to share her experiences with.
The white wolf behind her turned her horse with ease to ride beside Brianne. They’d only had a few lessons together, but Midnight was, at best, a lazy mare who preferred staying with others to getting off track. A bonus to such a friendly breed. And getting her to go any faster than a brisk walk at times was tough, which means she was the perfect, lazy, safe horse for Senara to ride into the city on.
“It’ll be a two hour ride in.” Brianne explained as the house slowly disappeared behind them. The air was cool. Remnants of frost still lingered in the air but glade was fast swallowing any cold that threatened her days and replacing it with the warmth of it’s sun. Senara still didn’t see why she couldn’t just walk in as a wolf, though. It would be faster, and warmer, after all.
“As it’s your first time in the city, you’ll wait for me with the horses to return from my meeting. After I drop these pelts off we can visit a small clothier.” Senara didn’t look at Brianne as she spoke, but a light pout held her lips.
The rest of their trip was rather quiet. Both women were content to simply enjoy the scenery. Senara, though she wouldn’t admit it outwardly, enjoyed riding the pony. It was both easier than walking and yet harder on her hips. It loosened them, and even at such a slow gait demanded her balance always be at attention lest she fall behind the movement and flop around like a boneless worm atop the mare. But, she still kept one hand upon the horn to steady herself.
Nearly 90 minutes into their ride and the city peaked out from behind the mountain range. The Palace of the First Wind was the first thing to be noticed, towering over the city and cloudhaven district Senara could barely see it from the position they held on the ground. Ahead of them countless houses, shops, and carts filtered into view. Though perhaps the most abrasive feature of the city bombarding her senses was the sheer mass of people and booming commotion that reached her.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people littered the streets all yelling or screaming or running in pursuit of that which drove them to such outlandish behavior. Senara grimaced.
“Is something going on today?” She asked, nervously twisting the reins between her fingers.
Brianne didn’t seem phased by the question as they came to a stop just below the Cloudhaven District. “This is the city at it’s most quiet.” She said, smirking to herself. The nights were often louder, depending on which part of the city one resided in. “I didn’t think it necessary to warn you, but it’s not dangerous here so you’ll be safe to stay with the horses while I’m gone. Phillipe will show you the way, and I’ll meet you in the guests stables when I’m done.”
The woman dismounted then, hopping down from her tall stallion with ease and handing the reins to a nearby guard at the bottom of the grand staircase. He was a tall avialae with grey and brown wings, short brown hair, and a kind smile. Clearly, not to be trusted Senara decided.
Brianne wished she could have warned Senara. But it only would have made it harder to bring her along if she truly knew what she was getting into. Honestly, she could probably move the mountains before she was able to get Senara to do something she didn’t want to.
The white wolf turned her attention to the man in question with a scowl on her face and climbed off her short pony with ease. The whole time her eyes did not leave him.
Skyguards. Children killers. The same people who would steal a child from an abusive home and rid the city of them. How great was the city that it was protected by murderers of the innocent? She nearly growled at the man before earning a harsh glare from Brianne that quickly ceased her.
“Don’t mind her, she’s sorta a brat.” Brianne said to Phillipe, patting him on the shoulder with a smirk.
“Have you been well, lady Duras?” He asked, moving to take Midnight's reins as well with a smile, content to pay attention to his old friend. Brianne scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You know you don’t need to call me lady, Phillipe. But yes, I’ve been well. It’s good to see you again, perhaps I’ll come visit your family again soon.”
The man nodded. “I’m sure they’d love that. It has been a long time since you worked with us, sometimes I forget how much time has flown away.”
Brianne turned around to begin unloading the satchel of pelts from the saddle hooks. Once she held them under her arms, she patted Mars on the rear and took a single step up the staircase. She stopped briefly though, turning back to see Senara looking on expectantly.
“No, you can’t come with me. Don’t need you getting me kicked out of the palace’s good graces.” She raised her brow playfully, earning Senara’s mirrored brow of confusion and then began ascending the grand staircase.
“This way, miss… what should I call you?” Phillipe asked, beginning to walk off to the west side of the street towards a small barn with the words ’Visitor Stables’ atop them. Not that Senara would know, she couldn’t read.
“You shouldn’t.” She said plainly. What was the use of knowing a name if you’d never use it again, anyways? Strange city folk.
The man shrugged, a tight pull to his lips while he led the woman and her horses towards the stables. It was a lavish building, mirroring the grandness of the palace itself and hosting four guards at it’s entrance. Senara and Phillipe walked in without problem, and with no more than a simple nod from the other guards who all seemed rather stoic in comparison to the gleeful man Brianne had known.
Moments later, he had placed both horses in their own stalls along with a blue placard hanging from the bars of each stall. They had something written on them, to which the girl squinted at as if unable to even see the large etchings on them.
“So, how do you know Brianne?” He asked, latching the stall doors closed and turning to the white wolf behind him. To him, she was as odd as any. Brianne had never been the type to have a guest let alone a friend, and those she did hold close were never riding in on her own horses. The sight had confused the man, but then again his past guard-mate had always left people guessing.
“She kidnapped me.” She bit out plainly, then moving to exit the barn and leaving a shocked and bumbling Phillipe behind her. When he caught up, laughing nervously, Senara eyed him suspiciously. A few passerbys bowed to him gleefully, earning his own bow in turn, while the girl questioned why a city would put so much respect into winged men with no morals. They were just as bad as her father in her book. But she was smart enough to know she’d never be able to take one on. Not inside the city at least.
She turned her attention away from him then and leaned up against the outside of the barn. At least the sky was still blue and open. It was perhaps the only familiar thing in sight now, and so for a while she simply stared up at it.
Phillipe, after swapping posts with one of the other guards who moved to take his original place at the bottom of the grand staircase, took position beside Senara. He studied her a while before catching on; she was not a woman of many words.
For nearly half an hour they stood together in silence. Phillipe would help a few citizens who came up and asked for directions, but mostly their time passed by without event. Which for Senara was a thankful change of pace. The city was loud. It bombarded her eyes, nose, and ears with it’s discord and seemed as though it had no rhythm. No pattern. It didn’t breathe like the forest or flow like the rivers. It was awful. How did these other people stand it? Even with their drastically less sensitive senses surely they too should be weary from the chaos?
But soon her ears caught the sound of crying.
Somehow familiar, her head perked up. Brown eyes scanned the crowd of people passing by.
They were wailing. It sounded young, like a baby pup whining into the night after it’s mother had gone missing. Senara took a step forward with stiff shoulders and bent knees.
Beside her, Phillipe raised a curious brow. “Hm? What is it?” He asked, looking off in the direction she faced. But he heard nothing.
“I will be back.” Senara said, her heart suddenly racing as she took off in a sprint towards the noise. She crashed into the first crowd of people and growled at them as they gasped in shock. But she didn’t stop. Her feet spun her around and she continued down the winding streets.
After the first encounter she learned quickly, weaving between people and watching their movements to pass through like a leaf on the wind. She practiced the graceful hops, jumps, and precision of her training with Brianne and slid through countless bodies smelling of food and wine and sweat and linens. The crying was getting louder. But no one seemed to care, no one seemed to notice.
’Why?! Why does no one give a shit?!’
She screamed in her own head. There was something about the cry that was absolutely heartbreaking. It was her, it was injustice, it was pain and torture.
The white wolf stopped dead in her tracks and whipped her head around as she realized the cry was moving. When she located the direction, she once more broke into a sprint towards the source. Moments later she slid through an alleyway and down a few back roads. The confusion of the pathways lost her track briefly but the cries continued. Then a scream- like someone had been struck. She winced to herself and gritted her teeth, swiveling to go down a different pathway behind a mess of buildings.
The mass of people was becoming smaller, as were the sounds. Something sweet in the air. The cry was louder, closer, probably only a block away now.
She scrunched her nose and turned a corner, and just as she expected came face to face with the source of the crying. A human girl. No older than seven laying on the cobblestone in a set of tan overalls. Her hair was a mess, but at one point seemed to have been in pigtails. Her eyes were shut, tears streaming down a face blackened with soot and bruises. Her frail, pale arms too were covered and one of the buttons of her overalls had broken off laying next to a half bitten apple on the ground.
Senara’s heart dropped. Something in her gut twisted and churned like worms in a bucket.
“You dare to steal from me?!” A human man with dark blonde hair towered over her. Dressed in bright red and white clothing similar to most of those on the streets, he appeared clean and well kempt. He held one of the girls arms in his hand, massive in comparison, and gripped tightly as he hoisted the girl up onto her wobbly legs. The girl screamed in fear as he raised a hand in the air.
“I’ll teach you right!” The hand came down.
Senara didn’t think. She only acted. In a split second she had launched herself at the man, screaming into the alleyway with her hand outstretched towards his face. Her fingers sunk into his skin, piercing the flesh and pushing him away from the girl as she wrapped her limbs around him in a grapple. The child’s arm was ripped away from his, sending the group of them crashing into the ground. But the child hobbled up quickly, tearing herself away from the commotion just far enough away that her body fell to the ground in a heap of terrified sobs.
But Senara continued. She sunk her teeth into his face and bit down hard, drawing blood as he scrambled to push the feral brunette off of him. He screamed in panic. His arms wildly flung around him and clawed at her skin but she did not relent until his foot came up between them and shoved her off. His legs, much stronger than her own, flung her back into one of the walls of the alleyway.
She hit it hard, coughing briefly and growling at the man in return. He was terrified. His eyes wide in horror as he grasped the bleeding chunk of his face.
“Y-you’re mad!” He screamed.
Senara panted, spitting out the man's blood from her mouth and growling at him. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on an innocent!” She spat at him.
The mans fearful expression turned sour and angry as he pointed his free hand at the sobbing child.
“That street rat stole an apple from me!” He yelled, scrambling to his feet. It was then she realized- he was a peddler. He sold apples. The bright red vest suddenly made sense as she thought back to the countless carts lining the streets she’d seen on her rush down to the alleyway.
Senara’s brow twitched. “You would hurt an innocent over copper?!” She screamed, eyes wide. Brianne had bought apples once. She’d taught her the basics of currency, how the copper was a small amount and gold was a lot. But apples… they were mere copper.
“You are a waste of air.” She bit out, her muscles tensing as she got closer to him. He was larger than her, much larger, but something about the look in Senara’s eyes struck fear into the man's soul. And for Senara, it was like staring into the face of her father.
She could feel him cowering before her. How his essence dimmed and his form shrunk to her presence. She should kill him right here, rid the world of his evil and stop him from ever harming an innocent again.
“Don’t kill him!” The child called from behind her. “I won’t do it again, I promise!” She wailed, coughing and nearly throwing up between sobs that shook her body. Senara turned from her fixed gaze to the child.
She was tiny. Had she been there the whole time? Why didn't she want him dead?
Senara felt sick. She couldn’t kill him now. The words of the child ached in her chest as she turned back to the man with a glare. His life had been spared by the wishes of an innocent, a child who knew nothing more than her base instincts to feed herelf lest she die. How cruel. To still have enough kindness not to want a man dead. Senaras jaw was tight with the struggle between slaughter and mercy. But ultimately, it was the cries of a child not unlike herself that stopped her from ending his life. She wanted to kill him. But an innocent, a child- more than ending his life she wished to spare the child from any more cruelty. No matter how inevitable it was that the world would provide it.
But, today, it was not for her to provide.
"You’re fucking lucky.” She scoffed at him, leaning in to come mere inches from his face. “Get the fuck out.”
The man didn’t hesitate. He scrambled away from the frightening woman and rushed out into the main streets leaving the two girls behind.
When he was finally gone Senara’s shoulders did not drop. The child’s sobs stilled slowly, and she got up off the ground to walk to the woman who’d saved her. Senara looked down at the girl, anger in her eyes but not a single spec of it directed at the child.
After a few silent moments, she pulled a small coin pouch from the pocket of her dress. A light tan and tied with a waxed strand of leather, she plopped the pouch into the girls tiny hands. It had been the Brianne had given her just that morning with a small number of silver and gold pieces inside, originally meant for new clothes- and to teach Senara how to do math. But those didn’t matter now.
“Take it.”
Standing up, the white wolf began walking off back to the main streets without a single glance back to the child who had reminded her much of herself.
Half an hour later Senara walked back up to the barn. Thankfully, having been at the foot of the grand staircase, it had been easy to find her way back with the palace as her guiding point. As she approached Phillipe rushed towards her, concern lacing his brow.
“What on Rensera happened to you?” He asked, looking over the girl who bore multiple scratches, some shallow, some deep, across her arms and face.
Senara shrugged, retaking her place beside the man against the barn. “Some ugly animal.”
