Does it still hurt? (Talon, Rickter)

[Senara]

27th of Glade, 121

Thunk

The sound of the badger-boar hitting the table in her slaughter shed sounded through the room as Brianne let it fall upon the table with Aoren’s help. It had been a phenomenal hunt, the adolescent badger-boar weighing nearly two-hundred and fifty pounds. Though, it's family had put up more of a fight than it had.

Brianne brushed her hands off and moved to grab her apron. Hanging from the ceiling were various butchery tools and a few hanging candles, as well as a few herbs tied with twine drying in the air. She moved to the back of the shed and began hoisting down a hook over a barrel with a grate in it, of which lead into the earth and the sewers below. A bleeding station.

“Gotta bleed it before we butcher it.” She said. “As much as Senara might prefer a blood soup.”

The boar wasn’t dead. Merely stunned from a blow to the back of the head. It was humane, in her mind, the way she went about it. Plus, the family of badger-boars had begun to over populate and was disturbing the ecosystem around them. Balance in all things, even in killing.

Brianne began the process of the slaughter. First she wrapped the badger-boars hind in chain before skewering it’s rear with the hook to keep it hanging. It’s body lifted, twitching slightly with the lingering muscle spasms. The next part was quick. She grasped a 6 inch knife hanging from the ceiling and pulled it off it’s hook, then sliced through the creature's neck. Unlike a dire boar or even pigs, badger boars had soft necks and a thinner layer of fat around their upper body. It meant the slice was quick and painless for the unconscious beast.

Brianne wiped a bit of sweat from her brow as she watched the blood of the boar pour rapidly from it’s body, killing the creature within minutes. “Thank you Aoren, you’re welcome to continue helping or relax in the cottage. I believe Talon went off to meditate shortly after we got back, and Senara should be finishing up her bath soon.”

The bleeding, skinning, and butchering would take at least three more hours, not to mention the cooking. But the crew would eat well tonight, and she had to admit; having an entire group to hunt with had been a nice change of pace for the normally lonesome woman.

___

Nearly silent, she was. Nearly. Senara’s toe-to-heel gait was becoming more like her wolven self with every passing day. So as she tiptoed into the woods only a small number of creatures stirred. Perhaps they were not used to humans, though.

Senara had gotten used to wearing clothes, as much as she could at least, and after their successful hunt and bath wore a simple white dress with a ribbon that hugged her waist and showed off her slender figure. It had been meant to go under a chemise or corset more than likely, but the girl hadn’t quite figured that out that whole process yet. Thankfully it wasn’t nearly as long as some of the other garments she’d come to own one way or another, and came down to her knees allowing for ease of travel through the thickets of the forest.

She walked for nearly half a mile. The trees above set her heart at ease, and though Brianne had urged her to wear boots she had gone barefoot. The crunch of branches underneath and her toes sinking into the dirt filled her with a familiarity she had so missed.

It was half a mile later, passing through a row of bushes, that she came to a clearing. The afternoon sun beamed down between the treeline and a few chickadees and robins chirped their songs from above. It was quiet. Perfectly, serenely quiet.

Feathered lashes closed over brown eyes and she breathed in deeply.

It was her forest. The scent of pine and redwood filled her lungs as the sound of the slowly flowing river tickled her ears. A few moments later she opened her eyes and bent down to the small pond that the river had let out in to. Cupping her hands, she lifted the water to her lips and took a sip.

She didn’t feel right. There was still an itch left in her chest that begged her to run and disappear into the wilderness. Even their hunts hadn’t been enough to calm her nerves that constantly screamed for her to run.

It would all end eventually.

The clothing, the cooked meals, even the conversation- it would all end. What was the point of staying if one day it would all be pulled out from under her?

But what if it didn’t?

Her mind and soul were a warzone of conflict with her heart stuck in the middle of the frey unsure of which way to go. Each day the weight of her decisions pulled her from one side to the other and even now. She was a white wolf. A warrior, a hunter, who once roamed the forests and mountains like a spirit now sat upon it’s riverbed in human clothing pondering the direction of her life.

Should she rush back into the forests and reclaim her space atop the mountains? It meant fighting for food once again, and it meant loneliness, but it was also all she knew. The easiest option for her mind and heart, but perhaps not the safest. Not after the last Frost.

Or perhaps she should become a wanderer. Now that she’d gotten used to her human form a little more, it would be easier to find shelter and even travel among the main roads. But that also meant more strangers, and she truly hated that idea.

But… What if she stayed? The safest thought was perhaps the scariest. In the back of her mind she saw danger that lay with such a thought. Wrapped in denim and leather, holding a whip, and with a candle-lit hatred in his eyes.

Senara stared at her reflection in the water below as she kneeled at it’s edge. Long amber brown hair, for once brushed and smooth and shining in the afternoon sun, hung from her shoulders and a tiny curl hugged her cheekbone next to long lashes.

Was this really her? Brianne’s home didn't have much in the way of mirrors, but even the one in the bathroom she’d avoided as much as she could.
Human skin. Eyes that betrayed her emotions to any who looked. She didn’t fit in the forests anymore, not like this.

She could see the remnants of scars peeking out from under the back collar of her dress. They teased her vision. How long had it been since she’d seen them? Had she ever?
She brought a hand up to her shoulder and traced one of the rough lines with her fingertip. Her brow furrowed. She thought she was rid of him. She had been rid of him. But in her human form… his traces were still on her.

Senara huffed. She stood abruptly with a tension in her shoulders and kicked the water to ripple the reflection away.

Right. People could not be trusted.

[Talon]

27 Glade 121

Talon enjoyed the time away from the city. He had been spending a great deal more time simply walking among the masses, going to those places that felt the most neglected to him. He searched for those places that called to him most strongly within the city. He was not always successful in finding them in time. It was the echo of what he could not do that weighed upon him most heavily. The power and strength of divinity at his fingertips and yet still, there were some things he still felt so powerless to stop. He would go mad if he tried to take on the weight of everything that fell upon his ears. Small slights and petty squabbles he did not bother focusing on, the perceived injustices there were of little consequence to him, yet he remained aware of them all the same. It was observing the spark of the matter in the context of its happenings that helped him tune some of those things out. He thanked Vicis, the Goddess of Fate, for blessing him with the wisdom to bear the rune of Semblance. It helped him to sort through some of the information that was constantly funneling into his mind.

He was learning, step by step, how to tune out the lesser quarrels that happened between people. The disputes that might seem in the moment to be terrible but were, in the greater scheme of things, minor by comparison. When he had first ascended, the cacophony of noise from every imagine injustice or pursuit of justice had been overwhelming. Now, it was becoming easier to filter out what was and was not important. It made him wonder if every god lived this way. In the back of his mind, Talon knew he could focus on those small things if he so chose but often his attention was drawn more sharply to things such as a cry for justice while something truly harmful and life-threatening was taking place. It was a heavy thing on his shoulders, Talon knew that from the beginning. But he was learning. One step at a time.

He was still on the road to discovering what all of this meant but he had managed to figure a few things out. One of the more useful abilities that he had come to understand was the lingering awareness that stayed with him where acts of Justice were concerned. People who cried out for help, for true and honest justice, he could hear them. Some of those people, Talon had gone to. He had used either his strength or influence to intervene on their behalf. Whether that was to save them from a clear and present danger or to help those who were less fortunate than himself to rise above a great misfortune, it depended on the circumstance. There had been an act, not but four days prior, that had swiftly drawn his attention. Both because of how powerfully it had called to him and then because he realized he knew the individual from whom the act spawned.

Senara.

She was a curious individual. When he had first met her, believing her as a dire wolf only, Talon had recognized she was different. There was a noble ferocity to her. Beneath that however, was a wound that burned away at the core of who she was. He could see it plain as day. It scorched her soul as a terrible miasma that infected the rest of her with a heavy darkness. There was pain within Senara and it stemmed from a terrible injustice she had suffered. This was one of those moments, a moment where Talon could sort through a true injustice versus a petty slight. The difference? This event, whatever it was, had scarred her so deeply that it formed the foundation of everything she was. He could see it, as he stared into the depths of her soul through the lens of his divinity. It obscured and flowed over every part of her. He wondered if such a thing could be healed. Talon did not know, but he knew he wanted to try.

Four days ago, Senara had saved a young girl from abuse. The moment had shone on Talon’s awareness like a beacon, one of several occurring around the city. That act though, had spawned from a very dark place and though he could not see the details, Talon could see the mark they left.

So there he was, hovering lightly above the ground, his wings spread behind him as he lazily kept himself aloft. He was not masking the truth of what he was. The sunlight that remained in the skies seemed to seek him out. He turned his head briefly to its warmth. Then he spoke, softly but clearly.

“Do they still hurt, Senara?” Talon allowed himself to drift to the ground. He landed softly, silver eyes coming to rest upon the Rathri woman. “The marks he left?”

Talon did not know who he was but he had seen the shadow of the man that still haunted her soul.

[Rickter]

Does it still hurt?

27 Glade 121

A hunt hadn't been something Rickter had officially ever been on before, seeing as how most of his monster-slaying usually stemmed from basic mercenary work. Yet when he had heard at how Talon and Aoren were joining Brianne and Senara on their little hunt, well, the wolf wasn't going to let his two Bondmates have all the fun to themselves now was he? Though Telion wasn't really fit for a hunt due to her recent developments, what with her carrying the wolf's own child deep within her belly. Honestly the news had struck Rickter hard initially but never in a bad way, and while he was utterly nervous about the idea of becoming a parent... Somehow that concept didn't frighten him as much as it would've before, had he not those close to him to turn to the moment doubt shook him to the core.

So after a successful hunt the bard and their mutual friend Hannah lingered at the cabin, so that Telion wouldn't be alone while the hunting party went out to bring home dinner. When everyone had returned Telion was the first of them to greet everyone, offering to help out however she could, but not quite allowed to carry anything for the fact everyone knew of her condition. Well, mostly, when Brianne had heard of it she seemed fairly happy toward them, congratulating the couple at best while her mind seemed elsewhere in the moment. Telion wasn't one to pry, however, as she understood Bri had her own hardships she didn't wish to bring up. Thus Aoren, Telion, and Hannah at her disposal to help get things moving in the kitchen, Rickter spent a few minutes catching up with Telion over the trip of their hunt, before he headed out to locate wherever it was that Talon had gone.

He and Senara both had gone on their way elsewhere, somewhere nearby that was a bit of an easy stroll from the cabin. It certainly wasn't hard for Rickter to follow them based upon scent alone, but naturally, the Bond that existed between him and the Prince also guided the wolf to the specific spot in mind. Following the direction of the scent he traced in the air, Rickter's nose led him closer to where the smell of ozone grew thicker with time. It led him onward past a couple of thickets to a place where a spring resided, a small body of water tucked away within the clearing just situated out from the river. Seeing Talon moments later he looked as though he were practically floating, not once ever having to use his wings to keep him aloft in the air as he just levitated where he was. The black wolf couldn't help but smile then, thinking about everything that had led up to seeing him as he was now. A Draegir perhaps... but moreso a significant other he couldn't bear to live without.

How Rickter could scarcely imagine his life before now, and all the solitude he kept himself confined to because of his own shortcomings. When he looked down closer to the spring where Senara was, he could see a lot more of himself in her now than he did before. In so many ways there were a lot alike, even if they came from completely different walks of life. Yet it had never occurred to Rickter that Talon knew Senara, not until today that is, and so he wanted to better understand the connection between them. Especially given Talon's new purpose in life, and the role he played in becoming that beacon of hope for those less fortunate than they were. How Rickter could only hope to keep up with him, let alone carry out those principles on his own, when he still often found it difficult to think for himself from time to time. Yet seeing them both now, together, he couldn't help but just generally smile; and approached the pond quietly as he listened in to the questions the Prince asked Senara.

Do they still hurt, Senara? Initial curiosity blossomed within his eyes as the black wolf looked to the both of them, his eyes sympathetically on Senara as he then heard the later part of the question. The marks he left? Though Rickter had never been able to quite ascertain how the whole godly thing worked, he had seen Talon slowly get better acquainted with it as time progressed. With it he was able to hear things, prayers, or something of a sort, at least that's what Rickter had perceived it to be. This made him wonder what Senara's prayers were deep down, as he quickly reflected back to the day a couple of weeks ago; when they gave the white wolf her first haircut. As silent as he was in his approach he kept quiet as he mentally reached out to Talon, embracing him with thoughts of affection and support as he found a place to sit near the water's edge. His legs tucked before him so that he could slip off the boots he'd worn on his way over, and allow his feet to soak into the water once he rolled the sleeves of his pants up to his shins.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

[Senara]

TIME STAMP

Filthy. Ugly. Weak. Like a newborn baby deer with shimmering fur and big brown eyes. That’s what she had seen staring back up at her in the waters before kicking it away with an annoyed chuff. Her brows were contorted.

Part of her still didn’t believe she was human. What use was the skin that could not defend itself against even the smallest of twigs? What use were eyes and lips that she seemed to have no control over, that showed every worry and betrayed her desires? She should be stoic, she should be fearsome. But human muscles were different and her emotions got the better of her. She still had her instincts, but… they were not nearly as perfected as her wolven form.

So why then did Brianne and the others seem so keen on keeping her like this?

It was only when Rickter’s sloppy footsteps came into earshot that Senara realized she’d been staring at her reflection again. She looked back at him briefly and sighed, rolling her eyes. Truly, he was like a bull. Trudging through the forest with no grace nor ability to conceal himself. Even if he didn’t need to, his footsteps were unpracticed and, frankly, obnoxious.

But he was the leader. Or as Brianne had corrected her, ‘alpha’. Some strange word which was more of a title than anything else, but it was what he was. Begrudgingly, she turned to Talon as he spoke with a quirk of her brow.

But it turned sour. Her stomach tightened and she clenched her jaw.

He pissed her off. Why did he care to know? What was the use of such a question? That time was over, it was done with, what happened happened and no matter her pain it would change nothing.
He was dead.

Plus…

She looked away from the man and knelt down to the water once more. She didn’t care that the edges of her dress dipped into the shallow waters. It soaked up into the fabric and left the fabric clinging to her thighs on the hem.

But he was too close. Anytime he was around he was too damn close. Just looking at him pissed her off. Who was he to demand her emotions? To look upon her with such eyes? An angry flush covered her cheeks. She bent down further with hands beside her and stuck her face into the gently flowing stream. After gulping up a few mouthfuls of water, she whipped her head back towards him and stood, with bare feet planted firmly into the wet dirt beneath her.

Senara’s dress was now half soaked in the streams water. The white fabric, sheer now with the moisture, clung to her skin and left gentle patterns of folded fabric across her thighs. Water dripped down her legs and dirt patterned itself on her knees. The ends of her hair had dipped into the water as well and now dripped with their own water droplets upon the ground. A gentle reminder, perhaps, of her truly wild nature.

“Are you dim? Scars can’t hurt. They’re scars.” She nearly spat it out, wiping her mouth of a few water droplets that trailed down her lips and chin.

Her eyes widened.

’Him?’

Talon spoke as if he knew what had happened. But she hadn’t told anyone. Then why did this winged man somehow know? She thought back to their second encounter- how he’d stood in her cage and seemed to stare at her. Past her. Into her. Her chest felt heavy as she clicked her teeth and turned from him with pinched brows, sitting down at the waters edge upon a rock with a huff, her body weight coming down hard. It was like she was pouting, like she was a child making a scene of her annoyance.

Truthfully, she was scared. Confused. Angry. Hurt.

’Hurt…’

Ah, that’s what he meant... She was silent for a moment as she stared into the stream that passed over her toes, cooling her and tickling her feet. Her posture softened a little as she sat between the two men and considered his words. Pain was her reminder. Was pain not a good thing? It wasn't right what was done to her, and she knew that. If time had reversed itself maybe she would have fled if she'd known her future. Maybe she'd have killed him sooner. Maybe, if she'd understood then that the Skyguard were not wholly evil she'd have spoken up. But it was all past. Pain and suffering had been her guide. And she'd never made the same mistake twice since.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” She finally let out. Her voice was softer, but not soft. Like she was giving in to some act she hated but was unable to run from. But it was still angry.

She knew the injustice she suffered. Every day that went by she questioned why it had happened. Why her? Why him? Why then? Why rathari, why could she not have been human like he wanted? Would it have changed anything? Why had no one come to save her? She knew she'd seen a few glances from her window. She'd heard people whisper and gossip about the sounds coming from their house on occasion, so why did no one care then?
But the questions that lingered in her mind before she fell asleep on her worst nights were useless. Questioning the past does not change it.

The lingering pain of those memories kept her alive as a reminder of how to survive. But there were still parts of her that fought with the notion of injustice, of 'why?', and for all her confusion and hurt and inner battles she hated herself for lingering so on things that could not be changed.

[Talon]

Talon took hold of Rickter mentally. He drew his bondmate close, giving the man the equivalent of a hug through their connected minds and souls. He reciprocated the tenderness and affection encouraging his partner to be open with his thoughts and feelings. It amazed him every day the steps that the black wolf made in learning to both love himself and in turn, share that love with others. Rickter had grown from the closed off, uncertain man to a fearsome warrior and protector in the span of half a year. The Rathari man had pushed himself. Talon was proud of him for his accomplishments for the man had achieved them all on his own. All Talon had done was encourage him, as he always would. As he would continue to.

His focus returned to Senara. She declared defiantly that scars caused no pain. Talon silently disagreed with that statement but he kept his thoughts to himself for the moment. He simply watched her as she drank her fill from the stream. He watched as the meaning of his question dawned on her but the revelation of her understanding brought him neither relief nor comfort. This was not to be a comfortable conversation but it was one that he nearly felt compelled to have. Senara had performed an act of true Justice. It called to him. One way or another, he wanted to know why she had done it. Talon stepped closer, his hands coming to rest at the small of his back. He came to the edge of the stream, silver eyes practically blazing as he peered into the wound that lurked beneath the surface in Senara’s soul.

“You are lying.” Talon’s voice was flat. He spoke matter-of-factly. “To me, but most importantly, to yourself.”

There was a sense of deja vu for Talon. It was not long ago that he was having a similar conversation with another person. That person had also lived and acted from a sense of pain, a sense of loss and suffering that propelled him toward nearly everything he did. Talon did not judge anyone negatively for living such a life. There was reason to strive to avoid suffering such feelings again. A life lived only to avoid pain however, was not a road that led to joyous places. Talon knew that well. He was living proof of the truth of it.

“I was at a loss, not long ago, to understand why you acted with such resentment in the face of kindness.” Talon turned his head in the direction of the cabin where Telion, Hannah, Brianne and Aoren were mingling and preparing their supper. “You sneer at acts of mercy as though they are a poison. You mock the intelligence of those who seek to show you compassion.”

Again, Talon’s words were spoken in a matter-of-fact tone. With neither gentleness nor harshness.

“And yet…” He returned his eyes to Senara. “You show honor in the face of danger. You fight with a tenacity and spirit to rival any Avialae.”

He looked over the young woman, her wild nature, the defiant light in her soul, and the hurt that called to him, all of these things he saw.

“You save a child in desperate need.” Talon spoke gently then, his eyes growing soft with kindness and admiration. He nodded. “When I saw that, I understood. At least, part of it.”

“You say it does not matter? Why then, do you exhaust so much effort in defending another from the same fate?”

[Rickter]

At the welcome that Talon had sent to Rickter through their Bond, the wolf's demeanor became more relaxed as the posture of his shoulders dropped more. A lot more than usual honestly, even in Senara's presence, he practically became the one wolf who's candor was happy as can be. Probably because out here there were no real threats for them to worry about, just the serenity of the pond the three were located at, and of course the best companionship that the black wolf could ever hope for really. Well... Senara was a difficult variable in that equation of course, due to her own typical need to push everything and everyone away. Honestly when she had started to act out the way she did, particularly toward Talon, Rickter himself found his capacity for letting her speak in such a way tested.

Maybe not as severely as she'd always tested him before now, but the fact she spoke to his Bondmate in that way, that alone prompted some considerable thought on whether he should step in or not. Though... In front of Talon, who was clearly able to stick up for himself, Rickter did also consider that the inclination was just a petty squabble on his behalf. Senara might've been vicious in her other form but Rickter had found, over time, that the Rathari was more bark than she was actual bite most of the time. A fact that remained prevalent when she had interacted with him and Telion more or less, and so, something worthing considering when she treated others like Talon the same way. If pressed though she could very easily change that, to which the black wolf kept a mindful eye on her even with averted eyes.

Scars had always hurt from what Rickter could tell though, which led him to think Senara was either in denial, or perhaps just minimizing the reality of it with pure simplicity. Physical scars may have healed overtime as did the pain, sure, but there wasn't any doubt that she still held many emotional scars. Those were the ones she avoided constantly, as he'd noticed, and while he wanted to help her overcome the pain she constantly kept to herself, Rickter had already found that the gap between him and Senara still remained too big to cross. Talon on the other hand... He was a Demigod now, he could perhaps bridge that gap, and even mend some of Senara's deeper pain as well. In hindsight the black wolf wondered, if what Senara needed was the same thing he did at the time Talon aided him. All it took was one leap of faith, one single moment of sincerity, and then the connection between them strengthened everything.

Now here he was wondering if Senara might be the same, or if her needs perhaps went far deeper than what the black wolf could anticipate. After all he chose his own isolation for a time, Senara lived out within her own isolation constantly, perhaps to the point where she never really figured out a way back home. A personal home, her home even, with people there to support her as they should've. It doesn't matter anymore she says... Already Rickter's eyes rolled up into the sky as he exhaled a sigh out his nose, his lower lip bitten softly to withhold his tongue for a moment, before he might snap and cause more harm to Talon's intentions than good. The prince was quick to state something that Rickter agreed with, as he started to believe the same thing when his eyes moved from Talon to Senara. She was lying to herself, she had to be if she thought she wasn't in pain, if there wasn't any residual torment she didn't inflict upon herself daily.

Talon shared his perspective on the matter and Rickter could see the fact behind it, since he recalled that she often chuffed and even sneered at some of the things he'd told her. In a way the black wolf had hoped it would pass and she'd grow out of it, but then he realized it wasn't a habit born out of pure character, just one from consequence due to choices that remained within her past. The fact that Talon not only knew but could point it out though; well, let's just say from where he was sitting, Rickter couldn't help but give a big smile out toward the pond in front of them. His feet had soaked for a while now as the water gently lapped against his toes and ankles, and though a stray thought may have led to several more stray thoughts, Rickter kept his legs tucked closer to him now as only his toes were all that remained within the water. Senara saved a child? Now that sparked intrigue within him, which caused the black wolf to eye Senara with a raised eyebrow.

If she were so quick to step up in defense for others, especially young, then clearly she cared far more than she ever dared to admit. Another fact confirmed by Talon's next inquiry, to which the black wolf looked to him with vivid interest in the matter, before his gaze shifted to linger on Senara as he waited to hear her answer.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

[Senara]

Her brow twitched. What was he supposed to know? Her jaw was tight and her toes curled tighter with each work he spoke. Why in Eikaen’s name did he think he had the right to pull up her past?

“I’m not lying… it can’t matter anymore.” If it did, if she let the scars matter, then that meant he mattered.

Senara stared into the water. Enchanting reflections danced on her skin and if it was not for the rigidity of her shoulders one might have thought she were a fair maiden come to travel. But there was nothing fair about her but the pale skin that underneath her dress held countless truths of her horrific history.

The white wolf flashed a snarl in his direction as he spoke of mercy, teeth glinting in the glade sun. “Compassion and mercy are lies spoken from the lips of those with ulterior motives.” Her voice was dark and came out as a guttural growl matched with an equally twisted brow.

“People can show kindness, but that does not mean it isn’t an illusion covering up the truth of their actions.” People meant pain. Sometimes they had good intentions, but ‘good’ was subjective. Her father thought he was being good, too. But even if they are good intentions, they can change. And they always did.

She felt trapped. Between one silent wolf who seemed content at listening, thankfully, and another whos very stare made Senara’s skin crawl.

Why him? Why her? Why this topic, why now-?

The girl launched herself up from the ground as he called her out for saving the child. Wide eyed she shot him a confused, shocked expression.
“You.. were there?” She asked. Her heart had begun to race and nerves set themselves in between each word as short, shallow breaths.

Why did he look at her like that? His expression froze her in place. Suddenly she felt the difference in their size, she felt small, she felt terrified of whatever words had just come from his mouth. ’Why?’ Panic set into her bones. She didn’t know.

The white wolf’s face had drained of color. Everything was wrong. Nothing made sense, why did he ask these questions and why couldn’t she answer them? Why the fuck did he look at her like that?

Her feet moved before she could comprehend it. They launched her off with a splash across the river into the woods. North. Into the density of the forest in a scramble of panic so unlike the usually practiced, silent wolf. But she kept going. Her mind was clouded with the image of Talon’s face, his expression, the question she could not answer, and the realization that she truly had been lying to herself.

It was not safe. She thought it could be but clearly it wasn’t, it couldn’t be, not when her chest felt like it would crumble into a million pieces.

Her legs gave out. Senara crumpled to the ground atop a small hill overlooking a portion of the forest and wept with her body shaking violently in a curled up, tight ball.

[Talon]

27 Glade 121

He let her rail against him. He let her snarl and hurl painful words spoken from an even deeper, more painful place. Talon stood there in silence as Senara reeled against the idea that there was anything good and gentle in the world. He let her vent her beliefs, her anger and her hate because she needed to. Then she froze, her eyes going wide. She spoke a single question that filled Talon with both weariness and a sense of terrible duty. He did not get the chance to answer her. She bolted, running off into the distance with the crazed frenzy of a person in desperate need to escape. Something in the way she fled called to Talon. He recognized it as the desire to escape. As she ran, Talon simply turned so that he could stare after her.

“When I lost Riven…” Talon spoke his name for the first time in what felt like ages. “...I plunged myself into a dark place. It hurt. Losing him, knowing that I would never know his warmth or his affection again, feeling the chasm left in my soul from severing our Bond, it broke me.”

He turned silver eyes upon Rickter. There was sadness in his gaze but there was also a sense of peace.

“I questioned whether I was even deserving of love. I questioned whether I was deserving of anything at all. That is why I let the cold anger wash over my heart. It felt safe to be numb. It felt safe to be separate, apart, detached.” Talon turned his head slightly as he reached for Aoren across the Bond. He drew the raven winged Kathar close to his heart, opening himself up to the fullness of just how much he cared for and adored the man. Across the bond he felt Aoren’s surprise but also his gratitude. Both of them opened themselves up to draw Rickter in close as well. Talon’s eyes fluttered closed as he simply basked in the warmth and safety of what he felt. This was true safety. This was what it felt like to be truly healed.

“I see something similar in Senara, Rickter.” Talon could still see her. The pain of the injustice she suffered still shone to him like a beacon in the night. Now that he was physically closer to her, he could not ignore it.

“She was hurt. Brutally. A terrible act that has seared itself into the very core of her soul.” The young demigod felt a bone deep conviction settle within him. He spread his wings, lifting himself with his kinetics, gently levitating into the air. He looked to his beloved wolf, his eyes shining with the soft light of his divinity.

“I want to set it right, Rickter. I must.” Talon rose higher into the sky, following the air currents and listening to the instincts that coursed through him as he soared. He did not have to fly far or very fast to catch up to Senara. Her mad dash to escape was not one of stealth but of desperation. When he arrived, she was collapsed atop a hill, curled tightly into a ball and shaking with the force of her sobbing. Talon stopped hiding the truth of what he was then. He let his nimbus manifest and revealed the wholeness of his divinity to the extent that he knew how. The silver-white light that had become the hallmark of his presence, glowed softly in the growing dark of the encroaching night sky. Talon glided down until he landed on the ground lightly. He was silent for a few moments as he observed Senara. The more he heard her weep, the more her pain called to him. Slowly, he let his light begin to fill the space they occupied.

Talon willed it to spread further. He did not know how but he wanted to bring comfort to her. She might reject it. She might lash out at him. That was fine. He would let her. But someone needed to show her that they would not abandon her to her own misery.

“You asked me “why?” Talon’s voice was gentle but unyielding. “Because I must. Every scream, every sob, every desperate cry for Justice is mine to know, Senara. It is my burden. It is my charge. It is my duty. More importantly, I would wish this honor upon no other.”

Talon let the prayers, for that was what he was coming to recognize them as, flow over him. He felt the weight of it all rest upon his shoulders. It was a heavy thing. So much so, Talon did not think he would ever be strong enough to rise to the occasion. There was so much that needed to be done. He was just one man. How could he face all of it? More importantly, was it truly his place to challenge it? Who was he? It always came back to that question. Talon did not know the answer but he was determined to find his way to the truth of it.

“I refuse to believe that the world is a place so filled with malice and hatred.” He shook his head. “But if it is, does that not make kindness, compassion, and justice all the more sacred? Is that not a reason to fight for the hope of it?”

Talon lowered himself to a kneel, eyes searching Senara’s form.

“I cannot change what has happened to you, Senara. Noone can.” Talon extended a hand to her. “But you do not have to face this darkness alone.”

[Rickter]

Does it still hurt?

27 Glade 121

Rickter raised an eyebrow to the girl in suspicion, once he heard her protest that it no longer held significance in her life. As if. The wolf was prone to his own ignorant behaviors, but never did he once deny the significance of a burden. Those scars that existed were still deeply rooted, yet the pain of the past was hardly that same obstacle it was now. He found others he could count on, close ones he could confide in, and most importantly, a family worth protecting with his own life. Fate or not, his purpose in life had never become clearer, though the destiny of a promise still weighed heavily on his lightened shoulders.

Oh well though, Rickter could feel Talon's shift at the moment Senara snarled though, practically lost on her own tangent about her perceptions. Lies were they? The wolf raised an eyebrow as he pulled a cigar out from his pocket then, the man exhaling a near exasperated sigh as he brought the blunt up to his lips. With just a snap of his fingers, he created a flame over the tips to light the cigar. After he lit up enough to create a cherry, he pulled his fingers away with a couple of wags, as the flames doused into smoke immediately before they'd faded completely out. Oh, how he would've loved to tackle this one, but suffice it to say Talon was getting somewhere with her. This was further than what Rickter had anticipated with her, and as his hunch with the scars seemed to connect...

Yeah, there was no doubt in his mind. With an exhale of smoke plumed from his nostrils, he watched as she panicked and decided to run instead, Talon remaining the ever-patient saint determined to save this desperate girl. Rickter's neck hares flared in response to the action but he stood his ground, his legs unclenched as he decided to finally go ahead and rise to a stand. He listened intently with a slow, deep drag from his cigar for a moment. As he released another cloud of smoke from the corner of his lip, he nodded along with what Talon had done in response to his broken ties. "...I know." The black wolf expressed with a reach out across their bond, his thoughts spent on a stroke along the prince's forearm.

When their gazes met Rickter shared in that same sense of melancholy. It's why he'd found such unrelenting resolve these days, and how he planned to keep everyone he loved safe. Which was probably why he felt so confident with Talon and his own abilities, not just because of who he actually was supposed to be, but who he already was as a person to everyone around him. He was Talon, the Northern Star, and a fucking demigod of Justice mind you. Rickter couldn't imagine it being anybody else, which is why he nodded along with the rest of what he heard. When he felt Aoren's sudden gratitude and the welcoming warmth of his Bondmates, the wolf had naturally approached them in exuberant clarity. Between the three of them, the black wolf greeted them with a mental brush of their foreheads together, as he lost himself to bask in the brilliant warmth of their emotions.

"I know, I do too." He admitted with a hopeful grin at Talon. The wolf listened further to what Talon could hear though, because this was more than just a dear friend saving another. This was a living god, about to perform what is known... as a miracle. "Well, go on, I'll catch up!" He waved at Talon for him to go on away, a bit of a proud look in his eyes as he briefly watched Talon for a moment. That's when he reached up to pull the cigar from his mouth, his final exhale of a smoke plume came out with the words "awe shit..." He heavily sighed in exasperation as he looked to see half his cigar remained, the wolf then left it tucked between his middle and ring finger, while he alternated his other fingers to aid his left hand. It took him a minute before he decided to just smoke the rest of it then, the wolf puffing a couple of times with an exhale before he slipped on each boot. By that point, it was near the blunt enough to where he wasn't wasting so much, and thus with a stroke at the ground, Rickter smothered the cigar's remains before he tucked it into his pocket.

Finally when he rose onto his feet and cleared out his lungs with some new air, Rickter started toward the beaten path which Senara had taken off on. While he could feel Talon's descent toward where he was landing, the wolf also glimpsed for a moment a small hill within a forest. "Eikean's balls, you could'a warned me about a damn hike." The wolf sighed as he frolicked his way up along the stream, before he cut off along into the more densely covered area, where the vegetation thickened as the tree's grew numerous with each turn. Rickter followed his nose as he kept it pointed somewhat toward the air, the scent of ozone and moss upwind as he marched his way along a slope. He followed the slant toward the clearing of the hill's base, just in time to see that Talon had confronted Senara already. From what the wolf felt there was a sense of personal doubt in the prince's emotions, yet overshadowing that doubt was the unyielding resolve Talon possessed.

To Rickter it felt radiant, as though he were basking in the presence of the sun. The wolf approached from behind the man quietly, sharing his support to Talon with a mental brush along the Synnekar's spine. When the wolf did draw close enough he remained at a distance, enough of a six-foot gap between Talon and Rickter as the wolf took to sit on the ground once more. Not that he wouldn't have minded helping Talon more at this point, but Rickter truly believed in the passion that his prince possessed. Talon lowered himself to a kneel as he appraised Senara for answers, only to extend out to her in a much more profound approach; certainly one better than Rickter's... The wolf believed in the capabilities of his beloved friend, and so with curious eyes he looked to Senara, hopeful that she might actually take that hand for once.

"I implore you..." He thought hard with a somber look toward Senara. "Just take the damn thing, for once in your life."

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

[Senara]

27th of Glade

Face down, back hunched, and tears falling from her eyes to land on her legs. Senara was a tight ball of pain and panic with hands planted beside her. Everything was new, wrong, and unsafe.

Her legs had moved before her mind as if controlled by the fear of facing herself honestly in Talon’s eyes. And now she lay atop a hill, shaking and struggling to breathe through fits of sobs that echoed throughout the forest in every way she never wanted to. Loud, uncontrolled, pure.

Senara’s mind spun with a million questions and a million more pleas to herself. ’Stop shaking- stop crying- You’re better than this! It was just a question- he’s just a man-’

’But it’s not safe.’

’He knows, he knows, he knows- Why did I save her?! Because she was in trouble- it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fucking fair- why was it me?!’

Images of her father flashed in her mind. The sting of past lashes marking themselves on her back and searing into her flesh with each mistake she’d made, with each passing day, with every scrap of food she was allowed. The child's face-

’She’s me- she’s me- she can’t be like me-’

Breaking her from her hard sobs was a warmth and a voice, Talon’s. The girl gasped softly and flinched at his sudden appearance. She would have stopped sobbing if she could control it, but all she could muster was quieting the cries and lifting her head with reddened eyes.

He was glowing. Her eyes widened and in the brilliant light of his glow her normally dark eyes shone with a crisp amber surrounded by glistening lashes from her tears. As Talon spoke and landed, Senara’s sobs quieted.

’He… came for me?’

She could barely hear a word he said, but she heard. She felt. She knew what his intentions were by the warmth he spread and the kindness in his eyes. But it hurt so much to look at. Why was he helping? What did he gain from it? What was it doing for him to come to her aid now?

The wolf girl tensed as he kneeled down. Her chest ached.

He was so close.

Was it… truly safe? Would he abandon her in the worst moment, would he lift a hand if she did something he did not like- Her mind battled against his light but in the end, even the sun could not compete.

’No… he won’t...’

Senara’s hand outstretched to his. ’Please…’ Something in her called. She did not look into his eyes when she clasped her hand in his but the second her fingers wrapped around his relief washed through her and tears once more fell from her eyes like a dam breaking. Every ounce of sincerity in Talon’s bones was felt by the wolf, and with his hand in hers she pulled herself forward into his chest and cried.