The woman's hunt for herbs had led her to the edges Blackfeather's borders. The sound of a calm current caused the wolfess to travel off the pack lands and to the edge of a creek. She was desperate in her attempt to search for herbs, though few were found. Soon daylight slipped away as the sun retired for the night and the moon came out with the twinkling stars that danced in the sky. With the little mouthful of herbs she was able to locate for the day stashed away in a nearby bush, the female trotted out to a small clearing where she could enjoy the stars as they shone bright in the sky.
She had studied the constellations and stars for some time back in Gator Marsh and had always been a fan of the way they appeared glued in the sky and then would just vanish when morning came again. Adelina relaxed under the night sky on her back, watching for shooting stars and even planets that were incredibly difficult to locate. While she was a junkie for education of the dazzling stars, the moon and it's phases had always been her favorite and Adelina had been fortunate enough to witness a new moon tonight.
New moon, the time when Dark Siblings were protected from the ancient king's mocking gaze for a few blissful nights by Mephala's dark shroud. They viewed these nights as sacred, perfect for ceremonies and spells to be cast. Potema used these nights to better view the night sky, her white eye reflecting the twinkling of the stars in the night sky as she sat by the creek, ears twitching at the sound of the burbling stream. Legends told that all of these lights were those that had escaped the Dark Brotherhood's grasps during missions and gone on to the next life safe into the Aedras' hands. That they, like that ancient king, laughed at them from above. She pondered on these twinkling lights. What would it be like to laugh for all of eternity? It sounded like something that would drive a spirit insane.
Perhaps that's why stars would fly across the sky. So maddened were they by their heavenly duties that they decided to fling themselves across the sky and burn up instead...it would be much more amusing that way. The Dark Brotherhood would get their comeuppance.
The girl paused in her viewing, hearing the footsteps of another on the grass. Potema turned towards the noise, her sight set on a figure in the dark close by, another wolf. She walked towards the wolf, apprehensive at first, until she smelled her mother and father on the woman's pelt. The young princess chuffed. "Enjoying the view?"
The sudden sound of a frog plopping into the creek, caused the female's ears to shoot up for a moment before settling again. She was surprised that the amphibians had not yet taken shelter from the cold, resting themselves at the bottom of a lake while they slept away dreaming about whatever the hell frogs dreamt about during the cold seasons. Sometimes the wolfess wondered what it would be like to hibernate and sleep away the dreadful winter. Just to wrap up in comfortable furs that would keep her warm and cozy while she slept away her troubles and doubts. Her mind wandered off, focus no longer on the sky but instead nothing at all. She was at peace, but a voice interrupted her soothing and relaxed state. Adelina turned to see a female, though for a moment she had thought to have seen a ghost.
A young wolfess with a curvy and petite form held that of natural beauty. Her pale fur had small smokey flecks that were peppered along to her neck and shoulders down to the end of her back, making her light fur clash against the dark background. However it was the eyes of the wolf that stood out most. One, a bright royal blue which appeared to glow in the night, and the other a milky white that could haunt Adelina in her dreams. She didn't stare at the girl for to long, and averted her gaze back to the sky. It was clear the female was of Blackfeather, the scent of the swamp was entwined in the wolfess's fur making it obvious she had been living in the dark woods for quite some time. "Indeed. The sky never ceases to amaze me" she spoke with silver orbs glued upon the never ending void of space. "Your are from Blackfeather are you not?"
Potema had a particular rush of pride when the other, older female averted her gaze from her. She didn't know this wolf, but to know that she had an effect on others made her chest swell. The wolf spoke with her head tilted to the stars, and the young girl wondered what she was searching for in the heavens. Her mother spoke of divining through various means, one of which was searching the skies for answer, both in day and night.
"I was born there." She said. She must be new, for Potema had not met her yet. While she wasn't as old as her mother, she had a similar air of power around her, though more of physical strength than sheer mystery. The woman was a blend of grays, silvers and blacks that fitted her aura. It was the thing around her neck that intrigued her about this woman the most. She had never seen the likes of it before. "What's that on your neck?" She asked, wondering how she herself can get one too.
The girl before her was a few months older than Adelina youngest offspring. The woman gave little thought on her missing children these days in hopes the pain of missing them would simply vanish. It was difficult to think of them slowly dying out in the world, but the mother could not risk going to look for them and then end up finding their cold, lifeless bodies. She loved them but eventually if Adelina was fortunate enough, she would carry more youngsters one day and her love would transfer to her newest brood and her long lost children would be forgotten. The woman enjoyed focusing on the future instead of the past. The past you could not change but the future provided so many paths to take.
The girl spoke of how she had lived in the dark woods all her life. It made Adelina wonder who her parents were.... Burke, or possibly a former alpha or beta that had died or abandoned the pack. They were the only possible answers she could think of simply because the woman could never imagine an alpha allowing their subordinates to have pups. The older female was about to introduce herself when the pale girl spoke again, this time asking about her collar. After a moment of debating wether or not to speak the truth, Adelina rolled on her stomach and crossed her paws.
"I don't know what it is. Few wolves have them and those that do usually are or were alphas or betas of a pack." It was the first time the woman spoke of her former leadership to anyone of Blackfeather, but she knew eventually it would get out so she simply spoke the truth now. Adelina watched for the young female's reaction, to attempt to see what she was feeling. Most wolves didn't like the collar, so honestly the older female wouldn't be surprised if the pale girl felt the same way as many before her did.
"The thing just appears on you one day?" Potema cocked an eyebrow at the woman's explanation. "So the moment you get the thing you instantly become an alpha?" It sounded like a stupid idea, especially since this wolf had no idea what exactly it was, or how it got on. "It sounds like just anyone can become a leader then." That wouldn't work out at all; not everyone can be a leader.
She looked up towards the stars, her single eye reflecting the nightly glow. She observed it for a while, wondering if her goddess would send her a sign from the heavens. She was in a quiet, meditative space before she realized there was someone near her that she had a societal duty to talk to. "So what's your name?"
Adelina realized she must have done a horrible job of explain her collar based on what the pale girl said. "Yeah, I was walking along the borders and next thing I know I felt a sharp pain and then it was lights out for me. When I woke up...this was around my neck." She couldn't remember anything besides those few simple story details. The sharp pain she felt just before she fainted was the only pain the collar had ever done to her, besides that it just hung around her neck and eventually became forgotten. When the girl asked if the moment you get one you become and alpha, Adelina was quick to shake her head. "What-- no, no...you usually need to be an alpha or beta first, only then will you get one" she explained hoping that cleared the younger female's confused mind.
As the white female looked up to stars, and her colorless eye practically glowed, it sent an uncomfortable stir in the woman. Adelina in no way whatsoever enjoyed that eye, though she remained quiet about her discomfort and shifted her weight slightly. When the girl asked what the older female's name was, it was only then did Adelina realize she hadn't introduced herself. "Hmm, oh forgive me for not introducing myself earlier, I'm Adelina" she said with a small smile and looked to the girl expecting she would introduce herself as well.
A sharp pain and a sudden new weight on one's neck? It sounded like divine intervention, but whose gods she could not say. Perhaps Molag Bal, God of Domination and Slavery. It sounded like something he would do, to brand his chattel. Potema became suddenly wary of the woman, but tried her hardest not to show it on her face, not to dissway the woman.
The woman introduces herself, Adelina, she says. Potema notices something in her eyes before; yet again the woman was startled by her eye. What about it, she could not say, but she liked the effect. "Potema." She returns, meeting her gaze before turning back to the stars. "What do you know about the night sky?"
Potema. The name sounded familiar but where she had heard it before she could not remember. It took a moment but eventually the woman reminded herself that Potema was Burke's daughter, the girl she was supposed to talk to about the Brotherhood with. "Your Burke's daughter right" she asked wanting to make sure she had not confused two names. Adelina glanced at the wounded eye once more and wondered if in order to join this Dark Brotherhood, you had to lose a body part. Burke had lost his tail, and this girl had only one eye.
The pale female's next question made Adelina pause for a moment and think. "Well, there are plenty of things to know. The summer nights are short while the winter's are long. The constellations change overtime. The night sky is a constant void into nothing." She knew many things about the sky, but still had so much to learn at the same time.
"Not really." She shrugged, rolling onto her back to get a better view without straining her neck too much. "He's my step-dad. Meldresi is my real mom." Her single eye roved across the sky, trying to find the constellations her mother spoke so much about, the ones that she had never concerned herself with until now.
The two of them were quiet, both silently watching the stars. They no longer bother speaking as they admired the night sky. There was nothing more to say.