ATTN: NERDIES.
The distraught youngster fled the plateau, her stomach rolling with anger, guilt and shame. She thought of running to the bay, yet she didn't want to be found and that would be the first place her family would look for her. Instead, Junior ran in the opposite direction, following the winding river south, then southeast. The sun set on her back, sinking into the distant sea.
She crested a small hillock and saw the black lake below, the rising moon reflected in its inky waters. Slowly, she loped toward it, only to pause halfway there. She smelled wolves.
"Aktaiê..." she murmured when she recognized one of the scents. This must be their camp.
The pup sank to her haunches, unsure of whether it was safe to make an approach. Now that she was still, all of her emotions caught up to her and she began to sob, quietly but convulsively. Salty tears streaked down her face, leaving glistering tracks on her black cheekbones.
I'll be able to post more tonight and tomorrow!
Though being anywhere but beside the lake they had chosen as their camp made Psamathe uncomfortable and restless, the Sea Nymph had forced herself to take a break from her attempted scrying. The water of the lake was murky to her mind's eye and revealed nothing more of their purpose. It had been frustration with the calm vigilance of Greyjoy and Atlas combined with the water's silence that finally made her leave, and she did so alone, for the others were busy themselves.
The young Adept kept to the edge of the lake for a time, then began to pick her way toward a moonlit hill. It was only as she was ascending it that the sound of sobs pulled her ears atop her head and she paused, frowning.
Psamathe distrusted strangers, but the sound was distinctly feminine and, if she guessed right, young. Junior was tough to see against the dark ground—if not for Junior's silhouette against the twinkling lake backdrop, Psamathe would have passed right by and never noticed her nor found the source of the sobs.
The Adept stood for a moment with a paw suspended, then set it down and quietly said,
“little one, what is wrong?”
Hay gurl hay!
She didn't hear the question, nor realize she had company. Eyes swollen, nose simultaneously stuffed up and running and body trembling, Junior was too busy weeping. Yet a watery upward glance revealed that she wasn't alone. The youth sucked in a rapid breath, both startled and embarrassed. She swiped at her runny nose, then sniffled lightly.
Having missed the soft query, Junior asked in a thick voice,
"'m sorry, am I trespassing?"
She had thought Junior smaller than she was, but it was merely a trick of the gloomy night. When the juvenile unfurled herself and glanced at her, the Adept realized she was much larger, but probably not a lot older than expected, for there was a youthfulness about her face that was further emphasized by her watery two-toned eyes. Already she had catalogued the youth as an Amazon, but Junior was no Nereides, and so she kept careful guard over her reactions.
“No, dear sprite, you are not trespassing,” Psamathe said softly. “We are resting here only and awaiting our sisters. The Mother Sea calls us, and soon we will reunite with Her.” The female glanced down at the lake, but there seemed to be no sisters following her out here. No doubt they thought she could handle herself. She could... But since her attack not long ago, Psamathe didn't always trust herself alone. The Sea Nymph didn't say it aloud, but she was glad Junior appeared fully grown and impressive.
“Has someone hurt you? The Mother can soothe. She is present even here. This lake is a small part of her, the waters are calming.”
The stranger quickly reassured her. Junior's breath hitched in a final, soft sob and then she sighed herself into silence. The term of endearment put her at ease, as did the female's soft tone. If not for her recent encounter with Aktaiê, Junior may not have been able to make sense of her words. As it were, she didn't really get it, though she understood the gist of it from speaking with the matriarch.
"No," Junior admitted after a lengthy pause. "Not physically." Thinking about it made her want to start crying all over again, so Junior quickly added, "You're here with Aktaiê, right? I met her the other day. My name is Junior."
Psamathe's departure from the group did not go unnoticed by Akanthe, and the dark Amazon watched as her sister headed off down the shore. She felt an immediate twinge of concern for the Scryer; after the incident, she could sense the Nymph was far less keen to wander off alone. To do so in this unfamiliar land was either a great act of courage, or something had drawn her attention. Filled with unease, Akanthe wordlessly rose from her perch on a fallen tree and loped along in pursuit of Psamathe.
It did not take long for her to catch up, and by the time she was within hearing range she picked up on the sound of not one, but two voices. The fur on her neck bristles fleetingly though smooths out just as quickly as she takes note of her sister's relaxed stance and the sound of a sob.
Akanthe slows to a walk and makes no effort to mask her approach. My name is Junior, said the voice. She lowers her head a bit to appear less intimidating, and nudges Psamathe's flank affectionately as she passes. "We are." She confirms, answering the youth's question. If Aktaie had given her name freely to the child, then there was little reason to fear. "I apologize if I'm intruding, sister; Junior."
“Physical pain is only superficial,” Psamathe began, but when Junior introduced herself and Akantha replied, the nymph fell silent. What she'd been about to say was that emotional pain was tenfold worse than any physical pain, and that Junior shouldn't feel she was unharmed merely because she bore no scars... But she trailed off and warmly smiled at her Amazonian sister instead.
“Not at all, sister,” she said before glancing back at Junior. That the youth had met Aktaiê was simultaneously surprising and not, if only because Aktaiê had ventured out alone and had always had a knack for finding lost girls to bring into their fold. Junior's origins made no difference to the Nereides, who believed all came from the Mother Sea and eventually returned to Her.
“Come, Junior,” she implored, though she would have understood if the youth hesitated. The Sea Nymph was unproven as far as strangers went. “Come to the waters. The Mothers will soothe you.” Psamathe was a secretive siren, and kept closely guarded all the secrets of the Nereides' way of life, but she openly invited any female to glimpse the Mother Sea and Mother Moon. She believed that merely stepping into the lake and feeling for Her would show all females the truth of their origin and smooth away all their past concerns.
A dark shadow glided up behind the first wolf. She spoke as gently as her companion. The latter arrival reminded Junior vaguely of her parents, though she banished the thought immediately. Right now, she hated her parents and all their special friends. They clearly didn't need her, so she didn't need them either. She blocked all of them from her mind.
The paler she-wolf—the one who resembled Aktaiê, now that Junior thought about—invited her to come closer to the water. Although the youngster didn't really understand the spiritual gist of the invitation, she nodded dumbly and stood to join the pair of sisters. She wanted to wash her face, if nothing else, and get rid of the tears and snot.
"Are you Aktaiê's sisters?" Junior questioned quietly, taking the term at face value as the triad strode toward the glassy black lake.
Akantha returns the smile, and nods as Psamathe beckons the young wolf toward the lake with familiar promises. She was used to this; strays wandering into the grasp of the Nereides. It had happened with her charge, Acorn, and now, perhaps, Junior. How many more would they acquire? Was this land in such great turmoil that promising yearlings would wander freely from their packs? Worse yet, be shunned by them? Akantha could not possibly know what had transpired between Junior and her emotional assailant, but she did understand that it could be their gain. At the very least, the word of the Mothers could be spread further.
She swishes her tail with a smile at the question, "In a way. Perhaps not how you are used to, but we are very close. We are all born from the Mothers." She explains, wondering if Psamathe will indulge the girl further.
“All who know the Mother Sea and Mother Moon as we do are sisters,” Psamathe said gently, leading the way down the slope and back toward the lake. “The Mother Moon is our spirit and the Mother Sea our lifeblood. All are daughters to Them.” There was no mention of sons, of course. Males were too full of greed and sin to ever return to the Mother Sea in the same capacity, and so they had to be shackled and used, kept in check.
Though Psamathe was content to only reference the Nereides in her conversations, she had been raised more politely, and so she said to Junior, “dear sprite, from whence have you come to the Nereides?” In the scryer's mind, her past didn't matter, her family didn't matter, and her home didn't matter. Psamathe was not interested in returning wayward girls to their sinful families, and she was only interested in bringing them to the Mother Sea. Still, knowing where Junior came from could serve the Nereides well, and it was for this reason the Adept asked.
The darker she-wolf answered her first, though it was the agouti sister that embellished. Her words meshed well with what she'd learned during her brief encounter with Aktaiê. It all sounded quite foreign and perhaps even a little ridiculous to the strictly secular youth, yet she was in a vulnerable head space and already found herself getting ensnared by their gypsy-like spell.
"I'm from Blacktail Deer Plateau," she answered the gentle query as the threesome arrived at the water's edge. She exchanged a wordless glance with the two females, then waded into the lake and began to splash cool water onto her face. It helped soothe her.
Once finished, she hopped out of the water, face dripping, and said, "I might not even be welcome there anymore." She thought of Fox, who had surely already informed Peregrine of the pup's explosive outburst. "Do you mind if I stay here, with you, for the night?" she asked. Perhaps the situation was salvageable but Junior didn't want to go back tonight in any event.
As her two-toned eyes flicked between the sisters' faces, she realized suddenly that she didn't know either of their names. "What're your names?" she asked politely, wondering if they sported monikers as exotic as Aktaiê's.
Sorry for the slight delay. <3
Akantha cannot help but feel at peace beside Psamathe; she was their guide in this journey, while Aktaie was the pillar they guarded. A serene smile lingers on her lips despite the relative unknown that is Junior. Her mind does not focus so much on where the young Sprite came from, but more her future. Would she remain with her family after this introduction? Or could they, perhaps, tempt her away to a better life.
When her paws reached the shore, she caught the look Junior sent her, and nodded once more. She did not hesitate to follow, and waded in until she was shin-deep in the cleansing waters. "Blacktail Deer Plateau." She parrots, testing the name on her lips. It does not come with a question, and she, too, dunks her head below the surface and basks joyfully in the chill of it against her skin.
"I see no reason why you can't, so long as my Sisters agree." She confirms, sharing a look with Psamathe. The Amazon woman laps at the lake to quench her thirst, and responds after a few beats. "Akantha."
Psamathe wasted no time when they reached the water, and dunked herself immediately under the chilly water. A Nereides without damp fur, or at least a crust of the Mother's salt on her hackles, was no Nereides at all, and the young Adept was no different in this. Akantha too met the waters jubilantly, and bent to drink from their surface. Psamathe resisted the urge to do so herself, instead choosing to look Junior over critically.
“The Mothers welcome all Their daughters, and so too do we,” she concluded, following Akantha's example. There was, however, the pressing concern of Junior's past to address, and so Psamathe had to ask, “do you bring whatever threatens you there amongst my sisters?”
The darker of the two introduced herself as Akantha. Junior smiled gratefully at her welcoming words, then her two-toned eyes flicked to the other female. She did not give a name, though she echoed Akantha's sentiments. She seemed concerned that Junior may have brought her problems to their doorstep. The youth took the query seriously, thinking it over a moment before shaking her damp head.
"No," she replied. Nobody was threatening her. Fox certainly wouldn't come after her. Her father might, though he was no threat to them. Junior strongly hoped he would give her her space, at least for the night. "You're in no danger, I promise. I can sleep on the edge of your camp, if you like," she added to put them at ease.
"I'm really tired. I'm going to go back to the hill," she announced after a moment. She was grateful to Akantha and her unnamed sister, yet she wanted to get out of their hair. "Thanks very much, Akantha," Junior said, including the other sister by smiling at her and bowing her head to them both.
Slowly, the young wolf retreated back to the dark hillock. She slumped at its base to stay within view of the Nereides, then curled tightly into a ball. There was a lot on her mind and it would take a while to find sleep tonight. In the meantime, Junior watched the sisters' silhouettes at the shore, idly wondering if Akantha represented the Sea and her pale sister the Moon.
Akantha watches peacefully as Psamathe takes up the dip in the conversation. Their interactions and words flow smoothly with one another, like mountain snow returning to the sea. Her body holds no tension; no indication of trepidation, even when her tawny Sister voices a rather important question. Thankfully, Junior takes a moment of consideration and gives them no cause for concern. If the Sprite believed her problems remained where she came, Akantha did not doubt her.
"You are no spawn," She chuffs, but swallows the rest of her words as Junior gives them both her regards. The Amazon blinks, but smiles, and nods. "If you have need of us, we are not far." She takes a breath, and adds (enunciating clearly), "You are welcome." Only to bow her head in mutual respect of the swarthy youth.
As Junior retreats, Akantha shares a private smile with Psamathe. "We will be seeing her often, I think." She murmurs softly.
Akantha gave the adolescent her regards in turn, and the young scryer dipped her head, but made no effort to fill in the gap with her name. The Nereides was extraordinarily private even compared with some of her older sisters. Should Junior ever prove herself worth the trust of the sirens, then perhaps Psamathe would share information about herself. She cared for the well-being of all females, especially the young, but she did not trust them.
“The waters will confirm,” she softly rejoins, and then adds, “but I believe you are right, sister. It is fated.” Glancing back over a thin shoulder after the dark-furred adolescent, the yearling gave a small smile and then nudged the Amazon's cheek dotingly before retreating deeper into the lake to soak and consult her visions.