decided, now.
fates appeased.
germanicus would work for kvarsheim and riverclan alike in his hunting.
but for now he attended the creek, for he wished to see the woman who had spared him.
he wished her to know the truth.
soberly he announced himself to leadership, informing
@Akavir and
@Arric that he wished to speak with
@Moss.
Mature Content Warning
This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so. The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Moss is in heat, have that for a wrench heh!
When she heard her name called, she barely recognized it. The voice spoke to her soul, bewitched still from her resurrection. At this point, a day had passed which she had spent in self-loathing. The cocktail her body created was not one she willingly consumed- but it bubbled and boiled in her bloodstream nonetheless.
A day later and she was both intoxicated and ravenous. Her heart battered within her chest. She answered his summons like an obedient servant, her pupils dilated and glossy when she looked upon him.
When she saw him, she thought she understood her purpose.
A life had been given back to her- and now, he had come to create more, with her.
She chattered her teeth together in deference, approaching with ears slicked back to greet the witch’s apprentice like a willing familiar. Her tail swung low, from side to side and she sought to beseech and invite with a soft whine.
*explodes*
germanicus waited and soon it was moss herself who came to greet the eagle.
straitlaced with a visceral scent, she came.
and in his man's heart he quailed, but with a centurion's coolness he greeted her.
"i have come to see what debt i owe you."
flesh prickling, face inured, body responsive for despite his proclivities germanicus was only a man.
*screams*
He was a man.
He was not what she wanted, but feverishly she felt certain that this was the answer. From him, life could be drawn- and from her, the curse could be exorcised.
”Life.” The first word she’d spoken some time, her voice a hoarse croak.
”New life.” The battle between self and instinct continued- but reason pushed her to make the decision.
Her eyes cleared for a moment and she regarded him for a moment, so he might know she would settle for nothing less.
life debt.
from him she wished children.
germanicus was a man of long control; even now his face betrayed nothing of his body's instinctual hungers.
her eyes were lambent upon him and he thought of crowfeather, how this might feel a betrayal.
and yet did his raven lover not have children with the woman belen, whom germanicus had once known?
not an excuse.
he stepped forward.
"is that all?" the potential of life from the impulse of his body, not fatherhood, not partnership. but his yellow eyes were hot upon moss, wondering.
She hated it; but she nodded and turned, closing her eyes and flattening her ears. She did not know what to expect in terms of sensation. Her heart raced and she braced herself for the pain and the immense feeling of wrong that she knew she would feel.
But in death, she had seen her fate. She prayed she would feel nothing at all, convincing herself that it would be short, and that this must be endured in order to free herself.
"look at me," and once more was he imperator, if only for a moment.
he would not join with her if it was so unwanted. why then did she ask for him? why not the man akavir or arric?
he looked once at the rapidly appealing curve of her hips and moved away, to face the woman once more.
"is there another way to fulfill this debt, moss?" voice hushed, rough toward the edges as germanicus sought and held his control.
crowfeather. fennec. meadow. a life of a thousand guilts and no more to be made.
speak, bid his eyes.
She felt nothing, and while part of her was relieved, that part of her had slowly begun to die following the day the curse had been placed. It faded more and more each day, leaving her existing within a shell of herself. Now, she was an animated corpse- and had become less Moss, and more a moth in its final stage of life. She could not enjoy or aspire; all she had left to do was create, and then expire.
He looked upon her with wanting eyes and she moved toward him, to press her shoulder to his chest and invite him. It was nothing personal, her trepidation; she wanted nothing physical from anyone. But it was necessary, for what she wanted.
”No.” She answered. ”This, and nothing else.” Cryptic, still, but firm. If he needed any more invitation, she could mimic what she’d seen others do, and tug him away from his sensibilities with a guttural croon and an insistent feathering of her chattering teeth through his fur.
he should turn away, fill his mind with the raven one.
but it was meadow's remembered body beneath his own that sent his mouth dry.
it was ruenna, blossoming in pleasure.
it was fennec, scorching him with a desire that matched his own.
moss wound herself closer and germanicus shut his own eyes as every muscle in himself tightened.
and in the next moment, the yellowpaint eyes darkened, and he gestured away, away from the creek, from the borders; out in the land beyond where seeking gaze might not take them into detail.
germanicus did not yet touch her.
A moment ago, he had seemed willing, more out of duty than anything. His head lifted slightly when he gazed away, perhaps weighing the consequences. Perhaps he thought she wanted more from him- support, fidelity.
She appealed to his sense of duty. ”Your debt. I ask only for it to be paid.” She reminded him quietly.
it was this sense that at last turned him aside.
"come with me."
he did not want this use of him on the borders, open to all eyes.
and he fought within himself over its necessity.
the roman stepped back, then back again, keeping his eyes upon moss to see if she would follow.
"i will pay it."
She took his invitation and moved with him. They could go into the shadows- all the better, for the concoction of some new, dark magic that she believed fully now would fulfill her half-life’s purpose.
He agreed to fulfill his debt, and she would hold him to it. Wherever it was he wanted to go in order to seek privacy, she would follow. Anticipation bred curiosity; as she followed, she began to wonder what it would be like, and found herself warming to the possibility.