She didn't like the person she was becoming. She wanted to feel again, to live and breathe and want. This strange, disgusting numbness did not suit her. Every day that went by, should could feel the fire in her heart grow dimmer, popping in the embers with a resigned death.
Valmúa was destined to become great. She had seen it. She carried within her the power of the eldfjall. It had burned in her since the beginning. Her brothers, all of them carried ice within them. Their souls were rife with starlight and sunfire, but Valmúa knew that it was the fire in the mountain that would prevail when the skies fell and all were left with nothing but the heat of their mother earth to sustain them.
Upon the emptied lands of the Willows she found none of the Seelie Court wolves, who mere weeks earlier had been clinging on. She chose an overcast evening to leave the Watch and travel across the ravine to their sacred place. Past the wall of a forest was a great heart of it all. Water from the sunspires fell from falls. Trees with fungi and herbs grew like weeds.
She had at first come intending to mark everything she could find that still held the stench of Court wolves. For a while, that was exactly what she did. She lifted her leg just as her brothers did to do this. It didn't take long before the game grew boring, however, and she walked on to find the real prizes she sought.
Her nose was trained on the substance she knew would let her see more. She had already started a small collection at the Watch, but she needed more. The poppy girl walked on, searching for answers.

Valmúa shifted, looking behind her, ears standing in alert. Was it a Court wolf, back to try to stake a claim? She would have no trouble running off those weaklings. After her run in with them after the Court's dispersal, she was convinced they were emotional idiots.
But in fact, it was not someone she recognized. Narrowing her eyes, she sniffed at the stranger. Her lip twinged. Who the fuck had the nerve to follow her? Who are you? She demanded, only able to sense it was a woman by the scent. Her tail waved slowly, aggressively behind her. Her shoulders fluffed. She did not appreciate this skulking weirdo.

Valmúa huffed at the stranger, annoyed. Bijou, she was called, and had many names apparently. The woman of the Watch licked her teeth, a habit she often did when unsure or bored. The dark creature had strange, green eyes. Old eyes. They were unnerving. Had this beast of a woman followed her just to ask for a name?
Valmúa af Stormskýli. Despite her confusion, she let her tail and hackles relax somewhat. There was tension in her body still. She wondered if Solpallur or Stjornuati had followed her, and were out there somewhere watching the exchange. Even with that thought, she didn't remove her gaze from the other. There were wolves here before. They are gone now. Were you one of them? It seemed unlikely, but Val couldn't figure out why else she would be here.

She was no faerie. With nothing more to note about the dark stranger, Valmúa relaxed, tail dropping. She rolled her shoulders a bit and stepped forward a pace. I see, she said. I am on the hunt for something better, she offered with a sly smile. Over the last month, the Stormhaven woman had slowly gained back the weight she had lost during her travels from the north. Now, she hunted only what she needed to sustain herself, occasionally caching extra for the rest of the Watch. She had little desire to help a stranger with such a task.
The poppy girl didn't bother to explain herself, pacing sideways instead a bit with her nose to the earth. It is called easy knowledge, she said vaguely. It was true that these were excellent hunting grounds for both animals and the fruits of the earth she was after. She flicked her tail, looking at the strange-eyed other, almost invitingly.

Valmúa smirked as Bijou probed for more. The fire sister gave up the secret without hesitation. It is a mushroom, she said. They are a special kind. They tell you knowledge from the earth herself, she explained. The fungi were often difficult to locate. What she should have done was bring her brother with her to teach her the easiest way to find them, but she'd been avoiding him as much as possible. She was angry and hurt that he had leashed her and accused her of mutiny.
They grow in wet earth, she added, wondering what Bijou would look like while she tripped out on hallucinogens.

Valmúa sneered nastily at the dark one's disgusted expression. Of course such an ignorant disaster of a woman would have no idea about such things. The Stormhaven had treated the fungi as sacred — she was doubtless that her brothers would be most disappointed with such open sharing of their cultural heritage, but the poppy girl saw it differently.
The flavour is not the point, she hissed, though she was hardly trying to convince. The sister moved away with her nose to the ground, trailing after the faint aroma of a fungal fruit. They can change you in ways no normal sveppum can, she said. This woman would not be worthy of the knowledge anyway, but Valmúa still enjoyed the thought of her suffering in a toxic fit after ingesting one.

The poppy girl continued her work as they spoke, unwilling to allow a stranger to fully distract her from finding the precious things she saught. Secretly, it pleased her that the dark stranger followed her. She seemed an interesting beast that had knowledge herself to give, and perhaps more.
Enough to know their value, she said plainly, smiling deviously and taking a moment to glance at the woman. The two seemed to mirror one another in intensity, but in very different ways. Valmúa turned her nose back to the ground, carrying on with her search. They can give knowledge, and they can also let loose your raw spirit, so that you can experience the world as you should. She said. Really, to her, it was a substance created for pleasure and the seeking of pleasure. The one exception had been the moment she had experienced the hringja, the moment she felt purpose to move beyond her hedonistic tendencies.

Really? She answered, mildly surprised. She regarded the woman again for a moment, curious what might happen if they both decided to partake in the sveppum together. Stjornuati wouldn't have it, she knew, and Solpallur would likely tear her apart if he caught her high with some stranger.
So, the poppy girl made a quick decision. Perhaps one day, but not today. Today I find them, she said, and continued on her path. Good bye, Bijou, she said roughly, and wandered off with quick steps, intent to not allow the woman to follow her any longer. There would be a time for such games, but the sister knew better than to try something so "sacred" with one from beyond the Watch.