Dragoncrest Cliffs i am all out of pity and gods to please you with

Antumbra had come across a cache ruined by the storm and a waterlogged rabbit that doesn’t smell… too bad. Then she stops by @Rose’s den for a few herbs she has to spare in the wake of the invasion. Once all their wolves are taken care of, their captive easily moves to the back burner.

She doesn’t particularly like the position she’s been forced in when @Rosalyn attempted to escape. She finds it hard to blame Helix for doing what was necessary but she’d never had real intentions of killing her. Rusalka’s invasion has started to skew her view and it would be the easiest thing to do but with a few spare, not quite great resources, she’ll spare it until she knows what to do.

With the frozen rabbit and herb for infection wedged between her teeth, she quickly moves through Hougeda and out the other side with low tide on her favor. She dismisses Helix as guard and steps out on the secluded beach and toward the nook the honon rests and drops the items at her feet.

Rosalyn had managed to clean herself up on the shoreline, but she was a mess, both physically and mentally speaking. Her face was a sight, but the worst revelation had been when she doused her head the first time and opened her eyes.  The right had cleared, but the left... there was pain when she attempted, and only darkness instead of vision.

She'd been a vain wolf for long enough that yes, she mourned what she knew to be disfiguring wounds.  But even more, she was quickly losing her patience with her continued presence here.  Tasting freedom and then having it brutally yanked from beneath her had lost her a lot of her will to play the long game.  What was she even here for? Some sick pleasure?

She wasn't playing their game anymore.  She lived only on her own terms, even if those terms were desperate right now.

She refused to speak to Helix, but when the commander replaced her, Rosalyn turned her good eye to face her silently, still awkwardly put off by having half of her perspective taken away.  This wasn't an adjustment she'd have an easy time making, but it could have been worse.  So she convinced herself.

That she was here was good.  They needed to talk.

Once she’s dropped the kill and the leaves, she takes several steps back and stands. She doesn’t suspect she’ll eat in front of her but she remains rooted, watching her expectantly, but all he has is Rosalyn’s attention as she turns her wounded face in her direction.

Antumbra can’t deny Helix made a mess of the situation. Rusalka has gotten in once under the guise of a storm and though they’d chased them off, they’ve likely only spired ire. It is not fear that she has for the other wolves but an annoyance that refuses to go away.

She remains stoic and disinterested, just as any guard ready to take on a long shift.

She half expected Thuringwethil - or whatever her new calling was - to speak.  When she didn't after a few moments, Rosalyn looked at the food she was offered, and then back.  So they weren't going to starve her this time.  How nice.

You need to let me leave.  Or kill me here.   She shifted, propping herself up on one leg.  Her other front could hold none of her weight, cracked by Helix and resting awkwardly in front of her.  Or I will take my chances with the sea.

That route was suicide and she knew it.  With three legs she'd be taken under, and she wasn't honestly sure she could follow the threat.  Her entire life she'd fought for one thing - survival.  But her state was such that there was truth to it.  She'd rather lose herself in the waves than languish here as their prisoner, and they couldn't watch her always.

She didn't move to take the offering yet, though her stomach twisted angrily at the prospect of food.  She watched for a reaction instead, hoping for something, anything, other than indifference.

Antumbra is quiet for a long moment after Rosalyn makes her case. She has no weight behind her threats, for two of them will not hurt them in the slightest. Letting her go, however, presents a problem. She licks her lips and glances away, the wind of the ocean rushing up with the tide.

“I will let you leave,” she says, drawing her dark grey gaze back but she makes no move to support it. Instead, she finally sits and then shuffles down into the sand, legs pulled back like springs in case the captive chooses to act. Most of it is for show, at this point. “We can go to the borders now and you can face the winter alone with a broken leg and no sight in one eye,” she starts, quirking a brow to gauge her reaction. “Or, you do one thing for me and I can give you comfort. We will help your leg heal and you can leave when you are ready. Either way, you will get as far from Drageda as you possibly can when this is over. I do not want to see you near here again.” Slowly, as if to emphasize what she means, she drapes one front leg over the other and digs a nail into the sand. Generosity is not something she often gives in this situation, and something tells her she already knows the answer, but either way she will get what she wants.

She had never felt this before.  Not even the first time - because that time, she recalled, their fight had been provoked by her own actions.  This time she had merely been attempting to make a life with Erzulie near the waves. Thinking of the beautiful siren only made her more resolved.

I don't want anything more from you than to go.  She fought to keep her tone level, but she'd never been a great liar when upset, and a slight hiss made its way through.  

She needed to find Erzulie.  What came next, she didn't know.  But she wouldn't live in Drageda's shadow; it had been stupid to do so in the first place, but love leads to roads you don't expect.

“All right,” she says and nothing else. She will not fight for it. Getting rid of Rosalyn will solve at least one of her problems and she leaves her with a final warning. “In the morning,” she confirms with a nod of her head. It would give her time to change her mind, if she desired, but for the moment she’ll let her have this.

Antumbra remains on the ground for a moment longer before getting back to her feet and turning to leave. Helix, who has not gotten far, takes up residence in the distance.

In the morning.  A bit of a weight lifts, though she isn't sure she should so readily trust it.  So she just nodded, then looked aside, from her periphery watching as Anatumbra left.  For a minute she wondered why the woman had come.  Well, if she'd had something to say, Rosalyn's words had apparently dispelled it.

There'd been a time she might have gladly accepted the offer presented. A time they might have been friends, and perhaps Rosalyn had wanted something more, the first time she lived among these cliffs.  Now, though, held among them against her will - she couldn't stand the sight of them, not even for the sake of winter.  She had nowhere to go, but she couldn't stay here.

Despite her hunger, she left the food where it lay, turning her back on it to stare inscrutably at the water beyond.