Hushed Willows Choose not a life of imitation

The pack was dwindling.  Bridget hunkered down, staring avidly at the waterfowl that floated lazily on the water.  They were migrating but luckily had chosen this place as a resting point.  Slowly, she crept forward, paw by paw inching closer.  Her focus, however, was drifting.  First @Orlaith... then @Aoibh.  Both women had held the potential to prove interesting, both in the wind now.  Thankfully Diedre and Lumiya remained, and Bridget had found a new friend in Tehya... but you could not deny, the court was diminished.

With a furious surge, Bridget rushed forward, taking a flying leap for the goose that listed nearest the water's edge.  Her jaws snapped for the neck, but she'd misjudged.  She hadn't let it get close enough.

She splashed down into the chest-deep water and was immediately beset with a flurry of beating wings and the sharp rap of the hellish bird's beak.  Fucking hell,  she snapped, then ducked her head and flattened her ears as the bird lifted off.  Bridget's fur was definitely heated with frustration at the missed chance, but she couldn't take another shot without risking losing an eye.

She slogged her way to shore and climbed up onto the bank before shaking water from her thick pelt.  She felt a stinging between her ears where the damn bird had gotten a particularly good shot in and felt a small drabble of warmth begin to trickle down.  She hadn't even gotten a feather and the damn thing had drawn blood?  Holy fuck she was rusty.

It had been a few days since Izumi returned to the ever ethereal hushed willows, though since her return, she preferred to keep to herself. Nearly a month had passed and Izumi had yet to get the image of Taro's mangled body out her mind. No matter how far she traveled and how many tears she cried, her brother was never coming back. And considering the fact that she had yet to find her sisters, well, there was no doubt that the dulege had claimed their lives as well.

Today was one of the rarer moments where Izu actually decided to leave her den and get some fresh air. The crane's fur, while not matted, was an unkempt flurry of white and black and her eyes reddened from frequent sobbing -- she was an absolute trainwreck; a trainwreck that needed a bath. Anywhere with water was fine since she was thirsty too.

Fujiwara's path and curious inked ears led her to the sound of violent splashing nearby. The fact that it was indeed water was a good thing, but what was going on inside the water is what made the crane particularly nosey. Her head peaked around the corner to find a farmiliar golden pelt being attacked by a flock of water fowl. Was that...Bridget? She was one of the many other wolves Izumi encountered during the dulege -- collecting caches that weren't completely destroyed during the flooding. What was the fae doing out here getting assaulted by birds?

After the birds had flown off, the young crane stepped out of her hiding place and slowly walked over towards the water's edge to check up on the blonde she-wolf. A paw was lifted and her mouth faintly opened as if to say something, but both were retracted. Izu simply stood there akwardly shifting, as if she had something to say but couldn't.

cameo unless noticed! <3 feel free to tag if so

lumiya had grown scarce. sundance as well. and the pack had become smaller, more silent. while the willows held the same calming magick for the girl that they always had, she feared their ends might unravel. 
a pensive tension to her face, strained now with the quiet chaos that followed teya in every moment. the darting, evasive nature had returned; she had become reticent to all but bridget.
it was with relief that the soul picked up the red-masque's trail, eagerly following it. two things suddenly; the copper gleam of blood upon the air, and the crushing, icewoven beauty of a she-wolf only seen in passing. halting at once, teya slid behind the edge of a trailing branch, torn between her wish to see where the blood originated, and not wishing to interact with someone so otherworldly, as the court had always drawn.

Bridget sat down and was beginning to carefully groom the peck when Izumi walked up.  She noticed the other woman from her periphery and looked up, giving her a grin despite her frustrating loss.

Hey!  Sorry if you were looking to hunt, I took a swing and might have scattered them.  They scattered me a little too.  She paused, then her look turned questioning.  Bridget had noticed that it seemed like Izumi's goal was actually her and not the water behind them.

In actually looking at Izumi, though, Bridget happened to notice Teya lurking behind.  @Teya?!  Hey!  She trained her eyes back on Izumi, inviting her to continue, but summoned her friend over.  Did they come here together?

:D

Despite just being attacked by a flock of avians, the golden girl still managed to paint a smile on that face of hers; 'Pretty' -- she thought. There was no question that the duotoned dame felt a small ping of jealousy when she looked at Bridget's expression, as she always did towards those who were able to express themselves so clearly. A smile that could light up a room in no time despite a sticky situation -- why couldn't Izu do the same? Why was it so hard to crack a goddamn smile?

A soft wave of her snowy tail was the only thing that showed Izumi's shared content towards the girl. No smile, though -- just another blank face.

"I wasn't-" before the she-wolf could finish her sentence and explain what she was actually doing, that same uncomfortable dryness which plagued her throat earlier caused her to turn away and start coughing. All those days of crying in the dens made her throat clam up with phlegm. She cleared her throat to speak again, but Bridget's attention already shifted to another source. 

"Teya."

The swerve of Izumi's head caught sight of the soft dandelion of a girl in hiding nearby -- that was definitely Teya if she could make out those features correctly. From what she observed during her stay in this court, the two seemed to be well acquainted with each other. Perhaps....Izumi was in the way?

The young crane shifted her position off to the side, as her own little wordless way of telling Teya that she didn't mean to scare her, before continuing: "Bath. I came here to wash off and drink..."

it seemed she was due to be spotted. bridget's friendly voice rang out; it stopped teya's heart a moment, a beat of time during which she crept out from the undergrowth and made a failed attempt at a confident expression. "h-hello," she said to the other, the strange woman who with tucked waist and knowing stare caused her heart to quail further.
but then there was bridget, smiling beneath the crimson cloak across her features. "what ..." she questioned in a faded voice, worry leading her toward her friend, toward the droplet of blood visible above the mask.
another glance to the striking stranger, then to the water. her own mouth seemed endlessly parched; teya lifted her widewater gaze to bridget. "the blood wash off?" came her jilted, awkward words; a mouthful of marbles, and shame burnt through teya.

Bridget wasn't fussed by a lack of a smile.  She had no qualms about it meaning Izumi did not want to be here, because if she hadn't, she wouldn't be.  There was a simple confidence to her thinking that made reading into others irrelevant... she only delved so deep as to perhaps judge if something was needed of her.

Izumi didn't sound exactly well, though, and Bridget did sharpen onto that.  Don't let me get in your way.  The water's fair.  She kept up her easy smile, and let out a little chuckle at her own expense.  She'd know, wouldn't she?  If you're throat's off, though, I might be able to work something up that could help with that?  No use taking chances with winter coming.  She cocked her head, then turned her smile to Teya.

Her friend seemed to narrow in immediately on the peck.  Bridget wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but she was patient enough that she knew Teya would get there.  The thing that made the most sense was to explain it.  I lost a spar with a bird, which is funny, because it was supposed to be a hunt.  Can you believe it?  She laughed, then lowered her head.  How's it look?

She didn't bother introducing her (now) two friends, as she assumed they'd already met.

To Teya's meek 'hello', the crane looked towards the aqua-eyed girl and bowed her head in short greeting. "My name is Izumi. You Teya...yes?" she asked, assuming the girl probably didn't know who she was -- then to Bridget "And...Bridget?" the golden woman was questioned the same thing. It didn't look like Fujiwara's presence was entirely unwelcome -- well, except for Teya's noticeably distant behavior towards Izu, but it was safe to assume that she was shy when it came to new faces. A feeling Izumi herself could understand...

Izumi's dark ears perked up at Bridget's invitation to join her and obliged, coming forth to dip a paw for testing, and then slowly submerging the rest of her long limbs into the water. 

"My throat...ummm..." Izu put a paw at the base of her neck self-consciously at Bridget's mention. It seemed her scratchy voice wasn't without notice, yet it wasn't her intention to worry anyone with something as trivial as congestion; nothing a little water couldn't fix, right? So instead, Izu turned the attention from her throat and towards the top of Bridget's head, which still trickled blood from the bird attack. "I fine. But your head still hurt? I can-" Izumi turned her amethyst gaze up towards the approaching Teya, then back to Bridget. Teya seemed to share concern for her friend as well, so maybe the crane could be of assistance. "--I can help?"

teya blinked in worry. the words were building at the back of her tongue, jamming there as if a beaver had built its domed den directly across the river of her throat. and so she was weirdly mute as izumi approached, wispy, beautiful down to each careful word and the offer of aid.
teya moved back to stand nearby; worthlessly, she added to herself with a bitter inward lash of hatred, but her rushwater stare flicked back and forth between bridget and the other with something like curiosity limning the line of her jaw.

Izumi had a slight accent too, Bridget noticed, and a bit of the same halting speech pattern.  She didn't mind it one bit, but it did make her wonder at the variety here as compared to back home.  Even strangers there had all seemed similar.  She was quick to offer help, and Bridget paused, then shrugged.  Hurts like hell, but I doubt it's too deep.  You mind givin it a quick clean?  I can put something on it later.  She asked, smiling as she realized the irony of her asking for help after just offering it.  Well, no matter how skilled a healer she was or wasn't, there was no way she'd get her tongue to the top of her head as well as someone else could.  and any paw cleaning was bound to be sub-par.

She wondered at Teya's sudden withdrawal, but had no way of knowing what it was caused by.  So instead she looked from one to the other, best she could, while she held her head down.  Do you two know each other, then?  Maybe she'd misjudged and her friend was just shy, which would check with just about everything else she knew about her.  Absolutely fucking adorably quiet, but also maddeningly so when it came to talking about herself.

WC: 214

Bridget asked whether or not Izu and Teya were acquainted already, and to that the crane turned to the honey-pelted girl and pondered for a bit. "I see you two during deluge,  when collecting caches, but...that is it..." this is the first time she was actually talking to Teya and Bridget. Hell, this is the first time she'd been talking to anyone in the court after her return. Well...other than Lumiya and Caw, of course...Bridget accepted Izu's help and she paused for a moment -- the crane offered to but wasn't exactly sure what to do. She'd shuffle akwardly in the water towards them to lift her cranium over Bridget's, lapping her tounge over the wound in an attempt to stop the blood flow.

she blinked, shaking her head. it was her first time meeting izumi. 
she watched, something unrecognized and uncomfortable rising to twist her gut as the beautiful seraphim drew closer, baptizing bridget with an intimacy even teya had not shared.
she looked away, the scene committed unwillingly to memory, but looked back at the next, offering a shy smile of attempted encouragement toward the red-masque should she try to catch the flowergirl's eye.

There was a moderately uncomfortable moment when they both declined to knowing one another.  Fortunately Bridget was an ace at handling uncomfortable.  She gave an appreciative wave of her tail as Izumi helped her out, but did turn her downturned gaze as best as she could towards Teya.  Well, then, let me do the honors!  Izumi, this is Teya.  Teya, Izumi!  Who I'm just meeting too.  She was glad to see her friend smiling and couldn't help but offer a little wink back.  

She could sense that it was going to be her job to keep the conversation flowing here.  She had a hope that they could make a few more friendships and perhaps Teya would feel a little more comfortable among the Court, but she wasn't going to get all pushy about it.  So, Izumi, what do you do for fun around here?

She pumped her for information, and together tried to form some kind of companionship between the three of them.  Izumi was a pretty closed book, and Teya pretty quiet, but by the end she at least held both as friends.  Did they consider her or each other the same?  She'd assume so - if not, that was their problem!

WC: 144