Stavanger Bay they caught the katy, and left me a mule to ride

arcturus had let @Wraen know he was going on a brief sojourn: he had always stuck to mountains and the copse, and now that he felt his stay in firebirds was well-established, the young tradesman felt the urge to wander.

he had never been a traveller; he had ranged far over the spear, and had made most of its neighboring territories his haunt -- but he had never truly left his little corner of the globe, and now that his duties were easily delegated to others (he had no doubt @Figment and @Bronco both could hold down the fort while he was gone), arcturus was off.

he had always wanted to see the ocean. many times at the spear he had seen it from a distance, and occasionally caught the scent of brine on the breeze. once as a very young boy, he had come with charon to the bay in search of @Revui. while his mind did not truly know it, that was his destination -- and he walked and walked and walked, until he was back at the stony outcropping that he had stood at so long ago.

a lifetime ago.

exhaling, arcturus lifted his chin and felt the wind as it rifled through his cheeks and tousled his fur. there was something so intangibly incredible about the ocean, and as he stood on the cliff and listened to the roar of the waves, arcturus found his mind wandering while his awestruck body remained rooted to the stony shelf.

Huāzhen journeyed to the bay, thoughts on the wolfdogs that had once tried to settle there. Their scents were long gone, which pleased her- and the place seemed unoccupied still, even better. But a scent cane to her soon enough as she paced, and she shifted direction slightly to find whoever it was. Once her gaze caught him, she paused several yards off. Familiar, in a strange way... for a moment she could not place him, and then the memory came rushing back, of that day... the men who had both wanted Ying. And her sister had later told her of their savagery... and so she did not greet him, but remained quiet where she stood, curious of the male she still perceived as Moonspearian.

arcturus would never fully tire of the way the wind changed sail by the sea; it was not like the raking wind which howled for miles up and down the 'spear. this wind was a different wind -- a wind of song and travel, which ferried here and there along the passing tides and currents, rifling his fur softly as summer's gentle breath.

he felt he was being watched. this sensation persisted as he lowered his muzzle and looked about him, coming at last to rest on a figure that was pale and hooded.

blackface.

arcturus' fur lifted, his hackles parting down his spine as he studied her with an animal's wariness. only to find his knee-jerk reaction was unwarranted, for he recognized her now as the woman that had accompanied his sister what seemed a life time ago.

at loss for words, and wanting little to do with the perceived consort of his sister, arcturus felt his spine straighten and he turned to leave.

For a moment the fur raised along his spine like a wild beast... and to her he was a beast in that moment, and her ears flattened shyly to her skull, unaware of what she had done wrong. Until she recalled that there was some woman out there, a similar looker of sorts, who had a great prize on her head. If only they had called her silver pelt, or yellow eyes... unfortunate for little Huā that blackhead was the popular moniker.

For a moment he seemed to ease up, but then be turned away from her, uninterested. Damn... that hurt, and she wasn't sure why. Being hated or liked, those were things she could deal with- but being completely ignored cut some part of her ego. W-wait, She called out frantically, the words slipping from her mouth before she could collect her thoughts. In a moment of dumb silence, she wondered if this man had ever been Ying's friend. Would he want to hear the bad news of her memory loss? Her dissapearance while pregnant? Would he bother to search if he knew? 

She doubted it. He was just another man dictated by his biology. 

She wanted to ask of Moonspear, but something in his scent seemed different... changed. More woodsy and less stony. Not a trace of Hydra. What had happened here? She could've sworn this man had been called the queen's brother. For him to up and leave seemed strange... or, she thought bitterly to herself, perhaps his memories of his true home had fled him just as they had Ying. You... you not with Moonspear anymore? She inquired awkwardly, gaze too uncomfortable to meet his if he turned back.

if there was one thing arcturus was good at (by accident, i promise!), it was offending the ladies. how many times had he accidentally hurt kukutux's feelings, as if a careless owner treading over the tail of their cat? how many times had he carelessly forged ahead, unaware he had stung ying, or some other friend?

he recognized the look that flit the siren's face, for he had seen it many times as it stormed across kukutux's face, only to disappear like a stone dropped in the endless deep. he paused with strained obedience, turning his gaze towards her as she approached.

it shouldn't have, but for some reason arcturus found that question barbed him like an angry thorn. a ripple went down his spine as he cut her a look as if to say why should you care? "no." arcturus answered with some finality that suggested he was not willing to discuss it. after all, she was hydra's comrade -- and he had little interest in discussing or seeing his sister right now.

In the same way that he did not wish to offend her, she did not wish to offend him either, and thus was slightly stunned by the shortness of his reply, the coldness of his gaze. What had she done? She huffed out her nostrils like a child, annoyed by the way he would not spare time for a lady who had not wronged him in any way. If someone asked her of Rusalka, she might've responded the same way- but Huā did not often have that sort of empathy, did not connect those dots to her own experiences, and so could not understand his eagerness to leave. 

Some little shred of hope remained in her. If Ying had left Yuèlóng, even with losing her memories... would any part of her subconscious bring her to Moonspear? Or to her friend, this man? Though Huā could not see the appeal in leaving behind the wonderful Astaroth for a dull beast (as she perceived him) like Arcturus, no longer could any corner be left unchecked, any stone unturned. Fine. If he wanted to be rude with her, she could try being straightforward and unfriendly with him too. You seen Ying? You hear what happen to her? She questioned shortly, though the part of her that could not help but sympathize wished to break the news to him quickly, so that he might join her in the never-ending search.

already arcturus had readied himself to leave. he was eager to quit the company of this siren; she was too close to home, when he was thousands of miles away.

her question stayed him in his tracks. he could not help the cant of one tattered ear, the slow way his gaze panned back to her in dread. "no." arcturus repeated, this time the finality replaced with something else: obscured and reluctant concern.

what ever had happened to ying?

Ear tilted, gaze came back to her- and Huā frowned at his word, afraid to deliver the news. Unsure how he might take it, unsure if it would mean anything to him. She went north... Huā began slowly, While pregnant. She hit her head in a river and lose her memory. Come back to us, forget everything, but dissapear again- pregnant, alone, empty soul. Huā finished in a hush, tone grim with her own sadness of recalling it all. She did not know how long Ying and this fellow had met- if it was only one occasion, perhaps- but she hoped it might mean enough to him to keep an eye open for her in wherever he went.

arcturus wondered briefly what hua's relation was to ying, but that thought was fleeting as she shared more information about his once-friend.

she had gone north. pregnant.

arcturus had not expected the instinctive boil of his blood, but the heat along his cheeks surged all the same. he assumed the worst, remembering how he had fought revui on the riverbanks that fateful night. "do not tell me, she bedded with my brother." his tone was terse, every bit as grim as hua's as he awaited her reaction.

if that was the case, she was a pregnant, empty soul indeed. empty of brains, empty of common sense -- and while arcturus' rage was unfounded, maybe it was kismet's way of getting his back.

After all the things she had said, speaking even of Ying's memory loss and disappearance- Arcturus still only asked after who her sister had fucked. 

Men. Yeah, they sucked. None of these idiots deserved Ying.

Huā rolled her eyes. Is that all you care about? She huffed in forced laughter. No. The father was kind man she knew in her childhood. ...Though he was also the wrong choice, as he leave her. Huā shrugged, frowning. It was rather odd, to spill her sister's gossip out here to a near-stranger- but she was gone, and in a sense recalling her stories kept her alive. I pray where-ever she is, she will find man more like Astaroth. And not like you or the damned foolish men of your bloodline.

arcturus caught the roll of the woman's eye, the hardness of her tone -- and it was then he transformed from standoffish to downright unwelcome. the tip of his tail jerked instinctively, and his gums curled as he offered an icy response. she assumed much about him, but his question had come from from more than just a male's persective: if there were to be ostregas in the world, they were moonspearian by birthright.

"i would not have left her." and it was true -- but that was not how reality worked, and was not the story that happened. he lifted his chin, finding the lithe creature's internal judgment of him scathing.

he had no patience for it anymore. no patience for ying or her troubles, for rekindling the lingering hurt that was his departure of moonspear. of reawakening the vivid image of hydra he had struggled to bury deep.

he rose.

"what we deserve is what we get." ying, hua, hydra, arcturus, revui, and otherwise.

with that, arcturus turned his razored back to the sylph, and pressed on.

thanks for the thread!! twas fun <3

She watched his gums curl, his tail flicker coldly. He says he would've stayed, but Huā internally doubts it. At Arctuus' last words, she frowned. Watery gaze had frozen to ice as she watched him go- content to let him leave now that she had delivered news of Ying. Let him regret his foolishness of that day, let him regret missing out on the most amazing girl in this world, the strong and healthy children she was bound to raise. Huā thought it was true that the male deserved what he had gotten, but Ying deserved so much more. Ah, well... the world had never been too gentle on the Jiang sisters, but likely it would not start now. Once he had moved some reasonable distance away, Huā stood to leave towards her own home, bristling and on-edge much moreso than before.