Jade Fern Grove 'Cause everybody knows something I don't wanna know

For @Dinah if you want it, since their last one was cut short <3

Man, this place sucks in winter, Mae commented to herself, kicking a rock through the thin layer of snow blanketing the earth. Nothing green around; only frost coating the tall thin trees, an oddly grey cast to the forest that seemed depressing to Mae. Definitely no chance of teaching herself a damn thing about poisons until spring.

Instead she contemplated her proximity to Kvarsheim even as she drifted further from it. Mae still didn't think she could face Skáld again, not yet. He'd been so upset when she'd left him there at the borders. And she knew that he didn't deserve that, but she didn't think she could have done anything differently. There was so much anger in her before she left the valley. That anger still lurked somewhere in her, but it had been tempered by all that had happened between then and now. Nearly dying. Finding a new home. Learning about her mother. Those were things she'd had to do alone.

But she regretted hurting him. She always would.

now that there was no more need for travel, dinah spiraled quickly into agonizing hyperactivity.
there was nothing else for her to do. she had quickly begun to familiarize herself with rivenwood, sometimes with the aid of ava as her co-pilot. she explored, she decorated; determined, absolutely, to make this alien land feel like home. her hunting skills had improved greatly, though there was little in the way of prey this time of year. she did what she could no less. always busy, always going, always — distracted. and when the light of day fell below the mountaintops, dinah spent her evenings counting the speckled stars from between the trees.
today marked the first excursion beyond noctisardor's sanction since the redhawks had arrived. she needed to find flowers. the flowers made her feel sane. and though the hope for finding blooms beneath endless banks of heavy, powdered white was slim, the mere idea of them being there was enough to keep her going.

Her ears twitched and her steps slowed to stillness; Mae heard the girl before she saw her, recognizing the sound of a gait she'd only heard once before. Her first instinct was to turn away. Instead she found herself searching, scanning the expanse of grey and white for the striking redhead who still crossed her thoughts sometimes.

Mae let out a breath when she finally laid eyes on the girl. Now was her chance. She could ask her name, apologize for their last meeting, maybe even —

No. No, that was stupid. For several long moments, perhaps long enough for her presence to be noticed, Mae only watched the girl. Then she started to turn away again, wanting distance between them. Not so much that she would lose track of the girl entirely, but enough to avoid being seen. They'd come to the valley, that much was clear, but where had they settled? Mae was determined to find out.

dinah kept her nose shoved into the snow until the cold made the tip feel prickly. when she snuffled, a billowing cloud bursted into the air. she pawed at a sheltered spot beneath a tall pine, and in the dirt she found nothing but roots and crushed, disintegrated leaves.
her disappointment was immeasurable.
frustration quickly began to fester. the one thing, the one thing that could make her feel normal, make any of this feel okay, and there was nothing to show for it, and — fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
she wanted to cry. she wouldn't let herself. she trudges forward, now with a renewed sense of hopelessness, and only then did she notice the flash of midnight that flew toward coverage just as soon as she'd looked up. there was someone else here. fear paralyzed her into standing still.
i know you're here, the girl shouts, forcing confidence into her tone. show yourself.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Mae paused, mouth twitching with amusement — and only moments later the girl called out, demanding that she show herself. Well, since you asked so nicely...

She could have ignored it. Could have kept walking. But then she would have to admit that she was running away. So Mae turned back slowly, reluctantly, approaching the girl with that same subtle lift of her chin which had marked their first meeting. Didn't think you knew the 'fuck' word, She commented, lips pulling into a faint smirk. You break a nail or somethin'?

this girl again?
flustered, dinah reels backward. what the hell was she doing out here? had she followed them out here? there was no space left within her for tolerance, and there had not been in a long time.
and of course she knew the fuck word! she was towhee's granddaughter! but this bitch didn't need to know that.
don't you have a hippie commune to get back to? her eyes narrow to slits as her nails rake into the padded snow. if you've come here just to make fun of me again, you can shove it up your ass. she had gotten enough of that from malakai.

Mae snorted a laugh. Fuck that, you think I'm gonna sit around watchin' em snort flowers outta each other's asses? Someone's gotta keep an eye out for trouble, Maybe she was overshooting a little, being so far into the valley, but it wasn't like she spent all her time here. Anyway, I didn't come here for you. Might be hard to believe, but the world doesn't revolve around you just 'cause you're pretty.

I was born in this valley, She added haughtily. You stayin' with Kvarsheim now? Fuckin' freeloaders. Whatever. Not her problem anymore. But Mae distinctly did not like the idea of this pretty, prissy little redhead being in a pack with Skáld.

this girl whom dinah still lacked a name for was, unfortunately, kind of funny. the redhawk found herself biting back a chuckle. she wanted to kick herself. it was the first time a laugh had naturally come to her in months.
it's hard to think you're not stalking me when you were watching me from behind the trees. her words came more languid now, less defensive — almost playful. perhaps this girl meant no harm; perhaps dinah could let her guard down again.
the slip of the word pretty from the wayward hippie brought a funny feeling to the pit of dinah's stomach. why had she called her that? no one but her parents had ever called her that. whatever helps you sleep at night.
var-sheen? blinking, dinah slowly shakes her head no. i don't know what a, um, var-sheen is. i live in rivenwood now.

Mae shrugged. She was relieved the girl was calming down, though no one would know it by looking at her. I was about to fuck off. Thought I'd leave you be, y'know, after last time, Rivenwood. Mae almost asked about it, but she was struck with a different curiosity then —

Hey, what'd you end up doin' with the pearl? The question was deceptively nonchalant. Of course Mae wouldn't be caught dead caring about something so trivial, but — but she did care, just a little. Each of the items she'd found at the beach had been selected quite carefully; they'd been meant as gifts for Reverie, after all, who had saved her life. And who seemed like she might be a bit of a snob about pretty things, though Mae had yet to confirm the theory.

oh, yeah, sure, dinah purls. i totally believe you. you're definitely not a stalker.
but admittedly, she'd rather have this dimwitted mainlander breathe down her neck than have john condescendingly remind her that god loves her, and so she may as well stay. she leans her shoulder nonchalantly against the trunk of an old spruce, though the suspicion in her posture does not fade.
the pearl. she still had it with her, for some reason. i, um, it's in my personal collection now. with some other stuff i took with me when we moved. there were other things she had left behind. she hadn't had the time to grab everything that once belonged to judah, and her gut twists at the thought of dust and stagnant air settling.
she almost mentions him. my dead brother and i used to collect them. the words sit at the back of her tongue. thank you, by the way. for the pearl. it's prettier than anything i could've found myself.
there was nothing but ghosts left on the isle.

She was unbothered by the accusation, if only because she knew it to be untrue. If Mae was stalking anyone at all, it was Skáld; lurking near his home, watching the horizon for any sign of him, never daring to get too close. But she didn't think she was much of a stalker. She didn't care enough for that.

There was some satisfaction in knowing the girl had kept the gift, though the expression of gratitude sent a prickle of discomfort over her skin. It's whatever. Thought you might appreciate it more, It occurred to Mae that they still hadn't exchanged names. I'm Mae, by the way. Uh. Mae Frostfur-Mayfair. It was odd to claim the surname after she'd more or less renounced Akavir, but Mae had come to understand that it held some kind of weight. It meant something. Among the right people, anyway.

Why'd you scream, anyway? This was rapidly turning into twenty questions, but Mae just couldn't help herself. Something about this girl fascinated her; in equal parts, she found it infuriating, though that feeling was lessening the longer they spoke.

mae frostfur-mayfair. it sounded foreign, that name, in a way dinah couldn't describe. it didn't suit the scrappy, rough-and-tumble nature that she saw; but she supposed she didn't look much like a godly girl herself anymore. i'm, um, i'm dinah. dinah redhawk.
why'd you scream? ah — you heard that? of course she had. mae hadn't thought dinah knew the fuck word. her face floods with the warmth of embarrassment. i, uh, i'm a botanist. i wanted to go learn about the native plants around here, until i realized it's-- there's snow. the flowers are all dead, her laugh echoes and only solidifies the awkwardness of it all. i guess i could study the trees, but they're all kinda... the same tree. so. i don't know.

Dinah Redhawk. Funny how red was in the name. A botanist, huh? Guess that plant shit's kinda cool. Been wantin' to learn about poisons myself, but I kinda ran into the same problem, Mae cast a glance around at the frosted landscape.

And the one person who knows won't teach me, 'cause she's a fuckin' pansy, She rolled her eyes. Reverie was suffocatingly, insufferably nice. Mae was fond of her for it, but she hated her a little for the same reason. Flowers are more her speed, too. They're okay, I guess. You got a favorite?

poisons? dinah asks, a brow furrowing. like, toxic plants? why would you wanna know about those?
she had always liked the simple beauty of the natural world, the one god built. it was so perfectly balanced in a way that was impossible for earthly beings to fully grasp. there were so many different kinds of flora, so many different animals, different rocks and sea creatures —
and yet all of that beauty had been ripped from her mercilessly.
i don't really know, i've never thought about it much, honestly, she asked herself the same question now. she so rarely picked flowers for herself, always others; always others who were now — maybe lavender. on the isle, there was this, like, huge field of lavender flowers.
she nearly chokes on the waver of her voice, the sudden drop of her stomach: my daddy loved them too.