The Sentinels from the other side

The first thing Andromeda knows when she wakes up is that she is lying in a bed of dirt. The dirt is soft - it tickles her nose, caressing her muzzle with the cool life of spring touched by the coldness of winter. She smells the dew-laden grass, the moss-covered roots and stone, the smooth tang of plants starting to flower. She hums, her breath stirring a butterfly that flits off into the unknown, and her cyan eyes track its progress for a good while before she loses sight of it and it is gone.

"Donnelaith"

It is not a question, nor a curiosity. It is a fact and a statement, Ann considering the pack she now belongs to.

"Donnelaith"

It is smooth. It rolls off her tongue, and Ann likes how it sounds.

"Donnelaith"

She does not know what she is.

What she says, the speech she lets out, is all quiet. A mumur to herself, and Andromeda waits and waits for someone to find her.

the young babe was told of all who were permitted into the forests ranks. her father knew of her trepidation of strangers, but there was a strange line she was beginning to draw within her minds eye. donnelaith was family, was it not? and the owl had told her that this place protected its witches, and the witches in turn would protect them when they one day could. there was another new woman among them, and deirdre made her way toward the unique scent, quiet and wary and slow all at once. she pretty, gangly youth looked between the wood to catch sight of the very soul she sought, and for a moment she remained hidden before she revealed herself, blinking at the other and tilting her head. they had been whispering something, and she had not caught the word.

There was a thin crackle of noise - not too loud, but enough to alert the murmuring woman that someone was there, watching. It must have been a leaf or some other, and the sound it makes is key to discerning who stalks her this day. Light and quite crisp - one noise all at once, so it cannot belong to the footfall of a heavy wolf. There would have been a first crunch and a few more and this noise is barely there. Unless one of the adults is exceedingly lightweight, it must be a youth, Andromeda thinks.

"Come out, child, wherever you hide." She called, voice gentle and quiet as if not to disturb the silence any longer. She was taking a gamble, she knew, but what is life without risks? Ann's little shadow is indeed talented to sneak up upon her so well but she lost it at the last step, and her quarry was now vigilant and in tune with her surroundings.

She steps out of the shadows to reveal herself, long-legged and lanky with a sort of girlish charm about her. "Ah, my shadow," Andromeda coos, and she peers back at the young thing.

the other had heard her, and though she had taken care to be quiet it seemed her own foot had slipped. she was no expert stalker, though knew how to keep out of sight. she did prefer to keep to the shadows, but emaleth was best in them, with her dark furs a perfect pitch to melt away into them. the white babe was the moonlight to her sisters dark night sky, and she can only hide well behind her sisters offered cloud-cover, or when the shadows bent to darken even her at the right hour. when spoken to, deirdre tilted her head. i am not your shadow, she responds in earnest, thinking that somehow andromeda had made the mistake in thinking somehow she truly was. deirdre was learning now the differences between literal and hypothetical, and metaphors and similes, but sometimes she still made errors and grew confused. i came to say... what was it, that aria had said? that her father, too, had said many a time? welcome to donnelaith. i am deirdre, she paused a beat, thinking of aria again. deirdre mayfair.

She is an angel cloaked in white, a breathless little beauty amidst sparkling greens and muted browns. "No? Ann hums, and for a short time, her vivid cyan locks onto the child's forest green - emerald gems that compliment her ivory coat before they look away once more. "For a not-shadow, you were almost excellent at coming up on me." Perhaps the girl takes things too literally, for it is clear that she has misunderstood Ann's speech, and though she speaks it truly, firmly believing in her own words, Andromeda feels no need to correct or clarify for her.

Her face is bright - a face draped with the veils of innocence (and it is not good to be too innocent these days), and the woman silently chuckles. It twists to show slight confusion, a mind working to catch up upon previous lessons and experiences seen. "Yes, child?" A touch of humour is evident in her voice; when Ann's lips quirk up to one side, it is not a cynical smirk like she graced Ishtar with - it is a smile, however small it appears, for a child, for a youth. "Deidre Mayfair, and I am, as you must know already, Andromeda. Thank you for your welcome."

She pauses; lets the quiet hang in the air for some time before she peers back at the youth once more and nods. "But," Ann grins, tone dipping as if sharing a private secret, "just Ann is fine."

deirdre had never viewed her approaching others as sneaking up on them; she was wary, nervous, and sometimes decided against being seen at all. to keep to the forest and its more-difficult-to-navigate paths, its quiet and hidden back-roads that she knew intimately, was easier than to interact with others. her nerves compelled her to keep away, but the babe wished to rid herself of them. it was difficult. even now it was hard, though she tried to eviscerate the thoughts of fleeing. this is family, now.

but she had to take things slowly. it felt too much, to loiter here now in the presence of a stranger alone. she wished @Emaleth would come to her, and willed her to with all her heart. the other was kind and gentle, but her fears were greater than that and difficult to assuage in the presence of a new face and that alone. she thought of @Osprey, too, who she had not seen in a while, and then thought of @Tachyon. where were her friends and her loved ones, now?

the other introduced herself formally, and if deirdre had known or been informed of the others name there was nothing to show such a thing. ann, she repeated quietly, and looks back into the darkness of the forest, tracing the paths she knows and can see with her mind. the others cyan eyes were lovely, and deirdre thought that the woman complemented donnelaith with her wood-like furs. so for the moment, she stays, quiet and unsure, her eyes falling back to the other. do... you like to garden?

Do you like to garden? The youth asks, and Ann's small smile blossoms into a full grin. "I do, Deidre. I do." The affirmation is accompanied by a head nod from the years-older woman, and they lapse into silence once again as each mulls over the information give. "And you?"

Ann's laugh is gentle; caring. Her eyes light up with what seems to be passion, passion for her hobby (and for a few years of her life, her job). The spark in her is ignited now, and all too suddenly, she feels a great sense of protectiveness towards the young thing. So small, so waif-like, so shy. She looks like she is worried, eyes staring into Andromeda's own, almost a drop of hope in a sea of timid fear. To wipe away all notions the girl might have of her being unkind or strange, the woman offers another nod.

"DOes gardening interest you too, child?"

the others affirmation caused deirdre to wish to linger even moreso; her desire to learn often outweighed her fear of most everything. the one exception had been brought to an end by taltos, though this she did not know. i do! she responded, her bell-like voice eager, now. i am learning how to make them, and tend to them... and good spots for them, too. what do you know about gardening? her head tilted, and after a breath, she asked another question, what do you garden? the smile from the other is quite pretty, and deirdre finds it contagious. the babe smiles a little herself, bashful, but feeling truly happy to know they shared this similar interest.

Little Angel's voice peaks, a happy little thing that rings out in the air like birdsong. Ann finds her tone so clear, so melodious like the tinkling of bells and she grins even more at the excited hint she takes on. Deidre's head tilts to a side and she eagerly throws question after question at Ann, which she does her best to answer each as they come. "That is good, Deidre, the gardens will flourish under your expert care." A little flattery or exaggeration never hurt anyone and it is in her best interests to use it now, so the woman does, playing along with the youth in her joy. "I was a healer, so I learnt the places to plant my things like near water sources, in places with sun, but not too much or they will burn... So many things, my dear, and there are even more I did not hear of."

Ann's voice is lost in the tales she spins and weaves of her old life before coming to Teekon, a trip down memory lane while she plucks out stories for the girl. "Catmint, and lemongrass, and lavender and daffodils." She pauses, eyes bright and though none can see it, cheeks flush with colour. "Sometimes if we were fortunate enough, berry bushes when the seeds would grow. What do you do?"