Moonspear i can't feel anything anyway; let's show them the only way

@Isilmë maybe?!

 

Hydra had heard of Dragomir's sisters return. It sounded like something awful had befallen the young girl, which Hydra was relieved to hear if she was being honest; it meant she had not intentionally betrayed her sibling and abandoned him. Hydra had not the time to feel guilt for her own relief; instead, she would seek to find the girl and see what ways in which she could assist. Knowing hunger was something the other had suffered, the matriarch carried with her a particularly plump hare she had felled. The long hunt was good for the Ostrega woman, who found the long rope of her patience frayed and her aggressive drive all the higher for it. The season was to thank for that; Hydra carried herself with irrefutable authority as of late so that no she-wolf whose season approached could forget it. 

With her quarry hanging limply from her jowls, the dark-furred mother paused in her jaunt to drop it briefly and place a possessive paw upon it while sniffing the earth. Tail lashing behind her, Hydra thought she caught a promising lead of Dragomirs paler sister and after picking up her kill she followed it.

the girl pauses, listening to the creak of firs all around as the wind pushes through them. isi shivers as it rakes through her threadbare pelt, watching a finch as it is buffeted by the winds. the week on the mountain has done her good; new fur, whispy and close-cropped, covers lightly the bald patch across her flank, and the sharpest edges of her silhouette, where bone had pressed taut against skin, have softened. 

pawsteps behind her; the girl turns to see the mountain queen. auds fold, tail lowers and wags in glad subservience. "hydra," she greets, lips curving around her snaggle tooth. she is glad to see the woman, despite her anxieties. her gaze flickers to the hare she carries, and her stomach tightens. swallowing her gaze returns to the queen. "thank you, for taking me in again. I'll be better as soon as possible." she promises. despite the assurances of her brother, and the comfort in his nearness, she'd been unable to quell the worries that once they found her to be a liability (which she firmly believed she was, at least, in the moment) they'd oust her again.

It seemed Dragomir and Isilme were similar in one way; they both wished to be useful. This was face value, though; Isilme had said as much, but would she be able to do so? If she was like her brother, certainly; Hydra had high hopes. She places the morsel before Isilme, licking her chops as she regarded all that was said: you did not mean to go, to start with. It would have been entirely different if Isilme had willingly left behind her brother without a word after all the two of them had gone through. True, Isilme went through it too—so she should know better than to go without a word, know how it felt when it had been done to her. That Hydra could not rationalize, but she felt relief she need not even try to. It had not been that way. Hydra hated to think that the young girl had been on her own for so long... but she had survived at least. 

As for the next thing said, yes; be sure to rest. You have been on your own for quite some time and must recover, she drawled. Pack looked out for one another, and Hydra wanted to ensure that Isilme had the ability to get well. It was not now that was the issue, but what she would do once she was well again. In the interim Hydra could be patient, understanding she had underwent much out there on her own. 

With a low rumble, Hydra drawled: we searched for you. I am sorry we were unable to find you sooner, and that was the truth; Hydra had not wanted either of the mercenary's children to suffer beneath her. While Isilme had left and gotten lost, she did not blame herself for it—though she ached to think of the hunger-pangs and whatever other pain she might have gone through on her own. Hydra wondered if she could have done anything differently to prevent it, though did not believe so. Wanderlust was likely in this girls blood; now, perhaps, she might not act on it in the winter season given its cruelty.

the girl offers a soft and grateful thanks. she hesitates a moment over the proffered meal; it feels discourteous to eat now. but her hunger is an untamed thing, and soon she is making quick work of the catch, sharp relief as her hunger dulls.

she relaxes, slightly, at the mountain queen's words. there had been true fear at disappointing Hydra, if ever she's had a role model it's been the queen. she's everything Isi is not, and yet longs to be; confident, measured, stable, commanding. she nods, accepting the woman's instruction. she longs to be up and ready, work on the borders and learn at the hunt so she can prove the mountain wolves right for accepting her back; for accepting her in the first place. dragomir has done that, it seems; he walks the mountain with confidence now where once she'd had to support him when they'd hunted. their roles are reversed, and she does not quite know how to take it. 

she shakes her head at Hydra's apology. "it is my fault," she says, certain of it. she had wandered too far that day, she had gotten sick, she had chosen to follow that woman. her fault. they'd searched for her, despite it all, it sent a flicker of warmth to her just. to know they had cared, it was enough. 

"when I recover," she begins then, hesitating. can you teach me to be like you? it sounds childish, wrong. she reorganizes her thoughts, deciding on, "can you teach me to fight like you do?" there is a fierceness in her yet, covered as it may be by sickly health and resigned apathy. she'd begun to learn back at the river, but then the flood had came and started a whole sequence of events she'd yet to full recover from.

Indeed it was, though not in full. You did not know any better, Hydra believed aloud, soothing in her low, level tones... though Isilme could correct her. The mercenary had not the time in his life to hammer the importance of such things, and Andraste had abandoned her entirely. Hydra had not known what they had and had not been taught, and now she herself knew it was better to teach in any case for the chance that they may not. It felt so long ago that she had disappeared, and here she was now about to become an adult. Isilme surely had learned now, simply through experience. She truly was lucky she was not dead, or injured beyond repair. 

The pale girl spoke again, and Hydra listened. Glad to hear that Isilme, too, had a fighting spirit within her, Hydra nodded. Of course, she accepted readily, happy to do so; fighting was her own passion, and there was not a moment Hydra herself did not keep her sword sharp in practice. Having taught Dragomir, she wondered what Isilme's own ability was... Hydra was eager to see for herself. Sensing it was of interest to the girl from the question alone, Hydra drawled, curious herself: what do you already know of fighting? Had Isilme had other instructors in her lifetime?

the queen accepts readily; a smile curves the girl's muzzle then. "thank you," comes easily; a glowing warmth at the idea of being like Hydra, learning from her. 

"the basics; attacking, defense. my father taught me some, before— I had a mentor in Kaistleoki, too, before we moved here." she reveals, thinking back on the rather small amount of experience she'd been able to gather before they'd been uprooted once again.

The Queen simply nods, thinking nothing of it; in knowing of Dragomir's care for her, such a branch was extended to her. Had Hydra determined Isilme's leaving had been for selfish reasons rather than accident, her reception would be different. As it was, Hydra found herself enjoying the girls spirit. Different than her brothers, and yet similar in its will. The adversity they had faced had not done anything to temper them, just instilled in them the desire to be better. The bar might not have been high to start with Andraste setting it, but they continued to raise it. 

Hydra listened to Isilme, gaze panning toward her as she explained what already her mercenary father had taught her. She once had a mentor in Kaistleoki, too. What did they share with you about the two? She inquired next; the basics of defense were simple enough, but she wanted to be certain it had been spelled out for Isilme. If it had not been, Hydra would do so. Attacking in of itself was not so basic, though there were some simple tips to apply to the fight if one unwittingly found themselves in one. Hydra continued to listen to her, noting all that she shared and finding a canvas to work with. @Vega came upon them, then, and Hydra encouraged her daughter to their side. Come you two; practice, she encouraged. For now she would watch and learn, seeing the way in which Isilme herself fought. Vega, too, who was younger but sharp and well taught since the day she could learn. Isilme, though, had grit. For the remainder of the day these physical lessons would go on without her intervention so she could watch and learn, getting a grasp on all that Isilme herself needed to keep in mind—and Vega, too. 

fader.