GO, one said to her, forcefully, and she felt herself moving faster as if against her will. Silently, she cursed the Voices that plagued her, and that made them angry. CURSE US! one screamed. CURSE. US? THE ONES WHO RAISED YOU? YOU LITTLE SPICK!
HUSH, said a new Voice, and one that Nightwing didn't hear all that often. This new voice was a deep voice, and one she imagined to be her mother. Her mother in ethereal form. HUSH, it repeated, quieter this time, though the Voice still echoed in her brain. THE LITTLE ONE DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. LEAVE HER AND LET HER TRAVEL AT HER OWN PACE. SHE IS TRYING.
After that the Voices stopped for a time, and Nightwing could hear herself think for once. That was when she realized that she'd come across a creek, and so bent her head down to take a drink.
Nighttime. The time of the Daedra. When she was young she kept a purely nocturnal schedule for priest training, but now that she was initiated she spent times in both day and night. She preferred night for travelling; night was cooler, there were less people. Even now that she was part of a diurnal pack, she took nighttime walks occasionally.
Tonight she left the dark woods and travelled west, towards the tall grasses of the flatlands. A creek stood in her path. She was about to cross it, but stopped when she noticed a young wolf drinking nearby. She chuffed softly in greeting, her paws close to the water.
Finally, she got control of her body again and said, "Shut up! You're scaring her!" Then she looked to the black-furred she-wolf before her and said, "Sorry. I hear voices. They... control me sometimes. Make me say things..." She stopped there, having said her piece. She'd found it was easiest to just get the hard things out of the way quickly. That determined whether or not wolves stayed to chat or got up and left while calling her 'crazy'. She could do nothing about the Voices, though. They were a part of her. She'd learned to live with it.
Her ears pressed back at the sound of a growl, and she was about to step away and leave the dark female alone, but the sound of dual voices stopped her. She stood transfixed until the girl regained her senses and apologized. The dark girl claimed to hear voices...and they took control of her occasionally. Meldresi was curious. She had heard of Sheogorath "blessing" others with voices in their head, but she had never met one whose voices spoke so openly. Mainly, it was the afflicted who spoke back to them...
"It's alright...You startled me, not frightened..." She spoke softly, calmly. She walked over to the insane female. The priestess smiled disarmingly, hoping to calm not only the girl, but the voices within. "My name is Meldresi, what's yours?"
"I am..." she began, while looking at the black-purple that was Meldresi's coat color, "Nightwing." She paused, unsure of herself. She opened her mouth to say something, and no words came out. Mordred's voice came to her in her mind. SPEAK TO HER, she said. IF SHE CARRIES MY VOICE, SHE IS ME. SPEAK.
"You sound like one of them!" the girl blurted out. "You sound like one of the Voices I hear. Like Mordred... I think... I think she likes you." Nightwing had no idea what she was saying now. She simply spoke the first thing that came from her thoughts. Now she looked at the ground in embarrassment. "Sometimes I can't stop the words. They make me say things... like I said. Sorry," she muttered. "Sorry."
The girl introduced herself as Nightwing, though Meldresi wondered if the voices within her had other names of their own. Her theory was proved correct when Nightwing blurted something about a voice called Mordred. The voice it seemed, had a distinct similarity to her own...how strange.
"It's not your fault, don't blame yourself...." She murmured, which was true. Sheogorath placed his 'blessings' randomly for the most part. She couldn't have done anything to garner this curse. "Do you have a home, Nightwing?" She wondered where this juvenile could have come from and why she was cast out to suffer when she truly needed help.
She had no idea why she was bearing her soul to this she-wolf. Perhaps it was simply that she reminded Nightwing of Mordred, who, out of all the Voices, was the most "motherly" to her. Something about Meldresi felt... calming. Soothing. Of course, Night was insane so there was no telling what she liked or didn't like about things.
"Do you have a home, Nightwing?" Meldresi asked, and the young she-wolf's head shot back up. "Are you offering me one? Do you live in a pack? Would they like me?" She took a step towards her. "Would you vouch for me? Can I live there?" The questions just kept coming unbidden from her mouth. It had been so long since she'd lived in a real pack. The idea both frightened and excited her.
QUIET, the Voices said, for she was talking too much, and she visibly flinched. "Sorry," she repeated. "I talk too much, I guess. The Voices say so." Afterwards she was silent, and looked down at her paws like a good girl, trying to sell herself so maybe she'd get to sleep feeling protected again.
The young wolf was very pitiful. She kept speaking of how she was rejected by others. How her voices take over and make her hurt other wolves. Meldresi felt something in her heart. It was a strange, motherly urge to just hug Nightwing. How strange.
A smile tugged on the corners of her face when Nightwing looked up excitedly at the mention of a pack. The questions kept coming, but after a while, her voices seemed to yell at her to be silent. She became sullen afterwards, murmuring that she talked too much. "I actually am starting my own. It will be called Blackfeather Woods, after the forest it will reside in." She said. "I am pretty sure the others would like you, Nightwing. They are nice people."
She took a breath, gathering her thoughts. "The other problem is that I'm... completely nocturnal. I... I can't stand the sun. It hurts me. It burns. I can't go out during the day at all. I have to wait for the sun to go down at night before I come out, and I have to be hiding somewhere dark before it rises in the morning. Otherwise I literally go blind. So... I think I'd just be a burden if I... if I joined your pack."
Nightwing let out a sigh, sitting down. She knew she'd be rejected now, and just go back to being on her own. And some part of her was okay with that. It was what she was used to, after all. Still, she longed for the company of a pack. Someone -- anyone -- other than the Voices to talk to...
"You are still young," she said, trying to reassure the girl. She was very self-doubtful, a product of her voices berating her in her head. "You still have time to figure out what you're good at." Meldresi would have to assess her on that, to find what she could do. But Nightwing was young, Meldresi could excuse her for not pulling her weight around.
What a stroke of luck for her. The priestess thought. Her forest was completely devoid of harmful light. "You're in luck, Nightwing. Blackfeather Woods is dark. The canopy is so thick barely any sunlight filters through. I think it would be perfect for you."
Nightwing's mouth dropped open when Meldresi spoke about a forest with a canopy so thick that barely any sunlight came through. "So..." she began, and then swallowed. "So I could, like... walk around during the day in there?" This was an impossible thing for her to grasp. She had been nocturnal for months, because the Voices plagued her at night, making it impossible to sleep. So, actually, she'd probably still remain nocturnal. Only, a place that was so dark during the day that she could walk around without being blinded was amazing.
SHE IS TRICKING YOU, one of the Voices shouted at her, and she flinched outwardly. No she's not, she replied, trying to quell the slowly-rising Voices before they became a cacophony. Awkwardly, she looked at Meldresi and said, "The Voices think you might be tricking me into going with you. They don't believe you. E-even though I do," she added quickly. "I wanna go with you! I wanna join your pack! I promise I'll be good! I'll do whatever you tell me!" The want in her was so strong that she flung herself at the black she-wolf's paws, in an attempt to beg.
She was going to reply, but a twitch in Nightwing's fur made her pause for a moment. The voices in the dark female's head were claiming that she was lying. Which she wasn't...for once. Nightwing flung herself at her paws, begging to join.
Meldresi bent down low, eyes locking with Nightwing's. "I promise I am not lying to you, I'll show you the forest.. And I accept you in my pack Nightwing." She said, hiding the tone of excitement. Nightwing was the last one.
Meldresi's words calmed Nightwing, and even seemed to quell the Voices in her head. She stared into the wolf's blue-violet eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief, standing up. "Thank you," she said quietly, feeling calmer about her place in the world than she had in months. "I'll... I'll follow you anywhere."
YES, said Mordred, the Voice that sounded like Meldresi. And Night was happy, because Mordred approved.