Blackfeather Woods Insight IV

Anyone in the Ivory Rose

And then, the fever had turned.
And he was not dead.
And somehow, his appetite returned. Strength followed slowly after, for @Takiyok was good to him and kept him fed as much as she could, limited only by his inability to keep it all down.

The days passed, and at last, the prince was well enough to venture beyond the den and the brook where @Rowan had pulled the water to flush the abscess. The swelling reduced, and the day was bright enough that the cream-coated wolf felt energy enough to attempt a stroll. For once, there was little on his mind. He felt fortunate. His body ached, and hurt, but it was not dead. Taikon knew that the worst was behind him. There had been no seizures, no more attempts at murder from those in the east. The danger was behind them, and slowly, there were new and good and beautiful things to look forward to.
The forest of crows was dark even on bright days, but there were parts where the sun shone through enough to grant warmth. These were the places he sought as he walked.
Taikon lifted his head toward the sky as his weakened limbs stepped upon the Woods good and pure earth again, for even covered in ice and flooded with black birds, nothing mattered beyond these moments of beautiful, warm sunlight.
He smiled.

Eldritch was also out and about, getting familiar with her new home once again. All the Ins and outs of it. There was a tunnel system, or the remains of one, and entrances all throughout the forest. There were also other interesting places in these woods that she intended to get to know, just like she was getting to know the Daedra and her other packmates. Less so the living souls though. 
Upon seeing a cream colored pelt, at first Eldritch considered her lost sister, Nyra. But Nyra was much whiter, akin to fresh snow. 

Hmming softly, the ghost wraith padded forward from the trees, offering a soft "Hello." 

The woman who came from the trees was unfamiliar, but the scent of the Wood dusted her coat. Taikon blinked, pausing mid-step, realizing rather suddenly that it was as though he was waking from a coma. He did not know her, but she might well have been with them since his return, or even before. He had been so out of it and busy dying that the goings on in the pack had not penetrated.
H-hello, said Taikon, finding strangely that his voice quivered. It must have been from lack of use. He looked at her for a moment before remembering his manners. As had always been his custom, he greeted her with a grand, deep bow as though she was a duchess. I am Taikon, he introduced. He stayed there for a moment before rising, finding himself out of words. He wanted to apologize for not knowing her, for perhaps he should. Instead, he followed simply, I don't believe we've met.

At the palebrand's shaky greeting, Eldritch tilted her head ever slightly, then smiled as he bowed so deeply, offering his name as he righted himself.
An easy chuckle escaped her lips in soft breath, and she swayed her tail once.
"We have not." Eldritch confirmed with a soft nod, padding a couple steps closer. Two steps, exactly. 
"It is alright. I am new to the pack, and to these woods." The lithe woman smiled softly again, forgiving him easily for not knowing her. She hadn't met many faces as of yet, if any, save now for himself and Rowan. 
Her mind went then, to asking about the Daedra, or perhaps if he knew where to find the best plants for medical use. But her questions didn't come, not yet at least.

He was reminded instantly of Lunaria and her suave grace. This woman was new, and so there was no longer need to feel like he was so out of the loop that he didn't know who she was — it was likely that nobody did, other than whoever had dragged her to the dark forest. Taikon nodded casually, adding in, well, welcome. It was strange. This might have been the first time he'd been able to welcome anyone into a place he called home. In Sagtannet, he had arrived and been cast out in a matter of weeks. Whitebark had a similar turn of events.
He wondered if the curse had followed him, or if it had finally been snuffed out after his most recent suffering. Had he paid his dues? Did the universe need more? It all seemed like a joke of a simulation.
Do you have a name, or should I just call you "new girl"? he joked, a sideways smile gracing his lips. She, of course, was no girl. But what was the fun of having seniority when he couldn't tease the new people?

The shadow smiles a bit more to his welcome, and bubbles a soft laugh at his jest.
"I am Eldritch." She responded easily, a smile still holding place on her void-colored features. 
She liked this man, he was funny. 
Perhaps he was also kind.

"What do you know of the Daedra?" She finally asked, curiosity flitting through her white eyes as she looked looked upon him.

Eldritch, he parroted, looking up as though mentally storing the name for later use. She had a pleasant smile that she held there, and he found it infectious despite the dull pain lurking in his neck. He wondered briefly what had brought her here, to this dark place full of tree-worshipping zealots. Had she been an outcast too?
She asked then about a word he had heard before. The "Daedra" were something of a mystery to Taikon. He knew only the vague information about the sacred tree, and remembered bits and pieces from things Rowan had said when Zephyr had been seizing. He sighed, shaking his head. There's not much I can tell, to be honest, he admitted. Normally, he was interested in learning about beliefs others held, even though he himself led a secular life. I was told not to go near the tree in the centre of the Woods, as it causes visions, he said, looking away from her in the direction the tree was. I've seen people get sick from it. I know they use it for some kind of initiation or something, Taikon offered, shaking his head again. To be honest, the lack of information was rather infuriating, though he had never sought intentionally to garner it.
He was tempted to tell her that he was just here because that was what made sense right now. Takiyok wanted to have children, and they needed the protection and support of the pack. Taikon had never had any interest in joining another pack, yet there he was. Things had just worked out that way. Zephyr had ensured it.

She listened intently as Taikon spoke, admitting his lack of knowledge on the gods she brought up. 
The tree though...that was interesting. For all the sickness it apparently spread, Eldritch found the tree to sound somehow calming, mystical. 
A place worth visiting. 
"I am of the spiritual sort myself." The hound admitted with a gentle shrug, easing back on her haunches "I am also working on becoming a medic of sorts." Eldritch revealed, thinking about all the good she could do as a medicine wolf.

Or all the damage.

He nodded, many are in these woods. Taikon did not bother to explain to her that he not only had no stock in such things, but in fact tended to look down upon those who did. He wanted to be accepting, but he had seen what religion could do to communities. He knew how it could be used to control and destroy. He had never seen it do anything good for anyone, especially not those who were most vulnerable.
But he said none of this, for saying it aloud had never won him any friends. Rowan would be a good person to talk to, Taikon told her. He knows about all of the secret things the Ivory Rose do in the deep parts of the Wood, and he is enough of a healer to have helped me. Infection probably would have killed me without him, he explained. He didn't know what he could do to thank him. He didn't even know what the male enjoyed apart from being a zealot.

The dark female listened with a calm idleness, taking care to let his words seep in for later. 
Eldritch hadn't remembered if Rowan told her about his healer prowess or not. But, she'd seek him out again all the same. 
"Perhaps I should seek him out again." The shadow concluded

Taikon sat down, tenderly trying to ensure his knees didn't buckle as he did so. Recovering from illness was taking time — his emaciated state was still obvious to the eye, even though he was moving around decently and felt well enough to wander. He turned his gaze more curiously to her, who so eerily looked like his friend and yet was nothing like her.
So if you're new, what brought you here? he wondered aloud. It was not everyone who wanted to walk in these dark, dreary forests. Taikon and Takiyok were here because they didn't really have anywhere else to go, and because he felt like he owed Zephyr something.
Briefly, he wondered if they should have left to Firefly Glen instead of sticking around here, but now it was too late. He owed Rowan his life, and was thus bound by loyalty.

The Seer cants her head slightly to the other side, watching as Taikon eases into a sit. 
Ah. The Why is she here question? 
"I felt drawn to this place. But I get the feeling I may not be here too long. We shall see though." The witch shrugs a little, swaying her tail some.

She was a strange woman. The ready admission that she didn't even know if she would stay made him feel odd. It reminded him of the three siblings who had once come to Whitebark, only to abandon it just before the pack nearly drowned. The thought made Taikon more wary of her, though outwardly nothing changed. Perhaps she was much like himself, unsure of what direction she wanted to take.
What will make the difference, then? Between staying and going, he wondered. For him, it was usually the incompetency of leadership that prevented him from staying anywhere for very long. Things were different now, as he had his health and Takiyok to worry about.

Eldritch shrugged softly and responded with a soft certainty "I am a follower of the spirits, I go where they lead me." 
It seems Eldritch had every faith in the higher powers and that she would be best off listening to the signs and pulls of the Daedra, they knew best. After all, she was aligning herself to Them.

Taikon licked his lips. So what did that mean exactly? She just did whatever? Because things she believed things in the air told her to? How do they lead you? he asked, unsure how her universe worked. Eldritch seemed to have a different version of reality than he did. It was his gut that led him, and usually not very well. Taikon tried his best to always weigh decisions with facts and logic before doing anything stupid, although to be honest, he didn't have the best track record lately.
Do they talk? It was a serious question. Those who were religious within the Ivory Rose seemed to believe that the tree spoke to them, though Taikon was well aware of the strange effects hallucinogens could have on the mind.

She seemed to perk up, if ever slightly, as he asked his questions to her. 
Thinking for a moment, Eldritch hmmed to get her words in order. 
"I have not yet gained the gift of hearing their voices directly, no." She admitted, shrugging softly, 
"But I listen to them through the forces of nature, and through divination. I am still practicing, but sometimes I use stones, even pieces of bark, to read their signs."

Three years is a decent time period to hone skills, but due to now attuning herself to the Daedra, her practices would have to adapt to being for these deities. 
Wing, her crow, cawed softly as he soared in from the deeper trees, landing on Eldritch's shoulder with an inquisitive look at Taikon

Ah, a soothsayer. He nodded, knowing well the practices of bone reading and attempts at understanding signs of nature as the signs of greater beings. He had seen his mother use men posing as fortune tellers who would direct others to do things, as told by the Gods, by doing little more than making sure bones were in a certain order. Taikon had seen friends turned against friends, and social structures threaten to crumble from such practices. Immediately, he did not trust her, though on her surface she seemed honest at the very least.
And then, the bird.
Just like the boy from Seelie Court, the bird unnerved Taikon, and he was unable to keep himself from sneering at it. He did not like birds. Is that from these woods? he asked, as though the crow was no more than a piece of fluff sitting upon her shoulder. How she had maintained her balance as its weird little feet grabbed her, he had no idea.

The witch was taken by slight surprise at Taikon's distaste for Wing, who cawed very softly at the brute's tone. 
Eldritch chuckled softly as the corvid began preening, cleaning his feathers. 
"He is. But he seems to have taken a liking to me, and he's proven to be a decent companion thus far." She replied calmly despite Taikon's sneer

Leaving open for a reply just in case but totally archivable <3

The sound the bird made forced a flinch. Taikon had never liked birds, but the corvids that frequented forests like this were particularly despicable. He knew that crows and ravens could be made of use for finding food, but he had seen too many scenes of death and destruction, too many fields of death covered in the feathered beasts to find much liking for them at all. He saw what they really were. They were the crew of the dead, those foul beasts that cleared battlefields and made the dead nevermore. They were the ones who rendered you invisible. They were the erasers of memory.
He licked his lips. Decent, he parroted, disdain riddled in his tone. Taikon forced a smile. I'll leave you to it. See you around, he said, turning and knowing well that she was not the sort he wanted to "see around." He appreciated her still for what she was: honest, and entirely insane with the ideas of spiritualism. Like most of these woods, she was of the sort that he did not see eye to eye with.
As always, he did not fit.
Taikon walked away, listening to her reply and no more.