Duskfire Glacier northbound

in the blink of an eye, simply because of that touch so reverent, her anger melts away. the ice that surrounded her heart, forged by the northern winds and wilds, thaws. she should be furious! she should bite at that paw. feel the bone crush beneath the pressure of her jaws. she should inflict him with the same pain he'd plagued her with, when he left.

but gods, she can't. not when he's looking at her like that; the same way he used to look at her when they were foolish kids. that look that she always couldn't resist, and she still could not. a woman strong and fearless now, melting away into nothing. it's written all over her typically stoic face. she missed that touch. it's evident in the way she greedily leans into it, the way her breath subtly hitches.

her heart throbs. and she can't decide if she hates it.

"we evade death, time and time again." she murmured, her voice no longer cold and bitter. but something softer; something just for him. she'd simply been too stubborn to die. she couldn't die, not before she found him again. 

her ears pin, her lips tugging into a frown. she turns away from his gaze, as she fears it'll bring the emotion she tried so hard to hide to the surface. she's still angry, but it now takes the form of hurt. raw and laid out for him to witness. "everything changed when you left." i changed. "hrafn is not the same." and it would never be the same without him.

her frown curls into a sneer, one born out of sorrow. of pain. "why didn't you take me with, faust? you left without a goodbye. didn't i deserve at least that?" gods knew she would've followed. in a heartbeat, she would have left beside him. home was not the same without him, this much she's come to know.

he asks for her to stay. she exhales a small, humorless laugh. "you are still a fool. i did not travel this far just to leave." she faces him again, something incredulous in her pale eyes. "but if you leave me again, i will kill you." she says it with a ghost of a smile.