Dragoncrest Cliffs cry for judas

@Aure!

there is no room for blixen to seek peace in solitude, so she doesn't bother trying; besides, isolating herself has never been her style. she has, finally, told @Helix to return to trigeda with the news. saying goodbye to helix is... hard, right now. she'd been there for blix during her first tenure as leader in nomi's absence, and the large, dark woman reminds her -- reminds her a lot of nomi. they aren't the same, she knows that, and it's painful as much as it comforting to note those similarities, but still, selfishly she wants her mentor to remain.

unfortunately, this situation is something she's gotta figure out on her own. well, more or less -- obviously she has mallaidh, and dio (and artaax) and her kru. but she's not a fool. even if nomi had singled her out to lead her own branch before -- it's different than having to fill in nomi's paw prints. she's young and inexperienced and she can tell her kru are still doubtful -- and eastwood seems to have -- well, she doesn't blame him, honestly. the tension is hard to miss. she doesn't blame any of them. but it only makes her want to prove herself even more right now.

(she still hasn't cried.)

with singleminded intensity she takes up patrolling as though her life depends on it, maintaining their borders scrupuously and adding a leg across the territory, that she might keep an eye on everyone. any sign of weakness right now is an invitation for drageda to collapse, and that's one thing blixen can't allow. she may be inexperienced but she did earn her way into hedakru. she can earn her way into everyone's trust too, and it is with that in mind that she pauses by the lake, her gaze landing on the mouth of hougeda, contemplating whether she should sweep by inside and check on everyone.

Even to those who'd never known her and had simply looked, the skayona was renowned for her ever-changing character. It wasn't that she'd recieved the news of heda's passing with impassivity -- heavens no! Aure lingered in the penumbra of Drageda's lamentations. The ivory she-wolf took no amour-propre in this, and the thought of ever percieving such revolted her. But Aure was too... impartial to feel much saddened by their regina's passing. Too... irregularly faraway to be enshrouded in those dark, grieving veils.

With her copii both about two weeks along and accepted by Verx, how could she be? Altogether, she had tended to becoming a little vainglorious... but not in the manner that she truly intended to exult arrogance. Never! ; more than anything, she remained as unawares of her ever-changing auras as always. Either way, the porcelain astronomer charted her way from the heady gloam of Hougeda, arcing towards whichever light of the world befell her in a luxorious stretch.

In the meantime, she wasn't so willingly alienated from her wolven-kind that she wouldn't listen to their plights. It was all she could do for them, and continue to do -- to be some undimming presence, as she could. She would be gentle, and encouraging, but never coddle.

There was, of course, the insistant brush of fangs at her mind; what could have been if that Rusalkan corsair hadn't restricted that sorrowful girl from Aure's throat. Although this incident was so soon after Antumbra, a mute wreathing of her scarred muzzle had her doing what she needed: reporting to the red lady. With glimmering eyes, she spied Blixen along the way, and it was all she needed to thread her long-legged way on over; a gentle wisp of "Híril" to greet her.

 

aure she still does not know very well,  but she has quickly earned her place amongst the kru, and so blix trusts her, mostly. (it's a little hard to let go of the arrille thing.) her foreign greeting earns a blank look until dim recognition sets in -- she doesn't know the language but it sounds enough like a greeting that she assumes that's what it is. "hei," she returns, and almost continues in trig before remembering aure likely doesn't know it. "where are you from, aure?" she asks instead, tracing the scarred lines of her face with bemusement. the very last thing she wants to talk about is her very dead nomi -- better to keep the conversation safely away from herself and even drageda.

A bit of a knowing look daubbed itself along Aure's face, both at the question and the immaculate aversion to anything of the cliffs. But the flemikepa was more than deserving of a change of subject; even if Antumbra hadn't passed, and even if things continued as they had been, the skayona answered with prim courtesy. "I come from ze far north - my north, in a haven called Rhaesuial. Not so intriguing as here, I'm afraid."

She did not flinch from the attention to her mars as she once would; and this favorable topic was certainly was better from all of the doom and gloom that had occured lately. So, entertain, she would, just as she fell into step with the red female. "There, ze Teekons were regarded as our 'uncharted south.' More than anything, my realm enacted as a neutral one, to allow tenants, and for gatherings of our... residents to commune at."

Ivory tail feathering at her hocks, she met Blixen's simmering gaze without pity, but not unkindly. "We did, of course, have guardians, of a sort, as well.  Peace, I cherish, but even I know that ze world needs darkness as much as light. To say we... 'lived in harmony forevermore' couldn't have been further from ze truth." And then she looked away, by way of a shard of memory that tugged an airy laugh from her; scars wreathing in fond mirth.

the place aure describes blixen has never heard of. this is fine -- she was looking for a distraction, not useful information -- but she will likely forget the name as soon as they're done speaking. sorry, aure, she's a mess. her story is a little more interesting; as they walk, blix watches her expression thoughtfully. she doesn't really understand everything aure says but she gets the gist.

"i used to get bored when it was peaceful here," she admits, looking away a little sheepishly. not because she wanted her kru to suffer, but because she's antsy and reckless and likes a fight. after wildfire's leaving her twice, and the war, and rusalka, and now nomi, though: "now i wouldn't mind if things stayed quiet for a little longer, although..." sighing, she looks pointedly in the direction of the sound, a frown turning her mouth. how much longer will this uneasy tension go unchallenged between them?

The unassuming hum of mirth at Blixen's words soon faded as Aure followed the flemikepa's attention to the sound. "Well, listelessness tends to come, when a realm becomes too tranquil. Even my haven knew that, held onto that," she mused, even as she receeded into her own thoughts. "With so much strife amongst all of us, some quiet could do us good. However..." Aure let several heartbeats pass once more, before regarding the female beside her.

"On my return from Elysium, I... fainted. When I awoke, one of ze Sound stood over me -- and when we made to avoid another, I was nearly attacked by another. Nearly." Her voidless gaze returned to the Ankyra, scarred face neither wracked with fury or taut with distress; instead, she seemed meditative. Her eyes were still faraway as she continued, without pity, "It was some- some sorrowful girl, and although I fended her off, there-- ze Rusalkan I'd woken to was holding her back. That alone is why I still breath."

Thin shoulders curled inward, brow creased deep as her lashes flit closed. "I know that... that I am not a part of Rhaesuial, anymore. But I was raised without concepts of an enemy, Blixen. I am a neutral soul. I'd never ask for all peace on earth, either, and this is a great presumption on my part, but..." Her lips pressed thin, mystification in her eyes when they reopened. "Only from that incident, I do not believe that ze Rusalka wish for war. That girl wanted to kill me. And yet, why would my aggressor be withheld, when we are so vulnerable?"

the tone of the conversation shifts radically as aure begins to describe her brush with some of the sound. blixen's eyes narrow, trying to follow the details through her thick accent. she shakes her head. "what did they look like? the -- 'sorrowful girl' and the one who held her back?" she has a sneaking suspicious as to who the girl is, given her own recent brush with caiaphas' daughter, but cannot imagine who would prevent her from harming one of drageda's own. 

a frown turns her slim mouth, considering aure's words but ultimately finding them hard to swallow. "who knows," she says, bluntly, "and i'm not about to go instigate anything with them, either, but still, i cannot consider them neutrally." maybe they'll remain in uneasy neutrality for the rest of their days, but blixen cannot concede to trust them, even a little. especially not now. sighing, she adds, "thanks for telling me, aure -- i am glad you're okay."

The skayona received the appreciation with an even cant of her head and a soft bloom unfurling upon her maw. ”Of course,” she returned, just as grateful; she’d been somewhat wary that reprimand would’ve been in order. ”We at least know that they haven’t gone dormant, or have ceased movement.” Aure glanced down towards an un-bumped belly, then, murmuring a listless add-on of ”Unfortunately...”

She spent another moment like that, pensive, before straightening and giving her attention to Blixen’s inquiry from before, ”Quite simply, ze girl was like a little gremlin from hell, all dark and masked, as I’ve heard her mother is,” Aure huffed, lips thinning at the memory. Still an idiot of a one, too. Yikes. ”Who held her back was a female, scarred as I am, but so much deeper. I... think her ear may have been ripped from her?” She ended the rest of her report with a hum and roll of thin shoulders.

her suspicions re: the girl are confirmed, but the description of her savior throws blix for a loop. if she hadn't seen rosalyn when they'd released her, she'd never have thought it'd be her, but -- what are the odds that rusalka has two scarred up, earless women? "huh," she says aloud, too caught up in this news to pick up on aure's minute gestures toward her belly (and, thankfully, not able to recognize the scent of pregnancy, or a reprimand would be in order here). "i think i know who that was, but i don't know why she'd stop one of us from being killed," she muses, her brown creasing in concern. 

maybe some sort of return for them letting her go? if so, rad -- but blix doesn't know if that's the case, and she's not really sure what to make of the situation. either way, she'll need to tell verx and dio, just so they know. "well," blix says, shrugging, "if you do go outside our borders again, be on alert -- i don't know if we can trust that to happen twice."

"It must be some reason for ze restraint, all things considered," she mused in reply. When she'd first joined the cliffs, Aure had heard tell of a captive; but as to who it'd been or from where they'd been found and why, she hadn't the slightest inkling of it. If the skayona had known the one Rusalkan had been Rosalyn, perhaps the meeting in the ravine may have gone better?

But what had happened had happened, no matter how much the astronomess wished events hadn't been so wrought with fury and misunderstanding. Returning from her thoughts, Aure heeded Blixen's next words and a nod of her own, "I will keep that in mind, híril. I am not so certain that fate would be as kind to myself — to us — a second time."

Whether they had some more conversing, pleasantries and the like or not, the pale she-wolf rose with a soft murmur of farewell, and went wisping along her way. Wary she would be, and although Drageda's adversaries were both mistrustful and misconstrued, Aure wouldn't keep the prospect of a hesitant, hesitant concord seasons from now. But as with all things, understanding needed to come first. 

Da. Those are the most important things, she hummed to herself, eyeing the red of her from within the lake. Understanding... and faith.

last from me <3