Meadowlark Prairie countess

maybe @Nephele? >.>

maggie had grown proud. 
despite her exhaustion, it only meant the turn of her head and she could see home: the towering redrock formation in the distance.
"who fancies enterin' a temple of bliss?" the beauty hawked loudly. and then, to herself, "blast this bleedin' rain then!" and maggie wiped the tempest from her brow with a disgusted gesture. in this open land, there was no shelter to be had.
she walked on, voice lifted in a bawdy song.

She was stalling and she knew it. Goddammit she knew it! It would be different if she was just unaware of the fact she’d walked in essentially a loop de loop of the caldera, panicked, and fled here to stare into a puddle and ponder every single choice she’d ever made in her life.

The repentant thief looked up at the voice echoing across the meadow, but her eyes dragged back to the puddle. Nephele was, as she ever was, a giant coward. She hunched her shoulders, miserable.

Another day, another uncertainty for her.

maggie knew she'd been seen. but the figure walked off. "'ey!" the aspiring courtesan shouted, long pale legs breaking into a run.
another woman.
maggie snorted, drawing to a stop not far away. "ain't there no culls in this entire bloody world?" she asked no one in particular, before her glacier-ice expression flicked over the stranger. "don't suppose yer lookin' for work, is yew?"
maggie thought of jawahir, and more sweetly, of ramesses. there was a colorful smirk upon her lips as she waited.

Her head snapped up, eyes going wide and round at the sight of a brilliantly white coyote racing her way. Immediately, she tried to scramble to her feet and run, but at most she just locked up and nearly pitched forward into the puddle.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. She swallowed.

Uh..I don’t know. What kind of work? Nephele eyed the caldera in the distance again, and winced at the flood of shame through her, before she looked back to the coyote.

an alabaster shoulder rolled. "the sort that keeps men comin' back," she snarked broadly, though her gaze continued to appraise the scarred stranger. "'course, that kinda work ain't for us all, lamb."
her white teeth glinted in a grin. "'ow bout you come to akashingo wiv me, an' i introduce you to my bawd."
"an' me lord. 'e ain't like any other typa cull. 'e's fancy. elegant."

She was confused, but honestly intrigued. She knew of those in the Monkshood who did work like that, ensuring customers came back with a smile on their faces as they ordered someone to be poisoned or hired a thief for a burglary.

Nephele looked to the caldera again, before her eyes went back to the coyote. She was mentioning a lord now, after calling her lamb of all things (she would deny forever how that nickname made her feel hot under the collar), and the silver toned thief sucked her lip between her teeth to worry it.

She had nothing better to do.

It wasn’t like the Caldera was gonna go anywhere while she was gone.

I...yeah. Okay. She stood, shaking out her coat, only to immediately get drenched again.

Im uh...Polecat, by the way. She didn’t enjoy that name, at all, but with how she was feeling right now it fit.

well that was a breeze, wasn't it? the pretty hag jawahir had acted so highbrow about peddling, when really there was nothing to it.
the milkweed began to set a direct pace for home. "polecat, eh? i wager we can make yew one yet!" she laughed witchily at her own horrible joke, and then sighed. "what's yer name, lass? oi'm maggie meself, maggie lacewell."

She flashed a rueful smile at the question of her name.

Polecat Strýchnos. My mom wasn’t so nice with naming me. She really was a collection of half truths and paper thin lies. Nephele wanted to go back to her puddle and cry into it, but at the moment, she was supposed to be respectable. Resume and all.

maggie stopped short. "yew mean me to believe yer 'oly sainted name is polecat?" 
she stared a long moment at the other, then shrugged. "polecat it is. you moight consider findin' sumfin a tad more invitin' for the culls to call ye. when they come back, that is."
maggie winkled a bit of harebone from between two teeth. "didja know yer pa?" she asked next, resigned to a yes, and this being where she and polecat found the end of their similarities.

Uuuuuuuunfortunately. Like I said, my mom wasn’t...great at names. Or anything really, besides spitting vitriol and desperately trying to control the parts of her life she could. Nephele couldn’t even remember the woman’s name, only knew she was dead. An ill advised escape attempt.

Ill think about a new name. If she even took a “job” with this woman and her compatriots. A part of her was yelling to turn back and go to the Caldera. But hey, this had landed in her lap after all.

No. Never met him or knew him. Her father, much like her mother, had never had a name. Or a face. She knew she resembled him, but other than that, daddy-o was a great big question mark.

maggie grinned, and this time it was a genuine look that lifted the stress of life from her delicate features. she stood a doll transformed for a moment. "us girls gottew stick togever," the milkweed sighed, long and loud.
she regarded polecat now with a brighter look. "suppose yew don't wanto earn yer keep the way oi do. wonder what the lord will find for ye then?" maggie wondered aloud, trying to bring her new companion into the thinking game.

Nephele licked her nose after a moment, tipping her head to the side.

Well, I’d hardly be a good sort to lure in men. She admitted, gesturing to her face idly with a leg.

Unless they like scars, I don’t think they’d like me much. It certainly was an interesting thought, what she could do for them in place of Maggie’s duties.

If you'd seen me a few months ago, I’d happily advertise myself as a rogue. For when a pack needs spying, or subterfuge. But I’ve been..trying to not do that.

maggie hmmed beneath her breath. and then her eyes became dazzling again, sunlight on winter's breath. "oi know it! yew can be our bully-man! yew know, what guards the door 'n such?" to have one bully-man might assure a bawdy-house's survival for a long while. and to have more than that! well!
"free room an' board, wiv a cut o'the takin's too." she glimmered at polecat.
"o'course, if yer the bully-man, yew can't be tryin' the ware at all," maggie chuckled. "many a 'ouse lost out ona good bully cos' 'e wanted to come back an' be the cully!"
the unashamed laughter again.

She wanted to screech laugh too, but she settled for a few happy chuffs of laughter.

A guard, eh? She mused when the fit of hysteria (for her at least) was over, catching the tip of her tongue between her teeth as she grinned.

Thats an idea. You could call me Wolverine. Or Mink. Or even Ferret. Small predators that were ferocious.

To herself, she may always be Nephele. But to others...the possibility was endless.

maggie tittered raucously. "mink! it's one o' them titles a girl moight give 'erself if she was puttin' on airs!"
none of that in polecat then, or none that had evinced itself yet. as with all good and better things in maggie's life, she was at once suspicious.
"oi'm feeling a bit peckish. shall we find somefin fit for consumption, polecat?" the beauty grinned, glancing down their path toward the massive redstone monolith rising above the flatlands.

Nephele chuckled herself, caught up in the white coyote’s nature to at least somewhat calm down.

Guess that one is off the ticket, then. She said with a little grin on her face, crinkling the scars next to her eyes.

You wanna suggest any, Maggie? The question came to a request for a hunt, and Nephele shrugged.

I could eat, I suppose.

maggie thought on it for a moment. "not really used to 'untin' no more. got somefin called a 'cache' back 'ome now."
but she glittered with a good amusement. "what about a good kipper then? find me a stream an' oi'll find yew a wet an' wrigglin' sorta luncheon!"
maggie quickened into a run, looking round to assure herself that polecat tagged along.

A cache.

Maybe it was just now hitting her that this would be a proper pack, with a proper cache. She wanted to jump up and shout with joy. No more insecurities about food, no more guessing games on if she would be able to eat a meal or die trying to grab one.

Nephele sped up, little legs speeding along to run beside Maggie, ears swiveling to try and pinpoint the sound of water.

You can fish? She sounded amazed, her eyes wide as she loped along.

Ive never been able to figure it out!

maggie shouldered polecat with a playful air. "ain't nuffin to it, love!" she assured, keeping their pace quick as she pitched her voice above the wind.
they came to a rivulet, a tiny stream running across to bigger waters. maggie stopped, stepping unthinkingly into the mud at its bank. 
"looky 'ere!" the beauty's voice was low as she pointed out a school of grayling, their red accents catching the sun. "small lot. we'll 'ave to catch more than one."
she began. the start of fishing was always just a long stare into the water, figuring out your first victim and your next move.

Nephele cast the woman a glance as she slowed, sidling up beside her to peer at the silver flash of scaled skin in the water. She tipped her head to the side, adapting a gargoyle stance to peer over into the stream.

Can they hear us? She said in a hissed whisper, still eyeing the fish as though they were aliens come to invade her world and dreams. She caught a glimpse of a watery eye trained on her and shivered.

Creepy little things.

"aye, they can," maggie whispered back, then fell into a pointed silence. "an' they can see shadow," she could not resist saying, raising an eyebrow at polecat's hovering.
quick as she could however, maggie lashed her small paw into the water, tossing the hapless soggy thing onto the mudbank.
"see? nuffin to it, love. 'ere. your turn next," the beauty proclaimed, standing back with a witty gaze clapped to the stronger woman.

Nephele leaned back, face split with a deep, deep frown.

Yeesh.. She said after a moment, eyes still locked on the water. Maggie’s movement made her start, briefly, ready to scrabble up and take off if need be. Of course, all that happened was she ended up staring at a fish flopping on the bank, before her own blues went back to the water.

Dont laugh if I fail. She warned playfully, slipping up onto her toes and peering into the water. After a moment, she lashed out, scooping a fish up, but proceeding to fumble it and ending up with the fish back in the water, and her face wetter than before. 

...Well that was...something.

maggie could not help the caterwaul of laughter that slammed through her. "oh lass! yew really ain't made for the water!"
but her ribbing was good-natured; by and by the beauty caught two fish more and then retreated to the bank. maggie offered two in polecat's direction.
"never moind, never fret!" she said with a chipper grin. "bet yew 'ave better luck at 'untin' down deer an' the like. not for me!"

Nephele’s mind went back to the deer shed caught just the other day, flashing a little grin even as she delicately peeled meat from bone on the fish at her feet.

Im more apt at hunting small animals, to be truthful. Rabbits, ground birds, once upon a time a lemming. She said, crunching delicate bones between her teeth to get at the rest of the little fish.

Thank you for the fish.

maggie grinned. "not a spot o'trouble! yew'll pay me back at akashingo," she leered, but maggie was not truly so intemperate. 
"our land is hot an' red. yew can find the runnin' beasts there for certain."
and the beauty was looking forward to making introductions.