Greatwater Lake senet

set for the 1st! @Asperas <3

the time with kynareth had chafed ramesses.
he went out into the world, a glittering vision of white, and when night fell, pharaoh found himself alongside a great lake.
here there was no burning tree, only the endless churning water before him. 
it brought to mind the sea.

water. asperas had never seen so much of it, even when ursus had made the great trek from valley to mountain, and she had seen things she never dreamed possible. thus she was drawn from the side of alduin the saint, toward the great glittering expanse which set her hackles rippling and her spine tingling. the skyrock, hidden far from the lakeshore; the changeling did not know how to feel about the water, but inherently knew it to be dangerous, and so kept the cursed anchor far from any wetness when she could.
and there, along the edge of the vast stretch of water — a wolf, ivory-clad and sun-kissed. the sight of the bright-pelted stranger brought to mind one of her father's followers, the pale woman, though her nape bore a bloodier kiss than this gilded wolf in the present. asperas halted to watch him, silent.

he felt the trajectory of eyes upon him. ramesses gazed now into the mismatched stare of a child, a sootblack little bantling surely clad in dust and sap and all manner of dirt. the royal's nostrils flared; how he did not like children! but there was a glittering in the too-old stare that made him wonder, idly, who this might be.
"where is your mother?" pharaoh demanded in an airy tone, coming to stand before her, to loom over this daunting little girl-child with fur all askew. she reminded him of the violent, wild children among the saints. but this one was alone.

the gilded daywalker caught wind of the wayward unchild lurking like a bad omen, and acknowledgement brought with it an abrupt tightening in the air as the atmosphere turned tense and sour between them. asperas saw the flare of nostrils, lips twitching and thinning to a hard line in response.

where is your mother?

asperas stared, silent and hateful.

ramesses rolled his eyes. "so you are an urchin then?" he prodded. 
the grandmaster of the saints had angered him. he set his cold eyes upon the starveling.
"your father?" he further provoked, flawless plume switching at his heels.

an urchin. the cultspawn was amused by this. rare, her amusement. rarer, her smiles, yet one stretched wide and threatening across darkling features; unnatural, full of teeth.

your father?

my father is death, asperas enunciated carefully, a terrible disjointed laugh cascading from her. the unchild pressed forward, crowding the pale man and snapping wildly at his muzzle, his throat —

only for a few brief scathing moments, and the feral child darted away, heedless of whether she'd truly caught flesh and tracing the path she'd followed here. asperas did not falter or turn back, but sought her companion with all the smug, manic energy of any mischievous child who has just pulled off the ultimate prank.

could she have meant dead? ramesses stared at the little bantling child. she was far too wild to be even be considered as a maid for his queen.
her teeth raked at him.
ramesses glared after the child and then flattened himself into a pursuit. general he may not be, but runner the pharaoh had always been, and now he was also irritated.

the tall man pursued her! the chase set her blood alight. thrilled, she allowed herself to slow just enough to give the illusion that she might be caught — only to dart back into a wild sprint if her pursuer should come within reach. if that did not dissuade him, asperas's mood would shift, tempestuous by nature, and she would turn on him again just as quickly as she had fled with teeth aimed for those clean white toes.

her teeth snapped for him; the pharaoh yanked his foot back and skidded to a halt. her fangs had torn a claw; he stared at the scour and grimaced. ramesses sidestepped, teeth glinting in the air. "surely you will die if you return, arrogant little hyena chick!" he spat, growling toward the wretched child in the meantime.