Larksong Grotto dreams walking in broad daylight

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Weeks spent alone, in self-imposed exile, had only exacerbated Indra's poor behavior.

She vacillated between a profound numbness and an intense rage, oftentimes settling upon her the way a storm gathers on the horizon; sometimes it would spook her from her sleep, and as her dreams gave way to reality she'd confuse the two. On more than one occasion she'd kicked out with such ferocity that she'd sprained a foot.

When she was desperate enough, she'd return to the outskirts of Sapphique and entertain the thought of visiting @Erzulie and be reminded upon catching the border scents, that she was not really welcome among the people of the seaside; visions of @Rosalyn would surface, the woman a frenzy as she destroyed Indra's altar.

No, she could not go back there — but she lurked, sometimes. It was easier to keep her distance.

Today was one of her better days. She had caught a large rat which would serve as her dinner and sat hunched over it protectively, her eyes and ears alert for curious ravens, or potential dangers; Indra's face was sallow and her eyes were sunken, dark-rimmed, and wild.

*wings this* do u mind if we bring it to present?

after speaking with sadey, colt had taken himself off hunting. it would be a final act of repayment for natigvik's warmth.
but he was ready to be done, to find reno, to get the fuck out of dodge. to get somewhere far beyond the eyes of sakhmet's husband — or her own eyes.
colt had not spent a great deal of time seaside, but it was where the rogue had been compelled to go. his pelt had come in thick and gnarled; he was more tangled than usual, and gritty from travel. the twittering of birdsong annoyed the man, but the clacking of hooves suggested a meal was to be had.
yet the ridges gave way to not a goat but a wolf, a thin fireflamed girl as ragged as himself. colt eyed her rat, then her. "can't find anything better?" his teeth glinted dangerously.

She pulled the head off the rat and within a few seconds had pulverized it with her molars and swallowed it. The rat was big enough she could not swallow the whole thing as a coyote might, and would have to work at it over time; but she heard something like movement, and moved to squat possessively over the remains.

The stranger spoke and her ears immediately turned to pinpoint where he was, so that her eyes could follow, and then those ears lay flat - white and brown-capped against her skull.

The girl's lip lifted with a tentative warning, flashing those front teeth, until she realized how much larger and stronger-looking the man was. She remained where she sat as if to block the meal from sight, although the stench was strong and foul.

no packscent on this one, just the reek off the coast and the heavy sticking fragrance of the taiga. colt moved closer because he good, but offered no suggestion he would take anything off her plate, or brave her flashing teeth. 
"rough little fox," he swore gently, swinging his hips to the ground and glaring her direction. he scratched his ear idly. "i mean it. i can hunt summat that don't smell like shitgut an' backfat."
he chewed on his new clump of birchbark, spitting an amber arc into the dirt.

He didn't leave but he didn't attack her either, which caused more worry to build up within Indra. She watched him with tension coiled in her lithe body, and hid away her teeth again, until he might make his move.

Instead there was an offer - which she couldn't trust either.

There was no mistaking the hungry gleam in her eye, though.

She licked her lips, tasting a dribble of the rat blood there, and considered her options. And what, you'd... Share it? Her sharp little voice held all the skepticism.

"well," colt said, yellowed teeth glowing briefly with a dark smile, "yew'll have t'earn it. i got a gang, y'see. few of us, runnin' around. yew come my way, do some jobs, an' yew can winter with us."
there was of course, what colt wanted, but he had his limits. still, he laughed bleakly all the same.
spring was a different time.
for now, what did she have to barter? for that matter, he could not be stopped if he did want to take her reeking kill.
colt waited patiently.

A trade? She didn't have any skills, having never learned from any of the adults in her life except to stay alive - was that a skill? She could hunt a little; what more was there?

Indra thought quickly, not recognizing the full threat of the man or what he offered; she stared at those yellow teeth and felt a familiar upset tremble the length of her spine, like long fingers spidering along the length.

What sorta... jobs? Too late, she'd taken the bait.

"thievin', mostly," he said matter of fact. colt's eyes singed her. she want too old, but that was the point. when you came to the gang so young, it was the gang what shaped you.
"sometimes fuckin'." he spoke with the pragmatic openness that has always marked his work. the red eyes glowed. "sometimes killin'."
colt snorted and stood. "choice is yers, girly." he looked at her once, head sunk between his shoulders, and then started to stalk off slowly.

She did not know what good she could do - and by his own answers, as they dripped from him like poison, she learned it was not good he wanted done; it was survival, it was whatever he wanted. It was freedom, in a way.

He turned to leave. Indra remained hunched over her rat and almost did not move again, staring at this headless thing she was so possessive of -- Wait!

She was up and moving, leaving the cold rat corpse behind. Her whole body was curved in a diminutive shape as that came most natural to her, and yet she caught up to him easily.

Hanging back behind him in case this was all truly a trick - but she's clearly accepted some aspect of what has been offered. M'name's Indra. The girl introduces herself with her wild eyes averted, stealing glances at the man's dark and mealy face. A name was as good as a contract.

the rogue swung his ragged head and stared her down with the bloodwater eyes which so went ahead of his name. "colt briggs."
indra. he had no head for its beauty or origin; he might as well call her girl for all the work he'd have to do, keeping her fed. 
but she'd earn her keep. her eyes darted over his face and colt snorted. "keep up now." high-heeling it into the underbrush, a hard trot that he could keep up for days even if she lagged behind.
sights set for natigvik a last time, and then paradise.