Boartusk Heights vindicta

The morning sun glazed her pelt in fiery orange as the fen fell away behind her. Grasses turned to stone and soon the steelmaiden was climbing from cliff to plateau. 

She winced, pained, each step along the jagged terrain cutting new wounds into her pads still unused to the mountains. When she reached a place to catch her breath, her pink tongue would lap greedily at its metallic taste before she pressed onwards and upwards.

Up. Always up. For she wanted to see everything. Maybe then, she could-

Wind whipped silver fur as she finally summited expecting to see a wonderous view, and instead was met with a disappointing layer of fog. Sighing, annoyed at such wasted effort, she sat stiffly on her haunches. So much for an early morning hike.

@Reyna

through the fog, a pale ghost floats from it.

reyna had caught the scent of a stranger, and heard as she stumbled through the mountains. impressed by her resolve, despite the scent of territory having grown stronger over the coming days, reyna decided to reward the visitor with her presence.

it is during full moons when this land is at it's most beautiful. but for now it cannot be seen. the vampiress stares down the maiden's features. a beautiful silver coat, and eyes like that of a red moon brighter than even the queen's. the wandering girl, if standing, would meet reyna's gaze. but she is built to last longer, unlike the pale queen. where in the puzzle she would fit within la muerte is yet to be determined, but one more to her ranks could never hurt.

hello, i am reyna nocturne. and you have entered my home.

She had been watched.

The heavy mist had dampened most scents until now. The steelmaiden watched through slitted eyes as a wraith emerged from the gathered clouds. She was thin, almost ghostly so; it would have been hard to keep track of her movements had she not held the woman in her gaze since her materialisation. 

"It is a pity," she grunted in agreement. Though she could appreciate a moonlit stroll, there was something about the other that struck her as odd. It piqued her curiosity, though her walls remained very firmly up.

Finally, she stands to her true height and meets Reyna's crimson gaze in full. "You live here?" a chesty laugh. What a strange place to settle. "No vonder you are so...so quiet."

i live for the quiet, i only wish to live in peace. though, i'm impressed you managed to reach here. through the hinterlands, in this fog, but most especially past the village that guards the strath like it is their's..

there's a couple of steps between herself and the maiden, and reyna is careful to not encroach upon the distance any further. not yet.
yes, i live here in the mountains. it hasn't shown you its beauty now.. she gives a sigh for pause. but if you stay, then perhaps then you shall see it.

for there to be trust, one must give another the truth. or at least a kernal of it. reyna can see the steelmaiden's wall, as she had not exchanged her name with the queen.
i'm building a kingdom here within these alpines, and i offer all promising wolves who step past my boundary a home. when she smiles, her crimson eyes form crescent moons. and i extend that offer to you. you have been traveling for a long time, have you not?

The woman remains thankfully at a distance untouchable for now, as she listens to all she has to say. There is a crinkling of her brow as the hinterlands are mentioned, as well as another settlement, though she makes no move to correct her. 

Good. Let her think I am strong.

She falls into a steely silence as Reyna describes a lofty kingdom. "Because I have climbed your peak, this means I am vorthy, ja?" 

As much as the praise felt good, something worms in her gut. She decides to trust it. "If I am to stay, vat is there for me here other than a bed of rocks?" Did she hide something much like the fog did the land?

reyna hid many things. many things from all of her subjects, not just the stranger in front of her.

a chuckle follows klara's comment. ..this mountain is called boartusk. here in the alpines, boar climb and graze upon the land. there is plenty of food besides that, as animals fall onto a nearby ravine quite often. i plan to hold a feast soon, the boar being the centerpiece, unless someone drags an elk or goat up here. it'll be a celebration for many things. reyna finishes with a breath. when alone she would watch the wandering hogs from afar and admire their pelts. they would make a fine cloak for herself, but she is willing to sacrifice it for now if it meant securing the girl's loyalty to her kingdom. 

the hide that comes from that boar will be your bed, so you do not have to worry about uncomfortable nights. but most of all, you'll have community here. it'll be small, at first. but soon, many will gather, and perhaps you might find this to be a home for you. that is what i wish for, anyways. it is what i wish for all of my people.

The mountain of the boar's tusk was it's name. She supposed in some way that made the pale woman its pig queen. The thought distracted her from most of what Reyna spoke next, but the mention of a feast piqued her interest. The pelt of the great beast would become her sleeping place, a luxury for a girl who had spent many a night on the road.

It felt too good to be true. Where was the catch? Perhaps, there was none. A pig queen could not rule without subjects, after all.

"I vill stay for the feast," she confirmed, tail stirring. "But I cannot take the pelt for free. In return, I vould protect your peak from...unvanted guests." To owe the wraith for freeloading, well, she would rather avoid such catches now than face whatever consequences came for leeches. 

"Perhaps, if ve both keep our promise, ve vill learn to trust more, ja? But you must know my name first. I am Klara." 

yes. thank you, your strength and loyalty will be greatly appreciated for as long as you wish to stay. she nods along, satisfied.

welcome, klara, to la muerte.
reyna dips her head to the newblood before turning and threatening to disappear within the fog.

trust is key for ruling, and luckily reyna has earned it from klara for now. the problem is maintaining it in the beginning. once her kingdom is settled, she will have their first feast, and the pelt gained from it will go to her new guard. the rest will have their beds in no time too, as long as they pull their weight.

The deal was done; the pale queen would be safe under the steelmaiden's protection for as long as her words remained true. And in return, Klara would be granted a bed in the growing kingdom and an easy life. Her head bows in turn, the first gesture of thanks for Reyna's eager hospitality.

"I vould like to see your kingdom," she trotted until she was side by side with the other. While the mountainside she had climbed was clear, navigating down into the valley seemed risky. She would have to wait for the fog to clear, especially if she did not want to fall prey to the ravine and end up on Reyna's dining table. 

"La Muerte - it is not common tongue. Vat does it mean?" It did not sound like the tongue of her people either. Ever the conversationalist, Klara was content to keep the wraith talking if it meant she could accompany her on the descent.

come with me, then. we will walk slowly, but luckily we are on a safe path.

the vampiress leads the path through the fog, satisfied with her new acquisition and her curiosity to the kingdom she will soon be a part of.

it means death. the death, in spanish. it's a sacred thing in my culture, and it carries a feminine touch.

Death.

She thought briefly of the mother she had never known. What had it felt like to die? 

Whatever bad vibes the blossoming kingdom had, there came a sense of belonging as well. While she knew not not of what sacred feminine rituals this woman alluded to, perhaps she would come to understand with time.

Moreover, she wished to learn.

"Death visits us all, eventually," she shrugged the tension off her shoulders as her pawsteps fell into place behind Reyna. "Vhy must you see it as sacred? To me it is more... a curse. Vatching, vaiting to take everything from you."

the woman's curiosity led to a question reyna would have to tiptoe around carefully and gracefully.

it's precisely because death comes for us all why it is sacred. she'll only visit once, and then she'll take us with her into the beyond — wherever that may be. reyna made careful steps through the fog, feeling the hard solid rocks. one step separates both women from doom.

sometimes she whisks us away suddenly, brash and uncaring. other times, she coaxes us into her embrace in the quiet of night, surrounded by family after a long-lived life.. but to exist in constant fear of her is futile. if anything, it brings her sooner.
its only once her paws meet soft green grass of the alpines that the woman's tension releases.

And learn she would.

Klara listened intently to the wraith speak of death in a different way than she has ever thought of it before. She was right; death could only happen once. As much as she would like that to not be the case, it was impossible to bring someone back.

A lump began to form in her throat as Reyna detailed more and soon memories of her mother came to surface as they walked the precipice down into the Kingdom. "I do not fear death," she murmers, "only...she is cruel, sometimes. Those who have lived a long and good life - vell - they might not have such an easy end."

Upon reaching grass, Klara can't help but hope her mother was surrounded by love when she died.

she can be. death is a fickle beast. but there is nothing to be done. she's lead only by her whims.
reyna stops to extend a smile to the troubled maiden. she's quick to learn, and to understand. this to makes her far more valuable than her brute strength alone to the queen.

but let us not dwell on the inevitable, and focus on the now.