Blackfeather Woods The Fool and the Queen

@Meldresi

Burke had told him slightly before the rest of the pack found out about the pregnancy. It made Akela go quiet , well quiet, he was still entertaining his foul mouth and endearing behavior while still keeping to himself. He had waited, out of respect before introducing himself to Meldresi. Not out of fear or shame, no, simply because he remembered clearly how stressful the first days of truly knowing that you would be a parent were a bliss and a curse. Not that he had any experience... life had chosen to not grant him to know more than a few months of pregnancy from Catori.

As he approached Burke's mate, the dark sorceress, the one he had heard about and may have the answers and keys to him finally fulfilling his unlogical wish, he did so with the whole etiquette his mother had taught him.  " Lady Meldresi" he greeted her and bowed his head in respect.  It would not be long before  his manners would be outrun by his natural character but for now, he needed to be on his best behavior.  " I am Akela , an old friend of Burke , and new addition to this pack with his blessing."

Meldresi slept near the Meloni's entrance, hidden underneath a gnarled bush. The fatigue aspect of the first trimester hit her hard, with her barely being able to make it out of the tunnels without collapsing with exhaustion as her body grew accustomed to the growing extra mass inside her. She was furious with herself. Why make her so lazy now? She had things to do; her daughter was less than a moon away from being an adult, and she wanted to mark her shoulder with the ceremonial red pawmark of the Dark Brotherhood then. But Potema was smart. She would learn quickly.

She was always a light sleeper, even in the thrall of pregnancy, her head rising and turning to the foreign black wolf that approached her. Burke had told her about an old friend of his that came to Blackfeather, but she had no yet met the man. And here he was. Smelling of tobacco no less. The smell of the leaf tended to cling onto the user, even if they weren't chewing. Meldresi made no judgment, instead returning the formalities. "Pleased to meet you, Akela." She returned, pulling herself upright. That was only going to get harder from here. "How long have you known Burke?"

As Akela saw the dark wolf, he was thrown back , momentarily seeing Catori in front of him. She had not been as affected by her pregnancy as Meldresi right now, the wolf could see her fatigue, and her struggle, but did not comment on it. Wolves like her were proud creatures. He was not going to bother her for long, better let her go back to her resting nest.  The wolf sat down.  "A while. " he spoke and licked his lips.  He was remembering meeting Burke and oddly staying with him to get through the harsh winter months. They had become close in a long harsh winter. Not wanting to give away everything just yet, he remained vague about the precise dates.  "We helped each other through a rough winter. " he explained.  " Quite ironically, I'm the one who told him about you and the Brotherhood. We were looking for you...he found your first, lucky bastard " Akela smiled softly.

The wolf looked back at Meldresi, to be able to see her with his good eye. "I do admit that I wish to know the truth from the stories and myths surrounding you and your ways. "

Old friends indeed. Living together in close and dangerous times tended to create close bonds between two wolves, especially men for some reason. Men tended to make friends easier with their own gender, as compared to women. Must be the hormones.

Meldresi smiled wanly at the subtle complement. She hoped that Burke would allow a few teasing comments from his friend towards her, unaware that the two spewed some homoerotic comments towards each other as well. Had she known, it would have made this conversation a lot less formal.

"Where do you want to start?" She was aware that there was many rumors that circulated about her and her pack. She encouraged it, both good and bad rumors. Either could attract the right people, like it did with Burke. "Anything in particular about me? I can tell you now, I'm no witch. Just a priestess."

"Witches are simply women of science who listen to nature the way no others do. My great aunt was a shaman for her pack. She was called by many a wretched witch, but she did a lot of good around her. " he pointed out.  Akela had many questions, but to learn he needed to start somewhere. Before going into the details of who the goddess was,  why it was a cult to follow, how it would benefit him, he wanted to learn more about Meldresi. "I guess you could start at the beginning, but that would be a terrible joke I did not just say" he chuckled and licked his snout.

"Why did you become a priestess to this order ? " he asked then, thinking it would be a good start for this conversation.

"Even so, a priestess is a woman of strong religious faith and power, rarely of the sciences." Most so-called witches she met believed in spirits, or no gods at all. They were closely bonded in their ways of medicinal practices and ideas, sometimes even magic, but that was where the line was drawn. "If I started at the beginning, you would be here for a very long time, sir. I think it is best if we skipped some parts and get to the good stuff, hm?" She smirked.

"I was born into another Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. I grew up with it. It seemed strange not to choose the life of a Dark Sister after being raised within it." The choice was still hers, however; a few of the Spiderlings she was raised with left when they came of age, and (most) of the Brotherhood respected their wishes. The life of a Dark Sibling was not for everyone, even those born in its fold. "I was an assassin and spy before I became a priestess. I've always leaned towards the more religious side of our Order, but I wanted to see the world before I started learning prayers and spells."

" But as Burke told me, you're a healer as well , so you must be a new breed of priestess I seriously don't want to piss off"  Akela remarked.   The wolf chuckled.  "ooooh  , please, don't sir me,  that was my old man, and  , dear Meldresi, sometimes the good stuff is in the parts that are best to be skipped ... but  for the sake of you being Burke's gal,  I'll spare you asking about the embarrassing stuff" he winked.

So she was from around here. Interesting. It explained how word had traveled so far about these wolves. He wondered if anyone had ever called her sista , irrelevant thought to the conversation of course, but Akela's brain did function in mysterious ways.  " I see. As you are well versed, can you tell me more about your religion and order?  Rumors tend to cut it short to sex and murder for glory and sadism."

She smiled, a laugh gently escaping her lips. This Akela was amusing, a jokester in his own, somewhat dark way. Most people like him laughed and cracked jokes to escape something in their pasts; others just did it to lighten the mood. Regardless, he was one of the few to make her genuinely laugh. That put him in high regards in terms of wolves she hanged out with.

"We are part of a larger religion, those who worship the Daedric Gods. The Dark Brotherhood are those who worship the Daedric Goddess Mephala, the Night Mother, the Spider Queen, the Webspinner, a whole host of titles. She is the Goddess of Sex, Murder, Secrets and Plots. Assassination and Espionage, to put it simply." She recounted to him what she was taught as a child, years and years ago. It was the simplest way to put things, for the Goddess had many, many mysteries. She was the Goddess of Secrets, after all. "Her consort is Sithis, the Dread-Father, the Void itself. The Void is where we are said to go when we die, though I hear it is not as bleak as it sounds." She was taught that it was dark, yes, but full of hidden, delightful things to entertain the followers of Mephala and Sithis in eternity. What they were, no one knew until they died and joined the ranks of the Dark Brotherhood by Sithis' side. "We're a cult and a business. Dark Siblings kill for profit, as well as to please our gods. I doubt you could call it glory, but for sadism? Perhaps. You would have to be a little sadistic to kill for a living." Mad, even. She has seen many of her Dark Siblings descend into Sheogorath's embrace as they went on, a rare few flying out into a rage when their spiral went so deep that they were unrecoverable. She had once been at the mercy of one of those wolves. Frightening experience, that.

The wolf listened.  His grew up in a different religion, and could easily make parallels with this gods.  He was not sure yet, if he would become a firm believer, he tended to stick with his beliefs, but it did not mean that he found this highly interesting. Plus Mephala sure had a long ass title, surely she was someone to worship and he did see the appeal. Meldresi was making it an interesting tale without sounding like a lunatic of sheep fanatic. " Are there then other packs that you know of that worship the other Draedic gods ? "  he asked.

The wolf gave her a strange smile.  " I find it quite dangerous to have unstable wolves perform assassinations.  We all are killers by birth, but killing your own kind , it requires a clear head, no madness should be involved, because no one wants a messy job. I kind it far more frightening to have someone who kills with a calm and clear head, than someone who drowns in the oblivion of blood. " he confessed. He licked his lips.  "Meldresi, your rituals...do they involve anything with the dead? Those that are not sent to Sithis ? Are you able to somehow communicate or summon them ? "

"There are, but not like us." She would know; she had been a member of one of those packs numerous times as a part of her priestess training. She not only had to know about her own goddess, but the other gods too. They all played a role with each other. They were all connected. "Mephala's followers are the only group that provide such extensive services to outsiders as part of their beliefs."

Meldresi kept silent, sensing a confession coming from Akela. She watched him, noticing the personal pain in his eyes, before he finally got to his point. Meldresi thought for a moment, considering her words before she spoke. "My powers do not go beyond Mephala and Sithis' power. Sithis is respected by all, but only Mephala's followers cannot be claimed by others. There is a chance that this soul may have gone to another." She sighed, wondering who this wolf wanted to summon. "The act of summoning a dead soul is hard. They may try to drag you with them into the Void."

As if he knew the answer would come with a big but all written  over Meldresi's face,  he listened to her telling him that it was probably , highly  not possible.  He kept his jaws shut at her warning. To be fair, being dragged by his lost mate into the Void was not a foreign thought to him. If it meant being reunited with her for once and for all.  " I suppose, it is best to leave the dead with the ancestors spirit until the time has come to join them" he spoke , not really finding comfort in that thought.  "Have you tried this ritual already ?  Summoning someone from the Void ? " he asked then.

He was still torn, between getting deeper into this or dropping it. The latter entailed a fear of not having a purpose anymore. He had come here in the hopes of something, something completely nuts and coming directly from his grief. As he had said earlier, unstable minds were dangerous, and his was desperate to find either closure or something else.

"We are taught." She explained, recalling memories she hadn't thought of in years. "And I have seen the ritual being performed, but it is strongly advised against, for that very reason. Sithis guards his souls closely." She tried not to remember the event that steered her away from necromancy, but it came anyway. His eyes rolling back into his head, his shriek, high pitched and unnatural, his body convulsing before he collapsed and twitched, foaming. He had made the same mistake Akela had almost done. The dead were dead. That was what she learned.

"But there are places where the gap between this world and the next is smaller. Where ghosts lie. There is a place like that here in Blackfeather." She thought of Wispmother's Grotto and the eerie feelings that prickled her spine as she walked through the silent swamp. Sometimes she felt as if someone was watching her, or brushing past her. She hadn't tried, but if she meditated there, she was certain she would have visions of the long dead. "Wispmother's Grotto, in the northeast. I cannot say for certain, but there is a chance you can contact someone there without risking your soul. It would take some time, but it may happen."

He understood from her way of speaking about it, that it was a dangerous idea, a dooming idea. He could not shake his indifference to it out. He just could not get it out of his head.  He just wanted to talk to her, at least once.  Jus tto tell her, goodbye, tell her how sorry he was.  His demons wide awake by this conversation were now dancing all around him, making once again wish for the impossible. "I understand. " he spoke , keeping his inner trouble for himself.

"Ghosts ... even those that do not come from the dreadic religion ? In my pack, when we die, it is the Great Spirit that takes you back, the maker of all things. " he explained. He didn't think she would just be at the Wispmorther's Grotto. Why would she be ? She liked the light, she was not from here, not even knew about th is.

"I do not know for sure." She admitted, for she herself did not like speaking to the dead. The Grotto, especially the Nightcaller Temple, was deeply linked with the spiritual realm; magic oozed out of that area. It was the only reason why she bothered with the northern portion of the swamp. Even to her, that place was eerie, though calming at the same time. "It is hard to tell with spirits where they came from unless they speak to you or you speak to them. They are very elusive." She was a herbalist first and a priestess second; compared to the other priests of her sect, there were those who knew far more about spirits and how to commune with them safely. She never bothered. "The Great Spirit you speak of sounds very much like Sithis, in a way. But I do not know for certain and I do not like to make assumptions."

"I understand. "  Akela replied and looked up. Not much to see from the sky. He needed time to think this through, see if this was really something he wished to pursue or not. When it came to religion, he knew that things could be incompatible. He looked back at the female and stood up.  "Thank you, for answering my questions. I think I need some time to let it sink in and properly get my mind around this all. " he explained.  "I have to go back to patrols, get your man over here. Shall you ever need anything, just howl for me, I'll be happy to assist you in any way you wish. " he offered.  "Truly a pleasure meeting you Meldresi. "

you can close it

Meldresi sensed the man's urge to get away; to think, to put it properly, before he said it. If he was looking to speak to someone long passed, if he was still grieving, then he needed space and time to think. She was willing to let him think; this was a personal matter that she only scratched at the surface of. If anything, Burke could help him as he was Akela's friend after all. With a respectful nod in return, Meldresi rose to go. "It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Akela." She said quietly before walking off into the darkness of her Woods.