Stavanger Bay would you break it, if you're honest
settling their restless wings
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#1
All Welcome 
she'd run to the bay. it was home, it was safe. the forest she'd defended so heavily. it was charming, she'd said so many times, it had appeal, it did! now she'd hated it. it'd betrayed her. it'd taken her kindness for granted and it'd rubbed her face in the ashes. quite literally. 

she'd spent a considerable amount of time sobbing, sitting, trembling in the sand. she was smeared in ash, tainted, no longer pure. it needed to come off, she needed it gone. lines fell across it where her tears stained it, wiping away the darkness. and, when she could finally compose herself, suddenly furious at the filth on her pelt, she dragged herself to the waters edge. she stumbled into it and forced her face into the waves. it washed over her, freezing cold, but the water ran down her face and chest, washing some of the ash with it. 

she crumbled again, sitting in the shallows, waves crashing against her breast. oh no, dalia, oh no. what would portia say to you now?

@Ford
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stormblessed
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He hadn't seen her for some time, and while that shouldn't have worried him at all, he had started to wonder if she would have left them after his pressure on her. Perhaps her concerns about his insecurities held some validity. He would never have admitted to such things, of course. The pride that flowed through his titan frame was far too much to overcome. It would swallow any doubts that he had and keep his head held aloft. In truth, he bordered far more on the lines of being too sure of himself. There had been a line that he had crossed and it had made him a dangerous figure. It had turned him into someone who was not to be trifled with. 

When he caught sight of her, he knew that something was wrong. 

The girl was slumped into the crashing waves. Her face was buried in the pulling of the tide, and he held his ground for only a moment before he could gather the mental preparation to address what might have caused her to slip into such a state. Each step toward her felt heavy and burdened with the weight of the air that surrounded her. Only when he had found a space a few feet away, he noticed the ash that clung to her pale coat. Something in him bristled. Something was not right, and while he did not understand the significance of emotional control, he was keen enough. And he was quivering against the raw energy that hung around her. The waves beat against her once more and he lowered himself into the water beside her. There, he was more controlled. There, he was not capable of as much destruction. 

Dalia, what has happened? 

He should have dreaded her response. He should have felt her anger and hurt. There was nothing inside of his hollow frame. Still, the great titan had been taught what it meant to defend his own. Whoever had caused a reaction this severe, they would meet an end that would be far worse than anything they had ever known before. The power of hell burned in the marrow of his bones. And it was forever dutiful to those who had pledged themselves to him.
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#3
she had been focusing on the waves. she wanted to squeeze her eyes shut but she couldn't, her mind just replayed the memory over and over. so she stared at the waves, which were far more calming than the darkness. she listened to them crash into her, crash around her, crash onto the shore behind her. she was so intensely focused on them that when she heard ford's voice, she jumped, whirling as fast as she could through the water and facing him with a wild gaze and ears pinned to her crown. 

the fur on her shoulders might've bristled, but they were too weighed down by water to move. so she just stared at him, looking like a whole mess, water dripping from her muzzle. she processed his words, but she didn't want to answer him. she wanted him to leave. leave her alone. she didn't want to tell him what had happened-- she didn't want anyone to know. she wanted to go home. if she would've stayed in drageda, this would have never happened. 

she choked on her words, staring at him, frozen, her jaws gently parted. her gaze was less wild and more sad, as seconds ticked on, tears falling again. her head fell, and she shook it violently. she could feel his gaze upon her, she needed to answer him, she couldn't not, but she couldn't find the words.

"a... man..." was how she started, but she could not finish. her head still hung, the water passing under her nose as her gazed pressed into the water. she wished the ocean would swallow her.
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stormblessed
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The girl recoiled, fighting against the waves and thrashing upward out of surprise and with a prominent show of aggression. To a fool, it would have been offensive to have been treated as such. To Ford's trained eye, it was an outburst related to whatever it was that had plagued her. His expression did not change, and he did not react alongside her. Instead, he remained where he was in the washed sand – ocean lapping against the thick coat on his chest with a gentle touch. The water would quell whatever knee-jerk rejoinder that passed through him. It quelled and awful lot in the dangerous titan.

In spite of the question that hung thick on the air, the girl did not seem capable of answering him. She gaped her mouth like a child, and the warhound cursed the emotions that raged inside of her and forced her to behave in such a way. Rannveig and Velen had always teased about his inability to understand how heavily feelings could sway an individual. Ford understood that without issue, but he did not understand why anyone would willingly accept such an unpredictable force and allow it to take control. They could tease all they liked; the titan never had to endure what Dalia was facing. He had smothered his feelings long ago.

'A... man...'

The warhound furrowed his brow, mouth creasing downward into a deep frown.

Ford knew what men were capable of; he knew the fury that raged on inside of his own brutish figure just as well as he knew the coming and going of the sea. When he heard the way that her words caught against her throat, the hair along his neck and shoulders rose upward like jagged quills. His mind could have pieced it together to form the scenario. He could have gathered the chunks of that puzzle and placed them to form a perfect picture in his mind. Ford knew what had happened, but he would not venture to be the one to say it.

“A man... did what,” he demanded. The baritone of his voice seemed to boom like distant thunder.
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#5
he demanded more. dalia could not tell if he was being harsh or if she was being sensitive. she couldnt tell if he was actually demanding or if he was simply asking. she couldnt tell. she just knew he asked, and as long as she could she stared at the water. when she looked up at him she knew she would not be able to remain silent.

he would pull the answer from her whether she liked it or not— whether he knew it or not. it was just the effect he had on others. velen had been right, his gaze would make you spill your soul.

moments dragged by— how dramatic was she being? she tried to force her feelings down. her throat felt so thick, so dry, so sharp. but she slowly raised her head to him, finding his starkly contrasted gaze boring into her.

what could she do besides answer? 

he... pursued me... she said. but that was not right, not the full truth. she tried again, brows furrowing as the words tried to form, he forced— himself... onto me. she did not like hearing it anymore that way. but it was more clear now, it should be, at least to ford.
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stormblessed
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Every one of his senses were heightened on her as he waited for a response. He followed each twitch of her ear and every turning of her eye; he internalized it and calculated what it would mean for her. In all the time that it took her to produce an answer, the watchful titan was memorizing the way that she reacted so that he knew how to read and understand her in the future. It might have been a poor habit of his, but he had found that it was his only way to understand what others wished to convey when their emotions got in the way. Feelings were not part of his comprehension, but he had learned well how to read the features of others to determine their nature.

When she did finally respond, Ford felt the sea swell within him.

A man had forced himself on her – he had violated her without her permission, and by the gods... Ford hoped that she had ended him. The more he studied her features, the less he could believe that she had actually done what should have been done to such a foul little thing. The wind whipped through the tendrils that rose along the back of his coat, along his shoulders and neck, and his lip curled to reveal a wicked canine.

To the man who had violated her, he could be taken care of. In that regard, the sea titan needed only key pieces of information before he would be able to hunt the bastard down. Once he had found the fool, there would be no regret in taking his life. The actions that had been made could only warrant a cruel death. Before he could begin to hunt, the warhound would need to know what he was looking for, and where he should have started. Without those details, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack and he wasn't prepared to deal with the length of a search like that.

“Where? What did he look like? What was his name,” the titan growled.
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#7
if she could have ended him, she wouldn't have let him have her in the first place. she would've ended him before it happened. but dalia was not capable of such things, not strong enough. and so here they stood. 

he asked questions, questions dalia remembered... mostly. part of her memories had already been blocked out, just out of sheer trauma. his name. his name his name his name. dalia couldn't remember, for the life of her, what his name was. she was pretty sure he'd told her but... ah. she just couldn't remember. 

but his face. she knew his face.

"he was orange and white.. short furred," she said, paired with a shaky sniff as she tried to calm herself down. not that ford wasn't helping, she felt so grateful he was taking it so seriously, but his demeanor didn't exactly scream comforting. "i.. don't think i got his name," she said, but she couldn't remember.
trigedasleng will be in blue.
stormblessed
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The demand for her to answer was not intended to cause her to feel flustered or overwhelmed. The warhound could have been able to see that she did not want to relive the ordeal by recounting the tale to him. Still, he knew that it was something that had to be done so that he could right a very deep wrong. The expression on his face did not change while she described the man who had assaulted her. His brow remained furrowed over his mismatched gaze. The lip that had curled remained that way. The hairs along his neck and shoulders seemed to take the form of quill-like spikes that jutted wildly in place. There was nothing that suggested he was calm, save for the serene and emotionless pool of ink and ghostly white that sat in his eyes.

Orange and white, orange and white; he kept repeating the description to himself as though it would help to create an image of the cruel little whelp who had harmed her. Gods help whoever existed near the coast under such a description, for they would surely meet his wrath. The sniff that followed her response was almost pathetic, but he could not allow himself to encourage her buckling under the grief of what had happened. It was a time of action, or else they would have missed out on their opportunity.

With a snort, the brute rose up out of the waves and allowed the saline water to drip from his pelt. His mismatched eyes bore holes into her skull as he waited to see if she would recall what the brute's name had been. If he had a name, there would not be a place in the world that the coward could hide. “You're certain you did not collect his name?” the titan asked her. “You must not leave out any detail. If you remember anything, tell me. I should like to make the hunt for his life short.” The warhound spoke as though he would make short work of it, but he did not know how much of a head start the orange and white scourge had gotten on him.

It wouldn't have mattered, in the long run. One way or another, Ford would have found his mark.
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#9
"i do not know his name," dalia breathed out as clearly as she could as the swarthy male's gaze bared into her. she didn't know, she couldn't remember. she had an inkling of a feeling that he'd told her but... she could not remember it. she did not know. 

she wanted to thank him-- for setting out to make this wrong right-- or as right as it could be... but she couldn't find the words. instead, she could only take in a wracking breathe as she tried to steady herself. she was no longer sobbing, but she shook visibly. both from emotional turmoil and stress, as well as the cold wild as it pelted against her wet coat. she didn't seem to notice, she was thinking too many things. 

for some reason, despite all that was going on, dalia felt an overwhelming urge to issue something to him. she couldn't find the words for thanks, she didn't know if it was something to thank him for. he was certainly not very comforting in this moment-- something she desperately needed. but wrapped up in her thoughts and emotions she could only think of one thing to say to him. and so, in a moment, perhaps even after ford had spoken again, dalia finally managed, "i will not leave the bay." she had pledged herself to him. she would not leave the bay because her happiness had been compromised. 

but, it also meant dalia would not travel outside the bay. she would stay in the territory strictly. there was too much to be reckoned with outside their claim.
trigedasleng will be in blue.
stormblessed
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One more from you to close it off? <3

There was no name, but Ford did not need a name to know who was foul enough to do such a thing to Dalia. As difficult as his task was, it would not have been made much easier if he'd had the moniker of the other wolf. Instead, he had wanted it inside of his head for his own purpose. None of that mattered. With one last look at the woman, he had aimed to leave her – his search was best if it was done promptly. The more time that was wasted, the more likely it was that the bastard would have escaped.

I will not leave the bay...

The warhound froze in his place – back turned to the girl – and he stiffened at such an peculiar thing. Ford's mind reeled in search of a reason that she would say something so absurd in a time like that. He could not help but to imagine that she believed he distrusted her. Clenching his jaw, the skeletal titan flicked the tip of his tail upward and shook his head. “I know that,” his voice rasped. The wraith did not turn around to face her again. He breathed a heavy sigh and set his path outside of their territory to search for a scent.
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his words came as cold to dalia, who was in such a state of emotional and physical trauma she could not manage anything to say back to him. he turned and went, leaving dalia to sit in the ocean, waves crashing against her.
trigedasleng will be in blue.