Arrow Lake ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim

@Blodreina
@Ingram still welcome kek

Pummeling, halting rains of the night before had since turned the earth soft underpad, and the heather-gray of late morning found Aure toeing the mountain lake. The encounter from days past had put a tentative stutter in her gate, brought a staggering sensitivity to the left part of her world, and it was all she could do to not loathe this situation more than was possible.

’You're still a champion in my eyes.’ A disgusted furrow etched itself between marred brows — heaven’s almighty, had she really said that? To someone whose state of living had been entirely refracted? How pregnant was I? How many ludicrous things had she instigated for the sake of pregnancy, before and after? Nothing had been sensible.

With a shudder, Aurëwen shook out her ruff, and stepped her gate up into a shivery trot. Either she could let herself become further despressed — or she could try to shoulder through it despite said depression, which was never, ever-would-be easy. Then again, easy had never settled well with her.

Reliance on others had only piqued the loathing within her; frankly, whether these feelings were irrational or no, she now found herself to be burdensome — unless she learned how to fend off assailants entirely by herself. How, then, could she begin fighting her own battles? Who to ask, especially?

But one thing was for sure: soft-hearted as she’d always be, Aure wasn’t going to go through this new chapter in her life lying down. It wasn’t bravery by any means, as she recoiled to hear — she woke up and continued to live for her Dragomir and Isilmë.

news of aurewen’s mishap had not yet reached ingram’s ever alert ears, yet it had been some time since the man had seen the argent; time, he was reluctant to admit, that had been deliberate. he still felt somewhat — what, awkward? unsure? shameful? of their last encounter alone — where she had sought to press herself upon him, and he had earned vercingetorix’s hardened glare.

yet when he saw Aurëwen across the lake, her gait a halting and uneven step, he was compelled to seek her. concern etched the male’s features — as a predator, he was distinctly and acutely aware of an injured creature — and aurewen was plainly hurt. aurewen? the male pressed, concern eking from his visage as he spoke. are you alright?

Ever since she’d returned to Mahler’s care, the herbalists’ days were torn between modesty and mortification. It was good that the centurion arrived from her right; if he’d been on her left... well, she supposed wolves were more favorable than water. “Are you alright?” Aure restrained her tongue, biting back something particularly livid while she slowed to a halt.

Halted, while a muscle flickered away somewhere in a delicate jaw set with adamance. Humiliation gobbled its way from the pit of her throat to the little snowcapped peaks of her ears; it  abysmally rouged her cheeks beneath the fur; fastened such a tautness within her breast that her heart cinched with the effort of casting breath through her veins.

Funny — when Rakk had hunted her, she’d shown those new scars so nakedlykeke to Verx, once upon a December. Now, in this late spring, this great, dark male who she’d lethargically mistaken for him got to see them renewed.

In this moment, Aure was glad it was someone else; she wasn’t sure how she’d conduct herself if it’d been dragostea before her. She might’ve ran before figuring his reaction. The silver trembled, pressed her eyes closed. Hold your ground. Then, after what felt like centuries, Aurëwen opened her eyes, and carefully canted her head to face Ingram in full.

”’Morning, Ingram,” came the ever-lilting voice, so much more demure and unassuming than usual. Ears pressed back into her ruff, she kept her eyes averted for as long as she dared — but eventually brought them up to look into the emberous eyes of definitely-not-dragă.

aurewen turned her slender muzzle to ingram, and it was then he stepped backwards, startled by the full detail of her mangled features. his heart skipped and his gut clenched. without prompting he blurted "jesus fuck -- what -- who did that to you?"

his fur was on end, but ingram kept his composure enough to fix the argent with a shaky stare; whoever hurt a packmate of his was an enemy, and while ingram was not a wolf that was moved by revenge, he would not see part of his small family wounded and do nothing.

“That much of an improvement, is it?” The optio’s tone was flat, leaden with dry jest; half-blinded gaze noted the raised ruff. “Ze one who did this to me,” wan curl at her lips now fading back into somber neutrality, “was ze same male who did this before. A long time ago.” Aure would spare Ingram the... details she’d once relayed to the guardian she still loved.

Instead, she turned from Reina’s own suitor, and trailed off to the shores of the lake nearby. As her pearling claws clicked on stone, trepidation suddenly seized at her heart. Ever-insecurity held her nerves fast, just as she meant to peek into the waters. ‘You’re flawless,’ Verx had once claimed. ‘Bones and all.’ 

With an adamant growl through her fangs, Aurëwen marched in, ankle-deep, and looked.

Her face had refracted, refigured. Dennan’s newest addition had been inscribed into her as, whether he’d meant it or not, some forsworn insignia. Eyes remained brushed with stardust, and yet one would pale in comparison to the other. She would never see her children or her beloved with two eyes again — or the stars she’d once been so fond of.

Fitting, she mused, seeing as I’ve been tending to ze earth. This new coronation of red hurts was hideous— she looked ruinous and felt ruined. “His work precedes him,” was what she drawled to Ingram, low and mirthless. But Aure continued to study herself; because if she’d been thought of as beautiful... then it must lie somewhere. ...Right?

ingram watched, troubled, as the argent swept by him. her stilt-like limbs carried her quick to diaspora's shimmering lake, and it was there she cast small ripples from her wake and stared at the gruesome marks that blighted her muzzle. her attempt at humor was met with a weak smile, but no rejoinder -- what could he even say?

ingram's tail fell, and he frowned -- there was nothing he could say or do to change what had happened.. and if there was, he would do it.. but the woman seemed absent and troubled, same as he, and after a few probing questions meant to learn more of what cruel enterprise had befallen aurewen, ingram was no less the wiser. at last, he settled to simply keeping guard while aurewen waded in the shallows, and when she at last bedded herself and her whelps, ingram slipped eagerly for home.