Wheeling Gull Isle xvi. i knew of a girl with roses in her hair and blood on her lips

AW but hoping for @Padma :)

With the caches dug at last, it only made sense that the aspiring Lady's next goal would be to fill them. Piling them up with game would take time but her focus today was to begin stockpiling herbs of medicinal properties. 

The afternoon found her within the confines of the Isle's forests, pattering to and fro as she weaved amongst trunks and undergrowth alike. Occasionally, something drew her attention - leading her to bend as a dark crescent, sniffing and snuffling as she clipped the foliage. 

A particular bunch of celandine had drawn her attention, trimming a few leaves and flowers for her purposes before admiring the delicate yellow blooms fondly.

The dread had seeped into her soul the closer they ventured to the island. The sand and ocean called to her in ways that she had never wanted. Strand was long gone, and that stung Padma. She was hurt by her friends disappearance and the way they had left things. Strand has saved her life. And now she was gone.

The Island was hers now, or at least her to protect. But she didn’t want it. That’s why she left, but now.... we’ll now she was back.

Padma spent as little time on the island as she could. Instead of being a refuge she found it to be painful lingering for to long.

She still lacked the base she had found in Strand. The only rock that could have held her together. Her sister was gone. Yet another lose in her life.

As usual a distinctly foul mood encased Padma as she stood on a precarious rock overlooking a river. The summer had shrunk the but it still supported life, as all water did. Her aim was fish. Her favourite prey.

A keen eye tracked the rippling water looking for something to catch her fancy. So focused, she missed keeping track of her surroundings and any within it.

Botany gathered betwixt ink jaws, the Lady continued on - star-dusted crown swaying with each step as lilac danced over the blossoms seekingly - only to stop at a cluster of horsetail, gently extracting the plant roots and all. A soft croon hummed from her throat, tuneless, a jumbled melody thrown together. 

The soft sound, beginning to take on hints of Lirean ballads, died in her throat as the wind carried the scent of female to her. It could only have been Padma, who was the only other woman upon the Isle. (Her quip to Rosencrantz was quickly cementing into a true idea - upon foundation she would need to take to the Coast in search of women, unclaimed and willing to join.) 

Rhæ slipped closer, realizing the russet girl was in the midst of fishing and not wanting to disturb or startle her. She rested the bunch of plantstuff at her paws, straightening to watch Padma fish with a curious eye.

don’t kill me! I am so sorry!!!!!

           

She had caught Rhaella’s scent on the wind, and despit he nature she choose the trust that the woman was trust worthy enough to watch her back. For the moment. And for the first time in a long time Padma let herself be totally absorbed by the hunt. Losing awareness of the world around her in a way she hadn’t done it months. She only had to worry about the fish, she stared down at them her noise tracking the fish tilting her head following their movements.

Delicately lifting her paw, she remained frozen as she choose her prey. The only indication that she was about to move came from her ears. As they swiveled in the direction of the fish. With the swiftness of experience, Padma was in the water. Her jaws snapping around nothing but water. She felt the wisps of a tail on her lips before it was gone, and her dinner with it.

“Urgh..” She exclaimed in frustration as she stood, slapping her paw against the water. A splash crashing against the rock she had jumped from. Soaked from her belly down, Padma slowly exited the creek. Shaking out her coat before turning expectantly back at Rhaella.

“What?!” The girl huffed, staring the other female down. This was it. The moment that could define their relationship. The question of staying or going. Of what would lie in store for the pair as leader and subordinate.