Noctisardor Bypass I'm going to tear this city down without you.
Loner
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#1
All Welcome 
No pressure to reply but I'd love one of you could. :D

Through most recent weeks, Ciri had sought privacy among the forests of Rivenwood. Having begun to feel a little more at ease in the bypass, it left room for solemn thoughts of her mother and sister to rear up with vengeance. For a time her sole desire was to be alone with her fragile state of mind; she hated the idea of someone seeing her so vulnerable.

She wondered if it would've been better for her to have stayed with the Brokilon wolves, where she'd been safe from the truth of her family's fate. While she didn't doubt the love her father felt for her, his guilt over everything that'd happened was weighing on her. Mahler was always sorry and their relationship remained strained - despite Ciri's desire to move on, to better their bond, she wasn't sure how to.

The swallow collected herself after her time of mourning, and ventured out toward the lake @Mahler had shown her on @Mateo's tour. She had liked it there, the quiet of it, and she wondered if the aforementioned @Laurel might be around to cross her path. Between her jaws hung the body of a freshly slain hare should the occasion arise, for she wished to make a good first impression on the gargoyle's followers.

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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Ooc — ebony
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#2
the lake too beckoned the father.
was he this, any longer? astraeus had returned to his post, while phaedra and ciri had clung to their own company. thade had not made another return, and elke — thoughts of his lost daughter only tightened the man's jawline with grief.
ciri was here, wreathed in the fresh scent of blood. mahler gave she and her quarry an approving look, before settling upon his haunches nearby. 
if the spectre of guilt clung to him now, it was over laurel.
"fine hunting," the gargoyle remarked. "rivenvood is stronger for your presence here."
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Loner
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#3
It was not a stranger who located her, but her father. Ciri eased her stride to acknowledge his approach. Behind a mouthful of agouti furs she smiled brightly and a beat of her tail welcomed him warmly as he closed distance between them. "Fanks," she said in response, the word muffled, and she lowered her catch to the ground at her forepaws, "I was actually looking for that she-wolf you mentioned when we came here with Mateo, uh... Laurel, you said her name was?"

Her smile turned a little bashful, and dark ears splayed to the side as she shifted her gaze to look out thoughtfully over the lagoon. She saw dragonflies dark among the reeds at the water's edge, but her attention did not linger on them for long; "I wanted to... introduce myself." Despite longing for connection, her social skills were clumsy; interaction with strangers made her anxious.

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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Ooc — ebony
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#4
ah, laurel. 
"she is a bit shy." an understatement, if he had uttered it, for shyness was the only word he had and it was not at all good enough to properly convey laurel's passion and torment.
he was proud of ciri; he leant forward to brush her shoulder and thumped his tail audibly behind the pair of them. "vell then, i hope very much that she comes along."
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Loner
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#5
Shyness. Ciri was no stranger to hesitation, to avoiding interaction with others - especially strangers. She smiled softly as her father offered this explanation for their pack-mate's distance, a quiet sorrow in the way it did not quite reach her eyes, but she tried not to dwell on the fear that her presence was unwanted.

As though in attempt to bolster the young Ostrega's spirits, he spoke of his hope that Laurel might approach. Ciri did not share his optimism, and instead tried to look on the bright side: her Papa was here, and she was not alone.

"Maybe we could leave this somewhere she'll find it?" Ciri suggested, yellow eyes bright as they turned to survey their surroundings, "does she have a den around here?"

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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#6
"she does, but she most often enjoys this place. shall ve dig a cache?" perhaps they might decorate it or otherwise; mahler would allow ciri to choose.
he rose as if to suss out a place of rich soil, noting that his daughter still seemed so shadowed by all that had gone on.
an impish expression suddenly glowed to life upon his face. "there is a very high plateau here in rivenvood. i found it only by chance. i think it is the vork of fairies."
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Loner
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#7
Fading here.

At her father's suggestion, Ciri lowered her head to collect her prize between careful fangs. She gathered the hare by its hind leg and held it firm before lifting her crown to shift her yellow stare in search Mahler's cool lilac, and encouraged him with smiling eyes to lead the way.

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."