do you mind if it is dated for Aug 25th? Make as short of posts as you'd like luff ^^ 629

All the way to the Abbey Nayru had not allowed herself to think of the crime she had committed. To so easily be able to turn off her mind was both a gift and a curse. If need be the warrior could simply just choose to not think of her actions forever. She could never deal with them, suppress them until the day she left this world for another. Yet to do so would go against the laws of Ichika. To do so would leave a dirty smear upon her soul. Nayru knew she would not be fit to lead the peaceful Ichikans if she allowed her actions to be buried—buried like the heavy body of the lifeless woman between Anathema and Ichika. It was only as she was slowly mounting the stairs did Nayru let thoughts of her sin resurface. She hadn't even known the other's name.

Despite the dirt upon her inner being Nayru appeared on the Gampo steps spotless. The soil that had stained the ivory of her coat had been washed away, as well the flecks and spots of red belonging to her and to the other woman. Her arm, where the woman had dug into her own flesh and left a long wound, was wrapped poorly. Nayru hadn't dared to go to Saul for such a service. She couldn’t go to anyone but the Reiseki or Jinne just then. Anyone else would cast blame but she knew she could find forgiveness and absolution in either of them. And through them, forgiveness from the entirety of Ichika. And mostly herself.

As she came to the door of the building she removed the dagger, ever strapped to her side. This too was clean of any evidence, secured in its sheath as if it had never been drawn. Just why Nayru was not sure, but she was reluctant to enter the sacred place with a weapon fastened upon her. Looking at the lonely dagger cast aside, she removed also the anklet she used to strap it to herself, and then the necklace and ring that Gideon had adorned her with. It would be best to appear before her counselor free from any decoration. As humble as one could be.

Pushing open the heavy doors she hoped that one or the other would be inside. Nayru did not know where else to seek them, although perhaps she could have called out to either. To do so would have been to alert the whole pack to something. The Jiryu had no intention of keeping her crime a secret, but it was wisest to only announce it after she had been absolved of it. The wrong idea might have been conceived otherwise. That she was not sorry or hurt by what she had done. That she did not value life as the Ichikans were expected to. Neither of these were true, but Nayru knew that it might appear so.

Once inside the great hall Nayru halted her steps. Very lowly she let out a drawn out "woof" and the sound echoed back at her as it bounced off one wall to another. If Alae greeted her surely the woman would do so in her usual fashion—so warm and welcoming. For this reason Nayru hoped it would be Ansui who came. She had yet to speak with the man, though she knew his name and purpose in her pack as she knew everyone's. Normally she was ashamed when time escaped her and she was unable to properly get to know her members. Now it might serve her. Ansui would face her with no preconceived notions of her being, no ideals she had to live up to just then. She could come to him as she truly was—a sinner.

The tricolored creature appeared before her and bowed low, but Nayru knew that now more than ever she was undeserving of such treatment. Slowly she shook her head and then lowered it, bowing lower to the man than he had to her. In this place, Ansui was more deserving of respect than she, and on this day anyone was. "Reiseki." It was rare she greeted other by their rank rather than their name, but with this small change Nayru made it clear this was not a personal call. She need spiritual counsel and knew no one else to ask and no other way. Finally picking up her head, crimson eyes met those of the other, hoping that indeed the man was as understanding as he appeared.

"Reiseki," again his title, for she knew not how else to begin "I have sinned." The admission came swiftly, Nayru saw no reason to delay and yet she also knew this words would not suffice. "I have committed a great wrong right outside the borders of Ichika." The evidence was still there surely, the split blood, the carefully dug grave, the small stone marker she had even placed there. "I've taken the life of another canine." It was perhaps one of the gravest crimes one could commit according to Ichikan law and moral code, and Nayru herself had been one of the two to deem such an act as wrong. That hadn't stopped her.

eee. I'm sorry for the wait! Getting back on track now!

The Reiseki did not grimace at her words and Nayru knew then more than ever the man was truly worthy of his rank. To be able to practice empathy toward any creature, regardless of their actions, was a trait that only those who transcended the living were completely capable of. If Ansui would ever encounter someone he could not show compassion for Nayru did not know, but was simply grateful for that which he bestowed upon her then. The words that wrapped themselves around her were both comforting and discomforting all at once. Taking another's life was intrinsically wrong, yes, but there were always circumstances that were the exceptions to any and all rules. Yet was there good cause?

"There was reason." And yet Nayru couldn't say it was good reason. The Jiryu believed it to be so, she had been ridding the world of one evil and easing the suffering of the woman all at the same time. And yet Nayru did not think it right to justify the actions out loud at all. Simply she bowed her head again, telling this all to the Reiseki was hard enough. Nayru knew she could not go to Razekiel or Gideon without a cleaner conscious. "I cannot forgive myself without absolution from a higher authority. " Ansui asked for her to look within herself, and yet she felt she needed something more, someone else to dictate what repercussions, if any, her actions were to have upon her soul.