"Wrote a note, said be back in a minute. Bought a boat and I sailed off in it, don't think anybodies gunna miss me anyway. Mind on a permanent vacation, the ocean is my only medication, wishin my condition aint ever gunna go away."
Fuck it had been awhile, since he had been remotely close to this border. The gray male had been traveling quite awhile since he had left souls last. Truth was nothing much had happened, just some soul searching. While his Armour, weapons and Horse where safely tucked away in a hidden cove for now he roamed along on four legs, finding it easier to trudge through the fall foliage today. Nose to the ground as always, ears perking up high atop his head at any errant sound. The behemoth was closing in on four years on this earth, the prime of his life.
That invisible border came to him abruptly, Nayru's scent marks reaching his nose and igniting a fire in his belly as memories flooded him once again. Ears twitched as his head rose above his shoulders, body visibly becoming more menacing. It was posturing at it's best, he was an alpha even If he didn't belong to any pack, or care to in the least. At that moment he wished it was the other that happened across him, the damn hippy, he'd challenge him right here. But just as soon as he put on the display it fell away. To long by himself, to long having to scare away scavengers or put dogs down.
Instead his head lifted higher and sang the song he normally reserved for a select few. Nayru would know the song, it was his call, to a fellow Dahlian, once upon a time it would have been a call to arms, now though it was just a nostalgic note remembered by someone who's heart had been broken long ago.
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The vines were bare, stripped of their succulent fruit and turning themselves over to the oncoming cold weather. The grapes that had grown on them were now fermenting in barrels or already in bottles and Nayru could have forgotten the vineyard but it was there she found herself once the night before finally dispelled itself. Having woken in the field, alone and with a pulsating head, Nayru tried to think back over the Samhain festivities. The earliest parts of the night came clear to her, arriving with Pripyat and greeting the guests one by one. Drinking turned to dancing turned to other activities and as Nayru moved at a slow and steady pace back to the vineyards she found that she couldn't quite recall what had come next. There was nothing, a lingering blankness that was quite disconcerting. Surely there had to be some event between the dancing to awaking alone in an empty field but Nayru could not pinpoint or even guess at what had transpired.
As she moved among the vines she let thin fingers run over them gently. St. Pepin's she could clearly recall, the falling down buildings, the rich sweet soil. Dahlian soil. Ichikan soil was rich too, perhaps richer in Dahlia Valley than Flander's Field had ever been, but somehow in the wake of lost memories, the far off recollections of her winery seemed sweeter. More tangible than the dirt she stepped upon now. Drawing water from the well Nayru drank greedily, finding that water had never been more refreshing than it was just then, and shakily she slumped beside the stone structure, letting her thoughts trail where they might. She thought of her and Siku at St. Pepins, Siku who had returned to Saul and who probably slept next to him this very moment. Dimly she thought of Gideon, who surely slept alone or at least she hoped and she chased those images away with more memories. Nereid came to her, and Harlowe, and Larkspur and even Conor's face came from where she had buried it. She drown them all with more water and closed her eyes, willing away memories that she wished would stop crowding out her mind she that she remember only hours before. She found this to be a hopeless task.
The call that came out of her memories seemed so real that crimson eyes snapped open, as if to search for the caller. Saluce was gone, she recalled. He had left, only a note to explain why, and like the others who would not move forward with her, she had left him behind. And yet, even with eyes open the call persisted and hurriedly she rose to her feet—despite the resistance of her pounding head and worn out body. Swiftly the small lady followed the call, not quite believing that the caller would materialize before her despite the persistence of the haunting song. And yet, as she neared the border now stripped of its floral lining the hulking mass was there. All at once her heart quickened, though the warrior was still too well trained and it was without effort that her face, posture and voice came off only as calm and collected, as if she had indeed been expecting him all along.
"Saluce. So it is you. I wondered." And the two toned lady held back, hovering on the other side of the border, her rubbery legs supporting her body just barely although she did not allow a muscle to tremble or tremor and give away any indication of anything other than near silent strength.
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His song finished, he sat on his haunches patiently awaiting the presence of the requested. Part of him wondered if he'd find her with some males scent clinging to her and a belly full of pups, but part of him wondered if she was as fickle a lover as she was a student. She was an adult now to him, and as his posture changed as he heard her soft pit pat steps signaling her approach his face was full of curiosity, if albeit hidden behind a mask of gray fur and one grotesque scar.
As often was the case when he took this form his tail found it's own mind when her form fell upon his eyes and it started to weave behind him, rustling the leaves as it left a wide swath back and forth upon the ground. It was the fairy woman he had missed, his judging eyes looking upon her as he always did, taking in her fully adult form now and judging her a beautiful lithe assassin. He had trained her after all, and he above anyone else knew what she was capable of even if she hid it very well.
Finally he stood, as she greeted him, paws sticking out in front of him in a long stretch, jaws opening in a long prolonged yawn, he had been traveling after all, sinew and muscle where sore enough to warrant such a display but he was comfortable enough around her anyways. The stretching motion turned into a grunt as his form twisted and contorted to rear back up upon those rapidly developing thighs. Saluce was rapidly transforming into the behemoth he had always been visibly but upon completion his demeanor was quite different. A smile crossed his lips, genuine as he approached her. His fur carried scents of different lands, representative of his latest travels, while hers only carried Ichika, and was pleasantly absent of the cripple boy Gideon.
“So your still here, I wondered” he replied, mocking her own comment, since words between them never seemed to come very easily. But it wasn't filled with venom, just a soft undertone that hinted at a small nuance, he was picking on her. He stepped closer but stopped at the line, that clearly held her scent and the other, but he focused on hers for now. Eyes looking down at the invisible line between them and then looking up with a smirk on his lips as he crossed his arms.
“How is the queen of Ichika?” he asked with a bit of a laugh, knowing on some level he didn't want to turn this conversation serious just yet. The last time they had talked about his absences it had turned way to painful for him to comprehend. No they where alone and he'd try damn hard to get the princess to let her guard down so he could feel comfortable around her.
“I have missed you” he added, but that wasn't all he missed, but Conor and Bris where long gone, and he hadn't seen Saul in awhile either, but he had missed Nayru, he had missed her the most. She represented something he felt he had lost. For all that he had ever wanted, he had wanted to know her without having to spar words with her.
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Nayru’s ears perked slightly at the rustling that came from behind Saluce, and she let almost a smile spread on her lips. On four legs he was closer to her own size, but still her fairy form seemed dwarfed by his sheer mass. He said nothing until he had taken the shape more familiar to her and Nayru nodded, as if to confirm that yes, this was how it should be. Rarely did she ever stand on four legs now, and if she did they were only the middle form between a true wolf and that of a werewolf. Yet she knew, despite what felt right, it was not the shape one took but the energy that came from those shapes. Saluce’s energy felt the same as it always had, and it seemed almost to her, that they had not missed a beat.
"Where else would I be?" Her soft voice was sing song in response to his teasing, and Nayru remembered a time when she had grown angry and confused at the man’s return. That had been upon Dahlian soils, she had been a Dahlian, more fierce back then perhaps. Saluce’s seeking of a home in Dahlia de Mai had spurned her pride in a way, but in Ichika she knew better than to have any pride. And she also knew better to believe that Saluce was seeking a home in Ichika no Ho-en. He stopped at the border and she smiled then, a soft laugh. "You may enter."
And yet whether he moved beyond the borders she did not mind, Nayru normally did not invite ghosts into her home but Saluce would be that exception, but perhaps the only one. "The queen still sits beside her jester, surely you inquire about him as well?" The Ryu was no queen and Nayru knew the man’s distaste for her co-leader, but to keep with the easy banter was more pleasant than asking anything serious that might linger too long on their lips or in their minds. And yet, Saluce, in his way, could not hold back and she nodded at his admission, yet could not keep herself from speaking the truth. "I don’t bother to miss anyone anymore. It’s easier that way."
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The mountain let a soft rumble of laughter escape his throat at her simple gesture of welcome. In truth he would have crossed that line if there had been a situation that called for it, but today he felt much more willing to allow her to bestow upon him the right to cross. He gave her a smirk as he did so, before his body tensed up and leaned against the same tree she had positioned herself on. His nose again tasted the air around her and he came across the subtle hints of wine and others, and he gave her a perplexed look as he noticed her well hidden exhaustion.
“No I guess it’s easier that way. But you know me, always Nostalgic.” Arms crossed he regarded his companion with a gentle eye, his voice had softened a bit, there was no need for yelling.
Saluce sat there for a moment before his arms uncrossed, awkward moments where always awkward, especially between these two but he had been separated from her for too long. Those massive arms worked their way outwards in the universal show for a hug, he wouldn’t force it upon the queen of these lands but he wouldn’t leave without offering the simple gesture.
“How is everyone?” he asked genuinely, knowing deep down that he’d probably always be an outcast now.
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Nayru did not acknowledge the man's puzzled look, merely shaking her head at his words. "What do you gain from nostalgia? That is best reserved for rare nights with old friends. It will burden you if you walk about with it always." The girl knew it best to live in the here and now, focusing only on the issues at hand. One could never grow sad or bitter over past wounds that way, nor long for the companionship of a creature passed out of life. Yet Nayru would not deny memories, they were simply to be relived under the supervision of others who understood them.
Nayru's cherry eyes did not leave the man's face, even as he reached up as if for a hug. It was as if she did not notice the gesture at all, and yet she did not seem anything other than warm. Her tone rich and happy for the man, if almost too soft to really hear the joy. "Everyone is well. We have recently celebrated both a mateship and a pregnancy. The pack is thriving Saluce, really." The girl knew he asked after Saul, and the others whose faces and names he knew, but she could not recount everyone's story for the man unless he asked specifically. She could only tell him of Ichika, of her brothers and sisters collectively, for that was what she knew best.
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The behemoth didn't know what he had hoped to accomplish at this meeting. Did he think she'd come running along and forsake everything she had built to go rebuild a failed pack in the south again? Part of him wanted her by his side, they could have made a pack worth fearing, a pack bent on domination. But she wanted this peaceful life, and even her responses where not meant for him, but for some new loner at the border. Her reactions to his questions and his hug reinforced the ideal that they where truly separated, no loose string held them together in some weird kinship to warrant his attention at keeping whatever it was they had long ago remain.
His eyes where the first to falter, down cast, as his arms fell by his wayside. He simply nodded to her responses finding himself without words to respond to her with. Somehow his trip had made him more awkward than ever, living as a primal thing had done him good but now social interactions seemed to fatigue him. He stood there for a moment returning her gaze and unable to quite come up with anything for a moment.
“How are you Nayru?” he asked finally, the intention behind the question, not one about the pack, but of her own personal dealings. The behemoth knew the pack was doing well, how would it not, but he wanted to know how she was doing.
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Nayru had never lost her attention to detail. Every movement was recorded and so if it seemed that the fairy queen hadn’t noticed his offer of an embrace, Saluce had known that it had not gone unnoticed. And likewise Nayru saw the eyes, the arms, as both became crestfallen. The man before her clung to ideas and images of the past, those who had come before and those who would never return and also those who just weren’t the same as they once were. Certainly he believed Nayru not to be the same as she once was. Nayru knew this, but she could not always understand it. Nayru knew that all that truly mattered was the present, the here and now. Here they stood together and in many ways with nothing lost or changed between them. Yet the beastly man did not believe in nothing lost or that nothing had changed. Nayru realized this and with this realization she moved forward and placed a tiny hand upon the man shoulder.
"Me? I am…" Still her hand resting easily upon his shoulder, turned her eyes up towards the heavens as if seeking an answer to a complicated question. "Why, I am fine of course." It seemed as if the answer was so, because the girl if anything was resilient. When something shook her she stood her ground, and what did manage to knock her down never kept her there long. "Much has happened in your absence though," she knew the man was hungry for these details and did not mind sharing them. "There is war to the south, and for once our pack is not a part of it." Nayru spoke this with pride, for although she yearned for peace all over it was a relief for the name of her home not to be tarnished with reputations of blood lust. "Gideon and I celebrated our mateship a few moon cycles ago. I buried it officially at Samhain." Her mind fleetingly went over the whole affair, how formal their coming together had been and how easy it had been then to break apart. "Eclipse is missing, again, and I know it is not my place in this life to track her down and drag her back, but… she’s gone again." The girl was all that was left of Conor and Bris, and even though Nayru would not cling to the dead ghost she could cling to a living girl, but only for a short time before she too had to be written off.
There had been, of course more, but Nayru could not continue with her list of all that had transpired in the man’s absence. At one time he would have been the first to know of her kill, the way she had let loose the life of another being, but for now she kept the reserved, it was not a conversation opener. And she thought of telling him how they had worked so hard at Cerne Rise, how she had cleared the gardens and now they withered unless Melee tended to them perhaps, but she did not go home to check. That was not home any longer. Nayru almost told him of the vineyards, how plentiful they had been despite their relocation and the rough start and the bottles and bottles of wine they now had. Yet she had said enough, and before she could say more or ask after him she had to let him digest the events she had thrown out to him. Finally she withdrew her hand and let it drop by her side.
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There was a lot of information to process as she answered him in quick blips of conversation, the information no more than just enough to convey anything at all. He did however catch her remark on Gideon and her, apparently they had become mates and it hadn’t worked out. His expression never really changed as he stood there in front of the queen of this land. Eyes looking at her and the weight she carried, silently she carried, but knowing her he could read it a bit in her features. Knowing the lady was beyond his comprehension at times, in some ways she was the closest thing to a daughter he knew, and in others she was as foreign as some space alien.
“What happened with Gideon?” his voice lost all its harsh tone, it was more of the caring man he used to know, the man who he had been once, or was just buried deep beneath him. “I thought you two where… well” he didn’t finish the sentence knowing it was probably a deep scar. He never understood what she had saw in the boy or rather man that was Gideon, such a weak thing, even after the accident, but again he never really understood some of her decisions.
“Sorry love is a difficult endeavor,” he left it at that, knowing his own previous encounters with the thing called love had never really turned out well.
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The question that Saluce landed on did not surprise Nayru, but neither did it drag up buried pain. At times the idea of the boy bothered her, but ultimately it had been she, not the ebony lad, who had severed the ties. As easily adaptable as the girl was, it hadn't taken too long for her to readjust to life without the boy who had been her closest and oldest friend. Whether that friendship persisted past their failed romance was still undetermined, and yet Nayru was not particularly eager to find the answer to that inquiry. "We thought we were too." Nayru knew what the brute had meant. He thought they had been in love. Everyone had from the very start. Conor and Bris, Saul and Siku, all the Dahlians had their eyes on the young friends waiting for the foreseeable romance. The romance had come, and swiftly behind it the inevitable breakup.
Nayru moved closer to the man then, taking comfort in his kind words. The Ryu had not spoken to anyone of Gideon, no one had asked and the girl had never been one to seek comfort in another. For as accustomed to loneliness as the lady was, it felt nice to rest her burdens on another's shoulders, if only for a moment. "We were like… brother and sister." Nayru thought of their sexual fumblings, their failed attempt at consummating their relationship. The act had very nearly been incestuous, but thankfully never completed. Shrugging at the man as if to dismiss the whole incident the fairy woman broke into a smile, somehow taking pleasure in the man's sour outlook on love.
"Perhaps it is not so tricky. We just haven't been doing it right." There were many lessons Nayru had yet to learn and romantic love was, evidently, still one of them.
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The man moved closer to her, just as if the two where friends. Truly the relationship between them had been an awkward move from teacher to subordinate. But he knew the fairy child, knew her probably better than any other soul and she still intrigued him even today. Saluce didn’t see the problem with the pairing, childhood friends growing up together, that would have been natural, so it was a surprise that in this case, nature didn’t take its course. Finally thought their conversation had broken from the word game it usually took.
Then her explanation came, brother and sister, and he simply nodded. It wasn’t something he had considered, of course he had never been shy with anyone, but the thought of his sister brought no feelings of passion to him, more revolting the thought than anything else. His hand move to rest on her shoulder and pat it reassuringly then. First loves where hard to forget, or get over. But as soon as he felt the conversation might have taken a more depressing light her cheery voice rose back up to meet him and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh there are many many many ways to love someone” he said alluding to a more mature topic, “but it’s not the loving part that is difficult, it’s finding someone you can live with” he added with a wink, before letting his maw raise with laughter.
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Nayru shook her head, though the smile still played on her lips. It seemed that always Saluce and she were destined to disagree. For Nayru living with others was the easy part. Although she had once more taken up her lonely existence, it would not have been hard to continue on at Cerne Rise with the others, had they stayed. As it were, the apartment was a ghost town and Nayru simply slept where her body fell at night. She could live among whoever, long gone the days of her greenhouse home in the veiled gardens, but love them? Surely she loved them all, but only in the simplest and purest of ways. Any other form of love seemed beyond her.
"Maybe it is just living, in general, that is the difficult part."Nayru shrugged, ready to end the topic there. Love was a part of life after all, and any difficulties that arose from the feelings of man and woman was simply the byproduct of having a pulse. That such difficulties were inescapable seemed a cruel joke by whatever force had breathed air into their lungs initially. And Saluce and she were both alive, it seemed unlikely either would soon be able to leave behind burdens of love and life.
"Saluce, dear friend," the soft voice indicated that they soon were to part ways. "I cannot linger on the borders all day, but surely you will return? If just for a visit?" That the man would accept Ichika as a home again did not occur to the woman, and so simply she waited, hoping for a word that he might show his face once more, though Nayru knew better than to place any true happiness of the fulfillment of other's promises. Hearing the words would have to be enough just then.
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