Avantika had gotten out of bed that morning with a mind to do a lot of patrolling. It was still one of her duties after all, and one she found herself liking more and more now that it wasn't her one desperately-clung-to coping mechanism. It was familiar, but no longer was it that in a bad way. Instead it was a good time, where she could just be alone with her own thoughts, murmuring to herself half-dreamed ideas without needing them to be thought out yet. She'd been on a kick recently of trying to improve all those areas of her life which had fallen into disrepair during her... lapse of judgement. The really difficult change, but also one that she knew was important -- and important largely because it was so hard for her -- was in her social life and relationships. She focused on work, and that would never change, but she was tired of not really having friends. She'd neglected one relationship to the point of catastrophe, but there were others that had also been forgotten about in her obsession with safety, safety, safety. She sighed suddenly, not paying attention to anything but her own mind.

"Speech"

Mercury had made his way down the bottom floor of the castle, and out to the courtyard beyond. As was their routine, Solar left his perch in the little balcony that circled part of the Vanguard’s room and glided down to meet him. He paused for a short count to allow the bird to land effortlessly on his back, and then started up again a light trott.

Making his way towards the starlit plains as he considered the layout of his day. Some patrols, and then checking in with the Aegis family to see if anyone needed escorting or could fit in a round of training with him.

He reached the plains and was about to head to the far side of the field, when he found a familiar face. She looked rather lost in thought and he angled his path until he was beside her. “Good morning, Commander” He said politely. “Patrolling this morning?”

"Speech"

Avantika didn't even notice the Vanguard coming up before he spoke to her. Polite as he had been when they'd spoken last, he still managed to make her fur jump a bit. "Hmm? Yeah, good morning," she replied, mentally shaking herself back to reality. She stood a little straighter, trying to act as if he hadn't just stumbled upon her so lost in her own thoughts. Sometimes it seemed like she was always either full focus and vigilance or completely blind to the world, and today she'd landed on blind. But when she was patrolling, she really should pay more attention; what if there actually was something dangerous out there?

Before Mercury could leave, Avantika asked, "How are you doing, Mercury? How are your lessons going?" He intrigued her. He was pretty new to the Hallows, at least when compared with her, but clearly strong and had earned enough respect from Art to acquire a high rank in the pack. He cared about his rank, too -- Avantika wasn't sure if she would have challenged straight from knight to commander if she had only joined so recently. He had a past he didn't want to talk about, though that was nothing Avantika could judge. He seemed nice and had said that he thought the two of them would be able to work well together. Sure, they weren't friends, but she liked him well enough.

"Speech"

Mercury paused as the Commander reacted in surprise to his presence. Giving her a moment to adjust, and return from whatever thoughts had taken her so far away. “I’m going well, the lessons are coming along. Art’s kids are eager to learn, and that helps” He said conversationally. “Where were you, just before?” He asked then, giving an indication towards her head and her thoughts so she would understand what he meant.

As he conversed with Avantika, Solar stretched out his wings and leaped from Merc’s back. Drifting closer to the ground for a short second before his wings beat the air, lifting him higher. He would keep an eye on the borders while the two wolves spoke.


"Mercury"

Avantika nodded as Mercury told her that he and his lessons were going well and that the kids were eager to learn. "That's good," she replied, simply to have something, anything to say. She didn't want him to think that she was normally absent-minded or misfocused.

He asked where her mind had been at. She hesitated for only a moment, before, with shame prickling over her skin in a way that was hopefully imperceptible, giving up the honest answer. "Just thinking, I guess. A bad habit of mine," she said with a slight laugh. She wasn't quite ready to tell him her whole messy story -- both because it was uncomfortably personal and was one of the worst times of her life, and because she still wanted him to respect her, at least a little bit, and how could he if he knew how crucially she had failed back then? How could anyone truly trust her again, now that she'd proven she'd fall apart at any trouble? Her happy face slipped for only a moment before she realized and smiled slightly once more, though it no longer met her eyes.

"Speech"

Mercury settled himself more comfortably in front of Avantika, sensing that they would be conversing for at least a little while. He watched as she seemed to hesitate before answering, and for such an innocent answer it seemed to elicit a strong response from her. “It’s easy to get caught up in our thoughts” He said agreeably, but he was still watching her closely. He saw the hesitation, the uncertainty, and what seemed almost like shame. But he didn’t know her well, and assumed he was reading her wrong.

She had lost her smile however, and when it returned it was a smaller thing, an expression only. “I know I… brushed you off, last time we spoke” He had not been ready to answer her question. “But if you wish, I’ll tell it to you now.” His voice was gentle, rising in cadence at the end for the question both spoken and implied. If she wished, he would be an ear for her troubles, and trust her with his own.

"Mercury"

Truth be told, Avantika often didn't even know herself why things that seemed to not mean anything at all to anyone else around her seemed to be so important to her. Maybe she was a perfectionist and maybe she was fearful of others' negative reactions to things she did, but why they felt so much like moral failings to her was beyond her. But they weren't right, either. She couldn't stand not being right. Mercury responded casually enough, like he hadn't noticed, which was nice of him if he was pretending or nice of the elusive fates if he wasn't.

She couldn't help but blink in surprise when Mercury continued. She knew exactly what he was talking about. His story. Where he'd been before the Hallows. She'd asked him why he'd left wherever-it-was, since he'd said that he'd been a prince there, and he hadn't given her an answer. She'd thought it a fair decision; she didn't like talking about many of her own experiences either. But he was reaching out now, and so she'd listen, whether she wanted to tell him about her story in turn. "If you'd like to tell it, I'd be happy to listen."

"Speech"

He nodded his head briskly, glancing away. It would be easier to tell it if he wasn’t meeting those curious blue eyes. He wasn’t entirely certain why he had decided to go ahead with this. Perhaps it was seeing how she was struggling with something herself. His way of letting her know she wasn’t alone. Whatever the reason, she was his commanding wolf, and family. For being a part of this pack he had chosen to call home.

“My parents ruled a pack named Hieronymus, along the shores of Illious - the continent of my birth.” He began, his voice falling into a story teller's lilt. “Our pack lived along a ridge that overlooked a lake, and the singing trees. With the ocean at our back, we had access to a port, and did much of our trading that way.” He paused, knowing he was going into more depth about his family then he needed. Delaying the tragedy that inevitably came next.

“I was at sea when the volcano we believed dormant erupted. The place of my birth was smothered, the landscape changed. I am here because nothing of my birthplace exists now.” He said matter of factly. “I am not a flighty person, I don’t give my loyalty on a whim. I chose the Hallows, and intend for my children's children to continue to find a home here.” He said softly. “I couldn’t save my pack, I couldn’t save my crew mates. I will not let the Hallows vanish as easily.”


"Mercury"

Mercury began by describing his parents' pack. Avantika let his voice act as a narrator, imagining a happy family much like the Hallows, a sweeping ocean, a busy port. Dread rose in her stomach for him. Something bad had happened to them. That was why he was here, why he had left. He confirmed it after a pause. A volcano. Avantika didn't really know what that was, but its eruption was bad enough to smother his home and kill his whole family pack. She couldn't imagine what that must have been like. Being away, coming back to find everyone she knew dead. It was the worst thing possible.

He finished by declaring his loyalty to the Hallows, saying that they would not vanish so easily. "It won't," Avantika promised, quietly and full of surety. "We won't let it." I won't let it. Her mouth kept moving, forming words before she even realized what was happening. "I wouldn't be alive without the founder of the Hallows. My mother, Resin. She... She took me in when my biological parents abandoned me on the border of Hallows' land, six months old and..." and tiny, and useless, and terrified, were the words she couldn't say. "The day she told me that I could stay was the happiest day of my life. I vowed that day that someday I would make it up to the pack, to my new family. That I would die for them if they needed me to." She stood silently then, suddenly very self-conscious and not looking at Mercury. She'd never said so much to anyone other than Art, recently at least. It pleased her, the idea that the newer wolves and pups of the Hallows didn't know that she wasn't born here. That she wasn't biologically a Carpathius. But for some reason, she trusted Mercury.

"Speech"

Mercury nodded, and perhaps that was why he had told Avantika. Why he was starting to trust her. She understood, and she would fight for this pack, their home. She would have his back, and the back of those he cared for. Artorias knew what he was doing, declaring her the winner. Though it had been hard for him to accept, he did so now.

He had heard a little about Resin before, the founder of the Hallows. He hadn’t known that she was Avantika’s mother as well. Foster relationship was no weaker than blood. Not to Mercury. “I understand” Mercury said softly, reaching forward, he bumped his shoulder gently against her, and he smiled. “And we’ll make sure of their safety. Together.” Two lost souls, who had found their light in the Hallows.


"Mercury"

Mercury listened. He didn't tell her that she had too much loyalty or say that she shouldn't worry so much about the safety of the pack like Art would have. Maybe he did understand. Maybe she'd finally found someone who saw the dangers of the world as strongly as she did. Art and those wolves born and never leaving the Hallows were sometimes too... not dumb, of course, but trusting. And they deserved to be able to keep that sense of safety! But at least one of them had to be the suspicious one. Avantika had never trusted the world outside of her pack, and so far she'd never met anyone that contradicted that belief.

He spoke softly, confirming that yes, he understood, and bumped her shoulder gently. He promised that they would keep the pack safe together. Avantika smiled back at him. It wasn't a cure-all for her anxiety, but it helped, knowing she wasn't alone. "I'm glad you're here," she said. "The Hallows is lucky to have you."

"Speech"

Mercury let his thoughts wander for a moment, before shaking his head and giving Avantika’s forepaw a friendly pat. “I’m glad you're here, too.” He agreed gently. It would be his life's mission to see the Hallows safe. He had a feeling Avantika would be a strong ally in that regard. He knew he had at least a little bit of resentment in losing the fight, though he was too even-tempered to have let it show. He let it go now. Releasing his hold on it as he accepted that she was the right wolf for the job.

“The Hallows is lucky to have you, too. So, were you heading out on a patrol?” He asked, indicating towards the border with his muzzle. Perhaps they could take it together.


"Mercury"