Basilisk felt a restlessness in his body as he stalked through the Col. It was growing late, and winter was thick around them. He could feel the bite of the cold through his thick coat, though he ignored the chill. Ignita had most likely gotten caught up in one job or another, and hadn't returned to her den yet. A light blanket of snow shrouded her scent trail. But he would find it, he would find her. He always did.

He stuck his nose first in the storage den, where she was most commonly found. She wasn't among the coats, or the racks of meat. He stalked further inside, hunting his prey. He moved through the entrances to the pool, looking for a golden head. She loved the warmth of the water, but that desire hadn't led her here. He backed out of the den, back out into the Col. He stalked to the smithy with a low growl, and found it empty, the forge cold. Where of where had his little Ignita gone?

Ignita stood, her tiger skin coat pulled snuggly around her, looking out over the woods and subsequent plains. First Light Point. A sentry had given her the side eye as she stood and looked out. The vastness of the snowy landscape was awesome. Her tail swished back and forth. How much her life had changed since she half walked up that path the first time. Was she ready for the next step? For the first time stepping foot in the Col she had a true choice, though... in a way, it also didn't feel like much a choice. There was an obvious answer. Perhaps it was stockholm syndrome, or the story of the rose palace in her mind that had her convinced, either way, it was the obvious choice.

She started her way back to the Col, Idalia snuggled in tightly beneath the vest. Her mind was still going on about how it all came to be. She had wished Hazel had not been hurt. She hated hurting anyone. She rounded the corner and her hood kept her vision directly in front of her and kept her from seeing the Warlord. She crossed right in front of him, not even realizing he was there.

"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

When the fork of his tightly wrapped Ignita passed the smithy - and therefore him - his attention zeroed in on her. He watched the way she walked, the swish of her tail, and the way she held herself. Clearly still a little chilled despite the coat his cousin has made her. Perhaps he should line the inside with seal skin to give it better insulation.


He waited until she was fully past before he fell in behind her. Stalking quietly through the snow. A hunting cat, his quarry oblivious. A slow grin spread across his maw as he picked up speed. Silent as an owl, before he leapt. Aiming to swipe at her rump, and keep going. tag, your it. he thought quietly. His little Iggy brought out a different, more playful side of him.

She headed toward the obelisk, it was time for her to sit and get a good look at the darn thing after so long. Obliviously she padded quickly along completely unaware of her pursuer.

Suddenly a thump swiped her rump and she yarked loudly in surprise, spinning around with splayed paws over the snow. Her yark echoed throughout the Col. She was completely taken aback by Basilisk playfully smiling at her from behind her. Her heart raced inside her chest and she was so confused and startled.
"How did you-? I didn't even-!" She shook her head in complete shock at how he had moved so silently over the snow.

"I'm sorry." She clamped her mouth shut and tucked her nose down, the hood hiding her face welling up with tears. Her heart still raced and she faced quickly away from him determined not to let him see she was upset from being so surprised.
Did anyone see them? Were they not supposed to be seen together like this yet? She didn't know. She didn't understand he was playing with her, her mind had jumped to wondering if she had done something wrong.

"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

He skidded back to give himself room to move before she had a chance to respond. He grinned at Ignita as she whirled on him, expecting some sort of retaliation, or tease. Something other than the look of shock that remained on her face before it closed down. Shit. He’d upset her. He moved forward, more carefully. Slowly, softly, as if he didn’t want to startle her. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He told her, stepping close enough to scoop her up into his arms and kiss the top of her head.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, you're okay” He whispered against the top of her head. He forgot sometimes how fragile she could be.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

She heard his softer tones reaching out to her through the hood and she was able to look back at him. He was slowly approaching her in his soft expression and she melted into him. Ignita didn't mean to fall back on her old habits, he had been the one to reinforce them in the more recent past, but she had long forgiven him of that. Her freedom was still newly minted.

She buried her face into his fur as he scooped her up. They were out in the open. Was this what he wanted? With a shuddering sigh, she wiped her tears away, so tired of weeping over every minuscule thing.

"I'm okay. I just... I didn't realize." She hoped one day she could trust his movements when he surprised her. Play in the snow like the fresh young lovers they were. "I'm sorry I'm not as strong and confident as Hazel is."

"Basilisk" || "Iggy"

Basilisk tucked the glimmer of his playful self back down again and gently hugged Ignita to him. “You're not Hazel, and I don't expect you to be.” Would that name ever get any easier to say? He patted the back of her head lightly, watching her carefully for any signs the tears would come out again. “I need you to be Ignita, do you think you can manage that?” He asked, his voice soothing with a hint of tease. 

He tugged her gently up, getting back on his paws. “Come on, let's get out of the cold.” He had a present for her, inspired by something he had seen at the Hallows. He led her gently back to her den. There den, for the moment. He was yet to go back to the den he had shared with Hazel.

She closed her eyes, feeling his embrace through her coat, though Idalia complained from within the folds. She sniffed against the cold as well as the tears and she sighed into him.
She smiled at him then, as he teased her about being herself. She couldn't be anyone else that was for sure!
She nodded and wiped away the wetness on her cheek. "I think I can manage that." She said as she was placed back on her feet. She shook her fur, much to the chagrin of the poor possum pressed between her fur and the hide. The little possum bolted out of the coat for a moment, shook her own thin Auster fur, and dove back in behind Ignita's head inside the hood as the wolf giggled.

She nodded as he led the way, taking a moment to look at the obelisk as she passed by it. She hadn't gotten around to reading it yet but she certainly could make out some of the words on it.

She sighed as she entered the den and tilted her head at him while she shrugged off the winter coat. She wondered if Spider had noticed Bas's absence from the Warlord's suite. When should they tell Spider about them? How would Spider take it?

She turned toward her routine, stoking the fire in the hearth and setting a kettle nearby. She had really made a mess with all... four of them. She wondered if her friendship with Spider was ever going to survive the reveal, or if they had started to guess already. And Hazel... She wondered if they'd see her again.


"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

They entered her little den, which was already starting to fill with her personality. Trinkets of interesting things she had found, gifts from Basilisk, and drawings of plans and works in progress. There was still plenty of space to fill, and he wondered if he should make some more shelves, and build places for her to eventually show off the things she collected.

He watched as she tended to her fire, and set up a kettle. He took a seat near the flames, enjoying the heat as it took away the bite of winter. He waited until Ignita joined him, before grabbing out his newest gift for her. A collection of beautiful crystals that made interesting noises when they moved.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

The fire stoked and the kettle aside, she couldn't help but get lost in the flames for a moment. She truly appreciated how easy it was now to just... exist next to him. Have him watch her as she went about her busy body duties. She glanced at him from over the fire and a smile played over her lips, her eyes darting back down.

She moved around the fire with a glimmer in her eyes, her strides long and confident. A show just for him. She settled down next to him in his tangle of legs when her eyes lit up as he presented her with a gift.

"What's this?" She asked, eternally taken aback by every ounce of attention he gave her. The collection of crystals set her eyes agleam as she shifted through them. Her ears flicked and shifted subtly as she found how they knocked together to make their own tinkling nearly chiming sounds. She sorted the long and skinny quartz of various sizes, then shifted them by the tone she could hear from them.

"Oh Bas! These are incredible!" She was already spinning with ideas of hot to utilize them. Could she hang them and they could chime in a breeze? Catch the sunlight? Oh, the possibilities!

"You're always giving me gifts! What kind of things could I get you?" She asked, turning back to him, a part of her brain coming up with a plan on how to utilize the crystals already.

"Speech"

He watched as she was immediately entranced by the gift. Sorting them by length, and then presumably by sound. At least the sound was soft and gentle enough not to stick his back up. But then, he wouldn’t have gotten her a noisy gift he couldn’t stand. “A wolf was trading them for some pelts.” He explained, he didn’t know if it was something she would enjoy. The pelts were ones he had hunted down and cleaned, and he wanted her to have first pick of enjoyment with them.

When she turned back to him, he grinned lightly down at her as she asked what she could get him. “How about. Hmm… let’s see… you could put your organisational skills to work and sort out the supply room. Ah, no, wait. You did that already.” He lightly brushed his paw across the underside of one of her paws, tickling the beans there. “Oh, I’ve got it. You could design and make some pins for my trade with Avalon?” He huffed a sigh. “No, you did that already too. Damn.” He grinned at her, brushing her toes lightly again.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

As he told her how he obtained them she stretched out and reached for a spool of thin silver wire. She brought it down and carefully chose one of the crystals.
She nodded for Idalia to be part of the craft and use her fine paws. And together they bent several lengths of wire. Ignita would bend it quickly on one spot until it broke from the spool and then handed it to Idalia who figured out how to wrap the wire around the crystal in a way and kept it secure and still chiming when it was knocked gently against the others.

She licked her lips and pressed them together as he teased and lightly brushed the underside of her paw. She looked at him with a coy smile of her own, he was distracting her! She continued to work with Idalia as he went on about the pins and brushed her toes again. She couldn't help but pull them away from him. She smiled as she did so, though, knowing it was jest but she wanted to work on this! Silly Bas couldn't keep his paws off her.

She and Ida had made several of the crystals wrapped in fine wire with a loop on top.

"No, you know what I like, but..." She looked at him for a moment, "How do you feel... like I'm attending to you? Like... How would you like me to show that... I love you?" She asked softly near the end. Saying the words were... Strange still. So new and uncharted.

"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

Ignita started something at his paws, something that involved wire and the crystals he had gifted her. He watched her work, almost mesmerised by the ease in which she did so. He knew she saw the world around him in a different way, saw what could be improved, or turned into something else entirely.

He lowered his head onto one of his paws, watching her work. Not at all offended when she gently tugged her paw away from him. Her mind was already clearly spinning off in new directions as she envisioned the gems into something else. Hmmm… he wasn’t good with emotions, his or others. What was it about her that drew him to her? How could she say she loved him with actions instead of words?

“Touch.” He said softly, not lifting his head. “Brushing against me, reaching for my paw. I didn’t like physical touch as much before I met you. When you do so, I know you're there, and with me, and feeling something.” His voice was still soft, wondering if she would understand what he meant. That touch filled in for a lot of the words he didn’t know how to speak.

"Basilisk Fatalis"

She worked with Idalia together while he thought. Eventually, after adding new crystals she started on making a small hoop and wrapping some of the wire around that. She measured out different spots along the hoop and left the loops open there as she continued a spiraling weave until some of the wires met in the middle.

She then took each wire-wrapped crystal and placed them on each hook. Then she carefully closed the wire loop. Each crystal was close enough to its neighbor that in a gentle breeze, they would chime together softly. It wasn't at all loud or sharp, like the sounds of very early morning birdsong.

As he spoke about touch she glanced around her myriad trinkets and found a length of a small chain. It wasn't the same shade of silver as the wires but it'll do.
She softly glanced at him knowingly, funny how he craved her as much as she craved him. Touch he says, her specialty.

She connects the small chain to the hoop and dangles the wind chime sun catcher from one paw before her, a look of pride at what she had built. She blew on the crystals and they softy chimed and cast a smattering of rainbows on the opposite wall of the fire, flickering with the flames and movement of the quartz.

"Perfect." She whispers.
She knew exactly where she was going to hang it.

Moving quickly she got up and made her way toward... his worst nightmare, a climbable wall. Deftly and with what appeared to be practiced ease she clambered up a couple of shelves and reached her paw towards an old stalactite that had the perfect scoop on it where she could loop the new bauble. But it was slightly out of her reach and she was leaning precariously over the shelving.

"Speech"

When it came to Ignita, touch was his love language. He hadn’t considered that before, and the behemoth of a Warlord twitched a light smile as he watched the small girl finish her craft. She held it up, some form of wind chime and a look of consideration passed her lips. Perhaps he should have taken that as the warning it was. Instead, the young fool watched her with a half smile on his muzzle as she got to her paws, and trotted over to the wall.

Wait.

What was she doing? He shot to his paws the moment she started to climb, and stomped over to the base of the wall. He sucked in a breath. “IGNITA.” He roared, reaching over and swiping at the bottom of her legs. Yes, he was intending to make her fall. So that he could catch her, and control her landing before she did anything even more stupid and dangerous


"Basilisk Fatalis"

The shock of his roar and the swipe to her legs made her jump back in surprise. She slipped. Her teeth clacked sharply together as her chin hit one shelf on the way down. Her shocked surprise made her body push itself away from the wall and her newly finished craft fell to the floor.

Honestly, she shouldn't have been all that surprised. Her intense focus perhaps had made her temporarily forget that there was to be no climbing involved. But she had the perfect spot for it... It was right there... Her golden eyes watched the perfect spot for her new bauble recede away from her as she fell.

It wasn't even that high, was it?

She fell into his waiting arms. She hid her face from him.

"Speech"

Basilisk grunted, trying to help her fall gently to the ground, but he couldn’t save her from knocking her chin before he took her impact and rolled gently with it, depositing her gently on the floor beside him. He kissed her forehead gently and did a quick feel down her pack with his paws, but he couldn’t feel anything amiss.

Once he was sure she was okay, he moved forward and swiped her newly made creation off the floor. He checked that over as well, and gently straightened a part of it. “When are you going to start being more careful?” He asked his Ignita, as he reached up, leaning lightly on the shelves and hung it where he assumed she was reaching for. Height had some advantages.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

He took the brunt of her fall and gently placed her in the ground. She felt his kiss and she opened her eyes and silently watched him and felt him test her body for any breaks or bruises. Her ego and her chin was the only thing bruised out of this instance, though she didn't have much of an ego already.

When he seemed satisfied she was whole he walked over and picked up her charm. Fixed a portion of it and easily hung it up for her in the exact place she had thought it should go.

Oh. OH! He was.... It was like she fully realized he was tall. And not just tall, but the tallest. She really did feel stupid. She just wasn't used to thinking things through like that, or even considered that he would gladly assist in such... Inconsequential measely enterprises. She typically reached out to him for help when she had no other option.

"I don't... I don't know. I just ... Didn't think..." She cast her golden gaze away as she spoke, not sure where to look, an echo of her first accident, merely last season. "It just... It wasn't something I thought to bother you with. It was easy for me to do so I just did." She finally pushed it out. Rubbing the floor with one of her pads. Her ears flat and her gaze seeking sanctuary among the trinkets.

"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

Once her newly made charm was secure, he lightly tapped it so it would swish and sing so she could be certain it was set up the way she wanted it to. He landed lightly back on all four, and turned his head to Ignita, wondering what the fallout would be of causing her to fall. At least his way it had been careful, and controlled. But perhaps that was just a highlight of who he was. Controlling bastard.

He stepped back to Ignita, whose worried stammering and cautious gaze told him of her mind space. “Hey, it’s okay. Just don’t go thinking you're disposable, alright? Your safety comes first.” He told her, kissing the top of her head. “How about a mug of whatever you stuck in that kettle, and you tell me about your day?”


"Basilisk Fatalis"

How did she ever doubt him? She watched the charm swish and sing, doing exactly what she had hoped it would do. It reflected back in a glittering gleam the flickers of the fire into her eyes and across the room. She felt him press his lips over her head again and she felt her worries and stammers melt away. Disposable... Did she really think she was? Had she not been disposable all her life up until this point? Up until she found someone that regarded her safety as paramount over her usefulness.

"You..." She started, as she got up and set the tea on the fire, stocked the coals and added a log, "are a wonder." She finished, looking at him, how did she get so lucky to find someone that cares as much about her as he did?

She stepped back towards him, and pushed herself into his chest and shoulder in an embrace, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder.

She drew in a deep and steadying breath, full of his scent.

She drew back and placed her own soft kiss on his cheek.

She sighed, and accepted any of his returning affections.

She curled up in his arms, waiting for the kettle to boil and steep, and brushed her paws over his arm, tracing the blue patterns in his fur.

"I made some wire in the smithy, and smelted some iron. The delivery of dried meat was finally stored properly. I saw-" she paused, unsure if she should bring this up... but... Maybe it was time, "I saw Spider in the Col today. They still seem off. We should really tell them. They might even already have an idea." Her voice was low, a little sorrowful. With how they had been at the party... She dreaded the conversation, she hoped Spider would understand. Or at least one day forgive... Her.


"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.