Continued from this thread!

Basilisk led her through the gorge and up the north west opening out into the Rogue lands. Her warm fuzzy coat made especially for her last winter kept her nice and warm for this trek. As her toes touched the snow she wondered if she should get boots like Makara has.

“You're a different wolf now to the one that left your desert. Would you go back and face the past as you are now if you could?” Ignita heard him ask as they trekked their way northward.

"Oh! I never thought of that actually..." She replied and let her mind work on the idea. "I don't know... Not on my own. I honestly don't see a reason why I would go back. There's nothing there for me. I don't need the closure if that's what you're suggesting." She mused, fording the gathering snow banks and using his trail to walk through the difficult terrain.

She looked up to catch sight of their destination, but suddenly gasped as she saw the peaks of massive pillars rising over the horizon as they crested a snowy hill. The wind bit at her ears and toes but she was hardly bothered when she saw the mazzive frozen lake! The moon reflects off the surface like a mirror.

"What is this place called?" She asked, hopping her way forward to come alongside him. "What could have made these pillars? Are they ice or rock?" She mused hopping over a bank to a pillar close to the shoreline.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He inclined his head towards her in acknowledgment, it was exactly what he was thinking. He would not easily forget her ptsd, her feelings of not being enough that the desert queen had left her with. But if she ever decided to go revisit her past, that would be her decision. He would not push her, but nor would he forget.

“I’m not sure, you’d have to ask Andy” he said, naming their residential map maker. He was less interested in the sights. Instead, his eyes scanned the horizon, and shifted over the snowy mountains. Keeping an eye out for any potential dangers. Bears, avalanches, and the like. He smirked at Iggy’s little form hopping in the snow beside him. “But I have heard…” he started to say, before grabbing her paw and yanking her suddenly forward. The two were quite suddenly on the icy surface of the lake, and began sliding away from the shoreline immediately. “That wolves can skate along the surface.” He grinned as he extended his claws and let them bite into the ice, dragging them both to a halt.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

She made a mental note to spend some time with Andromeda. She felt like they had been more or less passing like ships in the night. She reached out to touch the strange pillar when suddenly Ingita felt her paw yanked toward him and they were careening over the icy surface of the lake! With uproarious laughter, she clung to him as he skated them both over the ice and away from the shoreline! hey came to a stop, she wasn't sure how, and she giggled at the delightful sensations!

"I've never been... on ice before." She whispered, half fearful half excited. The latter was stronger than the former, trusting him implicitly to hold her. She looked down to see barely that he had used his claws over the ice to halt them. Then beyond that she noticed small bright lights under the surface. She gasped again as the sight took her attention. She reached down with her hind legs to touch the slippery surface, and the plankton responded with a light show to her feeble attempts at getting purchase with her dull claws. She slipped and leaned heavily into the Warlord's embrace with a soft surprised noise.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Her laugh vibrated through his chest and he felt something inside of him lighten. He felt more free than he had in a long time. These moments. They were worth every struggle, every time consuming job and heart wrenching task. Anything to hear her laugh against him now, to feel her body fold against him with trust as he guided them across the ice and to a hult. While he held them there, just off the shoreline he heard Ignitas whisper against him. He leaned his head down, placing his head almost on her shoulder. “Me either.” He admitted lightly. But he'd been pretty sure he'd be able to stop their slide.

He felt her move against him and the ice, and he laughed lightly when he realized what had gotten her attention. A light show beneath the surface of the ice. He couldn't even begin to understand what had caused it. 

He pulled her lightly against him again and slid off, holding her between his arms, his claws on the ice before her. Guiding them slowly in a random circle across the ice, letting their touch light up the world beneath them. “I've been doing some thinking, about the Armada.” He said, voice soft against her fur, light in the crisp cold air. “I… have a terrible need to control.” He had been fighting it at every corner, but it lingered in his soul. Holding its iron claws around them both. He struggled to let go, and fought for every crumb he gave her. He did not know if she had even noticed, but this had been chewing at him for some time now. “I take you to the Hallows to ensure your bonds to me are of your own making. I take you home and give you a rank that I can control. Consort. I give you control over logistics, and I take control of your womb. Give, take. Give, take.” They slid quietly over the lake, leaving a light show in their wake. His Ignita, his dear one, who loved him enough to let him. “Break the chains, my love. Become my Queen.”

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

She quickly glanced up at him in surprise as he admitted this was his first ice skating experience too. The ice beneath them was awash with brilliant glowing orbs of bright blue light, stark against the night around them. His laugh was infectious as she giggled again when he pulled her against him and took off sliding over the frozen lake.

Ignita gasped in awe as they careened over what seemed to be the sky below them. Tiny glowing orbs responding to the energy of their skating. Their movements left trails over the ice and she delighted in every sensation. Despite his admission, she could only marvel at how well he kept his balance.

His voice was clear next to her as he began to muse aloud. She smiled as he mentioned his need for control, her golden eyes soft and warm for him. Her paws were gripping his skin to keep her from falling over. If she had use of one paw she would be caressing his cheek.

He goes on as he takes them over the ice. Speaking about the events of their lives in a light she had made efforts to ignore. Here he was bringing these moments forward in a way she was surprised he could admit.

His plea was met with careful silence. Her eyes danced over his face with concerned thoughtfulness. Her mind running at breakneck speed. He knew it took her a few moments to process something so she felt no need to request him to wait. Her silence wasn't any indication of denial in any way she just had to think it through. Her eyes drifted away from his face, her brow furrowed in thought as her gaze caught one of the strange ice pillars as they skated passed.

She had never aimed for so high a title. She had never even dreamed of sitting herself next to Basilisk as his mate in the first place. All she had requested of him was that their children, her children be treated not like chattel.

Finally, her thoughts gathered into a concentrated effort to speak and she brought her attention back to his face.

"Two things," She started, "What brought this about? And... what would change?" She asked seriously. Unsure of where he was going with this. A title change could just as much be a true change or simply an updated nameplate. She wanted to know why. She always wanted to know why. Another princess may have jumped at the chance to be named Queen but Ignita... Titles meant little, she had always struggled to operate with a status quo, making friends with slaves, etc.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He took her silence in stride. He knew sometimes she could take some time to come to her thoughts. She allowed herself those moments, while in truth he often spoke in thoughtless haste. It was the balance between them, and he glided across the ice, leaving her to her thoughts. Looking at the perfect, thoughtful brows that dipped on her face. He loved this wolf. He loved her with all of his being, and he wanted to grow old with her. He knew what he wanted, and he knew what he must do to get it. He had to relinquish control. To her, only to her. The one he wanted to possess the most.


He let out a soft, huffed laugh at her question. “I gave you control tonight to decide how we will deal with my mother. It made me realize… how seldom I give you full reign.” He dragged his claws into the ice, sliding them to a gentle stop. He held her in his arms, looking down at her golden form, framed in the moonlight and bathed from light beneath them. He kissed her nose. “Because I want you to be my Queen. I don't want you to have a measure of control here and there. I want to live and die with you. With you as an equal. I want you to feel you have the authority to challenge me. To make decisions. That this pack isn't mine, but ours.”

She felt him adjust their pace over the ice. Coming to a slow and graceful stop. Every point of contact with him was warm and safe as he spoke his realization out loud. The way the moonlight framed his face and the blue light from below lit his features, was almost otherworldly and magical. She smiled and squinted her eyes at his sweet kiss landing on her nose. She let out a pleased sound in a wistful sigh.

To hear him say the words was typically different than when things played out. She knew his penchant for control. His steadfast security and quick decision-making helped her feel secure in her own way. Though the potential of his word had already been displayed from earlier tonight.

Her gilded gaze tilted with her head as he spoke. He was earnest, he was intending to make her equal to him in every way. They had their strengths, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt he would still overpower her if he chose to. She had to admit the title of Queen honestly scared her. She had grown comfortable and complacent in the role she had occupied already. To become Queen... felt like being on a pedestal too high for her. Worried like Icarus she would get too close to the sun. Was it the decision-making she was worried about? Or the lives that her decisions would affect? More than they already do? That look of fear washed over her features before she swallowed to steady her nerves and speak up, her claws dug into his fur more than just to keep her steady on the slippery ice.

"Then... what of Teegra? What if... What if I'm an awful queen? What if MY decisions are the wrong ones?" She asked, echoing the very conversation that started their night back at him. Her face then thudded against his chest, was she ready for such a change as this? Would he catch her if she fails? Would he keep her if she falters?

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He saw the flash of fear race across her features. He may not have been groomed from birth for this position that was meant for his father, but he had still witnessed his grandfather's ruling, his father had pushed him to be his best, even if his means were often cruel. His grandfather had given him what help he could before he had walked away. Ignita was stepping into this with a great deal less experience. She knew how to be compliant, but did she know how to rule?

He took her paw gently in his own, and brushed it lightly across the ice. Letting it spark life in the strange world beneath them. “You and I, we aren’t like my grandfather. Or my father. We don’t inherently believe we are making the right choices, we second guess and we worry. I’m rash, and you are patient. We are a balance, little fire. That’s all I’m asking you to be. Balance me. I don’t need you to be perfect-”Only mine. He swallowed down the possessive words, and replaced them with another. “-I just need you to be beside me.”

"Speech"

She felt him take her paw and watched as their combined touch over the ice set the magical gleaming afire. As if the they were truly setting the ice aflame, together. His breath against her ear never failed to soothe her and assuage her fears.

She watched the gleaming lights as she let his words sink in. His warm body around her a shield against the frigid landscape. They would image each other. This request meant something to him and it meant something to her. Was he truly willing to treat her as an equal? Or would the change be in title only? She had doubts he would leave his plans with Teegra alone, deciding to spare her the pain of childbirth for her benefit. But she had already promised to allow the business with Teegra play out.

If Ignita were to be queen… would she intend to change much of the Armada? Or very little? And would the other rulers recognize her status and respect her as well?

Being perceived in a space such as queen felt very much like being fitted for a crown far too large for her head. But for him…

To be his balance… for him to prove to her she was truly free… she could try for a time. She’ll take on the mantle. She’ll either grow into the role or he’ll prove to her that it’s truly only a title. The only difference in knowing was time.

She drew in a breath. She closed her eyes to the magical world for a moment as she gathered her voice and the words she wanted to say. She opened her eyes and found his face. She drew her dainty paws up to under his chin and gently brought his nose closer to her face. To see eye to eye. She tenderly kissed his nose.

“Then yes. I will be your Queen.” She declared softly. Pulling him further against her for a few passionate kiss.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He leaned into the kiss she started, returning its tenderness as he felt the warmth of her fur against him, her muzzle on his. When they parted, he was a little breathless, and they’d slid a little further across the ice. “Good. We’ll figure out the rest out in time.” He said, offering her a half smile. He wasn’t sure he’d ever fully gain his confidence, but he knew how to pretend it was there.

He slid his claws into the ice again, pulling them both to a stop. “Do you want to try skate beside me?” he suggested, giving her a moment to try for herself.

"Speech"

Breathless and emblazoned she hummed as they parted. The ice slid beneath them. A wondrous wintery scene displayed in all its midnight glory. Yes, they would figure things out in time. For now though, perhaps they could have a little fun.

She felt him shift and pull them into another stop over the ice. She silently gasped and looked up into his eyes at the offer to skate beside him! Oh, she didn't know! She'll surely fall! But she nodded regardless. Biting her tongue, too excited to say something.

Her paws met the ice next to him. One paw immediately slipped out and she let out a cry of surprise before she righted herself and he caught her. Her breath came in starts and gasps as the biting cold bit into her pads that had only known sand, soil, and stone. Her movements sent the glittering world below them into a frenzy of light, rippling away from them like a ground aurora.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Basilisk huffed a gentle laugh as he helped to steady Ignita. “Bend your knees a little, dear one. Don’t be rigid.” He advised her. The practiced warrior had already found his balance. But his claws, dug into the ice as they were, kept him by Ignita. He would not leave her side while she practiced something new, and a little scary.

With the world beneath the ice, and the sky a brightness of stars and moonlight above them, he felt like this moment was taken completely apart from their lives and responsibilities. He remembered what it had felt like to be a child, to do something simply for fun.

"Speech"

"Bend your knees."

"Right-Right!" That wasn't something she came by naturally. Even when he was teaching her to fight she had squatted too deeply or stood too rigidly. She giggled at the advice, the air whistling into her nose as she tried again to subtly bend her knees and find her balance.

"Op!" She exclaimed, unbalanced again. "I can do this! I can do it!" She said, her cheeks numb from smiling. With a breath, she leaned on Bas and finally got her footing. The glee in her eyes as she finally got the hang of it where lit by a sudden soft early snowfall. Bright tiny flakes drifted from the sky around them. She reached out and touched one with her tongue with another giggle.

Skating beside him... It was like a dream... a dream she never wanted to leave.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"