After Indigo had caught her at the tail end of an emotional breakdown, Cosette had made a promise to herself not to hold herself at such a distance from everyone. She was going to throw herself into training, and force herself to meet his new friend. Since then, things had gotten complicated for her, though. Indigo had been travelling a lot since receiving some difficult news about his family, and his group and grown. She wasn’t even sure anymore who all he had under his care now, but she couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of both jealousy and guilt. There were so many others now it seemed, but if he was going to lead a band she knew there would be even more at some point down the line. It was good he had others willing to follow him, and she was happy for him, but it didn’t stop her from feeling lost. She had never quite managed to find her place among her family when she was young, and that, among many other things, had resulted in her being ousted and left to die. She didn’t think that would happen with Indigo, but she still felt helpless.

As if all of that hadn’t been enough, though, she had encountered a ghost from her own past. Only a short while after her break down, her mother appeared. She had been waiting in the same clearing that Cosette had broken down in, looking as though she knew Cosette would arrive. There had been no surprise on her face when she saw her long lost daughter, just a cold assessing expression. She must not have expected her smallest child to make it so far when she had originally abandoned her though. Cosette’s ability to survive on her own long enough to find a place seemed to have impressed the woman. Or at least it made her willing to give her child a second chance to prove herself. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to prove herself to her mother, but she had always been obedient, and when her mother made demands, she listened. The duty of showing her mother around this place had fallen to her, despite the fact that she barely knew the landscape herself. It had kept her away from the Hallows most days, and the tiny healer in training was exhausted.

Night had fallen and she had left Adhira to return home. Luckily her mother understood she had an obligation to her new pack and had not yet tried to pry her away from it fully. Her sisters were apparently around somewhere nearby, but she was letting them all work out their own paths now, confident that the others would bring glory to her name and bloodline. Cosette suspected that the only real reason Adhira paid any attention to her was because she didn’t want her weakest child building any kind of reputation that could be tied to her if she didn’t have a paw in building that reputation herself. She shook the thoughts from her head though, finding a quiet spot away from everyone else to lay down. Indigo had enough going on and she didn’t want to burden him with her problems again, and she didn’t know anyone else well enough to discuss it with them. She did wonder how her friend might react to knowing her mother was back in her life after the picture she had painted for him. For the sake of her sanity, she hoped her mother would never run into anyone from her new life.

"Speech" || Thoughts

He promised that he wasn’t going to leave Cosette, and he hadn’t, but distance had grown between them. The massive man had his goals and responsibilities to attend to, and wasn’t able to spend all of his time with Cosette anymore. He was always there when she asked for him, but he felt like he hadn’t heard her voice since he asked her to join the future band. She wasn’t ever far from his mind though, he never forgot a promise and sought to find her now. Indigo didn’t see her in the suites and he decided to take a patrol as he searched her her small frame.

Indigo’s massive paws carried him through the now tall grasses of the plains. His pace was slow and his head lifted to the sky to hopefully catch her scent. He wasn’t sure what her daily routine had been, or where her mind was these days. He knew she was struggling and Indigo wanted to give the girl time to either find her head or find her way back to him.

Too much time had passed since they had been together, and Indigo felt himself worrying for the sweet girl. He continued his walk, both patrolling the border and searching for Cosette. Evening had long fallen over the lands and with every step he took more and more stars appeared in the sky above him. Brilliant blue eyes lifted to the beautiful infinity above, he paused for a moment but caught movement from the corner of his eye at the same time the scent of Cosette filled him.

”Cosette?” He called out softly as he turned his huge frame to approach her slowly. She looked much like he left her, lost and confused, as though the space and time that he gave her was far from enough to settle her soul. ”Are you alright?” He followed up even softer as he lowered his haunches beside her, and carefully offered a nuzzle to her neck.

She didn’t see Indigo often. He was always so busy, and now so was she. Hopefully he was enjoying the things that occupied his time more than she was, though. Spending so much time with her mother again was taking a toll on her already frail confidence and as much as she wanted to stop going out there to see the woman, she felt chained to her obligations as a daughter. An argument could be made that Cosette had never truly been her daughter considering she didn’t share a last name with the rest of her family, and that any ties that may have once been between them were severed when she was left to drown or starve to death. It was a mystery to her what kept her going back. Maybe it was compassion, or maybe she was just naive.

His voice felt like home when he called her name though, and while she felt tired and confused and unsure about every aspect of her life, she could feel that he still cared for her when he asked how she was doing. She leaned into his touch as she always did, taking comfort in the familiarity. She didn’t let her mind wander to the others that likely waited for him in the castle. For the moment, she would pretend it was just the two of them. "I’m okay." She smiled softly at him, and while the smile was genuine, it was clear that she was tired. Not in the sense of wanting to sleep, but mentally and emotionally, she didn’t have much left in her. "How have you been?"

"Speech" || Thoughts

Cosette was obviously weary physically and otherwise. Indigo hadn’t been spending much time with her, nor did he have any idea where she was most of the time, that thought alone made him worry. Rue crossed his mind as relief came flooding in when he found her safe and well. He was sure she could have been doing better, he wasn’t sure what was occupying her time but it wasn’t being kind. Cosette leaned into his affection as he nuzzled into her soft warm fur. She didn’t resist or balk, and seemed to settle comfortably beside him.

”Just okay?” He asked with a tilt of his head and concerned look as he pulled his nose from her shoulder and lowered himself to the ground beside her. Indigo rested on his elbows so they were of a closer height. Silently he willed her to go on, but wouldn’t press her for anything she wasn’t ready to tell him. ”What could I do to improve your evening?” He asked her softly, giving her full reign of his time.

”I’m better with you here,” He teased her lightly, never truly comfortable answering the question himself. Was there a moment he actually felt good about where he was and what was going on in the world around him? There was always some sorrow, some trauma, or strife that infected his life.

Indigo Arcturus Fatalis

Warning: Indigo should be considered a Mature Character.

As he settled next to her she could tell her response hadn’t comforted him, but he didn’t press her to see what was wrong. She might have told him if he hadn’t moved the conversation along to ask what he could do for her, but was glad he hadn’t dwelled on what was troubling her. She had burdened him enough with her troubles, and her mother was her own problem to deal with. Adhira was exhausting to be around, and brought with her many memories that Cosette would have liked to forget, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle on her own.

"If you could just stay with me for a while, that would be enough." She wanted to ask him to stay for the night, to pretend for just a little while that it was only the two of them again, but she knew there were others that depended on him too. It would have felt selfish to her to ask him to sleep out in the plains when she knew he had a comfortable place to sleep, and other purple hued girls waiting for him. "It’s strange how quickly everything seems to change. I wonder sometimes if I’ll ever be able to catch up." It wasn’t just how quickly their relationship had developed and shifted, or how quickly his group had grown. The world seemed to be spinning faster and faster each and every day and her pace was just too slow to be able to keep track of it all and it made her shrink away even more.

"Speech" || Thoughts

Indigo trusted that if Cosette wished to tell him what might be bothering her, he didn’t feel like it was his place to press. The Fatalis man did hope that she was aware that she could tell him anything, he didn’t judge and he would be there for her through whatever she needed him to. He leaned against her slightly as she looked up to him with her bright eyes, which looked incredibly tired. He didn’t have an idea about what had called her away from him but Indigo smiled softly as she asked him to stay with her. Her request was open ended, but he thought he could see in her eyes that she needed him for longer than a few moments.

”I’ll stay with you as long as you want,” Honestly Indigo felt himself worrying for her nightly while she kept herself away from the group, he should have come out to find her sooner and spend time with her like this. He promised not to leave her behind, and he would do his best to rectify their relationship. She deserved it and his attention. ”I know what you mean,” he agreed softly. The world seemed to whirlwind around him and he had to run to keep up.

Indigo’s bright sapphire eyes gazed into Cosette’s light seafoam gaze. She looked exhausted, not so much physically but he could see the strain in her beautiful eyes. His heart clenched and Indigo leaned forward tentatively. With careful gentle movements he lowered himself to the ground beside her. Hesitantly, so she could easily rebuke him if he pressed her too hard, he aimed to wrap one massive arm around her delicate shoulders to bring her closer to his chest. If she moved with him Indigo would aim to hug her tightly to his chest. He would remain here like this with her as long as she wanted. With gentle movements Indigo shifted slightly, aiming to press an innocent kiss against her forehead.


Indigo Arcturus Fatalis

Warning: Indigo should be considered a Mature Character.