It was night in the swamp, frogs were croaking, the moon was high in the sky. Cierzo had slipped away from her brother, her protector as he slept. She did not want him to see her as she truly was- a disgusting mess. Cie was hyperventilating- her breaths coming erratically in great heaves; a nightmare still playing in her mind as she ran to escape it. Her blue eyes were darting to and fro- shadows scaring the woman even more as salty tears began to stream down her beautifully, horrified face. She didn't know where she was going, she just needed to get away from her brother. Anything so he didn't have to see her now.

"Ah!" But in her haste she would trip over herself, her body flailing into a roll and directly into the base of a tree with a soft yelp. Cierzo was a heap of blush fur, her tail tickling her nose as her tears still fell with more shame. She couldn't even run right. The woman did not bother to right herself just yet- a sob running through her body and out of her delicate jaws.

speech

The southern territories were a nice respite from the freezing lands further North. There were still reminders of winter, and the occasional fall of snow clearly made its way this far. 


For this reason, she had found a nice hallowed out tree to camp in for the night. The enclosed area helped with the cool night air, and being able to reach out and touch bark on either side reminded her a little of home. Of sleeping with her siblings. 


It was easier at night to remember she was homesick, curled up alone in the dark. She was dozing lightly, not really sleeping when there was a scuffle outside her tree. She raised her head, and peeked out the opening just in time for a wolf to fall practically at her paws. "Erm, hello there?" She said blinking in the dim light down at the wolf. "Would you like a hand up?"

She didn’t think the situation could get any worse, until a voice rang out almost directly above her. And it was feminine- definitely not her brother. It was a bit of a relief, until it wasn’t. Cierzo frantically righted herself in shock; peering up at the giant.. Woman? No, it was a young girl! Cie cleared her throat, the thickness of her crying making it quite the endeavor. “I am so s-sorry! I ruined your sleep…” Pitifully, Cie lowered her gaze to accept a scolding- only something else caught her eye. Her eyes focused past her blurred vision to see just how horrible she looked; her limbs entirely coated in swamp. Mud and mire caked onto her delicate figure, and all of Mistral’s hard work to keep her clean in the swamp- gone to waste.

A new onslaught of tears began to fall onto her muddy paws, a visible droop in her posture as well. She was so muddled of mind that she hardly registered it could be dangerous here alone, naively letting her guard down whilst crying at the door of a stranger.

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She blinked, expression owlish with surprise when she realised the stranger was apologising to her. Once she realised that, she took in a more complete look of the woman's appearance. Face streaked with mud except for rivets that ran down her cheeks where her tears had cleaned her fur.


Raka was quick to crouch down beside the older woman, resting a paw against her shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay." She said, struggling for a moment to think what to do. "Come on, let's get you into my den and we can get you cleaned up, and maybe you can tell me what's the matter?" She suggested, before moving to hook a paw under the woman's shoulder to help her up.

Cierzo felt positively useless. Just as her parents had always screamed at her. Just as her mind did in their place now. Not a thing she did ever turned out right, not once in her life- unless someone else had planned it. Cie fought her tears, her bright eyes peering up at the girl whom was helping her regain her composure with a helping paw. The girl was dark orange in the dim lighting, with dark horns to boot. But her eyes shone bright blue despite the darkness of the night. Cie was helpless but to follow the suggestion of the stranger- her soul unwilling to say no. “O-okay. Thank you…” She spoke in a soft, embarrassed tone- knowing full well just how horrible she must have looked. Cierzo never had any fight in her, so even if this girl was about to do something bad to her there would be no stopping it; not with her brother away from her. And that had been of her own volition. Anything so he did not see her behaving so wretchedly.

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The older girl was certainly a mess, she seemed hardly aware of her surroundings as Raka helped her to her paws. She guided her into the hollowed tree. With the two of them, it was certainly crammed. Raka clung to the back of the tree in an attempt to give the stranger a little more space. Even then, parts of them touched. It was inevitable.

“I’m Raka” She said in way of introduction as she let her weight fall to her hunches. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” She asked, voice soft and gentle as she attempted to use a paw to brush some of the debris from the woman’s coat. It didn’t even cross her mind to think that there might be a danger out there that had chased this wolf.

"Speech"

The woman allowed herself to be led inside the tree without a struggle. She was far too exhausted from the running and the tumble she had taken, not to mention the crying that had left her drained of energy. Though, she would never have put up a fight regardless of the orange girl's intentions anyways. She settled into a hunched over sitting position, her toes touching the now named Raka.

“I-I am Cierzo.” Her voice was a whisper of a thing, pitiful and ashamed of being seen as she was. But she quickly tacked on her last name, that important surname she and her brother had given themselves. “Cierzo Anemoi.” Cie held in the flinch that threatened to shake her entire body as Raka brushed muck from her coat, eyes darting up to meet the other female's gaze as she took in the gentle tones of her voice. They had similar eyes, but Cierzo’s were a tad bit darker and duller. She bit her lip, gaze falling to the pretty chest and forelimbs of her new acquaintance. “I… had a nightmare of something… that happened to me.” She shouldn’t be telling the girl this, she shouldn’t be telling anyone this. Fear prickled the back of her neck and traveled her spine, eyes stilling to stare blankly at the paws of Raka.

speech

"I'm very glad to meet you, Cierzo. I love to hear stories of who people are and where they've been. But only if they want to tell it." She said, her voice soft and musical. Speaking for the sake of speaking, to fill the silence in the little hollow in a bid to put the other wolf at ease.


She noticed how still the other wolf held herself when she brushed her coat and let her paw fall back to her side. She twisted slightly to rummage behind her and grabbed a bowl half filled with water that she collected in case she was thirsty in the night. "You can use this to wash some of the dirt from your face and paws if you wish" She suggested, leaving it near the other woman. There was something oddly fragile about this girl, and it was something Raka wasn't accustomed to. Despite being only a yearling herself, and not a very well travelled one at that (yet). She felt older then this teary eyed woman.


"I'm sorry. Sometimes it helps to chase away a nightmare by talking about it. But if you don't want to do that, perhaps I could tell a story?" She suggested, wanting to distract Cierzo from whatever had frightened her.

It was.. Odd to hear of someone pleased to meet her. Usually she was standing behind her brother, protected and isolated from all manner of conversation; mostly for the best. Cierzo did not take negativity well, so it did help with her anxieties in the end. But stories? Who… was she? Could she even tell another soul such a tale? Cie was scared, and it must have shown in her mannerisms due to the effort Raka took to ease her.

The bowl set in front of her was left pristine, Cierzo focusing on her reflection in the dark as best she could, and in turn peering at Raka through the water’s mirror effect. A small feat to avoid direct eye contact.  “Story?..” She was not ready to share her own story, but perhaps… hearing of another would give her the desire to. She had not been hurt yet… maybe this girl was safe to.. Talk to? Other than Mistral?

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The woman ignored the water, but there was little Raka could do about that. Perhaps when the mud dried and grew crusty and itchy she would make use of it. She straightened a little, taking on a more serious pose as she looked at the older wolf. "Very well" she agreed, and cleared her throat preparing herself for a long bout of talking. "My family believes that all of us hold an empty reservoir of stories to be filled. I was given this stone the day my eyes opened. The day that marked the beginning of what would be a long collection of stories." She said, gently flicking the blue stone with a paw. "When I reached my first year of age, my father sent me out into the world to begin my own collection of stories. My journey is at its beginning, so I have only one to tell so far" She said regretfully. That was so embellished that it scarcely kissed the truth. But that was the beauty of stories, you could mould them to your desires. She took in a slow breath, and her posture subtly changed. Moving into a story teller's pose, working to catch the light. Her voice deepened, catching the emotions of the telling. "This stone is to capture the moment I met a silver tongued wolf who swore their life to catching the rogues of the world. Her destiny is to root out evil where it might fester. The path she walks is a dark and lonely one, but her heart holds all the light she needs to see the nuisances of the world by." She said, and her expression deepene into a smile. "I crossed paths with her as she hunted a den of wolf-killers. She had little time to tell me her tale, but she bestowed upon me a kiss to remember her by." She wished she had been thinking more clearly at the time, and actually captured her story. But until they met again, she would create an elaborate life for her to live by. She continued on, launching into a tale of a wolf who cleverly routed out wolves that had set up camp to trick and capture wolves to eat. "Speech"

Raka went on to explain the purpose of the small stones dangling from her horns. How the beliefs of her family had been bestowed upon her at birth. A collector of… stories? It was an odd thing to be told, for one so used to being sheltered - travel was.. Unheard of for a woman. It was… incredible for a young woman to be doing it all by herself. Cierzo blinked in surprise, still looking at Raka through the water’s reflection, whilst her tears began to dry against her cheeks. She was enthralled from the moment Raka’s story of her second stone began.

A wolf of a silver tongue. A woman. A rogue hunter. A… hero. Cierzo was taken aback by the knowledge that a female was out there, doing all those things without fear. It was extraordinary. She didn’t know… women could be like that. A hunter of wolf-killers. How had she done it? Was it quite horrible? Did she show mercy? Did they plead with a woman to spare them? Cierzo’s gaze darted up to Raka’s, her fear of eye contact forgotten for a moment. “Do heroes kill?” They had to, of course they did. Her brother had killed her husband, and he was her hero. Heroes could be killers. They could kill if they needed to. They had to if it was the only way. Her thinking shifted into a skewed train of thought, images of blood and eviscera flashing behind light blue eyes.

speech

Raka finished her tale, and looked at the smaller orange wolf. Her tones were more subtle than Raka’s, with swirls of dark browns through her coats. Not that she could fully see or appreciate them through the layers of mud that still clung to this wolf. The only part of her that was fully clear was the green tint of her eyes, which seemed duller and sadder than Raka believed they could be. She was surprised at the question the wolf asked, and wondered what it hinted at with this wolf's own story. Perhaps she was a wolf who wished she had found a hero a little earlier on. Raka was still sheltered enough to not fully understand what that meant, but she answered as best she could. “I imagine so, it doesn't make sense to lock wolves up. Killing would be the only way to rid the world of them. Are there any stories you’d like to tell me, Cierzo?” "Speech"

Cierzo’s eyes were starved for an answer by the time Raka had responded- which truly had not been long at all. That part of her that still had a difficult time accepting the changes their lives had taken so drastically fed ravenously on the other girl's words. Yes. The short answer was yes. Heroes did kill. She nodded absently to herself, still maintaining the doe eyed stare she held upon Raka.

And then all at once she realized she’d forgotten herself. Immediately her gaze fell back to the bowl of water’s reflection, her attention focused on the darker stone of the set dangling from Raka’s horns. Should she tell? Could she? Her story… Well, she wasn’t sure what the other girl would think. Cierzo herself had no such opinions, she only had the fear within her heart and the trauma her mind still carried… She gulped, fidgeting with small muddy paws before her wisp-like voice came to her. “We- I was raised to be perfect, and I had to be. Always. But I wasn’t, and when I was married- my- my husband immediately realized I was flawed..” She wasn’t sure the young girl would be able to understand the concepts, but she seemed far more experienced than Cierzo herself.

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She knew she had Cierzo’s eyes on her as she spoke, and Rake found herself eating up the attention. This was what she wanted. She wanted to be a storyteller, she wanted to have epic tales to regale an audience with. This was just one wolf, and a rather sad one at that. But for a moment, Cierzo could forget herself. Forget her troubles, and be a part of another story. Then it was over, and Cierzo blinked, and looked away from her. Raka felt herself shrink a little more down, having stood tall and proud as she spoke. She tilted her head to the surprise as Cierzo spoke. “Everyone is flawed. We all have to start somewhere, and we all fall. Life isn’t about being perfect, faultless. It's the time's we pick ourselves up and try again that define us. That’s where the stories are found.” "Speech"

Cierzo was listening to the words coming from Raka's mouth, but she wasn’t really hearing. Her thoughts focused and wrapped around the concept that Karaka had introduced- that she was essentially not meant to be perfect. Not meant to be? At all? Then why had she been pushed so hard? There was no way it was possible. “But I had to be perfect.” The smaller woman’s frame began to tremble and tense, her voice coming a bit louder and hoarser. “If I had been, he wouldn’t have- he wouldn't have… hurt me.” In the end though, Cierzo could not detail her trauma, in fear of scarring the young girl just as she had been. Light blue eyes tried to find an answer in Karaka’s gaze, a pleading look across her gentle, muddied face.

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Raka opened her mouth and then closed it again, momentarily dumbfounded by the woman's words. It certainly explained some of her shyness, the tears… she opened her mouth again, her expression setting into something determined. "Sounds to me like his desire for perfection was to cover his own flaws. His fault, not yours." She told the woman. She raised a paw as if to pat the other woman, and then hesitated. Understanding the gesture would not be appreciated. She let her paw fall back to her side, but she felt fidgety, restless.


A decision came to her quickly after that. She didn't just want to hear stories, she wanted to live in them. What better way to start than here? "You deserve your own life, Cierzo, not the one your husband expects of you. I bet if we leave now we can get you out of here before he even knows you're missing."

But… the things Raka was saying were… impossible. It had always been ingrained into her skull that she was the imperfect, flawed one. That she had to do her very best and beyond to be worthy of the life she had been given. To make the value of her life equate the price she had incurred upon her parents. She didn’t know what to believe. A tear fell from her cheek, and dropped into the bowl of water below.

Karaka was speaking again, and it turned Cierzo’s face into a distorted mess of sorrow and relief. “No… you don’t understand.” She said, the words falling from her tongue lightly. “He’s already dead.” Her sweet face, as muddied as it was with clean lines stemming from fallen tears, slowly brightened with a smile. Yes, because in the end that man was dead. And she was alive. He had suffered, just as he had forced agony upon her. “Raka… I should go now. My hero is waiting.” Her voice a gentle monotone, with eyes far away from here.

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Well that was surprising, but perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Cierzo had already given her all the pieces of the puzzle. She had asked if hero’s killed, after all. Someone had already looked after this wolf. Her mind immediately began to question what this wolf was like. This hero that had swept Cierzo away from her terrible life. “Do you really have to?” She asked, surprised that Cierzo wished to leave already. She felt they had barely gotten started in getting to know each other. She wanted to know more about this wolf, through that balanced carefully with her desire not to be seen prying in a way that would upset this wolf. "Speech"

‘Do you really have to?‘ The words snapped Cierzo back from her thoughts, eyes slightly widened as she considered the question from the younger girl carefully. Raka did not want her to leave. Why? She had only cried and proved her worthlessness in front of the other girl so far, what more was there? She would only embarrass herself further. Cie looked back to the ground, the bowl’s reflection returning her confused expression back at her. “Well, okay..” She did not want to refuse when the girl had expressed an interest in her ‘story’, but telling it in greater detail was impossible for Cierzo as she was now. So instead, she tried to force herself to look up and face Raka ; proper conversational etiquette.

“Y-you want to be a storyteller..? What if you happen across someone wicked?“ Cierzo allowed herself a selfish question, one that was partially eerie in nature. Cie did not know that was odd, though. She could only imagine what she might have experienced without her Es by her side.

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Raka gave Cierzo a pleased smile when she decided to stay a little longer. The horned girl knew that this wolf's hero was waiting for her, so she probably shouldn’t hold her up for too long. Still, it was nice to have someone to converse with. She felt like she hadn’t done nearly enough of that since her big adventure had started. She missed being around people more often.

She blinked in surprise at the smaller wolf's question, and tilted her head slightly to the side. The gems in her horns swayed with the motion. “Well, then I ask them their story of course. Or I try to trade it from them” Perhaps she was sheltered or naive. Perhaps a part of her believed that nothing bad could happen to her.


"Words"