rattle the cage

ASHE I'm not a girl.    Kaida fell in step beside Ashe as they left the crumbling ruin behind. Ashe stretched her arms as she walked, and with a subtle touch of water magic, quickly dried from her sweaty morning. She glanced back once to the two companions, and Soot was using his messy network of webs to try and climb to the very top of one of Auni's antlers, one of his eight legs slipping every time he let hiccupped.    She was smiling when she turned back to Kiada, and her brows rose. "A vulture," she repeated, resting her arm over the top of her satchel. "That's badass." She tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear -- it was getting too long again -- as they walked, moving easily through the busy street. "I'm a wolf," Ashe said, and she couldn't quite hide the hint of pride that crept into her voice. Her eyes found th vulture, and her mouth quirked up into a half smile. She almost didn't say it, wanting to keep something secret in her arsenal, but for all she knew, Amalia already told her, "I can change into a hummingbird too. But I am a wolf first."    The way to the Rathskeller was straightforward, though the streets were crowded. Soot was soon back between Auni's antlers and hanging on for dear life, as if the luxere wasn't being absurdly careful with the wine spider. Ashe glanced up at the sun, still high in the sky, and she cast a wry smile to Kiada. "You day drink often?" Her smile flared bigger for a heartbeat, and she let out a huff of a laugh. "I mean no judgement, fuck me if I didn't go through a solid two months perpetually drunk last LeafChange."    Her smile fell then, electric eyes on the ground ahead of them. Kalt had helped her get stop drinking so much. He'd shown her how to remember her life, how to handle it without drowning in alcohol. The wolf girl swallowed roughly and looked ahead, towards the temple, where the bar waited below. "Who runs it now anyways? My mom did for a while, then she passed it to Edrei, and now Edy is... acting queen." She barely contained her grimace. Thinking of them as rulers was a hard pill to swallow. I'm a storm with skin.