Love, was Isuma's response. Not the word, but the feeling, a simple and heartfelt upwelling of affection for her big sister as she rubbed her cheek against Amalia's with a deep and contented purr. Jigano was hurting. Amalia was hurting. Isuma had no answers for either of them but to love them both with all her heart. She knew that Jigano loved the leopardess, but this was the first time Amalia had ever spoken to her and she peeped quiet encouragement as she cuddled in the young woman's arms.
Her companion remained where he was, knowing only that his words wounded her, whether he was apologizing or trying to explain, treating her as a beloved family member or a valued colleague of his guild. Somewhere along the line he had hurt her, and every word he'd spoken since had only driven the blade in deeper, it felt. He didn't know how to repair what he had broken, not when he had come to her bakery after his brief kingship, had sought her out after his subsequent illness, had invited her to seek out the Underground library with him once more, and then finally, foolishly, approached her at LongNight. He reached out again and again, was the one to come begging to her door, to apologize and plead for forgiveness, for understanding, for guidance...
And she did forgive him, time and again. But only after he made the first move, and shown himself willing to humble himself before her. He was proud, he knew, or had been before Safrin's punishment, but he had swallowed that pride again and again for the Shield as he never had for any of the self-styled Queens of the Hollowed Grounds. Somehow, though, it felt like it had only made things worse in the long run, and now he knelt, not knowing what he should do. Could do. When chasing after her only seemed to drive her further away.
He could almost feel her footsteps as she approached, her feet light but still sending the faintest of tremors through the earth that seemed to sing to him and the unfurling awareness within him as his head remained bowed and his eyes remained closed. An awareness of the ground between them settled where sight usually held sway, dark and heavy and shrinking with every stride that crossed countless tiny chasms beneath her feet. His breath froze in his throat when she stopped, but the familiar gentleness of her voice settled over his shoulders like a heavy blanket, familiar and reassuring in its warmth.
He breathed out, folding his hands into his lap, fingers twisting hard together as he looked up and the sense of the world beneath him fell away like a dream to the dawn. Isuma blinked down at him, chirruping encouragement and sharing her love and excitement that they were together again, and he found himself nodding. "Please," he said softly. "I think... Isla and Caiside would like that. Lilacs, I mean." Isla's herbal garden was sprouting nicely in the warming Flowerbirth air, but new area had been cleared at its edges, the weary soil of the Fields dug out and fresh black soil from the Glade was waiting in the nearby cart to be spread in its place, to give the newest seeds the best start at life that they could hope for in the Hollowed Grounds.
Her companion remained where he was, knowing only that his words wounded her, whether he was apologizing or trying to explain, treating her as a beloved family member or a valued colleague of his guild. Somewhere along the line he had hurt her, and every word he'd spoken since had only driven the blade in deeper, it felt. He didn't know how to repair what he had broken, not when he had come to her bakery after his brief kingship, had sought her out after his subsequent illness, had invited her to seek out the Underground library with him once more, and then finally, foolishly, approached her at LongNight. He reached out again and again, was the one to come begging to her door, to apologize and plead for forgiveness, for understanding, for guidance...
And she did forgive him, time and again. But only after he made the first move, and shown himself willing to humble himself before her. He was proud, he knew, or had been before Safrin's punishment, but he had swallowed that pride again and again for the Shield as he never had for any of the self-styled Queens of the Hollowed Grounds. Somehow, though, it felt like it had only made things worse in the long run, and now he knelt, not knowing what he should do. Could do. When chasing after her only seemed to drive her further away.
He could almost feel her footsteps as she approached, her feet light but still sending the faintest of tremors through the earth that seemed to sing to him and the unfurling awareness within him as his head remained bowed and his eyes remained closed. An awareness of the ground between them settled where sight usually held sway, dark and heavy and shrinking with every stride that crossed countless tiny chasms beneath her feet. His breath froze in his throat when she stopped, but the familiar gentleness of her voice settled over his shoulders like a heavy blanket, familiar and reassuring in its warmth.
He breathed out, folding his hands into his lap, fingers twisting hard together as he looked up and the sense of the world beneath him fell away like a dream to the dawn. Isuma blinked down at him, chirruping encouragement and sharing her love and excitement that they were together again, and he found himself nodding. "Please," he said softly. "I think... Isla and Caiside would like that. Lilacs, I mean." Isla's herbal garden was sprouting nicely in the warming Flowerbirth air, but new area had been cleared at its edges, the weary soil of the Fields dug out and fresh black soil from the Glade was waiting in the nearby cart to be spread in its place, to give the newest seeds the best start at life that they could hope for in the Hollowed Grounds.
