the future's blurry, but the past is a trap.

ASHE

   The early evening was seasonably warm and comfortable, a breeze thick with the promise of rain sweeping through Ashetta’s jet black pelt. While the day had been beautiful, cloudless with blue skies, those blue skies didn’t stretch on forever did they? The she-wolf sat stone-still upon the line where the barrier had once been, facing west, and bright golden eyes were watching the raging storms with ears pinned forward.

   There was an entire forest to explore now - lush and deep and full of shadow and light and secrets. One ear swiveled northwards, as if she could hear the singing of the river and the whisper of the leaves, pulling roughly at her insatiable need to know more. Of course her ultimate goal in breaking down the barrier had been accomplished: Ronin was back. But even before her world had been torn apart, she’d wanted it down. Wanted to travel again, to see all that there was with Kalt and Theea. Instead she couldn’t get past the treeline without being turned right back around, and there were violent storms surrounding them that even she wasn’t reckless enough to charge into.

   And there was the question of what, exactly, had they done? The barrier had fallen - there was room to explore despite the new limits… but they had also released a being that had been imprisoned for three hundred years. Ashe had had her hand in this, and she couldn’t draw away from it now, and of course she wondered just how much these storms had to do with the Voice and her newfound freedom, or if it was even related at all.

   The wolf let out a sharp huff of air, ear turning back to the west as she narrowed her eyes. Could she fly above it maybe? Or did these storms stretch high until there would be no air for a little hummingbird to breathe? Ashe let out a canine-groan and rose to all fours, arching her back down to stretch her large paws out before her. ’Your feeling of being trapped won't go away, your cage will just be a little bigger.’ ‘But if the barrier lifts, you will have more space, but you will still be here in a sense.’ She snuffed as she straightened, plopping herself back down to glare at the storms. She thought they were being cryptic gods - she hadn’t exactly expected Frey and Safrin’s warnings to be literal.

my heart is a church of scars.

KILLIAN

The day had been long and Killian was weary, however upon reaching the fields he felt the need to run. He'd always been this way, the farther he could see the farther he wanted to go. The sun on his back, the wind in his hair, he craved it. He craved that freedom feeling, like there was nothing that could tie him down. Weary bones don't stop the restless traveler, and so the golden boy took in a deep breath, and shifted into the feline.

He started at a slow stalk, sharp shoulder blades jutting up as he slunk through the grass. But as he continued on he began to pick up speed, every pulse of his paws against the ground spurred him faster. Soon he was in a sprint, and for as long as he could he just kept going forwards, towards nothing in particular.

A cheetah's strength is in the speed, not the endurance, and before long he had fallen back into a steady jog, his downy chest heaving with deep breaths. He thought maybe to turn back, but upon catching the scent of another, he decided to continue ahead. After meeting two other attuned in their animal forms, and being mildly confused by both, he had gotten used to the idea that there were more like him, and he'd come to recognize the specific scent they carried. The 'wolf' he followed now was no mere wolf, but a shifter like him.

Killian came upon her, a pitch colored canine whose gaze was lost in the storms. Killian let out a chirp, then made his way closer to her. He cocked his head, then gave the whole telepathic thing a go, Hey, mind some company?

whatever and ever, amen
oh well, maybe not, let’s try again

ASHE

   The she wolf heard his approach not long after the breeze carried his scent her way. Her ear flicked towards him - distinctly male and distinctly feline, though a feline she’d never smelled before. Curiously she glanced sidelong towards him, and golden eyes glinted at the sleek and spotted golden cat.

   A cheetah. She had met one or two in Northwind, but it had been quite a few years since she had. His chirp earned a thump of the wolf’s tail upon the blackened earth, her ear flicking at him before she turned her eyes ahead again. I can’t promise thrilling company, kittycat, she responded, and her pelt rippled with the mental words. Kalt was the only one she was used to speaking in such a way with.

   She looked up at him with intelligent eyes, memorizing his scent while she considered him. There had been a time when meeting new people had been a regular thing for her, and it struck her right then how long it had been since she tried to connect with anyone beyond her family. Her jaws parted in a canine sort of grin, tongue falling between her teeth with at a relaxed pant. Ashetta, she introduced to the cheetah. Ashe is better though. Who’re you?

my heart is a church of scars.

KILLIAN

Killian's black tipped ear flicked, a soft purr rumbling in his throat - a catlike laugh - when she spoke. Kittycat, that was a new one. She seemed friendly enough, so he trotted nearer and sat parallel to her, sunbeam eyes glancing at her amber ones. Hey no worries, he replied, shivering for a second at the sensation of speaking with thoughts. That would be weird, everytime.

The she wolf introduced herself as Ashetta, or Ashe, with a doglike grin. Killian flexed his claws at the earth, kneading it contently as he replied, Killian. Kiki is better though, teasing lightly with his own feline sort of grin. He glanced back out at the border, and the land beyond it.

Curiously he inquired, Were you gonna go out there? He was yet to leave the Hollowed Grounds, or at least attempt to. He'd just arrived maybe a week ago after all, and there was still much to see within, however he was still rather adventurous, and intrigued by what he'd heard so far of the wildwood.

whatever and ever, amen
oh well, maybe not, let’s try again

ASHE

   The cheetah’s thoughts slipped into her own, and she had to remind herself that other attuned couldn’t read her thoughts the way Kalt could, couldn’t read her emotions or memories. She forced herself to relax and let her tail swish lightly through the dirt, tilting her head shortly at the lithe feline. Kiki the kittycat, she mused, narrowing her eyes with a gleam of amusement.

   Killian sat parallel, and she found herself wondering who he was without the spotted fur and golden eyes, how old he was, what he looked like. While in Northwind and Northaven appearances often reflected a shapechanger’s animal, here it didn’t seem to matter. Her second shift was a royal blue hummingbird, afterall.

   With his question came a rough, grumbling sort of growl from Ashe’s chest, her expression nothing short of dark as she looked out the storms, then looked sidelong towards the wildwood. I really fucking want to, she muttered, her mental voice carrying a sigh. But those woods just spit people back out, and even I’m not stupid enough to charge into those storms.

   Golden eyes remained on the raging weather beyond them, feeling a tug to them. Storms had always been something of a calling. Whether a personal preference or something deeper, she didn’t quite know, but storms raged in her blood regardless. Have you ventured into the woods yet? She turned her eyes over the cheetah, gaze glinting curiously. How long you been in Caido anyways?

my heart is a church of scars.

KILLIAN

Kiki the kittycat, nice one. Killian purred laughter again, sunny eyes wandering over the wolf’s dark frame. He too, was wondering who she was when not covered in dark fur. Ashetta, or better, Ashe.

Her response to his question was very akin to something he would say, that longingness to sate the curiosity that brimmed inside. He followed her gaze to the wildwood, the trees looming there both daunted and beckoned him at the same time. He’d found himself staring past the border like this before, and similarly hadn’t worked up the foolishness courage to go on. Not yet, usually I get about here and can’t make myself go farther. But hey, maybe I’ll be stupider tomorrow, we’ll see, he replied with a roll of his shoulders.

Her eyes drifted back to him, amber and bright, and Kiki turned his head to face her once more. How long had it been? It felt like forever ago that he’d decided to run, to leave behind his nation and their domineering expectations, their war, their rules. He’d thought then that he never wanted to see the capitol again, that this time he wouldn’t return except to find his mother and bring her with him. And he’d gotten exactly what he’d wanted right? He’d never see the capital again that was for sure, and that was all good, but he hadn’t thought about everything else he had to lose. His mom, the goddess, everything familiar. That was gone too.

Anyway, it felt like a long time ago that his life had changed, some parts for better and some for worse. At this point, he’d come to accept it, and come to terms with that balance. There were things he’d miss and things he was glad to be done with, but it all didn’t matter now. Now he had himself and only himself, he was just Kiki. And he could decide on his own what that meant. Almost two weeks? he decided, only two weeks.

whatever and ever, amen
oh well, maybe not, let’s try again

ASHE

   Ashe's jaws shut, her ears pricking forward and golden eyes flashing wide in an expression of surprise. "Two weeks? I didn't realize she was still pulling people here..." They had freed the Voice - what could she still want? Or were people still falling in like some residual effect? Still, just two weeks... She remembered when they all first landed - the chaos of the Northaveners touching down at the Spire, how everything in her life changed so catastrophically in the space of a few weeks: a new home, her husband leaving her, vanishing into the woods, Kalt returning to her. Two weeks probably felt like an eternity for the cheetah.

   Her face relaxed and her jaws parted with an easy pant again, tilting her head for a moment at him. "So you weren't around for the barrier," she remarked. She huffed a half-bark, something like laugh. "Consider yourself lucky to have missed that mess. Though who knows what mess this is that we've left ourselves."

   She rose to all fours and shook out her jet black pelt, errant sparks she could never seem to fully rid herself of bouncing from her. Her tail swayed as she began turned herself northwards, the direction of the wildwood. "You walked the border yet kittycat?" She jerked her head for him to follow, tail wagging. "Maybe we'll find something a little more thrilling than storms who like nothing more than to taunt me." If he accompanied her, the wolf set off at an easy trot, noting (not for the first time) that it was so much easier to be around people in her furs. "Where are you from?"

my heart is a church of scars.

KILLIAN

Killian shrugged, why the voice, or whoever had brought him here, chose to do so would be news to him. If he were to meet them, he wasn't sure whether or not to thank them, or scream.

The cheetah's head tilted when Ashe's did, one of those empathetic reflexes. Nope, but I've heard a lot about it, he replied, then gave a half smile at her comment. He felt lucky to have missed the barrier, from what he'd heard it'd been bloody. And so far nothing super concerning had happened with the Greatwood right?

Killian watched as the black wolf stood, noticing a bit of static sparking from her pelt. It seemed kind of odd, but everything here was. She asked if he'd walked the border, and in response he stood and shook out his own sunny pelt, with no sparks. Sounds good, he replied, and fell into step with her, long legs forcing him to go slower to keep pace.

Ah, the home question. Everybody always wanted to know where he was from. This had proved to be very troubling and frankly annoying when he'd first arrived, having to dredge up all the memories, the happy and the sad. Now though, he'd come to a balance with how he felt about this whole ordeal, the wound of absence beginning to scar, and now it only itched instead of burned.

I'm from a world kind of like this one, with gods and stuff. It was beautiful, the parts of it he'd been allowed to see, It was almost always sunny where I'm from, he said, with a content and thoughtful tone. He turned to look at her then and added, It wasn't like, perfect though. There were wars, and problems I think every world has.

whatever and ever, amen
oh well, maybe not, let’s try again