Table for Three

Ashe remember why you started.    Ashe nodded, though at first confused and almost saying No, I was in the second wave from Northwind. Of course, he was talking about here, to Caido. They had all been drawn from Northaven, after there had been multiple waves sent there from Northwind. Here though... she listened, one ear folding back in shame at her own ignorance. She'd had a direct hand in freeing the goddess, but she knew precious little about her.    At the mention of ascending though, of claiming, her pelt bristled involuntary, her lip twitching with the want to snarl. Only the knowledge that the goddess was unsuccessful if that had infact been her intention kept her in check. She nodded again, throttling down the sudden desire to head straight for one of those shrines and confront the Voice. The last thing I need is her looking at me, I have enough to worry about, she agreed, forcing her fur to relax. I don't know much about her, but what I've heard is never good.    The raven went on to ask her more specifically about Mort, and much of her tension bled away. What was he like? Ashe stretched her paws, flexing claws into the dirt as warmth spread through her. He's... he's hard to describe, she replied softly, eyes shining. When I saw him, it was like I had always known him somehow. I guess in a way, I have. His face is gentle, his eyes are vast and warm. And.. well, the story might do better. The wolf took a heavy breath. She had never believed in gods before coming to Caido, and even then, she had resented them. There were mixed feelings still, but awe in which she spoke of Mort was different than anything else she had ever felt before. She could hardly consider herself devout, but there was no denying that she held a certain alignment with the god of Death.    As soon as the barrier came down, I left that tower. I needed it down, because Safrin had told me I wouldn't be able to reach Mort as long as it still stood. When I went to the shrine with Kalt, she appeared first, and... and then Mort. Ashe's tail thumped against the forest floor, going on in quiet reverence. He shielded us from the rest of the world, and he was so warm and bright. He's ageless. Young in appearance, curled hair, dark eyes that went on forever, and his smile... When I saw him, it was like I had always known him. In a way she had, hadn't she? The once-assassin had maintained an intimate relationship with death for most of her life... she had just catastrophically misunderstood Death for too long.    As I told him that I was there to bring Ronin home, whatever the cost, whatever would have been asked of me... he explained that I was immortal. That I would never join him in any afterlife. I...I told him to take it. Take it, and in exchange, my best friend could come home where he belonged. And...he did. Even in her furs, her breath turned shakey as she remembered, as she retold. Had she told anyone the full story yet? No.. she supposed she hadn't. But Jigano knew anyways, she saw little reason for him not to have the whole truth, especially after the revelation he'd given her. I... embraced Death. We went somewhere, and everything was Mort. He held me, my essence I think, when he broke my soul open, split it apart. That's.. what it felt like. It hurt. A lot... but Mort was there. Everywhere. Holding me through it, soothing me, loving me. "Death and rebirth all in one," he had told me. And it was. She had been reborn in the arms of Death that day, broken down and put back together. It prickled on her skin suddenly, the conversation here with Jigano. She had been reborn. Wasn't this as good a chance as any to be something more than a monster? He knew me, Jigano. He knew me, saw me, all the terrible things I've done, the thing i had become... and he only had love. More than I can comprehend. It was... humbling.    Ashe was more than glad for the wolf then, for that inhuman barrier between her retelling and the emotion that wanted to overwhelm her, for surely she would have been overcome with tears. It was hard for this damaged beast to think back on that endless love from such a being and not want to break down. Her pelt rippled with a shiver, feeling suddenly very exposed before the loreseeker that harbored such resentment for her. She swallowed roughly. I could come to the atheneum sometime, she offered with some hesitance. And I can tell you more of him. Of what happened.