Hotaru
nothing's fair in love and war
It is not often Hotaru loses her prey. Far more infrequently does she lose prey she has already injured. Though she may be a creature of power and violence, she takes no pleasure in sadism - especially when enacted against creatures that have no capacity for morality or ideals like innocence. Still, though vexed and punitive in her own mind for her mistakes, the Valkyrie does not abandon the hunt. Condemning the deer to a slow death is not something she will abide. When at last the trail warms, Hotaru is surprised by what she finds. A woman thought previously dead, a vision of pale skin and ivory hair, hushing the deer with a quiet tone Hotaru has not heard in…years. The letter she had received is still held precious in her home, retrieved on occasion to be gently held and reread. This is not the first time someone has risen from the presumed dead. But Hotaru knows exactly how it came to be; Kiada’s example has already set a precedence.
Shifting from thick tawny pelt to golden skin in one fluid movement, the Valkyrie steps into the swamp without a moment of hesitation, water and muck already beginning to cling to her bare legs. Drawn more by the woman and her soft voice than the prey she had been tracking.
“How deep are the wounds I left?” she says quietly, the blood that had transferred to her delicate hands cool with time spoiled out between the moment of violence and the time of reunion. “It may be kinder to kill it, depending.” And if Maea turns, she will see that - quite at odds with the words being spoken - Hotaru’s face is a rictus of emotion at seeing the ghost before her. Hope, grief, regret, trepidation. All too intertwined and entangled to make heads or tails of.
