shewolfaurea

[shewolfaurea]

[shewolfaurea]

Logically, Aurea knows that what she has accomplished over her time as queen has not been nothing. To some people she was sure she was some big damn hero and while she understood, at the end of the day, she was just Aurea. Facing Arishok hadn't been something she'd done for the glory of defeating him, it was for the sake of her people, an act of vengeance for the friends and family that'd been taken by the Kossith. The song makes her dip her head a little bashfully, even though her smile is bright and fond. Soren was good at what he did, painted a beautiful picture of her and it takes everything in her not to cry. "Thank you, for everything. Not just now, but always." Because she had posed herself as a friend to all going into this, into the pack, she did find it hard to find those that she considered really close. But perhaps that circle was far bigger than she thought it was, she counted Soren amongst those that were practically family to her. "I never doubted you, my friend."

Soren heard her voice before he turned to sigh, putting his hands up in surrender even as the wolves around them sang the song that the bard had been stomping on the tables not just an hour prior.

Raise your cups and howl her name! The golden fang, the untamed flame! Steel met truth beneath the sun, And the Queen stood tall when the fight was done.

Now foes may fear and friends may cheer, For the pack has found its Queen so clear. Sing it loud ‘til the battles are won… For the Queen who bows to no one!

"I really thought I was a goner, you know." Soren placed his hand over his heart, tilting his head in a small smile as he took the victory for the first bit of hope that had been given in weeks. Aurea had already found him, despite Soren ducking his head and giving her space. The Vuldak hoped maybe the Arishok had hit her in the head to give a little lapse in her short term memory. "Skål, Aurea." He raised a goblet up towards her.

[shewolfaurea]

It's an infuriating thing, feeling fatigue or pain when there was so much work to be done. There's so much adrenaline running through her that it had taken seeing her room for all of the weariness to set into her bones. It's nothing that a dip in the river won't fix for the most part and she'd done that fresh off of grappling Arishok and going under the surface of the water and re-emerging had felt like some kind of baptism. Another man in power toppled, her pack safe. There is a lingering weariness to her bones though, like she'd been waiting to rest for months and now she could lay her arrows and claws down. The river had taken care of the worst of her injuries but there are still the few surface wounds to tend to, some blood to wash away. And most importantly a celebration to attend. The sound of footsteps at the door is nothing new, people have been in and out between friends and councilors and healers, a couple of shewolves that were trying to get her regalia together as she took a second to rest. But she's pleasantly surprised to see Seris at the door to her chambers and a soft but weary smile graces her features at the sight of the elvhen from the plush green bench of her vanity. "No, no, it's alright. I know what it's like to have to see someone to know they're okay."

who: @shewolfaurea where: Aurea's private rooms, how scandalous when: after the fight with the Arishok notes: surprise starter for the coml

It had been difficult to gain access to Aurea’s rooms directly after the battle against the Arishok. Seris couldn’t lie her way in, not directly at least. But half-truths and presenting herself as if she were delivering some vital resource requested of her seemed to afford her the ability to slip through several doors flanked by cagey, worried wolves. Stating the truth with a tone of self-importance seemed to work. I have needles for suturing, I have clean bandages, my canteen is filled with purified water. All of this she could say. These were all truths, and she held her breath hoping no one would question if she was summoned to deliver such items–mercifully no one did. If they had, she would state she was a healer; again, a truth that could pass her lips, just not one pertinent to the context at hand. 

For a moment, she was juvenile again, mapping out looping truths and burying leads to pursue what excited her. For a moment, the mantle of grief she wore was a light. 

But she managed entry to Aurea’s room where a more skilled healer had completed their work mending the alpha queen just as they were packing their vials and tinctures back into their healing kit. Seriswyn knew she would not go unnoticed by Aurea, even with so much else that must have been on the queen’s mind, but she attempted to fade into the wallpaper until the healer finished their instructions on Aurea’s longer term care and left the room. Aurea was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Seriswyn committed the instructions to memory nonetheless.

And suddenly, they were alone and an embarrassment gripped Seris’ heart tightly. What was she doing here? Why did she presume she was wanted? How long could she stare at Aurea in silence as if viewing her through a fishbowl before the quiet would be too much? “I’m sorry–I shouldn’t have,” she stammered. “This was intrusive, I was just–I worried. I’ll go.” 

[shewolfaurea]

The sound of Freydis's laugh caused all of the tension to roll off of her shoulders and Aurea reached a hand to the circlet upon her head and strikes a pose. It is ridiculous and it's because they are so used to seeing one another battle ready, but Aurea would like to think it's because Freydis sees her now as more of a friend than the queen of the Wildlands. When the blonde embraces her, Aurea's arms wrap around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly to her. Home, Freydis was back home and she wouldn't have to imagine her traipsing through Haven, she'd be there once more. Stepping back, hands still on Freydis's upper arms, she looks to the garden, the cabin, and the Veilmaiden is right. Things could be rebuilt, items could be replaced, plants could spring back up from the soil, they would be alright. They'd yet again weathered another storm and yet her family had returned to her. "I have seeds, I've been keeping them." The sentiment is meant to move along the way she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "I take it you've been to the medical tents before you started digging around?"

Freydis had not been around to learn about the threats the Kossith made within Lysara first hand, but from what she had gathered it was something of a small miracle that Haven and the Wildlands still stood untouched, let alone her cabin. Now, more than ever before, it served as the reprieve that Aurea had intended for it to. While Freydis did not make light of missing the first several days of Aurea’s much-earned celebration, she needed the rest. She was bad at being idle, at standing down when there was much of anything to do, but her mind and body ached from time spent on the dreadnought and the following rescue. One more day’s rest, one more night’s sleep, she had told herself, and she would brave Haven proper and reunite with one of her dearest friends. Truth be told, it was difficult to wait out the clock before seeing Aurea, but she hoped to look somewhat improved from the ragged woman that washed up on shore. 

Instead, it seemed Aurea had taken the matter of their crossing paths again into her own hands. The first moment Freydis had laid eyes on her dead garden, the sight of it had saddened her. The next morning, she was grateful. There was comfort in the cold, wet soil between her fingers and the work of turning it over and replanting it was a welcome distraction. Freydis was so engrossed in her task, she didn’t hear Aurea approach–only her apologetic greeting. 

The veil maiden turned to look at her friend from over her shoulder, her brows knit in concern and urgency to placate Aurea at first, but a moment later her face cracked and she almost laughed. “What in the hels are you wearing?” she asked of the fur coat, an ornate and stately departure from Aurea’s usual garb. Freydis ignored the protesting of every joint in her body and was on her feet and in an instant, cleaning her hands on the rag that hung from her waist belt as best she could before pulling Aurea into a lengthy, tight hug before placing an affectionate kiss on her cheek. Aurea had felt like a sister for some time, and though Freydis had not set a stake anywhere with any sort of permanence just yet, it did feel like a true homecoming. “Oh, well. That’s the nice thing about gardens–they tend to grow back, don’t they?”

[shewolfaurea]

"My age?" Aurea's brow furrows for a second as she thinks about it and she nods to affirm the sentiment. "And I still feel like a kid all the time, you sound like you've got stuff figured out." Head canting to the side slightly and ponytail swishing in the process and then she's laughing lightly at herself. Every step didn't feel like a stumble so much anymore, but she always felt like she was just on the cusp of really getting something right. Up ahead there's a soft bark followed by the sounds of several sets of paws on the ground coming towards them. Aurea bends down to meet the three gray wolves that wandered right on up to them, her hands finding soft ears as they nuzzle at her hands with their snouts. "There's a clearing up ahead, I was thinking it could be a good spot for a community garden." The wolves had told her so and so to reward them, she takes a couple pieces of jerky out of the ever present bag in the inside of her jacket and watches them take it from her hands. Rising to her feet, she watches the trio of wolves trot back off ahead quickly, pausing to look back at the two of them, heads low and haunches raised. And she looks sideways at Seris before looking back ahead and she smiles to herself. Maybe the world wouldn't always be so heavy.

Seris let out a half huff, half light laugh when Aurea insisted she was interesting. If they were lucky, and victorious, perhaps in the future they could turn more fully to topics revolving around one another. Then Aurea could see if Seriswyn truly was or was not interesting by her standards. But for now, a new war threatened to break out on a too-close horizon. “Well, two of those conditions are consequences of my birth, and true for nearly any druid and all Elvhen,” Seris pointed out. “Oh, no. Merely two, and short ones at that… How old do you think I am?” It almost hurt Seris’ feelings. 

[shewolfaurea]

Hailee Steinfeld

[shewolfaurea]

Person: @rhysxvuldak Location: Haven "Well, well, well," There's a lot of hooting and hollering and howling from the wolves in Haven, more than she'd ever thought possible. There's still much to do, she's been pulled one way or another for either a question or for someone to embrace her and put a drink in her hand. And she's looking at one of her best friends who'd just returned with more of her friends, her family, her pack. "Look who made it back in one piece."

[shewolfaurea]

Person: @freydis-freydat Location: Thee Cabin She'd given her some space, which had been one of the hardest things Aurea had ever had to do. Freydis needed time to rest and there were still things to settle, celebration to be had, but enough days had passed. "I thought I smelled baked goods, figured I'd come over and see what all that was about." It feels surreal to see Freydis there in her garden, already repairing what was lost. The cabin itself still stood, she had made damn sure of that. Freydis had lost one home already, Aurea had promised herself that she wouldn't ever have to lose this one. Hands in the pockets of her (almost obnoxious) fur cloak, she stands before Freydis just outside the garden and finally sees the face she's been looking for in every crowd for what feels like months. "I tried to have people come tend to it, came out here a couple of times myself." Her voice cracks, her eyes already wet. "I wanted you to have something to come home to."

[shewolfaurea]

She's curious about Seris's own parentage that makes her so wise on the subject. Thing was, Aurea was certain she was some kind of beacon for those that'd been through something serious. There was something to be said about that, she thinks. Whether it was that healing people sought other healing people or that somehow she'd become a safe space for people, she didn't quite know. "You're telling me." Aurea laughs softly, her shoulders rolling back just to stretch as they walked along the line of trees. It's a beautiful place, out east. She'd miss the cliffs, but with people joining up and her ambition to bring in more business and to just have more space, the expansion was something she was kind of looking forward to. "You're interesting." Aurea counters, looking sideways to the elvhen. "You can talk to animals, you can't lie, and you look my age but you talk as if you've experienced many lifetimes." Seris's eyes were also lovely, the slope of her nose kind of adorable, and she smells like the honeysuckle that grew throughout the Wildlands.

There was a notable change to the way Aurea carried herself, and for a moment Seris hoped her question had not offended. But the change in Aurea’s countenance did not suggest offense was quite how the question impacted her. “Ah. Parents, in all of their good intentions, can be a difficult subject,” Seriswyn commented in her usual quiet, passive tone. “It can be so difficult to tread the line between expectation and honoring one’s selfhood.” Seris understood this acutely, the idea of changing oneself down to their marrow in a way that flew in the face of a path already forged for them. Seris had known that her choices would hurt and disappoint her family, but she did not think Aurea had it easier given the loss of her mother, even if it did sound like they had not seen eye to eye.

Still, the dagger of grief in her heart couldn’t help but beg the question: who would her own child have become?

“I would imagine no one can easily keep a secret from you if that’s the case,” Seris said, her face still neutral but her tone slightly amused. What sort of things Aurea must have overheard across the years–gossip, secrets, harmless embarrassments. “I hardly have anything interesting to say right now,” Seris insisted as she spared a moment to glance at Aurea before scanning the landscape before the for any signs of trouble. 

[shewolfaurea]

"You can hold me to it." She'd think on the allowance thing legitimately, gold was going to be something they were going to need a lot of to create New Haven, but it did seem fair to offer him some kind of compensation. Aurea's mind drifts to Freydis's cabin and how she'd thought it was the least she could do for the Veilmaiden who had gone to fight for her again and again. She desperately wanted it to be something the blonde could come back to, that she'd still have a home. "And I'll hold you to that." Aurea's mouth quirks up into a smile as he takes up his bow and she shakes her head a little at the thought of it. Her, the subject of some heroic ballad. Maybe it could be true.

"You say that nothing would make you happier now – so in the future when you're upset with me, I'm going to remind you of that." He pointed his finger at her, tilting his head, "If I'm in the pack, does that mean I get like an allowance? How much do you pay me?" It was a clear joke, he didn't actually need any money, but he was starting to fill his cabin with fancy things from the isle of Minetia, if only so when Freydis returned, she could enjoy it all the same in the safety of the Wildlands and proximity to her friends. When she spoke of a squad out North, the Vuldak turned to pick up his longbow, "I would say that you can't get rid of me that easily – but you actually can." Soren sighed, mustering up the energy to actually give his friend a smile. "If I come back, maybe I'll sing a song about all this."

[shewolfaurea]

She can hear him over the crowd, a young man trying his best to be heard over the clamoring voices. He couldn't get a word in edgewise amongst the chatter and she finds herself trying to discern where he is in the crowd from where she stands in the center of the long table, plans spread out across the length of it. There's a shout from him and she can see him as everyone else around him finally goes a semblance of quiet. He's not a wolf which isn't uncommon, Aurea had sent for many people, as far as she was concerned, Haven was more than just the Feronia, but she didn't recognize him. Hopping up over the table instead of going around it, she cut through the crowd to get to him, her right hand gently resting on his robed shoulder. "Aurea, please. And who would you be?" Her tone is gentle, he's clearly distressed but he does boast something that could be incredibly helpful.

who?: @shewolfaurea where?: haven when?: troupe 3

Karme knew his voice held no real weight. After all, he decided to lend his mind to Haven completely on his own against requests for aid from his house and the Tower, no less. Rather green in the field and a stranger to conflict, it's no surprise everyone else's concerns drowned out his own. "That's not the issue—" he tried again, but he wasn't the only one trying to grab Queen Aurea's attention. Housing, food shortages, security, the taken; the Kossith brought with them a slew of problems and everyone needed her to address each one. Karme couldn't imagine what an enormous burden this was for her even with help from others, however… "But that's not the issue—" Again, someone else in the group spoke over him before he could say his piece. Everything he wanted to say felt like an unliftable weight on his tongue, and Karme could feel himself get worked up the more his thoughts built up without release. Finally, he exploded. "None of that is the issue!" he screeches, his shrill tone cutting through everyone else talking but warranting looks that made him want to turtle into his robes. Still, he nervously kept talking. "It's the Kossith and the fact that we're still here. Pride won't save lives so … you should retreat, Your Highness. Defensive measures can mitigate the risk of further harm to your pack, but to what end? Abandon the Wildlands and save lives. Say the word and in a day or two I can build you a new city somewhere else in Lysara. Anywhere but here."

[shewolfaurea]

“Were you unhappy with the life you led before?” The question almost causes her steps to falter as she mulls it over. No one had ever really asked before and she thought it only solidified her curiosity towards the other woman. "My mother," Every time she says the words, even after all these years, it felt like she was swallowing a lump in her throat even if no tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "When she passed, I think I realized that no one was around to make me walk the path she wanted anymore." Her tone isn't sad, it's reflective, she's never put them out in the open before. Not keen on the topic of death while they're scouting out somewhere for the Feronia's new home, she chuckles softly and offers a small shake of her head. "Just know there's never any need to shout. It's um, like filtering things in and out? It's something to get used to." The sounds around her in the forest were once overwhelming, but they were a comfort now, the breeze through the treetops, the animals scurrying about, the heartbeat of the woman at her side. "Like right now, I can hear miles away if I choose to, but I'd much rather listen to you."

It was interesting to learn more about the history of someone who was proving to become quite an influential figure directly from that woman herself. “Were you unhappy with the life you led before?” Seriswyn asked. She had to assume it would have taken something quite significant to sway Aurea away from the life she had been leading if she liked it. It took something significant for Seris, though she knew many other Elvhen would have looked at her personal history and deemed it as fleeting. They didn’t understand. 

“Does it really work that fast?” she asked, sounding surprised. She knew plenty about the animals of the realm–mostly those of Avalon, but her knowledge of those in Northern Iskaldrik and the Wildlands would likely impress as well–but not as much about lycanthropy. Her head tilted slightly and she asked, “Am I speaking too loud?” despite the fact she had always been quite soft spoken. Her expression lightened, though she did not smile. “The birds are always such pests. I would say it gets easier if one learns to become an early riser, but I don’t know that it would help your case.”

[shewolfaurea]

"I'm inclined to offer favors back to those that do them for me." She is quick to point out, her head tilting in a small nod of affirmation. Allies were rewarded by allies, that wasn't something she was keen on breaking any time soon. "My people are fine moving East on foot, I fear getting into the water this way will prove dangerous. But there's no doubt that those that were taken are being lugged all the way back to where the Kossith came. My intention is that they'll never have to reach that shoreline." And that was where he and his band of pirates came in. "Who better to infiltrate those bastards ship, than you?" Head canting to the side slightly, there's a bit of relief that this is actually all coming together, her mouth quirked up in a small smirk. "Of course I wouldn't send your crew alone, I have those willing to fight and retrieve and they won't cause you any trouble."

Seraphiel’s eyes lingered on the map, then drifted to Aurea.

“Escort or engagement?” he asked, voice smooth as tidewater. “Am I to ferry your people to safety—or send my ships to war?”

A beat.

“I can do the first. My fleet doesn’t sleep, doesn’t tire. They’ll get your wolves clear.” A pause, colder now. “But a battle at sea? The Kossith build fortresses, not ships. We’re fast—but not invincible.”

Then, softly, “Consider this all a favor. One I’ll make sure to collect if we survive." He had no reason to mention he was doing this for Ishmael, no matter what he felt for the other, he'd never waste the opportunity for the wolf queen to owe him.

[shewolfaurea]

"Those that were taken are capable," Aurea soothes, reaching out to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze. She understands his distress, she has quite a bit of her own at this point, but it means she can parrot her own affirmations. "Have some faith in them. But we will find them, for we are capable, too." Her smile is soft but brief, eyes flickering to those deep in conversation around them, trying to figure this and that out. "Though I admit, I can't imagine I'm going to be able to convince you to help out New Haven while they're out there." There's a bit of relief to her tone despite her teasing, it made her feel better knowing Julian would be out there.

Julian took a beat, he nodded slowly, absorbing the simple idea of... surprise? He wasn't sure what to call it, but they'd have to be careful, outsmart the Kossith, presume they wouldn't see an infiltration of the ship coming. He's never truly been part of a plan with moving cogs and parts; performance was easy, glide around the ring, defeat the big bad, spill their blood. This war between the Kossith, however, was no show and the palpable distress felt from Juneau was very, very real. "I can be a distraction, or I can be with you to get on the ship," Julian had been a gladiator first, but he'd proved himself on the battlefield; either situation he felt he could adapt to, even if no one ever truly wished to be the bait. "I'm worried they don't have much time left," it was blurted out, how he'd felt this obscured specter of pain leeching from whatever mental tether he'd had to Juneau.

[shewolfaurea]

Aurea's expression softened as she looked upon the man on the other side of the table. Leander had always been someone she'd been grateful for, someone that she thought had their circumstances been different, that they might officially be able to call each other friends and not just allies. He did not have to come to her at all, he was right, he had enough on his plate already and it wasn't lost on her that he'd taken time for her and her people anyways, perhaps even without his mother's knowledge at all. Moving around the table, she glances to his hand and because she is who she is, she takes it only to bring the man into a half armed hug, her fingers squeezing his gently. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me. When this is all over, if you call upon me for help, I will always see what I can do for you." Letting go of him and his hand after giving him a gentle clap on the shoulder, she can't help but think that regardless of what happened further in Lysara, that as long as Leander lived and breathed, there was hope for the monarchy.

Tower business was Tower business but the Lysaran Olympians concerned themselves with the affairs of much of the world. Lysara - and Eterna especially - were firmly under the purview. From the silver halls of the city of the elves, to the harsh winters of Haven's wildlands and every isle that dotted the Queenset. The world was under their thumb, at least, that's what Leander had long believed. He'd seen the faces of those who recognized him and those who did not, the colours - the gold and the red of Warriors.

"There's a saying," Leander smirked into nothing, "when they were designing our robs they chose red for Mars because it'd help hide the blood." A chuckle, but there wasn't anything funny about it. He looked up from his overcoat, staring in the characteristically heated way that Leander glared at most. His hand scratched at the line of his jaw - a fortnight wasn't a long time - and they'd need aid before the fight began. "My own house is a mess right now," he admitted, "darkfriends, spies, cultists-" which all said nothing of the actual darkspawn to their south. Leander didn't address the danger that Aurea had highlighted, he was a Centurion and a witch - he knew which way the wind would blow these Kossith.

Leander rolled his shoulders back and straightened his spine, looking down but meeting Aurea's eye. It was likely that this would be the last time that they traded words, so the Prince extended his hand toward the Queen of wolves. "Fight well."

[shewolfaurea]

There's the slightest spike to the heartbeat at her side and Aurea's brows raise for just a second in curiosity. "I did." She remembered that night vividly, the moon high in the sky shining into the water within the print. It'd been like she was drinking from the moon herself. "We had wolves around where I grew up, I used to hear them howling. I was obsessed with them as a kid." To this very day the same little wolf stuffed animal her father had given her as a child sat atop her vanity table, a constant reminder of where she'd come from. And they'd sounded so free, their howls a constant presence in the evenings. They'd got to hunt and play, nobody told a wolf they had to sit up straight and learn embroidery and go to the Tower. "I didn't think it'd really done anything, at first. That maybe it was just some superstition after all. But I woke up at home and everything was louder." Laughing softly to herself, Aurea shook her head, her high ponytail swishing against the quiver over her shoulder in the process. "It was the birds outside that were the loudest." Glancing sideways to Seris as they continued down the forged path, she raised a brow. She didn't know if it was happy or sad that her relaxation at the moment was scouting, but she's out and she's doing something that feels normal.

Seriswyn likely suspected she returned the smile that Aurea offered her, but her features remained where they were. Though her features remained unchanged, there was a softness that overcame her features for a moment. 

If Seris had brushed up on her history, she would have known this about Aurea. There was a short-lived flare of embarrassment that she did not know this about the revered alpha, but Aurea seemed unbothered as she continued to lay out her personal history. “You chose to become a wolf then?” Seriswyn asked when Aurea mentioned the paw print. Either Aurea wished for a life other than the one she was born into, or was brave enough to test out myths and superstitions. “What happened from the time you drank from the print?” 

[shewolfaurea]

Aurea's smile is genuine, and she reaches to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Nothing would make me happier, my friend." In her heart, he'd always been pack, it'd been something that'd been important to her. She'd been a lone wolf until she'd found Haven, until she'd become alpha. A witch who'd drank from the pawprint of a wolf, to some people, that didn't make her a real wolf. For years, she'd existed in some kind of limbo with herself, not wolf enough, no longer a witch. Soren knew what it was like to be on the outside, too. What it was to be judged. It's part of the reason she kept his secret, she understood where he was coming from. It'd always been something Aurea had thought about, him becoming part of the pack. To her, he already was, perhaps not the Feronia, but he was her pack. Just like Freydis, just like Thora, Zeliha, and Ishmael, they all meant something to her, had honorary spots amongst the Feronia. "Althea and I have some things to iron out, but if you'd like to start scouting North, I have a squad out there already a few miles out."

"We do things for the people we love." It was a word he didn't use often, hadn't used in years at this point. Soren shook his head, "Being the leader means making those difficult decisions. When to leave people behind, and when to push forward. We're not leaving them behind – that's not an answer here. But fine. If you're set on going, I'm set on going." The Vuldak would've gone anyhow, the idea of those he knew being collared by the Kossith. They would waste no time and bring death upon Haven as well. "You know I don't respond well to authority. I just like you, so I listen," he teased after a moment, taking a deep breath. "And maybe when this is all over – I can join you. For real. If you'd have a Vuldak."