RP:A Crown of Snowstars
Heavy Snowfall
The soft snowfall that once was is no more, and heavier snow begins to drift down from above. Low in the sky large, swirling clouds sit, blanketing the sky as thickly as the snow covers the ground. Here rests a break in the trees, an open expanse of land flat and smooth, and encircling a small lake. No footprints mark the clearing, giving it an almost sacred aura. The lake itself is frozen with an ice eerily clear in quality. Unnaturally, no snow rests upon the sheet of ice, only a single, solitary figure: that of a large animal sitting statue still. Although hardly smaller than a mare, the creature is obviously some sort of fox, too slender and angular to be a wolf. A sleek body rests on form slim legs that end in delicate little paws, its chest dominated by an immense ruff of thick fur with a pointed, vulpine head resting within the fluff. Ears stand tall and alert, sporting their own tufts of fur. Its fur is a white not natural among animals, too pristine in color, with the hint of a shimmering blue quality whenever the wind tousles it. But oddest of all are its tails, five of them, long and thickly furred, writhing amongst themselves like a viper's nest--four white and one black. Although this form is one Satoshi rarely takes, the storm has drawn it out of her, just as it has drawn her to this untouched lake, where she now sits and regards the mass of clouds overhead.
Daisy really shouldn't be way out here in this kind of weather. Flower kitties are meant for sun and grass and... oh who are we kidding? She isn't the most normal of druids, now is she? So instead of prancing in the sun somewhere tropical, the kitten pads her way over the snow. Fat as she is, she doesn't weigh so much and doesn't sink in! Mamoru, on the other hand, leaves a nice path behind him as he follows his ward. Where are you going anyway, kitten? "Ooooh." That multi-tailed beauty is spotted, halting the feline's steps. "Mamoru! Isn't that the prettiest creature you've ever seen?" Daisy may not recognize the Queen for what she is, but Mamoru sure does! He only nods, keeping the secret for now.
Satoshi flicks a single ear toward Daisy without turning. Although the druid walks lightly on the snow, it's not sound that catches the kit's attention... despite how clearly Daisy's voice carries over the cold and empty space. It's the druid's presence -upon- the snow that Satoshi feels as a quivering note in the Snowsong, a gentle melody that speaks of an equally gentle soul. With her ear turned toward Daisy, it's an easy matter to catch the words spoken, something that causes the foxkin to sit a little straighter, maned chest out and head held high. You're terrible for the vain queen's ego, dear Daisy. Still poised in a proud manner, the fox rises to her paws and turns around with dignified slowness before padding soundlessly across the ice to stand in front of the kitten. Once there, Satoshi dips her muzzle to the druid and couatl, glittering azure eyes crinkled in the vulpine version of a smile. And then the act is dropped without warning, a sudden fit of playfulness falling upon Satoshi so that she thrusts out with her foxish snout toward Daisy's chest, aiming not to harm but to topple her over into the snow.
Satoshi used Headbutt!
Daisy inhales sharply with excitement then breathes out a whispered fit of glee. "She's coming, Mamoru!" Such a thing should be dangerous to Daisy, but Mamoru's calm manner tells her otherwise. Such a good guardian always puts himself between the kitten and danger. This time, the couatl just kind of lets Daisy grab him and squeeze him with the delightful shaking Daisy gives him when she's thrilled. "Oooh..." she breathes out again once the fox takes her spot oh so close to the druid. "So pretty..." Compliments are interrupted by a nose that sends Daisy back onto her corgitush. "Hey!" This is where she lets out a gigglefit and scrambles to all fours with a grin. The fox wants to play! Daisy likes to play. Her rump does that feline wriggle that happens right before a cat pounces and then she leaps! Arms and legs spread out wide, ready to grapple that lovely fox.
Daisy thinks it was super effective!
Satoshi's upper body is lowered to the ground, much like Daisy's, canines, and other animals do during play fights. Positioned like this and with reflexes to rival most vampires, Satoshi's in a prime setup to completely dodge Daisy's pounce... only, she doesn't. Instead, the kit pretends to balk and scramble partially to the right, but she purposely swings her form around so that Daisy lands half-on-top of that thick ruff around Satoshi's neck. Then Satoshi stands up, long, slender legs putting a decent bit of distance between the clinging kitten and the ground. A chuffing laugh comes from the vixen then and she turns to regard Daisy over her shoulder, ears perked forward. "What brings you out in the middle of a storm, Sundrop~?" The words, while being distinctly in Satoshi's voice, aren't quite spoken so much as projected from the foxkin in a mixture of sound and feeling, half heard and half felt as the swiftly passing kiss of falling snowflakes.
Daisy didn't really expect to make contact with the fox. She had actually prepared herself to get a facefull of snow! So when she gets her arms full of that fur, she clings for dear life. Well now isn't this something? A kitten riding a fox. Daisy's golden glow nuzzles into the bluewhite tuft of fur. "So soft..." Sundrop. There's only one that calls you that, eh kitten? Her arms hug the Queen a bit tighter as soon as she realizes and she smiles. "Looking for a flower."
Satoshi casually uses her snout to nudge Daisy up properly, so that the kitten isn't left clinging and at risk of falling. And just as casually, the kit begins walking, paws somehow not sinking into the snow despite her size. "What sort of flower? I know of one that blooms in Frostmaw during snowstorms. Have you seen it yet~?" By this point, Satoshi is back out on the lake's ice, her claws clacking lightly against the surface to produce a glassy ringing. Beneath the ice can be seen a number of strange fish, not unlike a goldfish in appearance, but much larger, and jet black, with streaming tails and fins so thin as to be made translucent. An arctic cousin of the koi, for those familiar with fish species, much sturdier than most of their kin, and well accustomed to living beneath the ice. Their gaping mouths press against the glassy ceiling as if they hope to get a taste of fox or kitten, a change of pace from their usual diet of aquatic lichens and unlucky little tadpoles. Satoshi brings her nose down to press against the ice, a fish on the opposite side watching her curiously. "In Winter, these fish are black as obsidian, but if you visit them throughout the year, you'll see their scales change. Sometimes white, sometimes gold, or russet, brown, and crimson, all together in lovely patchwork. Don't offer them your hands then, however, they're faster and stronger than they look, and will happily gobble you up~."
Daisy shifts to a comfortable sit there on Satoshi's back. Her little arms and legs cling almost desperately, but without causing the Queen any discomfort. You aren't so high up. Really. Just. Don't look down. Of course the fish are mentioned and she has to look. Oh, they are pretty! Maybe Mamoru would want to try one. She glances over at the couatl who is having a little difficulty on the ice. Ever see a couatl slip? Ah there it goes, sliding by on the equivalent of his serpent rear. "I would like to see your flower." She giggles at the usually so graceful couatl. "Oh Mamoru..."
Satoshi chuckles in that breathy manner that's a fox's laugh as Mamoru skids past. Lightly she follows after the couatl, using her muzzle to nudge him along to the other side of the lake, where there is snow and traction for him. "Keep up, strong one, and hang on, Sundrop~," she says to him them before leaping over his broad, emerald back and trotting off into the trees. Satoshi has faith in Emiur's hatchling to not lose them as she weaves through the woods, her paws never faltering in direction. She knows precisely where she's going, it just takes a little running to get there~.
Daisy 's fingers tighten in that bit of fur. The one time she was told to hang on and didn't earned her a tumbling trip down the side of a sand-cliff. Sure it sounds like fun, but rocky shores are rocky and not too forgiving. So she holds on with paws and legs, careful to keep her claws inside. You don't just go around poking royalty. Once on the snow, Mamoru has no problems keeping up with the quick fox. He even beats his little -although useless- wings to help with speed.
Satoshi's swift pace darting between tree trunks and snow-laden shrubbery eventually winds down. Ahead light is visible through the trees: an odd thing, considering it is nightfall and the storm overhead has long since devoured what little sunlight survives in the north. Satoshi's ears flick forward and her fur begins to bristle, an almost electric tension running through her body. And yet, it isn't from anxiety or angry. The kit's fur is on end in response to the thick aura of natural energy filling the air, and seeming to flow from the break ahead. As Satoshi steps past the barrier of trees, she brings Daisy into another clearing filled with snow. This one holds no lake, instead a round area of land running perfectly flat from one end to the other, save for the hillock in the center. Atop this hillock rests a Winter Willow, a behemoth by the standards of its kin in Frostmaw, and far, far older than even the bent Elder in the city's garden. It sits with a regal pride in the dead center of the clearing, branches so far flung in every direction that the sky is completely blocked by the canopy of leaves. The hanging vines of its foliage create sweeping curtains throughout the clearing, all gently swaying in a nonexistent breeze. With each movement come countless tiny flashes of silver, the leaves colored as such on one side and a pale green on the other, making them look like a school of fish in motion. The source of light that fills the area and makes it appear eternally bathed in sunlight is, in fact, the tree itself, its white bark too bright for eyes to linger on long--although the shadowy black in the bark crags seems to draw the eye in turn, an endless visual struggle. Satoshi stops at the edge of the clearing and lowers herself to sit sphinx-like in the snow, head bowed reverently toward the tree. "We're here just in time, Sundrop," the frost queen says in hushed tones, as if she were in a church, "He hasn't bloomed just yet."
Daisy is speechless. She stays there on Satoshi's back, idly petting in her fur while she memorizes every detail of that tree. This breathtaking planty beacon of wonderful steals her voice for a moment. But only a moment. That whisper is returned, "He's almost as pretty as you."
Satoshi would blush, were she capable in the form of fox or vulpine. The comment is oddly humbling, especially for a creature without a single humble bone in her body. "No, Sundrop, in this, I concede to him. He is too great a thing to compare to me. His age exceeds many things in this realm. Imagine what he has seen through the countless years. What he's heard." To Satoshi, this tree is as close to a father figure as she's ever felt she's had, aside from the Elementals. She doesn't have a father, not truly, being no more than a fragment of a lesser god's imagination, brought into existence on a whim, to fuel the endless war of Chaos and Order in Shesryn. This tree, while it cannot speak, commands a genuine respect from Satoshi like very few living things can. Although silent and never truly reacting to her presence, the Willow has taught Satoshi much in her times meditating beneath its branches. Through its branches she has heard the Snowsong in a myriad of voices, tasted the seasons tinted with the subtle flavor of the leaves, watched life bloom and death wither, and felt the blazing lifeforces of more creatures than she can count. Beneath these branches she has lured stray souls to become her next meal, their blood nourishing the Willow's roots while its leaves and their music muffled screams. And now she's brought Daisy. Not to feed herself or the tree, but to meet it. It's the first time the magus has done so, knowing the little druid would carry the same respect for the regal Willow as Satoshi does. "Can you hear him? For me, his voice is part of the snow and distant. But you, you sing to the plants as I do the ice. Can you hear his true voice?"
Daisy mutters a soft apology when she realizes the grip she has on poor Satoshi's fur. Maybe it isn't so uncomfortable for the kit. Maybe she doesn't even notice the weak clenching of those tiny paws. But the apology is still there. Feline eyes never leave that ancient tree as she slips off her royal mount. Sure most people wouldn't be able to just stare. That is what cats are good at with their dilating pupils and weird ability to just not blink for ridiculous amounts of time. So she stares in awe for a moment before her face brightens into that oh too well known grin. "Yes." Like a child on christmas, excited and full of joy, she runs. Not the most graceful creature, there is some stumbling and near faceplants in the snow on her way to that majestic creature. Without hesitation, the kitten glomps the base of that tree. Furry arms and legs leap, spread, and latch on, completing the greatest hug you have ever seen anyone give a tree. If you have ever seen one at all. Cheek pressed against the bark with eyes closed, she purrs. Could be the wind. Could be an accident. Did those branches just hug her back? Possibly. Opening one eye, she peeks back at Satoshi. "He loves you."
Satoshi hadn't, in fact, felt Daisy's paws digging into her fur, the ruff around the kit's neck far too thick and protective for that. Still, she catches the apology and understands, offering a nod in response before the druid goes racing into the clearing. Satoshi follows at a slower pace, her paws falling into the dips Daisy's own have already made, and eventually carrying her to the base of the tree that's now being hugged fiercely. As the eidolon lowers herself to sit, the outline of her body blurs and shrinks until, seated cross-legged in the snow, is the magus as she's normally seen. And regarding Daisy and the tree with a silent, unreadable expression. She'd noticed the branches curve inward in response to the druid's appearance, and wears a half-smile at it when Daisy turns to speak. Satoshi's eyes widen in response and she looks genuinely caught offguard, a state that makes her look young and vulnerable. "I... He... really?" the words are uncertain, another uncharacteristic feature of Satoshi, as she peers searchingly up into the Willow's branches. Another invisible breeze moves among the foliage, causing the leafy vines to sway and brush against the druid and magus in gentle strokes. Satoshi closes her eyes at this and tips her head back, feeling the snowfall unseen above and knowing it grows thickly upon the Willow's immense canopy. Not much longer now.
Daisy 's eye close again just before Satoshi's shift happens. Kind of rude to just gawk at someone while they're changing. Yeah, so maybe the Queen is all 'Privacy screen? Ain't nobody got time for that.' and just changes all willy nilly wherever she wants. She -is- the Queen, after all. So instead of gawking, the kitten makes her way up the trunk of that tree with a strange confidence that the terrified-of-heights feline doesn't usually have. "Yes." As if to prove her point, a single leaf drops and flutters and manages to land right on Satoshi's nose. Hush now! Coincidences don't happen. Sprawled out on the lowest branch, Daisy dangles one foot over the edge with her arms curled under her chin. So brave! He won't let her fall though. "He's so old!" Which would be an insult to most, but not this time.
Satoshi doesn't open her eyes as she lifts a hand to gently pluck the leaf balancing upon her nose. For a moment the silvery thing is pressed to her lips before it's tucked into the safety of her coat-front. With this, Satoshi's eyes open slowly, the smouldering amber flecks muted in comparison to the blazing of the azure. "It's time." Her voice is hardly a whisper yet carries easily in the icy chill of the air. Climbing to her feet then, Satoshi gives a small shake to banish the snowdust clinging to her, and then moves to hop up into the tree, landing lightly on the branch beside Daisy. She smiles at the druid and puts a finger to her lips, calling for silence. The gesture isn't necessary, truly, not as the air itself becomes heavy with a tension, a building sensation of pressure akin to what one feels when they've taken a deep breath and held it just to see how long their lungs can last. As the pressure mounts, the leaves fall still, the branches stop their groaning movements, and even Satoshi's animated tails lie unmoving coiled around her. When the point of tension is reached that feels like one can't last any longer, a tremor runs through the whole of the tree, starting from the roots and coursing up through the canopy. The shaking motion sends a cascade of snow down through the branches, and as they touch upon the foliage, the tree bursts into bloom. Among the pale green and silver of the leaves blossom tiny buds of white that unravel to reveal eight thin, delicate petals. Their centers each house a pale blue stigma, with matching veins that extend into the petals, tracing the outline of a snowflake, so that the tree appears to be covered in a blizzard's worth of floral snowfall. Satoshi leans down toward Daisy, whiskers tickling the kitten's face as she murmurs softly, "Meet the Snowstar, Sundrop. Our Winter Willow's are rare, but their blossoms are even rarer. It requires a proper storm, and just enough snow on the branches, to wake them."
Daisy isn't very old, but she has experienced a few things. She has seen a peanut stand. She has heard a rubber band! She has even seen a needle that could wink its eye. Of all those things, this blooming takes the pie. The old man that is this tree pushes at the druid's magic as it awakens. Makes her belly flip and her heart flop and oh if she could bottle this happy, she would be a very very rich girl. Her whiskers dance with Sato's a bit while she just enjoys those blossoms for what they are. Yes the trees have always been special. She knew that. She didn't know this about them though! So special. Shared with her. Green meets blue with shimmers threatening to spill over. "Thank you."
Satoshi's face carries the ghost of a smile as she reaches up to brush her fingers over a flowering vine. With the touch comes a spark of magic, the faintest stroke of ice, causing the vine to separate from the rest with a soft crack. Taking the vine in hand, Satoshi deftly winds its ends around themselves into the shape of a small hoop, before the magus' breath coats it all in a layer of glistening frost. Satisfied with her work, Satoshi lifts the little crown to be set upon Daisy's head, draping over her ears. It's cold to the touch but not painfully so, and strangely the flowers and leaves are still alive, encased in the ice. "You said you were looking for flowers, so flowers you shall have. Should you have need of me, pluck one of those flowers and call me. I will hear it. If you are in Frostmaw, I will come to you swiftly.' It's a multi-faceted gift: a sign of Satoshi's trust in the little druid, a thank you for speaking with the Willow, gratitude for bringing life to Frostmaw's garden, and so much more. To others, the kitten might seem small, weak, or helpless. Not to Satoshi. As she'd told Svilfon when they had discussed who to entrust Emiur's eggs to, Daisy might be tiny, but she is strong. Strong in a way that is not easily defined or easily thwarted. It is a strong the magus wishes she possessed, and one she admires greatly in the druid. "You look like a princess, Sundrop~."
Daisy lets out the tiniest of shivers as her eyes cross to look up at that crown. Hear that, kitten? A princess! What a nice name for the Queen to give you. What was the last one? Damsel of Dirt? There is a little pout that is quickly tucked away. "I love it." Daisy no! Bah! She leaps at the icy kit without thoughts of where they are or what could happen if no one was ready. The Queen is pounced! And there could be a catastrophic failure. Only Daisy wasn't kidding when she told Satoshi that the tree loves her. Irresponsible kitten glomps are greeted with warm -despite where they are- branches that gently cradle the pair to the ground below. The druid giggles sheepishly at her friend. "Sorry."
Satoshi isn't entirely sure how or when she ended up on the ground, having been lost in thought when Daisy tackled her off the branch. And thus she's left sitting there, blinking like a newly awakened owl while being hugged by an excitable druid. Were Satoshi's arms not being pinned by hugs, she'd offer Daisy a pat on the head in response. Instead, the magus settles for a lopsided grin. "You shouldn't linger much longer out here, Sundrop. The storm has only begun and intends to get much worse. I'll be a tad put out if the first thing you call me for is to thaw out a kitten-cicle after the blizzard~."
Daisy laughs quickly scrambles to her feet. I wonder if the Queen would consider that a tasty treat. Hn. Both paws wave at something that really wouldn't seem to be there. "I'll go back quickly. Thank you again." A very small and quick kiss is stolen from Satoshi's cheek before Mamoru finally decides to wake up from his little nap over there. Lazy couatl! Not really, he just doesn't care much for climbing trees. He purposely rubs up against the queen before slipping up under his ward. Fat couatls are faster than fat kittens when it comes to moving over snow. He looks up at Satoshi and wordlessly promises to get Daisy back safe, then carries the druid off.
Satoshi watches the two depart, with a salute for them, before she settles more comfortably into the snow beside the tree. "I'm glad she liked you, old man." A hand affectionately pats the Willow's trunk as Satoshi's eyes close, preparing to meditate. "Now then, shall we greet this storm properly~?"