RP:The Beasts Within

Part of the The Most Dangerous Game Arc

Never Freezing Fountain

Svilfon is kneeling before the fountain, so from behind he appears as nothing but robes and a hat. Both his hands trail in the unfrozen but altogether freezing water, and every so often he flicks open a hand, sending a trail of water drops flying towards a slender black cat that always evades them with a look that speaks of contempt for its master; a gesture defined by will rather than natural. But the wizard ignores it for the most part, continuing to merely rest there and think whatever it is wizards ponder on a cold day in Frostmaw.

Satoshi is making her slow way toward the fort, arms heavily laden with a layered bundle that obscures a good portion of her sight. Thankfully, when in Frostmaw, the magus doesn't have to rely purely on her eyes to navigate the land, so she hasn't crashed into anything. This snow sense is what alerts her to the unliving presence ahead, along with a smaller body, and frequent bursts of water in the air, causing Satoshi to stop not far from the fountain. Peeking around the bundle, she spies the wizard's distinct hat and she, of all things, frowns. Not an expression of anger, but one that's both miserable and uncertain. On a whim, the kit pivots around and starts trudging back the way she came. Maybe he hasn't noticed her yet... "Hail, Lady Frostmaw!" a giant calls, passing by and destroying any chance for Satoshi to slip away.

Svilfon has nothing of Satoshi's presence when in Frostmaw, but the wizard and ice-magus are bound by more than the bonds of friendship alone, and as she nears him he senses her. A lesson she herself taught him long ago. Though, as soon as she was there she was going again, and just as Svilfon is turning to see he hears the giant's call. A frown briefly forms on his face, and with an altogether absent gesture he waves his hand at the cat, causing it to vanish from sight, before standing up. The sleeves of his robes soon cover his exposed limbs and slowly Svilfon wanders towards Satoshi as he speaks, "Lady icicle?" He doesn't tip his hat to the walking bundle of things, waiting instead to ensure that those elegant boots and stylish pants do indeed belong to the queen of frost and snow.

Satoshi lowers the bundle so that it's propped securely against her hip, and offers Svilfon a vague smile in greeting. "Wizard. I'm glad to see you, as I wished to talk to you. But," uncharacteristic uncertainty causes the kit to gnaw at her lower lip, "at the same time, I'm not glad. Y'know?" Which is to say, what needs to speak about is unpleasant, and likely to make the wizard unhappy as much as it's made her. Yet Satoshi can hardly hide the subject, nor does she wish to, as Svilfon's advice is something she readily seeks in the matter. "Do you have a moment? Or five?"

Svilfon frowns in response to Satoshi's words, or perhaps more at what she does not say. "I have all the time in the world, lady queen." The perceptive wizard has worked out this is not something he is going to enjoy, and for just a moment he draws in a deep breath; enjoying fleetingly the taste of the air when all this was was a normal cold morning in Frostmaw. As he lets it out he speaks again to Satoshi in a voice that is already resigned. "Would you like to speak in your throne room?" He moves to her side, not offering to take the bundle from her arms. "Or is here fine?"

Satoshi said to Svilfon, "Here is fine. There are less ears." As soon as she says the words, the kit folds her legs and sits down in the snow, the bundle nestled upon her lap. But just as quickly as she answered and settled in, Satoshi grows quiet once more. Contemplative states are not uncommon for the magus, that's a given, but her present silence is one of uncertainty, a rare trait in a normally too-self-confident vulpine. Fingers trace idle patterns upon the bundle's fabric before she takes a deep breath and starts, "A few months ago, Emiur disappeared from his patrol. I didn't think much of it, although he had blocked out our connection. He seemed to want privacy. And what little I could gather from our link was that he had met another couatl. Naturally he'd want to spend time with his own kind, as he's been away from them for so long. But... a few weeks ago, there was a disturbance in Venturil's forest. I'd heard rumor some couatl were involved. My connection with Emiur was completely severed then. I've had scouts searching the site for clues, but all they've come up with is damaged land, a great deal of blood, and couatl scales and feathers scattered around. I went there myself today to try and unearth what physical eyes could not see. Wizard," Satoshi lowers her chin to rest on the bundle, "I fear the worst has happened to him. And I fear that the choice I made today will seal his doom, yet I don't think I chose wrong..."

Svilfon stands very still for a long time. The air around him grows silent and oppressive as his anger rises, and slowly it begins to waver as if caught in the source of some great heat. It takes all his self control not to simply erupt into a huge ball of flames, consuming anything near him, but he knows he cannot. For within the wells of his grief, behind the walls of his anger, he remembers that as dear to him as Emuir ever was - closer than almost any one else living in this world - he knows that the big ol' bag of scales was closer still to Satoshi. So he calms himself slowly, allowing the force of his emotions to pass through him. It takes the majority of his considerable willpower to regain control, before he kneels down. He leans out his hand and places it upon Satoshi's shoulder, before giving it the slightest of squeezes. "I am sorry, lady icicle... whoever did this will burn, though. Even if I have to tear apart half this world to find them... but... more than the need for vengeance... I will miss him so very much." The words fade to a whisper long before the last is spoken, before the wizard speaks again. His voice is tight with suppressed emotion, "What choice did you make, lady queen? And... how sure are you he has... gone..."

Satoshi shakes her head, although she doesn't move to free herself of Svilfon's hand on her shoulder. "How else could our link be utterly broken? I carry a piece of him, but I cannot feel him in the slightest. When he had left, he had merely put up a block between us, but I still felt him. It's that, or he is far, far away, a distance the bond can't manage. But whichever it is, whoever did this will pay. I won't be stopped in finding them. We lack any clues at present, yet I won't let that keep me from digging them out of hiding. Firstly, however, I must carry through with the choice I made. I chose to not give immediate chase, lacking in clues or not, to protect these..." With her words, Satoshi peels back the layers of fabric to reveal the bundle's contents: five fat little items the size and shape of ostrich eggs, save that they are each a brilliant shade of green, in varying hues. "If I had left Emiur's eggs behind to look for him, I don't think he'd have forgiven me."

Svilfon is struggling still to regain control of his warring emotions. Half of him wants to vanish there and now, to search every inch of that forsaken desert until he has found and destroyed those who are responsible for this. But beyond even that he knows it's the last thing the couatl would want. Emiur would not harm anything, so the only jusitifcation for tearing apart Venturil and its surrounding desolate wasteland is to calm the need for vengeance within the wizard. Once again he draws in a deep breath, before offering the most fleeting of smiles; the merely ghost of a gesture that is gone almost before it arrived. "You did what Emiur would have wanted, lady queen... He would not forgive you for putting himself before these..." The wizard shifts his grip for just a moment to run a hand over one of the eggs, before it returns to her shoulder. "..nor would he want us tearing across the country bringing death and destruction to them all for the mere sake of... vengeance." His free hand lifts, then, waving off words unspoken, "Not that anything will stop me claiming such... but we must not... lose control. He could be alive, lady queen... once these are safe we must see..." Svilfon nods, then, and again flashes that briefest of smiles at the queen.

Satoshi nods at Svilfon's words. They were echoes of her own thoughts, where emotions war against reason. Speaking to him had been the right choice, as she figured it would be, however much she didn't want to voice her doubts about Emiur's fate. "Aye, I intend to see to this brood first. It will take time to ensure they're settled and safe, although at least the scouts will be searching high and low during that time so that it isn't a complete waste. The Silver dragon Hildegarde, Kirien's guardian, is also helping. We interrogated a mercenary we captured near the battle site, as well, but he had little information. At the least, we know that whoever did this is well organized and they pay others to do they dirty work as far as scouting out prime targets." Satoshi wraps her arms more snugly around the group of eggs as she covers them back up to protect them from the cold. "Whatever fate Emiur faces, I will ensure his offspring are well. This I know I can do. ...What brings you out to the fountain, anyway, wizard? You seemed preoccupied?" It's a sudden change in subject, but then Satoshi isn't the sort to dwell on unhappy situations, she'd rather let those dark thoughts stew in the back of her mind while seeking some form of solace. Such as conversation with Svilfon.

Svilfon suddenly speaks quiet words; the whisper of a rhymthic chant that fills the area with a heat the snow queen would briefly find uncomfortable, before the wizard clenches his fist, causing the warmth to vanish. Quickly he moves his hand over the eggs and as he pushes open the bundle, his fingers open just a touch, as if dropping something onto them. For in thruth that is what he has done; giving each one the breath of warmth to ensure they are as comfortable as they would be in the desert of Venturil. When done he sags a bit; even his most magnificent hat seems to drop a shade under the weight of the wizard's regret. "You are correct, Satoshi queen. They must take priority. Come." He stands, then; still, though it seems that within him is an awoken beast that stalks as if caged. But he doesn't give in to it just yet. "Let us put them somewhere safe." To her last words he merely shrugs. "I came looking for you, lady queen. It has been a long time since we spoke. I wanted to see how you have been and whether you'd made progress with what we last discussed."

Satoshi climbs to her feet with the now warm bundle hugged close. But even as she does, she's eyeing Svilfon, seeing not the wizard but the prowling beast beneath the surface. Now and again, Satoshi forgets that animal lives behind Svilfon's jovial smiles, its fangs prominent and capable despite his own missing teeth. Each of the Coterie seem to harbor a similar beast, ever on the verge of falling into feral ways, yet always held back by the threads that bind them. Satoshi's own internal monster has not been riled into action. Not yet. The eggs made sure it was the protective drive of maternal instinct that reigned over the rampaging, haphazard predator. Naturally, i time the beast will surface, for Satoshi's temper has only two settings: shattering as readily as ice, or building slowly from a rumbling growl and escalating into the thunderous roar of an avalanche. This time, it's the avalanche, and it won't be unleashed to bear down upon mountains until her charges are safe and sound. Shaking her head at such thoughts, the kit points her boots in the direction of home. Initially she had intended to entrust the eggs to Cryothain's care at the fort, but with the wizard in the know, Satoshi feels the manor is the better place for their safe-keeping. And so she begins heading in that direction, choosing to answer Svilfon along the way. "Indeed I have. I think I can do. I haven't attempted to try it on my own, as I only want to have to separate such an undiluted piece of myself and my magic from me once, but I feel I will be able to do it when you're ready."

Svilfon does not miss the snow queen's gaze, nor does he try to hide from her his anger. But it is under control, as he is sure is her own, even if his is bound only by the thinnest strands duty, and loyalty to both the magnificent couatl and the Frostmawian queen. He does his best to seperate himself from the anger inside, but with a shrug given to the snow queen's back as she heads off towards the manor, Svilfon steps forward, quickly matching pace with her, his gaze switching quickly back and forth; partly to watch for anyone who should be kept away, and also as an outlet for his urge to hunt something. When he speaks, none of what he thinks is shared in his tones. They are even, which perhaps speaks enough on its own. "I... do not think I can cast the spells required now, lady icicle." Perhaps the distraction would serve him well, though he cannot really trust being so tired , nor can he risk the snow queen. Like her own desire to put Emiur before her own wants, so to must the wizard do to her own. "But soon we should try. What's the worst that could happen, right?" He flicks a grin at her, then. For just a moment filled with his typical joviality.

Satoshi simply nods. "When you're ready, so too will I be." Upon catching that flicker of his usual cheer, the kit pounces on it with another sudden subject change. The bundle is held up slightly to indicate it before she says in a tone breathless with a sort of excitement, "Did you know they can already -think-? It's how I found them. Their nest was so cleverly disguised, I never would have located it otherwise. They sensed Emiur's feather that I have and called out to it. Their minds are all images and emotions right now, no words, although it's amazing they can already do that. I feel like they're close to hatching. There's a sort of grudging patience coming from them, y'know?" To show this, Satoshi shuffles out one of the eggs, and thrusts it into Svilfon's hands. It is the smallest of the clutch by a fair degree, with a velvet-smooth shell the color of grass sprouts in spring. But most importantly, while it emanates a desire for action, for movement, for -something-, it also carries a great deal of patience. This egg, above all the others, seems to be the most serene of the bunch, eager to live but understanding that it must wait for the right time. Satoshi picked this one to put in Svilfon's hands for that very reason. "I think it likes you."

Svilfon nods and quietly says, "Soon..." Before his words are swept aside by the frozen queen's flickering topics of conversation. With another brief grin, he listens to her words, before taking in his hands the egg she thrusts upon them. Probably the right way to do it; he's usually worried he'll break whatever he is given, but in this he has no choice. Very gently he runs his hand across the egg as his pace briefly slows. Eyes shut against the perpetual whiteness of Frostmaw's outter village and he sends his thoughts towards the egg much like he would when speaking to Emiur. The wizard is about as pscionic as a toadstool, but still he can catch the quickest flickering of thought from within the egg and in that moment he realizes exactly what Satoshi meant. Knowing this, he would not have stayed in the area and hunted those responsible, for no price of vengeance was worth the risk. With another small smile, more to Emiur wherever he was, whatever his fate was, one that is sad as well as happy, the wizard holds the egg in the bundle of his arm, where it is kept warm from the frozen Frostmaw's always frosty weather. "They are almost ready, lady queen." Svilfon steps forward, then, again walking towards the manor. "I do hope you know what you're getting yourself," and himself, he doesn't say, "into."

Satoshi gives Svilfon a flat look. "Master Wizard, when have I -ever- properly known what I was getting myself into?" Answer: Once. Maybe. If you squint a little. And maybe tilt your head at an uncomfortable angle. "I'm sure they'll be perfectly polite little monsters once they hatch. Thankfully couatl can't breathe fire... I might have thought twice about this, otherwise." Not true, even if they were a clutch of highly destructive firebirds that ate endlessly, she would still have taken them in for Emiur's sake.

Svilfon responds to the words and look with a brief, though genuine laugh. "That is, perhaps, lady icicle, why we remain friends." Their shared motto holds them together despite his love of fire and her frosty nature. "It will be fine; Emiur is.. was.. a bundle of feathers beneath it all. These guys will be the same." The wizard, despite himself, snickers again at those words. Life for those who spend time in Frostmaw is rarely that easy. "Find them good homes, Satoshi queen. But they must also know each other, so do not send them too far away."

Satoshi said, "I will ensure they are only with the most worthy of companions," she looks pointedly at the egg comfortably situated in the crook of Svilfon's arm. It looks quite at home there, "Those that will guide them and teach them all the wonders of vanity, as well as impeccable manners. Everything that it is to be a couatl. We might not be able to teach them as Emiur would have, but I'll be damned if we don't manage to make his brood something he'd be proud of."

Faux Twilight Cavern

Svilfon laughs again at the frozen queen. "Perhaps you are more suited to those lessons than I am, I will nevertheless endeavour to make it grow up as finely mannered as Emiur always was." He absently runs a hand over the egg as they reach the cave that leads to Satoshi's home. "But I will not forget that there is also those responsible to find." He didn't want to go back to this, but he knew he must. "We will find those responsible, lady icicle." The wizard stops speaking, then. Not wanting to fill the air around the eggs with his anger. "We will find out what happened... but these come first. Then I know he would at least understand."

Satoshi nods yet again. "We will. As always, wizard, we will not fail." Her anger, while potent, has been buried deep beneath the determination needed for these tasks, alongside confidence. She's flooded the influential eggs enough with her sorrow and uncertainty, it was high time she introduced them to mindsets of a far more valuable nature. They will not be creatures of doubt or unhappiness when they hatch, she and the wizard will see to that, before hunting down the ones who caused those darker emotions in the first place. Satoshi strokes one of the eggs, medium sized and a deep hunter green, as she says firmly, "We will not fail."

Svilfon responds to those words with the same determination Satoshi does. "We will not fail." There is, as with her, the same surety to the words; it is not a promise, but a certainty. "We never do." He nods to her; one shared between those who have faced many risks beside the other, and far too many at the hands of the other. It is a nod of respect, a gesture rarely given. "We will find somewhere warm for them, lady queen. Then you should rest... or try to. Patience is not a virtue we usually have, but I think it is one forced upon us now." He knew he would not sleep, nor rest. Like the queen, his grief sits still in the back of his mind. He is trying to ignore it, but such things cannot be silenced for long.

Glistening Azure Fluorite Bridge

Satoshi crosses the fluorite bridge as Svilfon speaks, only pausing once she reaches the door to look back at him. As the foxlings and pandettes pull open the doors to let the covenmates in, Satoshi says to Svilfon, "I have little need for sleep these days, although I will sit for a while, and think. Something nags at my mind, ghostly memories that want to be recalled again, that I think may be connected to this. I may be able to find the links in this spiderweb, with enough thought. There are clues. There have to be. We need only search our minds until we find them and bring them together."

Library of Arcane Knowledge

Svilfon nods his head at that, before walking through the doors of Satoshi's manor and very briefly flashing a look to the creature who opened it. "To the library, then. I know where they can rest for now if you wish to sit in there with them. I could do with a drink, I think." Not that much thought really had to go into that, "And a rest." Though he has only walked from the village to here, he feels very weary. As they reach the library, Svilfon walks over to his favourite chair and speaks a quiet word. Very slowly it begins to warm up, and the wizard flashes a brief smile at the queen. "I know you said I wasn't allowed to heat the place up, but just my chair; it is a well contained spell. They can rest here, I think. They will be safe." With this point made, Svil places the egg he held in his arm somewhat hesitantly down. Not because he didn't think it safe or warm, but mostly because he wanted to hold onto it. But he knew it was best for the eggs to be together. With that done, he reaches into his robes and pulls forth a bottle of bloodwine, which he uncorks with a fang and soon goes about lifting it in silent salute to the couatl, before taking a deep drink.

Satoshi, once she's settled the rest of the eggs in beside their sibling, flops back upon the nearby loveseat, strangely graceful in her sprawling. Despite her saying she doesn't require sleep, almost immediately the kit's eyes are closed and her habitual--but unnecessary--breathing takes on a slow, steady rhythm. In truth, Satoshi isn't asleep. She's simply stilled herself to the brink of a sleep state to allow her mind to roam to its fullest potential, a meditative trance she's quite familiar with. It's this state that serves as answer to the wizard's remark of, 'They will be safe.' If she didn't agree, she would never have let her mind wander and senses dull. Obviously, here in the Coterie's home, with Svilfon nearby, Satoshi feels the eggs are as safe as if she'd stowed them away in the security of Cryothain's formidable jaws.

Svilfon realizes the moment Satoshi has sprawled eloquently onto the seat and closed her eyes that she is relaxing herself; letting her thoughts wander in their own directions, seeking answers that guidance couldn't find; layers that so slender they are barely noticable. He lifts his glass in silent salute to her as she lays there, before he turns and wanders to a seat very close to the eggs. He sips of his drink slowly and thinks through all of what he found out today. But most of all he thinks about Emiur; hoping against hope that the couatl is alive - hoping at least he would be happy knowing his eggs are safe. It is not the best use of his time, but Svilfon has very few friends in this world. He cannot help but mourn the potential loss of one of those few, while he trusts in Satoshi to find answers to who was responsible.

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