RP:The Wraths of Fire and Ice

From HollowWiki

Part of the How to Train your Wizard Arc



  • Ilydia, Fanged Elf, Herbalist.
  • Satoshi, Kit Vampire, Frost Singer.




Svilfon is sitting on an armchair, his hat pulled down to obscure his face. Yet there was something in the way he was sitting that was almost like a coiled snake - ready to strike if anything came near. The patrons in the bar seem to be keeping their distance from the wizard, and the conversations seem a little hushed. But few glance at him, and none attempt to speak with the man. He is merely there, still.


Satoshi's entrance is considerably quieter than the night prior, the fox merely entering on the heels of another tavern-goer, her head bent and her face obscured by the toothy hood of her lion cloak. Her focus is devoted to a sphere of ice lying in her palm, so much so that she doesn't even look up at first when she takes a seat in the armchair across from Svilfon. It's only after a moment is spent inspecting a spidery crack in the frozen object that Satoshi gives a sharp jerk and looks up. With eyes gleaming uncertainly from within the shadows of her hood the magus peers at the wizard as if staring will explain to her why she's detecting an almost electric tension radiating from him. This is far from the predatory aura he's given off before when hungry... "Svilfon...?" is offered in hushed tones.


Svilfon makes no move as the snow queen takes a seat opposite him, though he knew she was there. The only difference is his hands, which squeeze on the arms of his chair a little harder; white knuckles resembling the snowy peaks of Frostmaw's mountains. When she whispers his name he lifts his head slowly up. There is written on his face a barely controlled struggle - half of him wanting to tear the snow queen apart, the other half wanting the comfort he knows she can offer. For a long time he stares, before he speaks in his own quiet tones. "Satoshi..."


Satoshi's first reaction to the primal stare she's given is, oddly enough, to wrap her hand protectively around the cracked ice she's holding, ellicting a faint chime of bells from it when it's jostled. She rises to her feet then, taking a step toward Svilfon before turning to the door. "C'mon," she whispers in passing and heads toward the exit. Were it most anyone else, the kit wouldn't have dared put her back to that armchair-bound beast skulking in human flesh, but there's a certain level of trust she's willing to invest in Svilfon--a trust fueled by the wizard's own words, actions, and beliefs, as well as Emiur's assurance, and Kasyr's own commands.


Svilfon eyed the sphere when Satoshi gripped it so protectively, but with an imperceptible shrug he dismisses his natural desire to ask her what it is. As she stands and speaks he remains still for a long moment, watching her walk away. He tenses then as he feels the malevolent surging of Colton Black's twisted evil, demanding he take the woman and hear her screams. With a snarl the wizard tears one of the arms off the chair, before grabbing it between his two hands and snapping it in half. With casual disregard he drops the two pieces, before standing and following after Satoshi.. but not too close.. he was afraid of what he might do.


Satoshi leads Svilfon to a small alcove off the main road, a snowy patch often overlooked by giants and tourists alike for seeming like nothing more than a barren ditch. But once one has stepped around the veritable walls of snow and ice, they'll find a private Winter wonderland cultivated by Satoshi. It's hardly a decent sized garden even by cottage standards, but it's something the kit takes a silent pride in, for after the beloved, now deceased, little avian Neema had awoken the long dead flowers, Satoshi had taken it upon herself to see them returned to full life. The magus is no druid but between her stubborn will and the northern plant lifes' tenacity, they've managed to bring the area into full bloom once again, almost every inch of the space is packed with frost-fire roses, icy daffodils, hoary blossoms, snow lilies, and even a white willow as a centerpiece. It's beside the tree that Satoshi stops now to let the colorless tendrils caress her face in plantish greeting. "What did he do, Svilfon?" she asks, without turning around, or feeling the need to elaborate on who 'he' is.


Svilfon follows silently behind Satoshi, his gaze taking in the twisting roads they raced through just yesterday. As he remembers their chase, her victory stolen by hm, their time spent in training and her given promise, cracks begin to appear in the solid wall of malevolence that seperates the wizard from himself. Within his mind the malicious darkness screams and for just a moment the wizard's step falters, before, with determination that is often borderline suicidal, he drives himself to continue. And he is glad he did. For as the two enter the private garden, so lovingly taken care of by the ice magus, the wizard can almost relax. He still feels the grotesque darkness flowing through undead veins; he can still hear the screams of the fallen man's sin, demanding he desecrate everything around him, but in the simple beauty of a garden, tended in a climate most unsuited for life, he finds joy... the first joy not found in pain since the ordeal they went through last night. "It was... too soon..." The wizard moves to where a frost-fire rose blooms and absently he runs his fingers over the flower, then down its thorny stem. "It lives inside me, Satoshi.. I can feel it even now... It wants to destroy you. It wants to tear down this garden for the sole crime of its beauty. It wants..." The vampire stops himself, feeling his rising ire as he speaks of the darkness... "It wants me to become the monster I swore I would not."


Satoshi lifts her chin to look skyward with a sigh, while the frozen egg in her hand is pressed to her forehead as if it were nothing more than a soothing icepack. "You didn't ask to be made a monster... why is he doing this..?" The chunk of ice is pressed harder against her head in her frustration, producing another thin crack along its surface. A bell's keen comes from the object then, as if in protest to the kit's force, causing Satoshi to blink and straighten up, relieving the pressure. "I'm sorry, little one," she whispers in soothing tones, her words melting into a gentle hum, the melody drifting through the tiny garden as the minstrel sings quietly to herself, the egg, and the wizard. The tune is an unearthly mixture of lullaby and nocturne, weaving the calming notes and shadowy undertones into a tapestry dubbed her Phantom Song, a strange piece she's been known to sing on those rare occasions she wishes to still the stormy rages of darker beings. Accompanying the song are Frostmaw's ever present breezes riffling through the frozen leaves and petals of the garden to create a glassy wind-chime, along with the soft, blessed trilling of the enchanted katana at Satoshi's waist: Ko'tar's soothing chant. It's all the words she offers the wizard, for once lacking in wit or wisdom.


Svilfon feels the contrast of Satoshi's soothing song fighting against the rising tides of hatred that threaten to drown the once-jovial man. He draws a deep breath to feel the icy air in his lungs, to taste the scents that flow through this serene garden. With eyes shut he remains motionless, letting the strength of her magic aid him in pushing down the menace within. Until he feels himself found once more. Silently he moves forward to stand beside Satoshi, before he puts his hand on her shoulder and gently turns her. For a long time he is silent, comfort found the same way as when he was with Kirien, before he speaks in whispered words, "Tell me... For our friendship, Satoshi, I ask you speak the truth." A frown, then. He did so hate to impose on the friendship the two shared. But he does, and hopes she will forgive him. "You told me this was a family; our coven. Durable together... Strength to avenge the rogue... This gift... this curse..." He shakes his head. "Tell me, Satoshi. Are we all just pawns in Kasyr's game? Is that why you brought me to your kingdom?" His face almost breaks then; of all the people in this world, he holds the queen in higher regard than anyone. But he would not take his eyes from hers; he needed to know the truth.. no matter its cost.


Satoshi's gaze is unwavering as she peers up at Svilfon, letting his question wash over her and fade into silence long before she's willing to answer. When she does speak, her voice is hard and pure as ice, neither a hint of a lie nor sweet, soothing word present to damage the pristine clarity. She merely speaks the truth. "No, you are not a pawn. You are family, as he said. What he does, he does to make you stronger, to give you the options and fighting chances he wasn't granted. If he desired pawns, he wouldn't ask your permission first. No." The kit shakes her head then without taking her eyes off the wizard. "He wanted to be a hero once, to have all the strength needed to defend others, and he gained those powers by making deals with devils. He means to awaken those same dark powers in each of you, so that you won't taste defeat by any hand, so that you can defend you and yours. I think, however, that he forgets... while he made his deals with the black shadows of night to become Night itself, my deal was made with the fading grays of dawn and dusk, to play the role of Night's end and beginning. We stand as equals in our strength. Darkness isn't the only source of power, nor is Light. He forgets that, and tries to feed you each the shadows, in hopes you'll grow and thrive upon it."


Svilfon smiles at her words, though the look is far from pleasant. "To give us the strength to defeat our enemies, he feeds us with shadows to make us more evil than they are." The wizard lets his hand drop from her shoulder; the break he suffered yesterday in the limb healed by the night's dark ritual and the feast afterwards. "There is something I think he does not understand... Something you do not understand..." The wizard struggles for a moment as the darkness in him attempts to rise again, but he would not let it win, not yet. "Fighting the lichdrow was never about winning, Satoshi. From the moment I spoke the words, all I have heard is that it is impossible to beat him." A bitter smile is flashed then. "It doesn't matter... It was about showing him that his evil will not be given free reign. That his actions will have consequences. I am.. was.. an ally of Leoxander. His enemies are my enemies, his friends are mine... Now it is about winning. About surrending to darkness to be given its gifts..." Another slight shake of his head. "If I beat him, queen, I will do it by lowering myself to his level. There is no victory in that... Sometimes, life is about more than just surviving..." He shakes his head before stepping back, his gaze briefly shifting to Ilydia. "Not pawns..." He shakes his head.


Ilydia quietly moved in towards Satoshi, the command propelling her forward towards certain trouble. She smiled wryly at her situation and finally stopped near Satoshi. To her, she presented a small letter from her master. "Satoshi: Teach Ilydia a lesson, S'il te plait? Much love, Kas. P.S. Maybe something about a cat's morality. Her surviving es, of course, necessary."


Satoshi stares at Svilfon with confusion, his words baffling her. If you don't fight to win or kill, and thus survive, what other reason is there to fight so earnestly...? The concept is a foreign one to the kit, and it shows in her eyes. But before she can form a question, she finds herself interrupted by Kasyr's pet holding a note out to her. Without thinking (and without a free hand available to accept the paper), Satoshi snaps at Ilydia, "Can't you see I've got my hands full? Read it to me and go!" Abruptly realizing her temper's flaring from frustration, the kit takes a step back and shakes her head. "Just... what does it say, eh?" With that, she glances sidelong as Svilfon, confusion returning to her eyes as she nods, "Not pawns..."


Svilfon shakes his head again at the snow queen again, reading in her eyes the confusion she feels. With a little shrug he replies to the unasked question, "It doesn't matter." Before turning his gaze again to Ilydia. She is stared at as the wizard takes in deep breath, his look far from pleasant - Satoshi's rising temper quite clearly adding fuel to his own.


Ilydia glanced towards the ground as she opened the letter and showed it to Satoshi with a slight twinge of nervousness. She couldn't speak now and she was in grave danger with her current situation.


Satoshi is forced to resist the urge to growl at Ilydia, once she catches wind of Svilfon's mounting tension. It wouldn't do for them both to lose their tempers now. And so it's with an impressive force of will that the magus says in carefully calm tones to Ilydia, "Just tell me what it says, hm?" She might be managing to keep her temper in check, but that does nothing to stop her stubborn will from running rampant. She has no intentions of taking the letter by this point.


Svilfon stands motionless, his gaze locked on Ilydia. His look shows he is in no mood for this, but he doesn't yet do anything about it. He just stands there, growing ever more angry.


Ilydia Ilydia frowned there and tried to contemplate ways to inform Satoshi without angering her before taking out a small bottle of blood wine, wrapping the note around the bottle and offered the bottle to Satoshi with a light, nervous smile before placing a small bottle of different blood wine on the ground for Svilfon.


Satoshi doesn't accept the bottle, what with her only working hand occupied holding an egg-shaped chunk of ice--that seems to have acquired even more cracks in it since she started talking to Svilfon. Eyes narrow on Ilydia, trying to determine why the girl won't make a peep, despite speaking to her the other night. Is the kit really -that- scary? Satoshi can't help stand a little straighter at that thought, privately amused, even as she returns her attention to Svilfon. "I... Hrm. If you face the Eldermage as you are now, win or lose, you'll still get what it is you want... won't you? For the captain? If this isn't what you wanted, why did you do it..?" Judging by her hestitant tones, Satoshi's still trying to work through the wizard's meaning and intentions. This honor thing is lost on her.


Svilfon extends his hand and speaks a harsh word. The bottle raises from the ground into his waiting grasp. He eyes it for a moment, before looking back at the child. After last night he is not all that eager to drink something she gave him, but with his anger growing, and with it the uncontrollable need to tear something into tiny pieces, he pulls the cork from its end and takes a long drink - the sanguine liquid doing little more than flirting with his rapidly rising temper. Without wiping the trails of blood that drip from the corner of his mouth, the wizard replies to the snow queen, "What does it matter? It is done," he almost snaps at her; in light of their conversation, some bloodshed probably wouldn't hurt. "He spoke the words: Survive so you can defend your other allies after the lichdrow." The wizard laughs, though there is no pleasure in the sound. "Survive so I can become just like the drow." The bottle is raised again, a deep drink devoured greedily by the angry vampire. "You will not understand, Satoshi. Don't try to. You have what you want, so does he. That is what matters, no?"


Ilydia Ilydia seemed troubled by her dilema. She had to tell Satoshi and yet she couldn't. Still, she controlled her frustration at her situation and simply smiled calmly as she attempted once more to hold up the letter for Satoshi to read. This time with a polite curtsy first while she held up the letter using her teeth and one hand while she opened the elven wine and opened it with the other.


Satoshi momentarily forgets Ilydia's existence, all focus locked on Svilfon and his scathing words. No one speaks to her that way... Perhaps it's a good thing Ilydia is overlooked then, as Satoshi's temper reaches a sudden, unannounced breaking point, marked by an enraged snarl as she hurls the fissured sphere of ice at Svilfon's head. "Win or die, those are your only options. If you want to go the route of the captain, -do it-. You were offered another path by us, similar but not the same as the drow's, but we won't force you to tred it. I told you there is no going back. Make your choice!" As Satoshi speaks, her frosty tone directly influences the air around them: frigid temperatures plummet to make even breath painful, the nearest flowers shrivel as they're encased in glassy sheaths, the bottles of wine erupt as their contents flashfreeze, and the drifting snowflakes are turned into a violent whirlwind of icy shards. At the center of the concentrated blizzard stands the magus, body rigid while her hair whips around her in a wild dance, and eyes blazing with glacial azure and smoldering amber. In her hand rests Asorial's zanbato shape, the seven foot blade writhing with midnight blue flames.


Satoshi snaps, just a little.


Svilfon snaps his hand up with vicious speed; his reactions enhanced by the strength bestowed upon him after last night's dark ritual. The sphere of ice is caught with a cracking sound as further snaking lines appear on its surface. For just a moment it seems the wizard will crush it in his grasp, before the air begins to grow deathly cold. His almost finished bottle shatters in his hand, shards of glass raining down onto the growing ice below, and without a downward glance both sphere and bottle-neck are dropped. He screams within the tempest; shards of ice cutting into his face as he does, leaving thin trails of blood dripping in their wake, "You do not understand!" The air around the wizard begins to waver; the heat of his rage pushing against the ice of Satoshi's anger. He takes a step towards her; causing the flowers close to him to shatter from the shift between frozen and burning, "Win or die? Why do you think I am here?!" He continues on his way; his robes whipping around his body in the rapidly growing winds, "You offered me the path of damnation with lies!" He finally said it as he was close to her, well within range of her long blade. "This I accept!" He tears at the neck of his robes, displaying the scars left when both Satoshi and Kasyr fed upon him. "This I do not!" He allows the darkness freedom within him; his pale eyes growing dark, the heat of his anger bursting into ebon flames that lick at the air around him. "This is what he wants for you, for Kirien, for that!" He motions at Ilydia, "A monster, he has made. Fulfil your promise!" The wizard stands there, unmoving. The final shreds of himself not being consumed begging the queen to make her strike... before it was too late.


Ilydia ilydia simply now tied once more the letter to the bottle and left it for Satoshi to read later as she withdrew, pulling into the shadows to avoid being pulled into the conflict.


Satoshi fights against her own nature to avoid recoiling away from the approaching flames, and with a gritting of her teeth she forces herself to even take a step toward Svilfon. Where her icy aura meets his fiery one steam erupts with a keening hiss, blanketing the garden in a roiling fog as she glowers at him, refusing to back down. "I won't become a monster! And neither will you!!" Her grip upon Asorial tightens with the defiant shout, the kit's face contorting in rage as she lunges forward, intent upon driving the lengthy blade through Svilfon's gut. Hit or miss, it's hardly a fatal blow when delivered against a vampire, but Satoshi's far from thinking clearly. All she knows is what Asorial wants, and Asorial wants to drink the wizard's blood--or more specifically, that delicious darkness writhing beneath the surface, just begging the Wrathful entity to feast upon its corrupted essence.


Svilfon stands within the raging storm as the malicious fires of his rage lavish their attentions on the icy-cold aura of Frostmaw's queen. "Too late!" He hisses the words, the malevolent essence of Colton Black driving the jovial wizard deep down; drowning him in the putrid essence of pure evil, consumed by the sineater then forced into the man's body last night. He grins as the queen's face twists into a rage-filled mask, never believing she would stab the wizard: For he knows of Svilfon now, he understands him. But the deceased wizard's views on the world are far different from the snow queen's, no matter what Svilfon may think. So the image he has in his mind is far different from her truth - a fact driven home to Colton Black's twisted hatred as her long sword spears into his stomach, befire erupting from the other side like blooming sanguine flower. The Wraithful entity would have time, then, to feed upon the darkness within the wizard. But not for long... as it feels its malevolence being consumed by Asorial, the essence flees within the vampire; driving deep into his mind where it would wait like a cancer, ready to spread the moment it is given life. But for now, the wizard seems freed... For just a moment he would smile his thanks to the queen, her promise kept, before his lips distort into a twisted grimace and he lets out a scream drowning in agony....


Satoshi falls back with her own cry of pain as Asorial dissolves in her grasp, the weapon screeching agony and emitting thick tendrils of vile black smoke billow from where Svilfon's blood has touched it and fed upon the depthless rage of Colton Black. From where she's fallen in the snow, Satoshi stares unblinking up at the sky, heedless of the wisps of smoke coming from her scorched palm as she tries to tell herself the flash of smile she'd seen wasn't just her imagination. The wizard was still there in the monster, right...? That's him now making that wretched noise, and not the beast, right...? Eyes closing, Satoshi forces herself into an upright position and remains as such for a drawn out moment, unwilling to open her eyes and find out if it's man or monster facing her. Eventually, however, curiosity wins out, and ever so slightly the foxkin opens an eye to see what she will find...


Svilfon continues to scream for a long, long moment - the sound of undiluted agony echoing throughout the mountainous region of Frostmaw. The violent storm when ice met fire begins to fade, the wind shifting to the normal breeze that always flows through Frostmaw, and once again light snow begins to fall. Tendrils of smoke pour up from man's ragged robes as he shudders, copious amounts of blood pouring from the horrific wound in his stomach, before he drops to his knees in the snow, head bowed. And there he remains, clinging to the remnants of his sanity and unlife, but glad at least he is no longer being consumed by the unending malevolence that is Colton's sins...


Satoshi wears a look of relief while gazing at Svilfon, because despite his obvious pain and his bloodied form, that mask of rage is no longer on his face devouring the gap-toothed smile she'd grown fond of. "Kept my promise. You're not a monster," the magus murmurs as she stumbles to her feet. Although she doesn't readily notice, any who look her way will spy nestled amongst her usual trio of tails, a fourth one with inky black fur that coils and writhes in a far more agitated manner than the rest of its silken companions. Satoshi, for the moment, is obviously to the mark of Asorial's growth, and instead glances around for Ilydia. "Oi, Pet. You there? Find food for the wizard. Something big, quick like." And quietly, oh so quietly, "Please."


Ilydia ||After a quick dash away, she soon returned with a small prize that she had found nearby and deposited it upon the ground in front of Svilfon. She looked at Satoshi as if asking if she had made the right choice.


Ilydia dropped 1 Snow Jaguar.


Svilfon speaks in whispered words, "Kept... your... promise..." He slowly lifts his hand to the wound in his stomach, before looking down. "Owe.. you one..." He attempts a quiet laugh that turns into a bubbling cough, before snapping his hands out to the snow before him, holding himself up from falling face first in the ice. He cannot quite yet look at the queen, the words spoken between them still echoing in his mind. But apologetic words, much like thanks, are rarely shared between kit-vampire and wizard. Their actions spoke in their silence. It seems he does not notice the beast before him... As much as he needs the blood.


Satoshi offers Ilydia a nod of approval and even the ghost of a smile, although the expression widens slightly at Svilfon's remark. "I hope you don't mean you owe me a hole in my gut," she teases, the usual musical tone mostly back into her voice. With the worst of it past, the kit is ready to accept the moment as a victory, and thus in need of a release to the tense atmosphere by means of a light taunting. She even goes as far as to give her signature tug upon Svilfon's hat as she moves to crouch on the opposite side of the jaguar's corpse. "You should eat, though. Your wounds heal quicker if you're well fed. ...Everything's easier when you're fed, really..." The kit grows quiet after that as she glances around at the ring of destruction inflicted upon her garden by their brief conflict.


Svilfon shakes his head, "Gotta... repay.. the favor..." He lifts his head to flash her a bloody, gap-toothed smile, the briefest wink shared between them in the wake of her hat-tuggin', before the wizard crawls a step forward and drives his fangs into the beast's neck. Having more gaps than teeth doesn't make eating that easy, but with his body demanding sustenance, he forsakes his finesse for brutal tearing, ripping flesh back so his mouth and draw on the animal's sweet vitae. He lifts his head up just briefly, "You should.. eat too..." He motions at her burned hand, "And you've... grown..." He'd offer a crooked grin as he sees her tail, before resuming his feeding on the jaguar's corpse.


Satoshi's moment of mourning is brought to an end with that strange remark and she turns to face the wizard with a baffled look, head tipped to one side. "Grown?" As if hearing her words, the newest addition to the mutable fox gives a sharp jerk, drawing her attention back to stare at its sleek black self proudly displayed among the white triplets. "Hellfire... not again." Helplessly Satoshi shakes her head and sinks to her knees before tipping sideways to lay in the snow. It would have been a graceful fall, had it not ended with the sound of her skull cracking against something and her yelping in pain. Angrily she digs beneath her head to find the offending stone, only to retrieve the battered orb of ice Svilfon had thrown aside earlier. Its once smooth surface is now riddled in cracks and dents, with entire chunks broken away. "Oh... it's all beat up now." At least it still seems capable of chiming in her hands despite the damage.


Svilfon tears his bloody mouth from the beast before him. His agony written all over his face, but when he speaks there is further strength in his voice, solidified by feast. "Your garden." There is a moment of genuine concern as he sees the shattered flowers, and those still encased in solid ice. "Will grow back?" Without waiting for a reply the wizard wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, leaving a smeared trail of blood behind it. "Your tail... Could be worse? Black suits you..." He figures he owes her a compliment or two, and that one is at least honest. He does know her vain nature quite well. "And..." He shakes his head, his voice growing more faint as sleep threatens to claim him. "Will it be okay?"


Ilydia nervously pokes at the letter while she stares at the ground. She was going to die, she was very sure and she didn't exactly want to stay with a crazy woman who would stab her own family members. Still, she had her orders though she was tempted to use a few loopholes to run away, she stayed, awaiting her likely death.


Satoshi turns over so that she's laying on her back and holds the broken piece of ice high, smiling as moonlight plays off its many imperfections. "It'll be fine. See? It's pretty in its own way still. Same as the garden." She knows that, although many of her flowers are dead now, the remaining ones with thrive off the remains and the garden will be restored once more. Just as the once flawless egg has obtained its own strange beauty with its various damages. "They might seem broken, but all they've done is changed. Change can be ugly at first, but it never stays that way for long, y'know?" She may just be hinting at more than mere gardens and frozen eggs here. Just maybe. Or she's rambling because she can feel sleep creeping up on her as well.


Satoshi glances at Ilydia and the letter, managing a lopsided grin. "I'll read it soon, mmk?"


Svilfon allows himself a quiet laugh at her words, though it is strained through the pain that still washes through his body. "Those words were not spoken by me... at least..." He falls silent; his understanding of her less-than-subtle hints to the greater philosophy obvious. "Life is change, lady icicle. There can be no growth without some pain.." He tips his hat to her, regardless of whether she's paying attention, "Forgive the words spoken in my anger, Satoshi queen." He stops then, having nothing else to say to his friend...


Satoshi waves off Svilfon's apology--and nearly drops the egg in the process. "What's done is done, wizard. It's what you do after that matters, and all that. As for me," a yawn interrupts her remark momentarily, "all I intend to do 'after' is sleep. You wore the hell out of Asorial, and it's draining me~."


Svilfon nods his head. "Asorial wore the hell out of me, too." He'd snicker if he wasn't so deathly tired. "Go sleep, lady queen. I can make my own way..." He thinks. At least the giants around here like him.


Satoshi said to Svilfon, "I'm sleeping right here. I've neglected my flowers enough. They need a visit." As if to prove her words, the kit curls up in the snow as comfortably as if it were a down cushion, and seemingly drops off to sleep almost immediately. She does, however, quietly add, "Next time you have a... 'lesson' with my husband, make sure I'm there, all right? The Dark needs its Balance, or you'll lose yourself to his ways."


Svilfon decides if this is good enough for Satoshi, it's good enough for him. He lays back in the snow, his body still leaking blood, but at least there is food beside him. "You can bet your fourth tail on it, queen." He laughs a quiet little laugh, before drifting off into a hopefully healing sleep.


Satoshi will never admit it if confronted, but she sleeps far easier knowing one of the coterie is nearby.