Oak Tree Bend when I'm low

So much history, so little want to relive it. As Aponi moved to carry herself to the infirmary Naira came back along side her. "Don't be a fool." was all she would offer, a steadying breath drawn as she decided to enlighten her daughter a little to her own past as they walked. "Lily was Datura's sister, he had another sister too, and a brother - @Belladonna and Adonis. We lived by the Lake, where the nightshade grows. It was a stormy night and I woke to find Adonis gone. My own brother had taken him. I persued. Your father thought I had left with with one of the children so he grabbed your sister and followed. Datura and Bella were left behind."

She took another deep breath, it didn't hurt so much to retell the tale anymore but it would always be upsetting. "I found my brother throwing my son against a tree. We fought and I left him for dead. By the time I managed to return to the path I had followed down this side of the mountain, a mudslide had washed it away. I was convinced your father and Lily were still at the Lake, but they were trapped on this side too." Hadn't that been why she had panicked so when Aponi ran off to be with Karpos? It had taken years for her to willingly step on this side of the mountain again. "It took months for me to find my way back. I had a child to care for, but he quickly grew too large for me to carry him up the cliffs. We had to go south." So far south.

"We finally made it back, they didn't believe me. My children didn't know who I was, they made me lowest. I tried to challenge, but the male leader Ash, interfered. So I decided I was done. Eventually I found your father, Rhysis, but Lily wasn't with him. I thought she must have been dead. Somewhere along the way he had picked up Mapplethorpe. I recruited and I went to the lake to take back my children. Datura came, Belladonna didn't. We made our way to the pass where you were born... but things like that, they change people. Your father was always a little volatile but he was so much worse by then. He left while I was pregnant, I didn't bother searching. We were all better off without him. Mapplethorpe was always the father you should have had."

Of course she was ommiting her tyst with Triell. She didn't want to complicate things further. But should she have mentioned it? Probably. "Children can't be replaced, although it may feel that way to them. I've never not loved you, we're just too much alike. Pig-headed." She dared to add with a chuckle, "We will always butt heads, but that doesn't mean I'm not proud of you." There, it was said. She doubted any of it would go down well but she was too content with herself to mind so much anymore.

(This post was last modified: Sep 04, 2016, 01:57 AM by Naira.)

Aponi's body ached in protest but all of her muscles stiffened when her mother came back to her side. All she wanted was to get to the infirmary in peace so she could rest, the last thing she wanted was to hear her mother's ramblings. The silver woman might have not been listening for all the attention she seemed to be paying other than a single snort at the mention of Belladonna not coming. Datura never had been the brightest and even then he had made the wrong decision while her sister had made the right one. That is until the near the end of her words the Aquila interrupted, "Mapplethorpe was my father. He raised me more than you did so while your blood might run through my veins and not his he will be more of a parent to me than you ever will." The words were spoken harshly though the blue eyes never strayed from the path ahead.

The chuckle was met with a sneer, "What a lovely story Naira, you make everything sound so peaceful and loving at the Pass. Too bad nobody actually lived happily ever after. You don't even know me, who I am or what I've done since I left you so any claim that you're proud is just plain moose-shit." In the distance she finally spotted the entrance to the infirmary, picking up the pace slightly the daughter wished this would be good enough for Naira. She'd had enough.

More practiced than some at keeping a stony face she didn't bite back at her daughters remarks. Oh but she was still alive and that was more than enough to be proud of for the mother. Safely delivered to the infirmary she trusted Aponi to know what she was looking for (even if she had balked at almost every lesson Naira had ever tried to teach the girls while they still lived in the Pass).

She turned then, finally allowing the smile to touch the corners of her lips and left to return to her border patrol. Aponi always did just fine on her own.

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