Dragonveil Fold i'm rough around the edge it seems

The act of leaving Hearthwood had been easy. Too easy. It hadn't occurred to her at first, but the more she thought about it, the fact that it didn't bother her bothered her - that she could walk away from @Kyrios and @Atropos and @Lilya and @Kisla and @Lachesis and not even want to look back. Not doubt that she was doing the right thing. And even then, the extent of her botherment was purely that she knew that those left behind would be struggling with it so much more than she. Kisla had lost her daughter and granddaughter, Atty and Ky their sister and mother figure, the others a friend, a little bit of pack stability...

But then they shouldn't have turned on @Kjors, who Bennet did not doubt, for one moment, always acted to better the best interests of those important to him. He loved the All-Mother and She was just, not unfair, loving, not cruel. But still Bennet had been urged to keep it largely to herself - the topic hadn't been welcomed in Hearthwood at large. But why? Why would they reject it? Kjors and her earth mother believed so whole-heartedly, knew the truth, had told Bennet everything -

well. Not everything.

She crooned softly to announce herself, a habit from her youngest months when the little black dragon had shunned words, stepping next to the space her mother sat, brushing her shoulder against her elder's side affectionately. The world laid out before them open and endless, the mountain rising into the heavens to their right and the left falling away into ravine and tundra beyond, and all dusted with forests. The running water in her ears was from the river but the stream which carried through the Veil, and Bennet found its song far more subtle and meaningful than the flow which had so enchanted Kyrios.

This place meant so much more, a blossom of the truth, the revelation of Bennet's own identity. She felt as though she had been born again in this snow-blanketed foothill, tucked away in the side of the mountain.

Above all her other questions, one rose strong and stark.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You know I can keep secrets.

Tag, @Bennet. I'll try to check back here twice a day or so until the thread is finished!

Karina greeted her daughter warmly, answering her croon with a warm hum of her own.  She pressed her nose into her daughter’s ruff and inhaled; though it was no longer the sweet scent of puppyhood, Bennet’s scent never failed to calm and comfort her mother. It was even more powerful than the lavender stalks she was near-dependent upon in her own girlhood—since Bennet was born Karina had no need to stuff her den with the ataractic flowers.
 
Bennet was a very independent soul—most dragons are—and did not often seek her mother out.  This did not bother Karina; much the opposite, it was a source of immense pride for the young mother.  The girl had always been able to care for herself mentally and emotionally, and quite soon she would be able to look after her own physical needs as well.  
 
When Bennet spoke, Karina knew it would be to ask a direct question—something important or perhaps religious that the girl was unable to figure out on her own. There were few other reasons that the child sought out her mother. Karina’s ears lifted to catch her daughter’s voice, flattening almost immediately in sorrow when she heard the question.  It could hardly be questioned the secret to which Bennet was referring.
 
“Darling, we did. Every meal Kjors brought, every minute he spent in our company, every night we slept curled around you, we were telling you. We just weren’t using words.” The explanation was meant to be comforting, but as soon as she was finished speaking Karina realized she had given the wrong answer. Bennet didn’t want comfort, she wanted a real answer, or else she never would have spoken in the first place. Inhaling deeply, Karina tried again.
 
“I.. was afraid. There was so much danger in our situation, I was afraid to even think the truth, much less speak it aloud.”  Karina sighed, knowing her daughter would not understand her fear. She had likely never known fear like that... she was a dragon, after all. “Kjors.. he would have told you if I would have allowed it, I’m sure..  I was just so afraid. You have to remember, I’m not a dragon like you or your father. I.. I get scared..” Lifting her gaze to her daughter’s, she said finally, “..I’m sorry.” 

(This post was last modified: Nov 18, 2016, 02:54 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

<33

@Karina was right; the first answer left Bennet unfulfilled, feeling as though she had merely been too blind or slow to see what they had supposedly been trying to tell them. Her gaze dropped despite the soothing words, ears flicking back in discomfort at the fact that she found them so unsatisfying. The dragon child was straightforward in almost every way, approaching the world and her view of it in an equally straightforward way, and had never been prone to suspicion or distrust. Having grasped and absorbed the bigger picture they so enjoyed preaching, Bennet's deepest concerns had risen a plane higher than this earthly world. Already born with a distant and calculating nature, the inclusion of the All-Mother into her life only amplified it - set Bennet apart from her peers even stronger. But that had never concerned her. She'd never seen cause to doubt her mother's version of the truth, doubt that she wasn't being told everything. Her own aloof nature aside, she had only been an infant, a child, who knew no better. She wasn't denying that they made her feel loved. That had never been in question; Kjors' true relation to herself didn't matter because it changed how she saw him. She just didn't understand why it couldn't have been revealed sooner.

But Karina read all that, knew her daughter too well, and offered a second answer to complement the first.

Yellow eyes lifting back to meet her mother's soft blue pair, she found her mother's gaze had fallen. Bennet listened quietly, recognising the vulnerability in that confession and wanting to respect it. Fear was not something Bennet really experienced, yet again showing how Karina knew her daughter, but the little dragon understood the concept. The emotional response, the need to survive. The urge to protect loved ones from harm.

When Karina looked up, she would see her daughter looking back, ears up and eyes bright - and Bennet moved forward without hesitation to tuck her snout under her mother's jaw, humming a quiet note of comfort. "I understand," she said, and the straightforward girl never lied to her family. "After what they did to him, you were right to be. Thank you for protecting me."

Karina smiled as her daughter nuzzled her, relieved that Bennet understood—even if she could not quite empathize. She blinked in surprise when Bennet thanked her, and then after a moment she chuckled as she buried her nose in Bennet’s ruff. “I couldn’t stop if I wanted to,” she told her daughter, still smiling. She could stop protecting the little dragon about as easily as she could stop breathing.

 Karina’s smile waned somewhat as she comprehended the rest of what Bennet had said. “You mustn’t blame them for anything, sweetheart,” the ex-Baranski said with a sigh. The more Karina thought about it, the more certain she was that she and Kjors had been doomed to failure in Hearthwood River no matter how events played out.  The Mother had wanted them here, in Dragonveil, and so She would never have allowed them to remain comfortable elsewhere for long.  
 
“..It was the Mother’s will; we would have ended up here one way or another. Lachesis and your grandmother just... they just gave us the push we needed. To come home. To be a real family.”  We should be thanking them, Karina added silently. Indeed she would, if she ever saw them again. 

   

    
 

Her tail wagged low and softly by her hocks, content in that moment to bask in the comfort of her mother, even if the comfort was flowing in both directions. Her question had been answered, the answer accepted, and Bennet was prepared to move on and leave the matter behind them as discussed and concluded. She didn't expect what came next.

The concept of blame, of fault, was a difficult one for a young wolf who believed - with her whole and entire being - that every action was dictated by a higher power. A faint frown marred her features as she stared at the distance, still tucked against @Karina, listening hard to the explanation which came and doing her best to digest it. The Mother's will. Destiny. Pre-ordained behaviour. It wasn't that she blamed Kisla and Lachesis, because that seemed to suggest she was angry, but... "They didn't know that's what they were doing, though," she said quietly, tone wavering somewhere between uncertain and matter-of-fact, needing reassurance that she was coming to the right conclusions, needing guidance. "Because they don't believe. They just thought they were breaking us apart, but in fact it was Her plan to bring us closer together."

Bennet spoke carefully, bright eyes trained on her mother, so Karina gave her the reassurance she sought with a nod.  “It is not in a wolf’s nature to act in the best interest of all creatures, as the Mother would have us do. Nonbelievers will misstep over and over, I’m afraid.”  It was natural for a wolf to serve the pack, not the individual, and certainly not any creature unfortunate enough to be outside the pack. This was where Karina had continuously butted heads with her birth family—she wished to help anyone and everyone who required help, but the River leaders would have her think only of her packmates. It wasn’t right. Every mother’s child deserved a mother’s love and care, and if there was no one else to provide it, then Karina would.

 “It wasn’t quite that simple, though. All the secrets... they were necessary to keep us safe, but they were also our undoing.”  That conclusion was truly what had convinced Karina that there was no way the Sorensons could have remained in Hearthwood River. They would have been condemned for telling the truth, but they were also condemned for lying. “Your father challenged for leadership of Hearthwood River shortly after you were born. Had he won, there would have been no need for lies. We could have openly claimed you as our daughter and the princess you are. We would have been safe.”  But the Mother had other plans for the family, didn’t she? 
 
“The River didn’t—and couldn’t—know that Kjors sought leadership to keep us safe. They saw his move as selfish... a grab for power when the pack was weak.” And everyone knows what packs do to selfish wolves.
 
It was a story with which Bennet was no doubt familiar, having lived through most of it, but Karina retold it now to make sure that all the pieces had fallen into place where they belonged. It was her own legacy after all, and she deserved to know the full truth of it. “The Mother intended for you to be born here, in Dragonveil,” Karina continued, voice a little more quiet. “..And I knew that.. but I stayed in Hearthwood anyway. It was a mistake. The Mother would never have allowed us to be content anywhere else, when she wanted us here.” There was an important lesson learned from that mistake; the Mother would always have her way eventually, and any attempt to defy her would be met only with pain. Believers made mistakes too, and suffered for them just as nonbelievers. 

(This post was last modified: Nov 22, 2016, 02:04 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

With how some of her other threads are going/have gone, I'm gonna need an up-to-date one with you soon! Bennet has many new questions :P

The things that were in a wolf's nature, and the things that were in a believer's nature, and the overlap between the two, was one of the many Venn diagrams which Bennet studied behind her eyelids before sleep. The girl listened with keen attention, hanging onto her mother's every word. It came as no surprise to the child needing guidance that her conclusion hadn't quite hit the mark, being too simple for reality. There were still so many facets to her life that Bennet was still reconciling with each other, might always be reconciling, and doubtless she would be coming to her parents for enlightenment for many years to come.

The secrets had both kept them safe but led them towards harm, a curious contradiction which she would have to ruminate upon. Did that merely imply that there had been no single correct course of action, no pure path to a perfect outcome for all involved? For while this resolution to their situation satisfied Bennet plenty, she understood that others - such as @Kyrios and @Atropos - had not been so pleased. Perhaps the desire to make everybody happy was just a fool's notion, then. For one to rise, another had to fall - for She was good and gracious but believing in universal fairness was for the foolish. Bennet had heard her mother say as much before. It made sense.

As such, Bennet doubted that @Kjors winning leadership would have been the panacea to solve all their problems. Bennet could not imagine that @Kisla or @Lachesis would have accepted it so readily, given how they reacted to him when they failed. As far as she saw it, either they left Hearthwood, or Hearthwood would have collapsed in on itself. While Bennet felt no sorrow at the notion, she didn't wish ill on those who lived there, who relied on it. This was the better outcome, she thought, for everyone.

The one thing Bennet had not known, though, her mother left for the end. Eyes and ears perking up as she was told that she was meant to be born in this place, she turned easily onto that train of thought. The girl had no more questions left regarding Hearthwood, Kjors, the secrecy; she was entirely satisfied with what she had been told. Yellow eyes watching her mother's face, seeing the solemnity there, hearing the regret, Bennet smiled one of her rare smiles, tail lifted to wag contentedly.

"Let's find it," she said softly, stepping forward to touch her nose to her mother's, wanting to give back some of that loving, healing energy which @Karina was always pouring her way. Bennet wanted to be able to give back.

Neither of them believed in the cold, concrete world of the physical. If the All-Mother had meant for Bennet to be born here... then maybe, on one level, she had. "Let's find my real birthplace."

When Karina looked back up, she found her daughter smiling. It was a rare moment, so the young mother couldn’t help but meet her daughter’s smile with a tentative one of her own.  She had come to realize that Bennet’s lack of expression wasn’t a sign of unhappiness; the child seemed to have developed the habit of only showing emotion when it was necessary to achieve some goal. And right now, the goal was to cheer her mother up, which Karina appreciated. Bennet was such a smart, thoughtful girl!

 Karina’s tentative smile grew into a grin when Bennet stepped forward to touch her nose, the sweet gesture melting her gloomy mood away. She cocked her head at Bennet’s suggestion of “Let’s find it,” slightly confused but tail wagging agreeably all the same. Bennet spoke again to clarify, and Karina’s eyes lit up with delight. Normally the girl saved such adventures for her outings with her father. “That’s a great idea!” She said, slightly in awe of her daughter. She hadn’t realized the girl was yet capable of the amount of abstract thought it took to form an idea like that, but then again Bennet had always seemed advanced compared to her age-mates.  
 
“Where are dragons born?” she queried the girl, wondering what sort of tales Kjors had told her about the creatures.  All of the pups had loved hearing stories about dragons back in Hearthwood River; Karina was certain Bennet knew more about them than she did!  If she did know one thing though, it was that dragons liked to be up high… Karina had a feeling they would be climbing this afternoon…

 Yesss all the threads! -hoards them-

(This post was last modified: Dec 08, 2016, 03:29 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

The clarification had been needed, for her mother's faintly lost expression hadn't been missed; a reminder to the young dragon that even those closest to her could not know the inner workings of her mind unless she spelled it out clearly. Even when they weren't teaching her, they were teaching her. Once they were both on the same page, Bennet taking private pleasure in how @Karina's face lit up as she understood what her daughter was proposing, the next important question arose.

Her mind instantly went to the same place as her mother's, as Bennet turned to look behind them at the mountain which climbed into the sky, in whose shadow they nested and took shelter. Her yellow eyes slipped from its peak into the pale grey of the cloudy sky, seeking familiar dark shapes though there were none to be found. The sky shadows were always above her, up, up, up - and she had watched them soar and tilt and dive and turn ever since her eyesight had been strong enough to focus on them. Up, up, up. How she had always wanted to be able to join them in their lofty world and look down on everyone else.

It was only half a game, designed to distract and placate her mother, for now that the idea had been sparked Bennet found herself enamoured with it. If her wolf body had been born by a stream in the forest... where had her dragon one hatched? She was two entities in one form, and now felt compelled to bring them together, to make herself whole.

Where are dragons born?

"Up high," she breathed, her own tail twitching up and swishing side to side in her growing excitement of what they might find. With an eager glance back to her mother, the girl sprang up, wanting to ride this wave of energy she had managed to create all by herself. It was like playing with Atty and Ky all over again, but this time she'd started it, and she knew her mother would be more willing than her father to indulge this kind of behaviour.

It felt good. Yipping at her mother to encourage her to follow, to join the search, her initial burst of speed calmed as she began to make her way towards where the ground sloped up in that inevitable climb towards the peak. Not that they'd be able to get nearly close to it tonight, or even today, or even tomorrow, but perhaps they didn't need to. Her head was full of images of a large, warm, secluded space, perhaps full of twigs and soft nest materials, of the shards of a large egg long-hatched...