There's a song in your lung and a dream in your eye.
It is so very easy to become lost in the depths of the Jungle. Oh, she is not truly lost, she knows exactly where she is. But time seems to have lost all meaning to her. After the war, she had grown so tired. Tired of life and love and pain and war. And she had retreated, losing herself amidst the leaves and vines and thick humidity of her home.
It had been far too easy to do. And now, perhaps, she is paying for it.
It isn’t until the tattoos scrawled across her skin disappear that she realizes she had idled too much time away. That she had allowed herself to become so immersed in the depth and beauty of the Jungle that she had lost all track of what has been occurring in the outside world. And now she cannot help but wonder.
The mare that emerges from the dense foliage is both harder and softer than the one who had first entered. Her time alone is given her an introspection hard to find anywhere else, one that she had so sorely needed. But it had also made her realize just how cruel and callous the world truly is.
She does not doubt she will need both to survive in these new, turbulent times.
She emerges to find Lagertha gone and Lexa addressing a small assembly of women. Celeana is there, and it gladdens her heart to see the girl so strong and sure of herself, ready to pledge herself in service to the Jungle. Draconis she recognizes also, but the others are new. She has missed much, it seems.
She dwells in the shadows for a time, listening to what has occurred. Her cracked skin is dark at first, but as Lexa continues, short, erratic pulses of light begin to flicker along the fissures delineating every inch of her body. She does not speak, but she finally moves forward, joining the group as they discuss their options. She has no objections against Lexa taking the throne, so feels no need to offer input on that matter. It isn’t until Lexa asks for suggestions on who to ally with that she offers a comment of her own.
”I, of course, advocate for the Dale.” Her brother sits on that throne after all. She pauses then, considering her next words carefully. Having been a participant in the recent war, it is not a suggestion she takes lightly. ”And perhaps it is time to seek peace with the Chamber.”
Her suggestion is entirely one of preservation. They do not currently have the strength to stand against them alone.
Joscelin
Tiphon x Elysteria