WOLFBANE

He could hardly believe it; Lepis’s smell fresh and very present in Loess, exactly where she shouldn’t be given his recent meeting with Queen Kagerus. There it was though, all the same, lingering over rock and bush, seeping into the nectar of the countless flora and leading him directly to an area the Lord of Loess had come to associate with his Cleric. The gentle hush over his territory belies the otherwise tense changes surrounding them, both to the north and southeast, giving Bane the opportunity to quietly gather his thoughts while keeping a steady, clipped tempo as he clop, clops over the rough-hewn trail.

“You’re back, then?” The striped pegasus calls out to her, rounding the bend with an amazed expression to one-up her curious glance, “I thought …” He mutters, shaking the stark white mane rigid atop his neck before coming to a decided halt at the lip of her private pool.

“Doesn’t matter what I think.” He finds himself saying instead, an incredulous grin twisting the blue-black shape of his lips, dawn casting a yellow-gold hue over them both. “You’re here, that’s what matters.”

Instinctually his gaze (darkened to a brooding, flat gray from the lack of light) flickers over her exposed body, searching for a hint of blood or any sign that her stay in Hyaline might have come to blows while Kagerus' talk of “pain-in-the-ass” rings fresh in his mind. As daring as it looked, Wolfbane wouldn’t be satiated until he was sure that his adviser was whole and unhurt. “Talk to me - I’m a mess. Help me understand what happened.” The brutish stallion begins, content for now to stand protectively above where she relaxes in a hazy cloud of steam.

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||

WOLFBANE

Lepis smiles and Bane feels an immediate tension begin to fade. “It would’ve been the best party Loess has ever seen …” He thinks to himself, content now that the blue-toned perlino seemed totally at ease. “Like she never left at all.”
Even the way she tosses her hair gives the impression that she’d been here this whole time, soaking in this very pool, just waiting for someone to realize it had all been a huge joke.

Wolfbane waits until her gesture is over, watching with intrepid interest at the way her dual wings flexed and fluttered, before sighing heavily and easing up one of his own hind legs. It’s deep enough into the season now that both are wrapped in their respective traits, the white of his own feathers doing well to cover Bane’s shoulders, belly and croup. Only his ears snap to attention when Lepis speaks again.

“A deal, what?” Pops out of the drake’s downturned mouth, “What deal?” He asks again, a shadow falling over the hood of his muddy green eyes. “What was the point of even showing my ass to Kagerus -” Her overwatcher considers, “- if you were just going to do something twice as bad?”

Clearly, he’s a bit nettled.

“Forget Vladis for the moment, we’ll get back to that.” The striped stallion promises, far from entertained though he holds an austere composure, “What exactly did Ilma say?”

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||

WOLFBANE

He takes it that she chose to stay.

Lepis even rushes over the meeting he’d had with Kagerus, openly calling him ’important people’ as if he weren’t firstly and foremostly her friend and confidant. That stings, worse than her decision to accept such an offer and then immediately override it with a blatant act of treachery. The plan had been to swipe, yes, but not after she’d already been free.

“Our entire system runs on checks and balances.” He explains to her slowly, “So what good is our word if we don’t stick true to it?”

His head shifts, turning his once bold glare out to the waking horizon. Bane finds it hard to look at her without totally giving himself away. “You’ve put Loess in danger.” The stallion sighs, a tight sort of sound, “No one will want to contract a mercenary who doubles back on their own boast and then rips a child away from their home. That’s just adding insult to injury, Lepis.” He groans bluntly, simply disappointed.

“We’re taking her back. Pronto.” The fanged pegasus decides, finally lowering his eyes to where she waits, hovering, in her swimming hole. He knows she won’t miss the emphasis on the duality of the word “we’re”, but he feels as if he needs to reiterate the importance on the meaning “pronto”. “Hyaline is a short fly or walk so come out, please; they’re owed a contract and I’d very much like for you to be present during the details.”

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||

WOLFBANE

Whatever comes out of her mouth then, he doesn’t hold against her. Wolfbane watches Lepis, unmoved by the bitter hatefulness leaking like a broken sieve from somewhere he doesn’t understand. She’s angry, maybe because he hadn’t immediately jumped on this like she anticipated, but he knows through it all that she’s not entirely angry at him.

“Are you done?” He asks rhetorically, a bit colder than he intends to be. “Because I am. With whatever you’re trying to prove.”

Hasn’t she shown enough already? That’s she’s capable, strong, even smarter than them all (occasionally) is obvious; why would she need to continue alienating herself rather than admitting she went a step too far? Bane doesn’t want to acknowledge that maybe her pride overwhelms her sensibilities, until she mentions Sylva. “I wouldn’t know what an evil Queen does, your highness.” Bane admits without hesitation, “But you can explain that to Hyaline yourself, when we arrive.”

Never budging, never giving any indication that she could avoid this.

“The least you can do, I suppose, is show me where you’re hiding Castile’s little daughter away.” His tail flicks, “Since Loess is responsible for her safe-keeping now.”

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||

WOLFBANE

“I never expected you would.” Bane thinks, hardly suppressing an eye roll while Breckin finally gave in to his wishes, edging towards the lip of her pool. In the end, everything Loess does comes back to rest on his shoulders - he doesn’t seek to lay the blame elsewhere - it was just imperative that she understand her actions had cut him.

The palomino’s head turns with the indication of her nose, gaze cast over his shoulder to where Valdis (hopefully) plays in innocuous bliss. He can hear Lepis shake behind him, and the bite of her warm-turned-cold spray against his shoulder turns him back to where she stands, soaked. “I hope she’s freaking cold.” He muses, scoffing aloud at her boast that the Hyaline filly had practically walked into her unknown imprisonment. “Oh, it wasn’t difficult, was it?” Bane replies, his own sarcasm matching hers tone for tone. “Why am I not surprised. Even without your gift I doubt a child would present much trouble to you.”

Now he does roll his eyes, but she’s got him - she knows she does - and his fangs flash in the bold winter light when his mouth fashions a smirk.

“Lead the way, empress of divine chaos.”

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||