no one really knows what the ocean hides
but you and I, bird, we’re gonna find out
It finally happened.
The child that burdened her has finally gulped her first breath of air, and she is walking. No longer does Reia waddle from one place to another with aches and pains clawing her body. Finally, she is free.
Of course, Adarra clings tightly to her side. The role of motherhood is foreign and so very new, but Reia pushes past the daily aggravations. It doesn’t come naturally to her, the instinctual protectiveness or adoration. There have already been multiple instances in which she left the child asleep for to hunt. Others, she merely wandered off forgetting about her small daughter. Adarra is patient, however, and occupies herself during the moments of solitude or occasionally explores her immediate surroundings until she is found again.
In this rare moment, Reia is actually heavily observant of her daughter as they quickly weave through the forest toward a scent that has been lost in her memories for years. Despite the abrupt turns and momentum changes, Adarra hugs her mothers side. She only takes pause when Reia halts her and tucks her behind a shrub. ”Stay,” she murmurs, her tone hushed. The child nods, but ignores her bottle-length tail flicking back and forth beyond the bush’s reach.
Reia turns then. Her steps meticulously place in avoidance of sound as she trains her eyes on the intruding woman, realizing who it is almost immediately. It doesn’t stop her however. Nothing rarely does.
She pauses.
Her breath nearly stops.
Hunter and prey.
One last, slow breath is drawn in after another moment of scrutiny before Reia lurches forward. Her hooves thunder across the remaining distance, stopping only to half rear in front of Eurwen. Her jaws clap together threateningly. ”No one invited you into my home! Go back to the border!” Reia flares her wings open as she rears a second time, buffeting air and narrowly missing the outsider’s face. ”How rude of you to waltz in here! You don’t own it! Get back, I say! Then we can chat!” Agitated, she presses on to force Eurwen back to the nearby border, snorting defiantly as her wings slowly fold back against her sides.
”Tsk, tsk, Eurwen. I know you’re smarter than to think this is the playground,” Reia’s eyes flash similarly to her jagged teeth as they predatorily bare. She would wonder if the girl remembers her, but how could she not? Reia always makes a large impression.
The blue flames along her crest crackle as they blaze to life in reflection of her aggravation, but she forces herself to simmer. As much of a struggle as it is, her lips manage to lower just barely from their snarl. Her cerulean gaze remains hooded and mistrusting. ”My forest, my rules. Number one, don’t gallivant past the border like you live here, because you don’t. Now, tell me what brings you here.” Somehow, the sharpness of her voice softens, but barely; it’s complimented by a plume of smoke rising from her nostrils as their gaze meets. Memories flash across Reia’s mind, but she does not breach them. With a forceful breath, she suppresses the childhood images threatening to surface, but the feat is made easier by the distraction her daughter provides.
Adarra approaches sweetly. Innocence glistens in her eyes, but she says nothing, providing only a quiet and observing presence to the conversation at hand.
and I'll be next to you when the lights go out
@[Eurwen]