[ AW ] And In She Wandered

Waking up on that beach had not been ideal. For a myriad of reasons of course, but the most immediate was the havoc such an environment wrought upon her already injured body. Two days later and the salt still clung to fur and flesh just the same. Digging in like burning sands so relentless that by now it felt less like searing heat and more like constantly being pricked by a million unseen thorns. After a brief interaction upon those sands Aleera made up her mind to head inland once more, uncaring for the fact that she had little to no knowledge of this new region. To the likes of the burned woman it was like every other land, territory, or kingdom she had wandered through in the past. And just like in the past she would gather what information was necessary for her hunt while discarding the rest - it was not important. Even now while making her way through this oak forest she thought back on places visited with some reticent reflection. Beyond a few faces and names, very little came to mind. Of course Aleera didn’t need to know things about this land or remember facts about past travels to know that fresh water could be located somewhere.

Already the dark woman had been walking for some time through these tall trees with a slight limp. The fall into the ocean had left Aleera with some pain in both her back left leg as well as a slight throb on the left side of her head. The wound to her skull likely contributed to not remembering her time in the water at all, which by all rights should have claimed her life. ”A fitting way to die… She thought to herself while stepping over an exposed root of a nearby large oak in passing. The whole of her family and kingdom claimed by fire, only for the Empress laid low to be drowned in the sea. An ironic thought, if nothing else. The somewhat aimless walk through the woods continued until something gave her pause. A sensation most would consider uncomfortable or unsettling. Once upon a time the feeling of being watched had also bothered her but these days she had come to realize these were just the signs they gave her to let her know. The burned creature came to a stop and turned citrine eyes outward to the forest abroad. Among a thicket of low grown bushes a dark, swirling smoke lingered. ”Hem.” The hum rumbled deep in her chest before turning and heading for this oddity that only her distorted eyes could see.

Upon getting close the swirling black mist would dissipate for a second or two before reforming further out on her path. This repeated phenomenon continued for a short time, leading Aleera onward into the forest until something more touched the air that was not the wind through the branches this mid-morning day. It was the sound of running water. Passing a line of trees the ebony creature soon arrived on the muddy embankment of a small stream. It was neither wide nor deep, but it was good enough for her - and the smoke had gone. They did have a tendency to provide for her the things she required in the moment. ”Thank you.” Her low voice rolled, speaking to those only she knew were there - even if she couldn’t see them at the moment. Mud clung to her paws as her muscular form descended closer to the water, leaving clear, deep imprints before wading into the shallow creek. Taking a moment to dig into the creekbed itself Aleera managed to deepen part of it before laying down. On the first pass she let the water run over her burns for a moment before flipping onto her other side to allow the same to happen there. Once her entire form was soaked through Aleera came to settle upon her burned side, knowing it required the most relief - giving a reprieve from the dull ache she’d endured since arriving. Laying her corpulent skull down upon an extended leg, she glittered in a nearly surreal way from the daylight dancing upon her form from between the boughs above. For now, she was content to soak and rest while she had this moment to do so.

Light steps chased the running streams, or rather, they moved after the nightjar which darted about overhead. Following after the drone of insects that screamed in each of their ears but now wasn’t the time for this! Despite knowing the beast only hoped to dull a creeping sensation of hunter, the marred hound could not stop lyrics from rising in softened tone, “Confn spical tenpiswo Junie!” (Come back here Junie!) This was no time to be flying off for if those rickety ships kept to any sort of ghastly schedule then they both needed to head for the shorelines. Guided by the swaying sea, perched atop creaking floorboards that felt they may give way with the slightest misstep - that was their way back home.

There was no other way. Junebug’s wings could not carry her such a distance nor would one such as he hold the energy to swim that great divide. Already they had dwelt too long upon unfamiliar shores, paws traversed too far without finding any sign of a familiar soul. It was all too unknown and it is this alone that spurs a mind to draw back, to long for the lands one at least held familiarity with. Knew the best places to hide, where to find game fangs could easily snare without the risk of snapping bone.

Yet such was a journey the crow was unwilling to make alone. Leslie needed that little draconian to come back with him - despite the annoyances she was sure to bring. Unreliable she was when compared to others he’d known before her time. Crown shook with an obvious flop of ears, a slow sigh slipping from his lungs as gradually paces slowed. The boy certain his hopeful beckons would not be heeded by one set in her ideals. He could understand it though for even the thought of a meager meal was enough to cause distraction. No matter the proverbial feast one may have held before the sunrise.

Sights capturing the way she scooped her meals with far more ease than he, then again, he’d hardly developed the taste for insects. The mere thought of eating them never truly an appetizing one - one could be patient, could wait for a chance at thievery. To pilfer from the abandoned kill of another or even devour the hide of a beast long fallen. A carrion crow could never be too picky over what passed over its tongue. Notion that would not change this day even as the presence of another made itself known in the drifting scents of fire. Acrid like smoke in the ways it suffocated, the underlying crisp of woods hardly rising above it yet even still curiosity bid him toward it.

Even if a fire had long passed there was nothing he could do about it, nothing but survey what remained beside the gorge. Paws splashed gently through the shallows until gaze fixated upon the stilled form of a titan. Splayed against the earth, half submerged, ebon tresses still glimmering beneath the freckling light of the canopies. Yet Leslie remained watchful, searching for signs of life in the ways a ribcage heaved or how eyelids fluttered when one lay trapped in a dream. And - much to his disappointment - steadied breaths brought her side to rise and fall. It brought talons to curl against the earth there was still a chance she lay at Nelithral’s doorstep.

Keeping a cautionary distance from the fallen prophet called out, “Na'rill! Tir wux jilg shafaer ekess tobor... usv tepohaic nelithral confn ekess soves dout seoyl erekess jacida sjach yothi'hada fesic?” (Behemoth! Do you hold on to life… or has death come to guide your soul through his shadow veiled gates?) His voice flattering the more he spoke, growing quieter and less confident as limbs fought the urge to tremble. A path was still lain clear before him, there was still time to turn and run; ensure his own survival for at least another moment and avoid the potential temper of a beast awoken. And yet, if she lay at death’s feet… plenty of meat decorated her bones.

The cool touch of fresh water was a welcome relief to her aching body. Though Aleera was accustomed to pain that didn’t mean she enjoyed it anymore than the next wolf. For a short while the dark woman enjoyed the silence of the woods. Only the rushing of wind through the branches and the far away chirps of birds reaching her ears while she bathed. A time or two her skull was drug through the water, further soaking the portion of it which had long been marred by burn scars. This little ritual went on for a time without incident, leaving Aleera time enough to find it pulling at her once more. The feeling of coma, or the dragging claws of narcolepsy over her eyes. Sleep was a rarity for the ebony woman, as sleep was often the territory of nightmares meant to torture her soul for all she had failed to do. Yet, sleep did find her - if only for a time.

Forever weary in lands she didn’t know or belong, the sleep was always tentative. Somehow oblivious yet aware. Each one taking a turn on who was on top of Aleera’s mind - while also fighting the terrors that manifested deep in her mind at these times. Blurring the lines between the waking world and that of dreams. The battlefield that often became her mind at these times caused her face and sometimes her body to move on its own accord. The slosh of water the background to all sound either her ears or mind were aware of - not realizing right away someone approached. Everything faded out in comparison to the screaming that overtook her dreamstate.

”Wake up!” Ember eyes shot open, the brightness of the day stabbing at her eyes and forcing her to blink. The second thing that she became aware of was a voice calling out to her that she did not recognize. “ - ekess soves dout seoyl erekess jacida sjach yothi'hada fesic?” At first all Aleera could do was lay there, processing what she’d just heard. It was definitely a voice, but it was hard to tell if it was one that needed a response. Besides, the words had been in some sort of language she didn’t know. Regardless, an ever guarded soul, the Black Dragon found her strength and heaved her great skull from the shallow water to rise above her equally enormous body.

The dark, twisted maw pointed over her form to peer more upstream from her back. It was there, a short distance away stood a pale, tiny figure in the shallows that looked to have seen better days. For a long moment the obsidian dame regarded them with nothing more than an emotionless glare that did not give any indication of what was running through her mind. It was probably a deal longer than most would have felt comfortable being stared at before movement reached her great form. Power rippled through thick muscles that brought Aleera slowly to her paws - movement quite akin to that of a lazy, but nonetheless dangerous reptile. Water rolled from her form to gather back into the shallow stream which barely reached her stomach, highlighting now the true extent of old injuries that riddled her form and the brute power beneath them.

Now fully facing the much smaller wolf Aleera could see that they, in a regard, were like herself. Burn marks had seared away his alabaster fur - yet still leaving him with the pleasant scent of some sort of flower that felt familiar but unable to name. In fact, many a type of scar littered this poor creatures body, as if they had known battle or torture the whole of their life. Not that in many cases the two had much difference anyway. ”Hem.” A low, rumbling hum rolled through her broad chest as her half blind gaze came to settle upon his face and therein spying a most unusual trait. Did this wolf carry a third eye? With a fair distance still between them she could not be certain, but also supposed it may not be of any real consequence. For a moment she thought back to the voice, of his words specifically and their unknowable nature to her ear. The last one she came across Aleera had been able to commune with - she could only hope the same could be done here. ”Can you understand my language?” A voice like far off thunder finally escaped her mutilated jaws, tainted ivories on display at all times to glint in the light just the same as the water beading from her form.