Pocketful of Posies

Wisteria Serenity

So far her return hadn’t been anything terrible like she had expected, having stayed at the College for a little while to reestablish herself within its corridors, her parents names perhaps the only thing that made them not even bat an eye. Those books oh so precious, heaven forbid they chance losing them by casting out the child of their possessors. The blood that stained her jaws, the souls of which she took; these lands knew not. Not that she cared if her name was sullied but she had also not made any attempt to reconnect with family. She knew from the one professor they were all at least still alive but as for how they would fair seeing her after so long, in some ways she rather not deal with them at all. Materialistic fools. Instead she went the completely opposite direction of her birthplace.

Pale paws knocked an assortment of bones at the entrance of the woodland, ears swiveling with intrigue as gems danced along the foliage and surrounding areas, a soft crisp breath drifting from her marbled lips to form a light haze against the cold that was slowly overtaking the lands. It felt like a lifetime since she had been here or perhaps a dreamscape she had been trapped in for far too long as she took in the scents that danced upon the wind. A smile played upon her lips as something even more familiar than the land itself brought an odd sense of eagerness but she did not stray toward it, no, she rather it find her within the maze that had changed with time but wasn’t wholly different from her memories. Calmly traversing forward despite the warnings laid so present at her feet to keep out. A soft chuckle escaping as her pace quickened with muscle memory within the labyrinth, passing an assortment of flora she used to study with every ounce of her heart, learning many caused more damage than it did healing. A treasure trove of poisons, some more lethal than others but just as protected by the nymphs that keep themselves hidden.

Her steps would come to a standstill once she reached much further into the winding trees, her gaze settling on the flowers of her namesake before they drifted downward toward the forest floor, spying a fairy circle. An ear twitched a couple times as she hummed softly a haunting tune, walking along the outskirts of the formation, pastel tail gently swaying behind her. Temptation to step within the portal drew her until she saw a crack within a tree on the other side leading into a little hollow of a home but not for mortals.

@Elwynn

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the shadows wrapped themselves around her slight frame lovingly; just the way she liked. they held her while she stalked her prey, following the winding paths through the forest she knew so well.

the longer she spent trailing the intruder, the more she realized something. this was no intruder at all. this was someone she knew, someone she'd connected with... albeit years ago. where had she been all this time? the last they'd seen of each other they'd been but yearlings. she pursed her lips as her gaze wandered the length her spine, the curve of her hips.

my, my... you've grown into quite the beauty... dear wisteria. she crooned.

she tore herself away from the shadows eagerly and moved to brush her side along the other woman's. her fur was soft and her scent sweet, like the deadly flowers of her namesake. her gaze flickered to where the others attention had been pulled and she too noticed the fairy circle. her fur bristled lightly and yet she smiled.

they call to us, she said, though her tone was more of a warning than anything happy. she had not gotten to offer sacrifice to the fae this samhain thanks to being ill and even a woman like her feared their ire. she would need to rectify her negligence soon, lest she fall victim like so many others.

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Wisteria Serenity

Those eyes stayed upon the fae creations as a voice broke her hum, though she made no effort to look back toward the owner instead her lids would slowly fall, ears tipping back as she took in each syllable. The cadence, the warm tones and lastly her name upon their breath. She felt like she had forgotten it or perhaps it had simply changed in miniscule ways that made the other sound more mature. More captivating, running a small shiver along her shoulders, never thinking she’d want to hear it after all this time. There was no anger, no bitterness. No resentment. It felt almost misplaced as her gaze cracked open ever so slightly as she heard the fall of footsteps speed up toward her from behind, half expecting a set of fang that opposed the tones of her croon to snap and pin her into the fairy circle, a mischievous pixie at it’s finest with a vengeance. A successful hunt.

No. She was met with warmth. The feeling of another’s pelt pressed against her own, meshing dark and light earthen tones, causing her head to tilt back toward the other dainty female with a matching gaze. It had been so long since she was shrouded in the other’s presence and in some ways it was a relief yet she kind of wished for the disdain. “You haven’t grown a bit,” she teased a soft musing, knowing well they both remained rather small. “...but you’ve blossomed into quite the elegant flower yourself, Wynnie, my hauntingly beautiful belladonna,” she cooed back, lightly pressing her nose into the other’s cheek for a moment, taking in her more full features for but a couple long seconds before her attention would drift back to the ring of mushrooms. Subconsciously she leaned into the woman’s side just a little, enough to keep that physical connection plenty absolute but not enough to cause burden. In the past she would have withdrawn from the other’s touch, unsure how to feel and therefore was often skittish. Time had changed. She wasn’t the same jumpy sweet youth pining for a parent’s approval anymore; now comfortable in her skin.

She could sense the discomfort, possible fear that tickled their skin as the obvious was pointed out. Amethysts traced around the mushrooms as she let out a sigh of exasperation to the warning, gaze once again shifting to the broken hollow tree. “Not all rings are bad, some bring good fortune but this… not only they but mother earth feels...vexed. Restless,” she took in a breath, glancing at her old friend then pulling away, walking along the rim before stopping a few steps away from the structure an outsider might consider dead but it very much thrived with life. To touch any of it might result in a curse, marked. “Forsaken.” Carefully she stepped over the roots, taking in the discolored moss and further mushrooms that decorated the outer craters, breathing in their loamy scent. Her eyelids half closed as the image of a limp body circulated into her recent memories, head tilted down. “Hungry,” she stated in a lower tone, turning to head back to where she started near Elwynn.

“Why so tense, my dear? It's not like you,” she asked in a whisper into the other woman’s ear, wondering if she was part of the cause but not saying such outright. She found it odd the fae would be guiding a trap for a wayward soul right after Samhain, however, there was a lack of balance that couldn’t be ignored.

@Elwynn

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elwynn reveled in the touch of the other woman and in that moment she realized that she hadn't been touched in... quite some time. it was normal for her to be able to count the days between lovers on her very own paws but since she got sick she had only been in contact with zoltan and she did not see him that way. though she had not birthed him and they shared no blood relation whatsoever, she might as well have, for he was forever a child—her child. elwynn was sick... but not that sick.

she hadn't realized how much she had been craving physical affection until the moment of wisteria's electric touch and as she glanced at the other woman she thought to herself about how they were no longer girls, but women. women with wants and needs...

the fur along her spine prickled slightly, but her lustful thoughts quickly shifted to that of concern and fear of the fae and their ire. elwynn was caught somewhere in the middle between true belief and simply pretending in order to fulfill her own desires. this one might be... she said softly, ears flicking at the questions. bad, that is. i wasn't able to perform the sacrifice this samhain. i was ill. she stated plainly. her nose twitched and she stepped away from the circle, somewhat behind wisteria. my son nursed me back to health, without him i'd likely be dead. she said, looking now at her... friend. it was strange to find herself so helpless and she had not yet completely come to terms with the fact that she had been, so no emotion shown through her lilac eyes as she peered intensely at the wisteria.

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Wisteria Serenity

She watched the woman curiously as she took a couple steps back, distancing herself from the ring while Wisteria drew closer instead, allowing that separation to form between them. Where she had viewed the woman as a friend in her childhood, she couldn’t say she held onto the idea it would stay that way, not after everything else she had kept resilient through while she was gone. Trust didn’t really exist; warm and cozy feelings always felt like something of make believe or perhaps a way to keep others easy to manipulate. There was that small thought in her mind as she looked at the other, using her rather than being some merry rosebud especially after what had been their answer. Her eyes shifted away and she let out a soft huff. “Sacrifice, sacrifice... sacrifice. So by us, you mean you. They’ve already gleaned one from me,” she amused, offering a smile that would slowly become less entertained at the mention of ailment as well as the thought of her dead daughter.

Slowly she would lean her head down and snag her fangs into her own flesh on her foreleg, allowing a bit of blood to spill just outside of the mushroom’s grasp, her tongue running over her upper teeth but as she was about to continue, she stopped at the next statement. Her head sprang up and her gaze settled on the woman, matching the other’s intensity.


“Son?” she inquired abruptly but quietly, tilting her head in both further confusion and wholehearted curiosity. Elwynn was the last being she’d think would have children or at least living ones, though she wasn’t fully sure why such was a surprise. They were both in their prime and as a yearling, she’d never think of herself ever having a family of her own unless her kin forced her with an arranged marriage and yet she had them completely out of her own will. Manipulated or not, it had been times of passion, even if it was one sided... it had been her choice.

As she continued to hold the other’s gaze, she took in a breath and analyzed everything laid out before her, looking at the chips but as usual the girl didn’t make reading her easy. “Are you upset with me, Wynnie... cause I wasn’t here to help you?” she asked after a moment, slowly growing closer to the other woman. “I’m glad you’re okay now. You’re boy must be a fine medic if it was truly so dire,” she added after a short pause. Of course, there were other options to that intense stare and word choice, more malicious ones that for the moment she ignored.

@Elwynn

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elwynn simply watched as wisteria offered her own blood to the circle, to the fae, and her nose twitched slightly as the smell of iron drifted from her wound. the sharpness of it caused her mouth to water and her eyes refocused on the blood red that now dripped from her black lips. a few beautiful, gleaming droplets escaped the swipe of her tongue as her head shot up and she looked upon elwynn with curiosity and confusion.

oh.

how could she forget that wisteria would know nothing of zoltan?

yes, i found him sometime after you stopped coming around. i intented to sacrifice him... but he lived. so i took that as a sign that the fae had greater plans for him and took him in as my son. we're the only blackwoods left. her mother had still been alive when they were children, but she'd died sometime before elwynn had collected zoltan. if morgana had been alive for that there would have been hell to pay, she was sure. her mother was not nearly as bloodthirsty as her beloved daughter.

her lips thinned slightly at wisteria's question and her ears tilted back. maybe a little... she said sweetly. but my boy kept me company and he's grown into quite the little... monster. she said, a light giggle escaping her. she'd shown him her ways when he was young; his first kill been exhilarating and ever since he'd seemed more drawn to her and her darker ways. she had corrupted him and continued to do so every day. she didn't know if she would ever tire of him or if he would keep impressing her with each passing season, each year... she tilted her head slightly as her gaze raked over wistera. are you going to tell me what you've been up to? where you've been?

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Wisteria Serenity

With the topic change, so too did she forget she had just injured her own limb for a ritual she had only begun to carry out, her attention far too focused on the woman of dark earthy tones. When she first met the other’s gaze, however, she noticed something else in them, something she hadn’t seen before in those deep magenta tones. It had a similarity to hunger but not quite. Desire? Not the type she was used to. Oh, it was gone to recognition as the word son dropped from her lips, of which Elwynn seemed to pick up without seemingly a second thought. It caused her ears to flick as she mentioned her prolonged absence, never thinking she’d feel guilty for leaving but at the same time she left the only real being she enjoyed hanging out with in the dark, so perhaps it was residual guilt from her earlier travels creeping up. Whatever the case, she let the feeling slide for now as other things were being clarified. One thing that had been was that the boy was not her own flesh and blood.

“Failed sacrifice hmmm,” she murmured, finding it on the funnier side of things, wondering what he survived from highly doubting the other used poisons. The other liked blood too much, which made her curious how messed up the child might be in appearance, certain he didn’t walk out unscathed. Her mind didn’t get to trail off too much in thought as so much was stated in such a little time. Seems like the fae had done the opposite for her, taking her daughter away, having taken it as a sign from her health not improving as they wanted her. “Last Blackwoods…so Mum Morgana is gone...” her ears perked up before falling back on her head, having found the woman more approachable than her own mother. Not that she had gotten close to her. She lifted her head a little, about to ask what happened but in the end no words came out. It didn’t really matter for it would change nothing; her body would nurture the soil for years to come and bring about new life.

A brow raised slightly at the little confession that sounded too sweet to be real but in some ways it made her happy if it were true, the idea of being missed by someone enough to emotionally hurt them. Too used to being the one only wanted if it was of use to them. A pout formed slightly as she circled Elwynn rather close before walking up from behind her and rubbing her side into the other’s till she was back to being next to her, nudging the bridge of her nose against the other’s jaw if allowed. “Replacing me with a child, oh how cold you are. Think I’ve caught a chill,” she teased, her tail giving a couple light sways. “Will I get the pleasure of meeting your little monster, mama bear?” she cooed, now rather curious about this unnamed son of hers as she drew in the other’s dangerous scents, trying to see if another’s scent was on her.

She froze a little as the focus was shifted to her, still not much up to talking about really anything in her recent past but there was nothing to lose here, she supposed. “You know me, chasing outlanders and fairies. Doing everything my parents didn’t create me for and just being an overall disappointment to my bloodline,” she chuckled a little, drawing away from the other as she returned to the edge of the fairy circle to take a seat, looking into what felt like a void as she raised her paw that was now covered in her own blood, letting it drip into the portal. “One of the outlanders caught me and whisked me away far from here, promising a spiritual awakening. Made me see fairytales before taking them all away in an instant; my children and my heart… if only he were here to satiate the sacrifice you owe,” a sadistic tone coming forth at the end.

@Elwynn

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it would seem her friend did not have much to say on her failed sacrifice as of yet, and perhaps she might’ve said more about Morgana but her attention was swept away again by elwynn’s words.

the other woman seemed perplexed as she circled elwynn, but the small witch was not afraid. she allowed the woman to wander, her ears twitching to where her eyes could not follow. she felt a tingling sensation down her spine as wisteria brushed against her body. ”Replacing me with a child, oh how cold you are. Think I’ve caught a chill,” she teased, though by the away of her tail, el could tell she was not truly upset. ”Will I get the pleasure of meeting your little monster, mama bear?” she then asked. elwynn’s eats twitched and she smiled, a much more natural smile then most but still not quite right. i don’t see why not. i think he’d like you. she said. zoltan was more approachable than she was so he would probably have an easier time bonding with others.

then with talk of her son finished, wisteria went on to tell her a bit of her travels. elwynn’s eyes wandered to the blood that slipped off her leg and into the circle. her mouth watered slightly as her gaze lifted back up when the other woman spoke of an outlander she’d met; one who’d robbed her of her heart and children. he still lives? she asked. how many children.

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Wisteria Serenity

She remained silent for a little while after the woman’s answer, tilting her head up toward the canopy before letting out a soft chuckle at seeing a smile on the other’s face that was a little less worn but was still just as unsettling to someone that wasn’t as used to her. “Like me, is that so?” she hummed, causing her ears to flick a couple times as she thought about a few things further. A mischievous grin that had a childish innocence formed on her face as she took a few paces back, having a more interesting idea than just some boring meeting. “How about you give me his name and I’ll scout him out myself? Feel like it would be more fun that way, for both of us,” she winked, wanting to give the boy a start, play a little game for her own entertainment. Truly she just wanted to see what the kid was like while alone rather than acting any certain way under parent scrutiny, that was if the boy even saw her friend as his mother. Would he not be afraid of Elwynn if she had tried to kill him once before? Suppose she would see hopefully sooner rather than later.

At the question about Chandresh her head would turn away from the ring, an emptiness in her gaze that would soon regain life but in the form of intense bloodlust. It was a rare image in her eyes, she wasn’t an especially violent wolf, she dealt in elixirs not swords. “Yes, he disappeared with my son in the middle of the night. If I ever see that bastard again, his blood will stain me like wine but I will not kill him. He’ll feel every ounce of torture he’s done to me exponentially till he’s begging to die,” she growled and nape fur threatening to rise but it was not anger that showed on her face. It was a malicious near insanity in the form of a toothy smile at the idea.

She calmed at the mention of her kids, her expression becoming more melancholy, her tail tucking around her paws as she let out a soft sigh. “Three…” she replied. “Two girls and a boy, all kissed in autumn leaves and gold. Or perhaps I should say only two.” A pause caused silence as she rose back up to her paws and turned, heading back toward the darker woman that far more complimented their surroundings. She looked at Elwynn’s matching eyes, staring for a little while before lifting her paw up and smearing her own blood onto the woman’s cheek before leaning in and whispering softly. “The sacrifice on Samhain was... my daughter," she let that reality sink into her own mind as she let her paw drop and slide against the other's lighter chest fur. "My first born. Only fitting huh? She came down with an ailment no medicine could heal, so I returned her to the moon and fae as they whispered in my ear their blessings.”

@Elwynn

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zoltan, she divulged, a smile lingering on her lips. she wondered just what games wisteria had in store for her dear son. she hoped the other woman knew that while games were fun and all, if any actual harm befell her adopted son there would be hell to pay. perhaps that threat lingered in the depths of her amaranth eyes; or perhaps it would flicker out, unnoticed.

the story she was given caused great anger within the other woman, and understandably so. while elwynn did not understand the feeling of love, she did know what it was to be betrayed. as she spoke of her children, she softened somewhat and elwynn canted her head slightly. did she feel the same way about her own child? she was perhaps possessive of zoltan, and appreciative... what just what were her feelings for him? she would hurt others if they hurt him and she supposed that some could call that love. she wasn't quite sure, nor did she honestly care. her gaze shifted slightly as movement caught her attention. wisteria drifted closer again and her gaze locked on the blooded paw that lifted to her cheek. she could smell the harsh iron in the air and the fur along her spine shot skyward as a thrilling feeling ran down it. she felt pinpricks across her back and her lips immediately curled into a trembling snarl, but no sound emitted from her muzzle.

“the sacrifice on samhain was... my daughter."

the dark woman's ears flicked as the words pushed their way into her head one by one, slowly. so slowly.

it was hard to focus with the smell of the blood that now stained her face and chest.

elwynn's eyes narrowed as she glanced up from the paw that slid down her chest. the perfect sacrifice. she whispered. her pupils had contracted, appearing like the pinpricks that prodded her body. did you come all this way to tease me, dearest wisteria? she asked before dropping her jaws and gripping the other woman's paw in her teeth without warning. she glanced up, her lips quivering as she held the other woman there, her shoulders quaked as she refrained from biting. she could not quite tell where wisteria's interests lie, but she was certain to find out soon enough.

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