[ P ] Safe Passage

IF I WAS YOU I'D
R U N

There were other lives that counted on her. They looked to her to lead them through these lands and out to the other side. To a new life in the wilds. To freedom. Her job was quite a bit more difficult this time around. There was nothing like taking a beating in the heart of the Imperial Dungeon and then proceeding to lead a jailbreak directly after.

Fortunately, the small number of women in her charge needed rest, as did she. They would take shelter in Redwood for a short rest before moving on. Freyja would have taken the opportunity to lick her wounds, so to speak, but she had a responsibility to protect those that followed her, until she led them to a safe house outside of the reach of the Mainlands. The bloodied titaness scouted further ahead of the group to ensure they continued their journey with ease.

When she was finally out of the line of sight of the others, she relaxed her muscles that she held together tightly with pride. It was enough to reveal a limp caused by her twisted shoulder and her broken ribs. On top of those injuries, the dull ache of her broken nose and bruised gut persisted.

Releasing a shuddering breath, she approached a stream that she had spied from afar, thinking that a nice cool drink might do her some good. She lowered her head at the shoreline to start lapping up the chilled water, her ears swiveling to catch any anomalies among the hush of impending winter.


@Eleanor

If I was you, I'd hide,
If I was you, I'd be afraid,
Afraid of what's inside...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

DETHRONED

Norie! Her father's laughter wound through the woods. She chased it, as if it were tangible, the last thread in her spool of happiness. It slipped from her grasp and unraveled against the trees.

"N-no!" Eleanor's paws scraped against the coiled roots, trying desperately to unearth the lost fossil in which was preserved every memory she had of being happy.

It was all she had left. All that was left of her.

But the more she dug, upturning soil and crimson leaves, the further out of reach her father's voice became, like it was returning itself to his decayed body. Her cracked paws bled their surrender, mixing with the forest's ruby tears. Anguish carved out a hole into which Eleanor shoved it, down into the grave it dug for itself. In the absence of sorrow, she felt only numbness.

It was all she could allow herself to feel. All she ever seemed to feel anymore.

"I should wash off," she muttered, looking distastefully at the soiled ground and the paws that had soiled it, indifferent mask perfectly back in place. There was a stream she knew was nearby because she'd learned to count by fruitlessly cataloguing the minnows that darted around in it. Warmth tinged the memory, but her father's laughter was distorted and mute -- unreachable. Layers and layers of sediment smothered it. "No tarnish or taint," affecting her uncle's voice bitterly, Eleanor mocked the motto he tutted at her whenever she'd come home with an unruly pelt.

By the time she reached the stream, her blood was congealed and sticky, and all matter of detritus stuck to the bottoms of her pads like a pair of crackling socks, alerting everything to her presence. Strangely, she didn't seem to care if anyone saw her like that; partly because she couldn't care, but partly because she could.

Her eyes were unfocused as she set about cleaning herself up. Red rivulets streamed off and were swept away by the gentle current. It was only then that Eleanor looked up, realizing for the first time that she wasn't alone - and that the space between she and the familiar stranger was hardly big enough to fit the wind within it. "Fancy meeting you here," her head tilted to the side, eyelids shading the indiscernible glint in her gemstone gaze. "You seem to be wherever there are wet women to be found, Miss Bathhouse." The indecent quip fell from her mouth before her cheeks had the decency to blush, but Eleanor didn't care. She didn't have enough care in her to spare on being proper.

She took note of the pirate's current state, the bruised muzzle and off-set nose, the new wounds that would certainly scar. Her neck fur rippled a warning that she ignored; she was becoming quite good at that.

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[THIS POST CONTAINS MATURE THEMES]

IF I WAS YOU I'D
R U N

Ears flicked to attention catching an unusual noise. Heavy-weighted paws stumbling through the woods from afar, but the disturbance grew in volume, approaching steadily. Freyja's muscles tensed in preparation for action, yet she remained poised as she was, continuing to drink. It would be best to appear as unsuspecting as she could if the clumsy fool intended on taking her by surprise.

The wild rustling withdrew, though the pawsteps remained. Odd... She continued to listen as the footfalls became almost...more restrained. It was an intriguing development, leading the fur upon her neck to lay down slowly. Whoever humbled through Redwood the way they did was no threat to her. And as if on cue, the shape finally came into view.

By her gait and posture, she was undeniably a noblewoman. It was the filth of her coat that might've thrown someone else off, but why else would she be at a stream if not to wash herself clean once more? Then again...highborn typically bathed in the comfort of steamy baths and warmed towels. Freyja kept this observation in the back of her mind as she slowly lifted her head and stared after the feminine creature who might not have even sensed her presence if her blood hadn't washed downstream.

When she was addressed, the marauder felt the painful flex of her muscles tightening against her ribs as she let out a chuckle. Ah...she thought the woman looked familiar, even in her current state. “Heh...you're only half correct there, Sea Maiden...the women don't always have ta be wet when I arrive, but they certainly do wind up drenched when it comes time to part ways with 'em..." Rows of pearls revealed themselves as her lip drew back to reveal a toothy grin. If she wanted greet her by being crass, she had no problem in returning the favor.


@Eleanor

If I was you, I'd hide,
If I was you, I'd be afraid,
Afraid of what's inside...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

DETHRONED

Freyja's salacious comeback swept whatever upper hand the deposed Calyx heiress thought she had from under her. The heat built under her skin, Eleanor woefully underprepared to take what she had dished out, but swiftly fizzled out; the water was frigid and clarifying. Only a faint pink hue brushed across her face to signify how affected she was.

Still, she pitched a brow, trying to feign indifference, and canted her head to the opposite side. "Is that so?" She leaned forward to catch a bead of water cast off of Freyja's chin on her tongue. "Is that why your face is drenched, then?" An innocent bat of her eyes accompanied the question as Eleanor retreated further from the bank upon which the pirate perched. Everywhere the water touched as it rose from her paws to her hips was chilled to the bone.

She was tired of this coldness and how it seemed to come from within her, like winter began in her.

She wanted - needed - more of that heat. If the forest was going to steal it from her, then she'd plunder it from somewhere else.

Eleanor threw back her head and made a show of paddling her front paws listlessly in the waist-deep water. When she looked back at Freyja, there was a deviant, daring grin in place - all signs of shock dissipated. "Ahh," she cried without flourish, "I'm drowning~ Whoever will save me?"

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[THIS POST CONTAINS MATURE THEMES]

IF I WAS YOU I'D
R U N

The quip aimed back at her was witty, she'd give her that. Freyja drew herself up as the woman moved closer to her and lapped a bead of water from the air as it fell from her chin. A single brow twitched upward in amusement and her tail lashed back and forth behind her as she found the maneuver to inspire heat to form within her that rivaled their frigid surroundings.

A salmon tongue slipped out to swipe across her maw and gather up what water remained dripping from her jowls and she smirked. “S'not quite the ‘drenched' I had in mind...not sure you'd know much about that, though." Freyja sucked her teeth and gave a shrug as she looked upon the woman with a gaze of pity. The poor Imperial Blue Bloods didn't have the opportunity to experience much of the world and based on their last conversation, she could only imagine what a life hiding behind the cover of a book was like...

As the female of milk and honey moved to wade further into the water, she took a step or two in that direction. Freyja decided that it was best to keep herself at a distance...for now. It was pure curiosity that tempted her after this fine pearl of nobility. There were many a question that lingered on her brain, but she kept them at bay, noting the woman's body language as she strode deeper into the waters. It enticed her to take a couple more steps before she halted, the movement of the icy current numbing her limbs.

It was what the noble woman did next that drove Freyja to retreat a few steps backwards and back onto the shore. The alluring half-smile on her lips fading into a frown and Freyja's brows furrowed as she scoffed at the foolish display the femme was putting on. “You'll save your damn self, lass. You're fully capable of it." She remarked with a cold bite to her tone, her lip curling back some in mild disgust.
After devoting her life to providing aid to women who had no way of defending or helping themselves, this little performance made a mockery of everything that she risked her life daily for.

“I'll never understand why males find this damsel act attractive in the slightest...ya got yourself into the waters, you can see yerself right back out...and to think I ever considered offering you a place on my ship..." Freyja's eyes narrowed and she shook her head with disapproval. While she did not expect the highborn girl to understand why she'd reacted the way she did, she was not afraid to make her displeasure known.


@Eleanor

If I was you, I'd hide,
If I was you, I'd be afraid,
Afraid of what's inside...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

DETHRONED

"Are you willing to bet on that?" An empty challenge given it didn't take a genius to tell she was inexperienced, but still her lip curled with intent, features gilded with a look of confidence that only one of privilege could master. Eleanor's face was an unholy mixture of temptation and suggestion as she anticipated the pirate's approach to claim the bounty that she was openly offering.

But, rather unexpectantly, Freyja stopped, retreated, and rebuked her, fracturing the fragile fantasy before it could form. The embarrassing admonishment made the water that much more unforgiving, and so too was Eleanor. The assumption that she wouldn't understand the cause of this miscommunication was an accurate one. Following Cecil's rejection and the forest's memory theft, Freyja's reaction was unbearable, salt in her gaping wounds.

Though she wanted to scream, that manifestation of anger remained internal; outwardly, she looked as cold as the water was, ears pinned back and features pinched in an unattractive way. Eleanor was not known for her emotional maturity. She had always been doted on, of course, and given every opportunity money could buy for her, but Lord Cecil Calyx lacked the paternal vulnerability his brother lived and died with. He was a politician, after all, his emotions a constant danger. Letting them be seen was like offering his throat to a lion. That same instinct to survive was observed by and ingrained into Eleanor, who learned to coil defensively into herself and strike before she could be stricken. She'd let down her guard and given Freyja the opportunity to get a hit in, but she wouldn't make that mistake again.

The heiress stalked out of the stream, pausing only long enough beside Freyja to shake out her fur, though she did take her time doing it. A thousand drops of Eleanor's anger battered against the captain. Once she was satisfied, she laid a distance away in a pocket of light that threw more shadows than sunshine across her, darkening the severity in her expression. "I could buy myself a spot on anyone's ship," she muttered between swipes of her tongue across her perfect dainty paws. "What makes yours special? Maybe you've made it all up and there isn't even a ship to begin with... I wouldn't trust the word of a stranger." She'd felt hopeless when last they'd seen each other, allowing herself to fall prey to the descriptions of the vastly dark sea and what might lay on the other side of it, thoughts of which kept her awake long into the night, but any clever conman could say the same things when they saw that she was hooked. Pretty words dressed in a roguish accent would be harder to bait her with now.

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[THIS POST CONTAINS MATURE THEMES]

IF I WAS YOU I'D
R U N

The mask of the vixen began to melt from her at the first hint of any sort of rejection. The arctic titaness held the water nymph's gaze with a piercing intensity as the she glowered at her from the stream. She never took her eyes off of her, calculating every movement as dainty paws carried her back up to the shore. The honey golden female had gone from innocent and playful to dark and venomous. There was no doubt now that this female had never heard the word ‘no’ in her life.

Freyja only turned her head to peer over at her where she stood next to her. She only half lifted a paw when the rain began before setting it down again and snapping her jaws the remaining droplets from the air. She turned her frame fully now to observe the noble lady move to lay in sunlight that cast shadows across her, clearly sulking. The Blueblood drew her dagger and began to make jabs at her then, throwing around the fact that she was practically made of money. It was mildly concerning, though not as concerning as the image of her doing something so foolish as to buy her way onto a ship at the dockyard.

Freyja's ears flattened at the notion and her tone lowered seriously, “I strongly advise against that...o'course I won't be tellin' you what to do, but, sure, go about the pier in Sussex and let all of them other ships know you've got money to throw at em." She scoffed with a shake of her head, regarding the reclined noble with an unreadable expression, though something of fear glittered in her mismatched orbs. “You'd soon find out the difference between my ship and theirs..." She took a couple of steps closer, peering into the depths of the other's eyes. “You see, I would never take your money. I've got no need for it. You would earn your place on my ship. But with the rest of ‘em...well, heh...you'd lose more than your money. They'd take ya, alright, and happily so..." Freyja's eyes flickered for a moment as though she might've gone somewhere else while she spoke, her lips turning into a deep frown. “...like I said...you'dnever be the same...if that were the route you chose..."

She lifted her posture then and shook a shiver from beneath her coat. “But, ya see...The Valkyrie...it is the liberator of women...we see ‘em to safety wherever they need to go. And my lot know better than to cast a wayward glance a lady's direction, lest they wish to lose an eye..." Freyja snorted and then nodded slowly as she glanced back over her shoulder in the direction of the group she was leading. “So yeh...that's what I'm about...you won't find another vessel quite like ours unless you enjoy searching for a needle in the ocean..."

The Captain took a breath in through her nostrils and released it from her maw in a long sigh before taking steps to bridge the distance between them again. She moved to circle the wolfess where she lay and then stopped just behind her, seating herself as close as she would allow. “Winter's bite is worse than mine. You'll freeze to death if ya think sunlight'll heat you up properly." Freyja didn't see the need to spell it out, offering her body heat as the heiress would take it...for the moment, nothing more, nothing less.


@Eleanor

If I was you, I'd hide,
If I was you, I'd be afraid,
Afraid of what's inside...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

DETHRONED

An audience of hell and heaven was hard to shake off, but Eleanor didn't mind the attention of demons and the divine. She thrived when the audience was hers to command. She was secretly pleased that the woman's eyes weren't dissuaded by her deliberate effort to do just that. That relief didn't seep into her own eyes, however, still on the defensive and loathe to lower those walls that were steadily creeping into place.

The spurned noblewoman maintained her facade of frigid indifference throughout most of Freyja's account. She promised treachery and ill-natured intentions. When Eleanor finally looked back at the eyes that never moved, the ferocity she found in them took her by the hand and pulled her into the world Freyja had disappeared into. Within it lurked a memory she'd been better off forgetting. Her muzzle scrunched as if she smelled something foul, recalling a man's rancid breath as it ground against her face and neck. He'd said similar things to her and she knew he'd meant every word.

She felt the cold more acutely now, though it was graciously mitigated by Freyja's proximity. When had she gotten so close? Eleanor did not shift closer, despite feeling uncomfortably exposed all of a sudden, but she did subtly angle her body to face her. It was clear she was shaken to her core but was desperate to keep a hold on her anger like it would anchor her, like she would drown if she let it go.

She had to manufacture venom when she spoke, for it had faded from her voice and Eleanor wasn't yet ready to abandon her little tantrum or righteous indignation. "I'm sure there are ports other than Sussex..." She avoided acknowledging what else was said, pointedly looking away into the direction in which Freyja had gestured, aware now of the low chatter beyond the burgundy brush.

code by claerie & image by pixel

[THIS POST CONTAINS MATURE THEMES]

IF I WAS YOU I'D
R U N

Despite the obvious tension that was roused by her closer proximity, the noble hardly moved, neither toward her nor away from her. Instead she maneuvered herself to avoid an awkward bending of the neck to view the marauder where she was now. Freyja lowered herself slowly to the earth to now lay down next to the girl who insisted on being a brat despite her slight faltering.

The rumble of a chuckle emanated in her throat, finding it difficult to hide her amusement. The likelihood of this woman setting foot near any ports simply to prove a point to her was slim to none. She was simply throwing a royal fit as nobles tended to do best when they didn't get their way.

“Aye, suuure, there are ports a-plenty. My position on the matter remains the same. Ya shouldn't go around wavin' your money 'round the seafarin' type...besides, ya can't solve all your problems with coin, Princess..." Freyja cooed darkly in a mocking fashion, a smirk gracing her maw once again.

@Eleanor

If I was you, I'd hide,
If I was you, I'd be afraid,
Afraid of what's inside...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

DETHRONED

"I don't think that's true," Eleanor rebutted firmly. There wasn't a single instance she could think of where wealth hadn't at least improved her situation. Freyja, enticing though she was, must not have ever been in a position where she could experience the power money had. The thought made her look up at the captain with sudden intensity. For the moment whatever it was that was taking root within her mind was enough to ease the anger she'd been wielding just before. "You'd make an amusing, if not deranged, noblewoman. I'd like to see that sometime." There was a challenge in her voice seeking to bait Freyja into a scheme that would serve her well if only for the prospective entertainment value.

Eleanor adjusted herself to groom another section of matted fur, in doing so causing their pelts to brush, though she didn't move away once she straightened herself back out. Maybe there was yet still a chance to salvage this encounter...

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