Rewritten

It was her father's birthday today.

And as she did with every special family occasion, she returned to Rionna. Walking the cobblestone streets from Sussex into corridors of brighter, more fanciful outdoor decor to signify the change in status as she entered the realm of Nobility. She hardly looked as though she'd ever played the role in her dress, but she recalled how to play the part and she walked with her head held high. The Gladstone Estate had not changed one bit since her departure and neither did her secret pathways onto their property. Seraphina treaded lightly as she took to the orchards that lined the outskirts of the household, finding a lovely little perch nearest an apple tree while she observed from afar.

The estranged Gladstone daughter fidgeted with a parcel that she would leave upon one their doorstep once the foot traffic died down. She had it addressed to Magnus Gladstone without noting who it was from, mostly for her own entertainment, imagining that over the years the family remained perplexed about the source of random unmarked gifts. It was a milestone birthday and so there seemed to be an event going on where many familiar faces were invited to partake in the celebration. She stayed where she was, watching with keen interested as she spotted her eldest sister, Marta, and her husband. Her younger sister was with her along with another gentleman...she supposed Julianna was married off just as quickly as possible. Seeing her youngest sibling, Lucas, was a bit of a shock. He was a grown man and was side by side with a girl who looked...awfully familiar. Her mind raced back to the night her Father had caught her and Louisa together. Seraphina snorted aloud and held back a fit of laughter as she shook her head. Ohhh, if only Lucas knew of those youthful escapades with the woman who she suspected was now his wife!

She knew that Marta had some snobby brats of her own, but hadn't expected that the other two siblings came with their own brood of irritatingly well-behaved children. What had her more shaken above everything else was the sight of her mother and father who were exceptionally graying with their old age. They were doting over their grandchildren with such fondness she thought it might make her physically ill. She couldn't recall ever seeing her parents smile so affectionately in the way they did with these little runts. Seraphina huffed, trying to convince herself that she was not at all envious of the half-pint nieces and nephews that she would never know.

After a time, she eventually was able to slink up to the home, leaving the wrapped gift in front of the door, turning to leave. Typically, she'd hit the road and head on back to Sussex without turning back, but today, she was itching to do something different. Seraphina gave a knock at the door before hightailing it back to her lookout so that she might possibly witness the receipt of her gift. Holding her breath, she saw the door open and remain open as someone gestured inside. The graying whiskers of her father appeared, his usual stern face peering down at the package. He lifted his gaze and looked around before peeling the paper back and opening a box to reveal...another box, just because that was hilarious to her. When he opened the next one, he simply eyed the contents. Seraphina leaned forward on her haunches, willing him to do something...anything. She had painted him a small abstract canvas, similarly to how she had when she was a girl...even if she had not addressed the parcel, he would know who had sent it this time, right? Would he remember?

The elderly Nobleman handed the opened parcel to the house servant next to him and ordered, “Get rid of it, like the rest." Glaring out of the front door with a soured look of disgust before he turned on his heel and disappeared back into the home. Seraphina felt a stake drive into her heart, staring after the servant in stunned silence as he took the gift, scampered to the rear of the home and discarded it with the rest of the trash. She could feel herself trembling as she replayed the reaction, recalling the words ‘like the rest'. Had her family been throwing out the gifts that she had brought to them all of these years before? Had they completely erased Seraphina Gladstone from ever existing in their lives?

She tore herself from her seated position, carelessly stumbling through the undergrowth back to the break in the exterior gates of the estate. Tears flowed freely, streaming across her cheeks as she escaped her personal Hell. When she finally broke through and touched back down on the cobblestone streets, she took off running blindly back in the direction she'd come. Seraphina hardly got anywhere when she collided with another figure roughly, the momentum knocking her backwards and off of her feet.

@Badari

As she trailed along the streets of Rionna she thought about how beautiful the trees were this time of year. The colors were just beginning to change, not quite fall but marking the nearing of the end of summer. It was easier to think about the trees than her mess of a life. Her shoulders stiffened slightly as her mind began to wander, her steps slow and meandering, her aim nowhere in particular. She was just trying to get out. It was something Evelyn had suggested tentatively, urging her to push the boundaries of what she was comfortable with.

It was probably the only way she would ever get better and it was then that she began to wonder if she ever would get better.

Was she doomed to be this shell of a person, cursed with episodes that prevented her from leaving town and a frantic mind that never rested? She used to be so calm, so... not this. She felt like a mess now, like she was never going to be able to recover. All because of him. It was pathetic that she could not simply pull herself together and move on, it was like she was stuck in place and the world just kept spinning. And it would keep spinning, with or without her.

Just as her thoughts began to spiral, she felt something crash into her and knock her back. She stumbled, feeling a faint pain where the other wolf had collided with her own larger, muscled body. She hissed out her frustration and turned her head to meet the stranger now sprawled out on the ground. Except... this was no stranger, was it?

"S-Sera?" she stammered, blinking rapidly in surprise as she barely recognized the tear-stricken face. A pang struck her chest and she bent to help the other woman recover. "Hey, what... what happened? Are you okay?"

Badari lifted her amber gaze to where she thought Seraphina had come from, in case someone was chasing her, but there was no one there. They were the only ones down this street for the time being. Birds sang in the treetops above them and frogs chirped from the forests edge. The Tiamat woman bristled slightly as a phobic feeling filled her but she managed to keep herself rooted as she lowered her gaze back down to the girl she'd not seen since her childhood.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

She floundered for a moment after hitting what felt like a brick wall of fur. Being blinded by tears only made her disorientation worse and she had to shake her head, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. The dizzied woman had it in her right mind to toss a swift apology to whomever she'd crashed into before fleeing, running until she'd left Rionna completely. And this time...she would never be coming back (unless, of course, there was business to attend to).

She was mere seconds from following through with that plan until the sound of her name hit her ears. Opalescent orbs widened as they flickered to meet pools of flame that were set into a face that jogged her memory. Seraphina wasn't certain now if she was shocked to happen upon someone from her previous life or if she was more surprised by the fact that there was someone who remembered her. The wayward maiden was beginning to believe that she was made to be the ghost of a child that never existed. Badari Tiamat was the one who tore that theory to shreds and Seraphina would forever be grateful for that.

Never the less, she seemed to have difficulty forming words even as the taller woman bent to help her stand. She accepted the help, never taking her eyes off of her as she processed this grown adult version of her. The stunned silence did not last long after following Badari's concerned gaze back towards the way she'd come. Seraphina glanced over her shoulder and then quickly back to the other, a desperate urgency in her tone. “Badari! Oh, I'm, I...I-I need to be rid of this place. Take me somewhere? Anywhere, but here is preferable." She made her request, doe-like eyes rounding as she pleaded to the noblewoman.

@Badari

Badari did not understand the other woman's urgency, but she was eager to help all the same. "O-Okay, come on. Let's go." she said as she helped her up. Something had happened but Badari did not know what, only that her childhood friend wanted to get away. She turned and headed into to less packed streets of Rionna, towards the trees that lined the town and headed off towards the Red Wood and Lowlands. If she wanted to get away, she probably meant out of town, so that was where the Tiamat woman headed. Though she knew she would not be able to go far with her, lest she fall into another panic, she would go as long as she could. "Is someone chasing you? Are you hurt?" she asked, turning head head to look at the woman beside her. She seemed fine, aside from her demeanor.

The idea of someone hurting Seraphina drew a rage from within her that she did not expect. She might not have seen her in years but that didn't mean she didn't care what happened to her. And she was sworn to uphold the law, she'd not have wolves going around chasing each other or hurting each other on her watch.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

Still on edge, Seraphina hardly waited for an agreement after being helped to her feet, scampering a couple tail lengths ahead. Her body begged her to run. As far as fast as her legs could take her. Until she reached the very ends of this island and perhaps by then she might have gained enough traction to traverse across the vast expanse of ocean and keep on running. It was what she had done best ever since she was forced along a different path. And now, here she was, being driven away again.

The muscles of her shoulders and thighs quivered as she forced herself to come to a halt, Badari Tiamat, of all wolves, being the only thing that tethered her from a wild escape. She turned her head around to face the woman, shaking her head earnestly as she quickly dismissed the assumption of being in danger. “Oh, no! No, no, nothing like that. It's more of a, uh, mental wound...a wound unseen, so to speak." She did her best to try to smile, focusing on Badari and the flicker of flame in her eyes. “Besides, in a game of cat and mouse...I'm typically the one doing the chasing." Sera inserted the humor where she could, trying to alleviate the weight, lighten the mood in whatever way was possible.

Once they were on the move again, she stuck close to the other as they put distance in between herself and the places that held memory, determined, this time, to never look back. After a time she slowed her gait and shook her coat, trying to relieve herself of the surface level anxieties lingering from the heightened state she was in before. She remained where she was standing, taking a few deep breaths. Releasing the last one, she blinked her eyes open, the sorrow still very much present in her opalescent blue hues.

@Badari

Badari wouldn't admit it but it was nice to be the one helping someone else for a change -- it was nice to be the steady hand. So she would be that for Seraphina as long as she could but to hear nobody was chasing her was a relief. Still, she looked on as if someone might be. She was running from a mental wound, or so she said, and Badari could relate to that. She was running from hers all this time and trying her best not to let them catch up. They were far trickier than dealing with a physical wound that would more than often just heal and be forgotten. She chuckled quietly at Sera's joke though she didn't quite understand it it was distracting enough that she didn't notice they were headed out of town.

As they moved, they slipped out of town and into the forest surrounding Rionna. She paused when Sera did, and then sat down beside her so she could catch her breath. She hadn't noticed where they were until now but she was too focused on the other woman to seemingly care much at all about it. "Well, I can't beat up your mind but I'm here to talk if you want," she said softly.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

Seraphina stared into the deep of the woods for a long moment, allowing herself the time to settle. A single ear twitched, sensing the shifting of weight as Badari lowered herself into a seated position. The intensity of her stare was broken at the steady even tone of the other woman's voice and she turned her head, eyes flickering up to meet hers. “Was that...a joke?"

One corner of her mouth quirked upward and the dullness in her opalescent orbs was brightened by a twinkle of amusement. Badari Tiamat tells jokes now? My, I've been gone for far too long. Next thing you know, Hell will just as well freeze over." She chuckled lightly, some of the tension in her neck and shoulders finding relief in the soft melody of her laughter.

She felt that she could actually focus on the Tiamat woman more clearly, her eyes tracing over those familiar features she could recall and taking note of the new ones. The fine sculpting of muscle beneath her coat, the former posture she held while she rested on her haunches, the way her jowls set into an overly serious neutral position that wasn't quite a frown...or perhaps those lips always did that. Sera lifted her gaze from Badari's mouth back to the simmering embers of her eyes.

“No need to beat up my mind...I do enough of that on my own." She held their gaze for a heartbeat or too, smiling gently, before she lifted a paw to gesture. “You're a fully fledged soldier now, I presume? Last I saw you, I believe you were a Cadet...what title is it you're going by these days? Colonel? Or perhaps...General Tiamat...?" She enunciated the name slowly, enjoying the way the syllables danced upon her tongue.

@Badari

The look on Sera's face was worth it. "It was," she murmured, the beginnings of a smile starting on her lips. She had been much more stoic as a child, unwilling to do much of anything besides train for the Army. She was different now, not much, but enough that Sera seemed to notice. As she carried on, Badari let out a small laugh at her next words. "Hey, even I have a sense of humor," she replied as if she were scolding the other woman.

They gazes kept catching on one another and Badari felt a strange sense of bashfulness because of it. Seraphina had grown into quite a lovely woman, but that was a strange thought to have about your friend, wasn't it? Her nose twitched as Sera spoke again, claiming she beat up her mind enough on her own. That mad Badari feel a pang of sadness because she could relate to that all too well. "Ah, no. I'm just a Lieutenant currently. I would probably be higher up the chain if I hadn't left to look for my sister when I was younger. I only just got back maybe... a year ago? I can't quite recall. And then I was... well, indisposed for a few months. I'm just now getting back on my paws." How much was too much to share? Badari didn't want to get into the nitty gritty about what happened to her in the moment but she also didn't want to seem like she'd been lazing about her entire career. She needed to get out of this slump and move on with her life.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

Badari did laugh at the teasing, which eased her smirk into a more genuine smile. Her laugh was lovely. It was the kind that she imagined was more rare than happening upon a unicorn in the fae forest. This only made her cherish the sound more gratefully. Sera was scolded mildly and her shoulders gave a dramatic shrug. “Ya could have fooled the King with the poker face you have, soldier." She quipped back, always happy to take part in a bit of playful banter.

“Ah, Lieutenant Tiamat! The alliteration on that one is far more pleasing to the tongue." She swiped that tongue over her lips as if she were analyzing the taste of a sip of wine. Seraphina was fully engaged, listening attentively to the Imperial soldier's brief explanation of her current rank. Her expression gave away her curiosity at certain points of interest. There were so many questions she could ask, but she a feeling Badari wasn't the type of wolf to take kindly to probing questions, not that she was exactly in the position to ask in the first place.

There was something masked behind the hesitance in Badari's words as well and she would not seek to dig up anything better left buried. Seraphina gave a couple of nods of understanding, feeling sympathetic to whatever struggles had shaped the girl of her childhood into the woman across from her. “Well, ya look damn good for someone just getting back on her paws, if you don't mind me sayin'." There was absolutely no subtlety in the way she admired the rugged physique of the female soldier, her smile widening with such a feast for the eyes.

@Badari

It was nice to talk like this with someone, to just be. She offered a smile to Seraphina at her comment about her rank, though she couldn't help but think about where she might be if things had panned out better for her. It was nice to talk to someone that didn't know what had happened, it was kind of like pretending it never did. They were just bantering, talking and having a decent time. There were no pitiful stares or sad words -- in fact the way Seraphina was eyeing her up made her a little self-conscious in a way she hadn't experienced before. It wasn't a bad thing, just different.

She felt the blush touch her cheeks beneath her fur at her comment then lowered her muzzle a little shyly. "Thank you," she replied quietly. She had come a long way from the withered husk of a wolf she'd been while up in the Highlands, that was for sure. He body had filled back out and she looked more like herself. She just wished she felt like herself, too. "You're looking pretty good yourself," she replied, lifting her chin and eyeing Seraphina almost cautiously. She looked so different from the young girl she'd seen so many years ago. "How have you been? I mean, besides whatever happened back there? It's been a long time..."

"Badari Tiamat speaking."