Zinnia

She had watched. Diligently and vigilantly. Ret did not appear changed. Perhaps slightly weaker than before, but he was still healing, strength would come as he healed. That she was sure of…well as confidently as a yearling could be. The girl could not get it out of her head though. The tone that the Wolfbron Queen had used, the words she had implored upon the crowd. The dead was best left dead. He would not be the same. That worried her.

For some time she had guarded the front of Reti and Aphro’s den. He was there alone, he was without Aphro and her siblings needed extra protection. He had rested, he had played as well as he could. He hadn’t been abnormal. Still. He will not be the same. She had even asked if he felt different. Of course he had told her he was fine. For the most part, but what he wasn’t fine over was normal. He was healing. She huffed. Having decided to go directly to the source, she wanted to know why he would be different. What she needed to look out for so she could tell him and he could fix himself…if it happened.

The yearling walked with purpose, a girl on a mission as she strode towards the Bluffs borders. As she approached, she shook off whatever nerves had tensed her muscles. Taking a steadying breath, she would drop the pouch that she had begun taking everywhere. She- and it- both smelled of Lavender, but her own form also had a smoky tinge that told she had recently been to the Scorched wilds. The girl chuffed politely, beckoning the Queen to come to the borders and then she grabbed her pouch and took a tentative step backward as she sat. She would wait as long as need be. This was important.

@Louve ♔


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louve had grappled with her own thoughts on the matter since the chaos of that day. since watching them fall and come back, drawn from the beyond, pulled back to the world of the living. she had mulled over if it mattered whether they were healed by regular means, with herbs and plants and saps, or whatever the medics used. must their heart stop? their breathing?

more than a few nights had passed in sleeplessness, grappling with her varied thoughts on the matter, reflecting on the days after apollinaire's rebirth. how strange he had been, how unhinged. descending in to a madness that she was unwilling to admit had been there in glimpses before he had ever fallen.

lines had blurred, alliances rendered unsteady, and still the matriarch had not begun to unravel that... mess. the plains were not friends of hers but nor were they enemies -- they had stood up against one of hers, in fact, and at the same time cursed a friend. everything had been muddled, and she had little desire to play the game of politics to sort it all out.

so when the child comes calling she is not met with rage, only a vague defensiveness. louve finds little threat in a child, and in fact there might even be a hint of curiosity in her tone when she arrives to meet @Zinnia with a quiet "well, well. what 'ave we 'ere?"

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Elaine heard the call and made her way toward the border. Her sister was there first and seemed to be entertained by their visitor for the moment. The scent of the Plains was clear, and Elaine wondered what it was that was wanted. Was Reti sending someone else to collect her daughter? She came to stand next to @Louve ♔ in silence as she waited to hear what the Plains... or this yearling wanted from them. She was brave, Elaine would give her that, to come here and call upon them. Few do it nowadays. Most stayed far away and have no reason to be here unless joining or challenging it would seem.

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Zinnia

The scarred Queen came, the movement of her arrival causing yellow eyes to snap to the Queens own glowing gaze. The youth would nod her head in a show of respect to the Queen that came to her call. Gaze shifted over the woman, noting the wounds from a recent fight, but she did not speak on them. That was not why she was there and the wounds looked like they had been tended to by paws far more skilled than her own.

Curiosity colored the woman’s tones as she spoke in that thick accent that was hard to understand. She was quiet, but Zinnia did not mistake that for weakness. No, even from the few times she had observed the lioness at challenges, no one had really messed with the Wolfbron Queen- that was enough to keep Zinnia humble and polite. Another would arrive, Zinnia recognized her from the blood bath that Reti had died at. Zinnia nodded respectfully to her as well. She did not speak, she remained silent and waiting.

Zinnia took a breath, straightening her shoulders slightly, before she went into why she was there. "I had questions…that I think only you can answer…" She trailed awkwardly. "You said he was better off dead. That the dead should be left dead…why?" Her head tilted to the side, genuinely curious, but there was something else in her voice, an emotion that even she struggled to decipher. Dread. Deep down, the girl was unsure if she wanted to hear the answer the Queen gave, but she needed to know.

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@Louve ♔ @Elaine ♔

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The girl was young -- too young to have made such a journey alone, really. Louve wasn't sure if she should think her brave or stupid, and reserved her judgement... for now. And when @Zinnia speaks there is some understanding, though the matriarch does not jump to answer. Not immediately. Instead she studies the girl more closely, looking for more truth beyond what her words offered.

"'e he close to you, oui?" The one brought back from the dead, the one that rose from the beyond. Somehow this girl was connected to him, and Louve thought it more imperative that she share her truth because of it.

"My 'usband was brought back. At first I was relieved, oui? 'e was the love of my life, after all, and we were so young..." Him older than her, but did it really mattered? They had years left to give, if...

Louve's gaze stays steady on the girl, unflinching, showing no signs of telling anything but the truth. "I didn't notice the changes until eet was too late. Until 'e was so far gone 'e betrayed ma famile in the worst way possible. Eet changed 'im, oui? 'e was not ze same after 'e came back." A frown, tugging at her lips, as she pressed on. "I think z'at whatever 'appens when z'ey die... z'ey are never meant to return to z'e land of z'e living."

@Elaine ♔

The call would not typically catch her attention. Perhaps it's fate that brings lazare slinking cloae enough to hear the topic. She does not know where the yearling has come from nor where she Calls home, but it does not matter. What matters is the question she asks. A shame, then, that @Zinnia has asked the wrong lioness.

Lazare pauses, hidden by a shadow, as she lingers to listen. Piebald ears tick forward as louve answers, offering her truth-- or whatever semblance of it she decides to give. It's lackluster and the queen provides only half of the picture. If zinna wanted to know the truth, she would not find it here.

It is not the first time @Louve ♔ has lied.

( surely it would not be the last. )

Lazare is creepin ~

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"speech"

She was young, but she had seen far too much, she knew the risks of marching to someones border and asking questions, just as she knew that there were more than enough enemies on the trek here and back. This was important to her and that made it worth the trek in her eyes.

The question came and she hesitated before giving a quick nod, but remained silent. Reti was important to her, she had no qualms of admitting that, but…how much did she want the frightening queen to know about her? It had crossed her mind more than once that perhaps she was walking to an enemies border, she had to be careful about what she revealed.

Zinnia listened when @Louve ♔ explained that her husband had been brought back. The girl found herself nodding slightly to the rhetorical questions. Zinnia had felt relieved when Reti’s paw had twitched, when a breath had risen his once still chest. Knowing that this Queen had lost someone she cared so much about, it made her far more believable. Yet, there was a sinking feeling deep in her gut, she knew how this story ended and by the way that the queen did not break her gaze… it made the fur along her nape prickle slightly. Zinnia did not look away.

Louve han’t noticed the changes until it was too late, until he had betrayed her famile..family? Her brows furrowed slightly. The question of how crossed her mind, but she didn’t yet voice anything, listening still. The youth’s heart rate picked up, thumping quicker and louder as a frown creased the scarred lips of the Queen. Whatever happens when they die…they are not meant to return.

The youth was quiet for a moment, letting the words sink in, a sharp pain in her chest at the thought of Reti and if he became different. She glanced to the black lioness, but she remained quiet at that moment and so, she looked back to the Queen and tilted her head. "How did he change?" She needed to know what to look for, maybe the same changes would occur with Reti and she would know…she could warn Aphro so they could get her siblings away…

Jaws parted, but there was a pause before she hesitantly asked, "what…What happened to your husband after he betrayed you?" It was quiet, barely above a whisper. She thought she knew, but she…she had to ask. "If…if I may ask…I don’t mean to pry into family business…" She stuttered and trailed.


@Elaine ♔ @Lazare

everything starts and ends with family

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Louve remains unaware of their audience. Had she known @Lazare was listening would she have spoken any differently? Perhaps with more tact; perhaps not. It was her truth, no matter what any others believed of it.

"'e was... angry. Almost... mad." That little frown deepens, creating deep furrows in her expression as Louve reflects back. "Delusions of grandeur, per'aps, thinking z'at we were untouchable." How easily she had believed him! How quick she was to trust that it was their family that was special, their blood that was unstoppable. "I think reality blurred for 'im... or at least... 'e did not seem... grounded." It was hard to explain, really, what she had seen in the slavering beast that had replaced her husband.

Louve gave a small shake of her head, not willing to dive any deeper in to the descriptions. More than anything she had loved him, right to the end, and she wanted to cling to those memories more than the ones from his end of days.

@Zinnia asks and Louve thinks of not answering. For a second. And then she does, unexpectedly and abruptly. "I killed 'im." Simple put, with no further explanation; watching, then, to see how the girl would take that.

Elaine was there to listen for the most part, taking in what was happening and watching the young lioness without looking away. Reti and this one were close, how close? Close enough that she cared to find out what might be the outcome of him coming back to life and that said something. Elaine listened to the questions and only then did she look to her sister. She wasn't sure that Louve had told anyone outside of the family before and she wasn't sure if she would tell this stranger or not.

She did. Elaine flicked her tail across @Louve ♔'s heels in a silent show of support. She knew her sister well enough to know that it all still hurt her and was something that they all wished had not happened. Is something happening with Reti that has you concerned? She spoke finally, hoping to get to the heart of why she was here. Elaine wasn't one to beat around the bush and if something was wrong with Reti, she needed to know. Now.

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The youth was unaware of the spy in the shadows, her sole focus trained on the Queen that spoke. Ears shifting from forward to back with the emotions that swirled within the youth. When Louve spoke, she talked about her husbands anger, his madness, and the girls brow furrowed. Quite obviously comparing what she said to what she had observed of Reti. He had not appeared angry, or maddened, not yet, but it was still early. Maybe it took time? She continued with a deeper frown, reflecting on what was likely difficult for her to think of. For a moment, the girl felt a flicker of guilt, asking these questions, but she pushed it away. The queen could refuse to answer, but she hadn’t yet.

She spoke of delusions of grandeur…Zinnia wasn’t sure what that meant, but she understood the thoughts of being untouchable, not necessarily from Reti (well maybe a bit) but also from her own family. The spotted yearling tilted her head ever so slightly, as if viewing the scarred woman in a different light, with a different perspective. One that made her all the more nervous to be there- alone. She spoke of blurred reality and Zinnia nodded slightly, he had not seemed grounded…but Reti did.

At the shake of the Queen’s head, Zinnia would nod slightly, understanding. There were no more questions to be answered on the subject, despite her wanting to ask more. She did not do so. "Thank you…for telling me." She would say quietly, a touch of understanding in her tones but it was gratitude that consumed most of her voice.

There was a silence after her last question, what had happened to him? By the silence and the leveled stare, Zinnia knew. The yearling tried to steel herself, to harden herself, to yank all emotion down and smother it, but when the words were said, her ears would fall back and to the side, dread and sadness battling each other on her face as she held the gaze of the Queen. Processing. After a long moment, she would speak, releasing the breath she had unknowingly held. "That..must have been very hard to do. I'm sorry." She acknowledged, "I…I don’t know if I could kill Reti…" She trailed, looking down. She was small and he was so much bigger and stronger. Even if he was old.

The dark one spoke, Zinnia lifted her gaze quickly to her, yellow eyes wide. "No! He has been normal. I just…" Her gaze flicked to @Louve ♔ and back. "I remember what she- you- had said and I didn’t understand why you had said that he shouldn’t come back." She quickly spoke, letting the words flow rapidly despite stuttering and dancing her gaze between them. "Are all affected this way when they are brought back?" She asked them a glimmer of hope in her voice, in her eyes. Maybe, maybe Reti had a chance to still be himself…maybe not all were affected the same way.

She took a heavy breath. Jaws parting, as if to say more, but hesitating and shutting her mouth. She had already made it obvious that Reti was important to her. She wasn't sure it was wise to let them know how important she was to him. She could explain that she couldn't lose anyone else...that death had touched her far too much already, but that would only lead to more questions that would lead to them finding out how she was tied to the Sovereign.

@Elaine ♔ @Lazare

everything starts and ends with family

code x art