This... giant lion had been carrying her like this for days. She didn't know where they were going or why he was carrying her, but she knew it was probably safer not to protest.

The fight had been beaten out of her long ago.

She just hung limp over his back, dead weight. She had to admit, he was softer than anything she'd slept on in years, and he didn't seem to get angry when she dozed off from the sheer exhaustion of the whole ordeal. Not that she slept much at all, but there was only so much the body could take.

He claimed to be taking her somewhere better, but by who's metric? To the elites, their home was good, with plenty of creatures to use and torture at their whim. Somewhere 'better' could just be worse for her.

So when she saw a wide open stretch of sand come into view, she couldn't help but tense. She didn't want to run, no more. She propped herself up a bit, taking a closer look at where they were, and to look for potential hiding places if this went south.

@Sjórbjörn

he and gawain had been separated, the lightstone guardian telling bear to go ahead and bring dora back to amaryllis. the priest doesn't like it, but... gawain has done this many times before. he knows what he's doing - right? the sick feeling in bear's chest begs otherwise, no matter how he tries to ignore it. as @Menodora tenses on his back, the priest continues walking, having learned in the past few days that it isn't helpful to try and reassure her.

instead, he keeps moving until the sea comes into view, and then he stops with a heavy sigh. we can rest here, he says softly, carefully lowering himself to his belly so as not to jostle her. it's been days, and he's kept up a nonstop pace, not sleeping so as to avoid having anyone catch up - if anyone would bother to come looking. he's certain that he'd gotten out cleanly, but one could never be too careful. still, here in amaryllis, he has his family to call for backup if necessary, and it helps drain the tension from his shoulders.

i am sorry, he says quietly. i would keep going until we got to the jungle, but i need to rest. just for a little while. he doesn't know why he's feeling the need to apologize - he's been days without sleep, without so much as a pause in his walking - but he does. perhaps for the fact that he is not strong enough to keep pushing himself now that they are reasonably safe? he aches, deep in his very bones, and wants nothing more than to curl up between his wives with their daughters piled atop him right now. this trip has been... stressful.

still, he has a duty to this woman, and to gawain, and he will see it through no matter what happens. laying his massive skull atop his dinner-plate paws, he does his best to relax. menodora's weight is slight - barely even noticeable to the golliath - and so he does not even think to have her get down, especially as he doesn't know if she's capable or not. you'll be free here, he tells her quietly, exhaustion making his voice rougher than usual. and if anyone has an issue with that, they'll answer to me.

he won't let her freedom be taken again, finding himself feeling... protective over her. they're practically strangers, and yet he's willing to kill for her. battle is not something he enjoys, it is not something he seeks out, but the things he'd witnessed - the conditions of those individuals held captive in darkstone - have made him rethink that philosophy. he might enjoy battle if it were against monsters such as the ones who had been holding menodora captive. he might seek it out, if it meant destroying beasts like that.

he's too tired right now to really make any plans, though.

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He laid down, the first time he'd rested since they'd left. Which... probably meant he'd be too tired to chase her, right? She hesitated for several moments, but eventually she spoke. {"Rest is important."} Her voice was feather light, though a bit rough- she rarely spoke anymore.

In all honesty, she'd begun to wonder if he'd ever stop, or if he was somehow sleepwalking. She knew lions were built for endurance more than cheetahs (oh, how well she knew that) but days? Everyone had to sleep eventually.

It felt strange to stand on her own four paws, but she didn't want to burden him while he rested. As she stepped down, he said once more that she would be free, that he would ensure her freedom. Her ears flattened for a moment at the idea. She'd been there for so long... what was now different. {"Why?"}

A million different questions swirled in her mind, but every word she spoke could be dangerous. Especially a question. Why her, why here, why now?

She didn't trust him, not yet. But no one had been kind to her in six years, and it was hard to not feel at least a little safer next to him than away from him. Outside was dangerous, a stranger could chase her down at any moment. At least he was too tired to make her run. So she hunkered down a few feet away from him and waited, planning to stay there until he was ready to move again.

After all, there was no point in running.

@Sjórbjörn

why? @Menodora asks, and it breaks his heart. yellow eyes gone dull, he peers at her, and with a soft sigh, he finally answers. because nobody deserves to be held captive, he murmurs, frowning a little. because... because one of my wives, whom i love, is from that awful place, and i will never let her go back. his eyes brighten here, his words spoken with such vehemence that it could be mistaken for rage - but it isn't, not really.

as angry as it makes him to think of alva being raised in that environment, this is not borne of rage - it's a cold, hard certainty inside him that darkstone is wrong and he cannot allow the place to stand unopposed. because i have daughters who are in danger every moment that place is standing. i intend to go back and raze it to the ground once you're safe. this, he had not shared with gawain, because he knows the man would either try to join him or stop him.

neither is an option bear is willing to accept.

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Wives he loved.

Daughters he cared for.

Those were not things that existed in Darkstone. Fantasies long dead, brittle like the bones crushed into the sand. So... either he was a liar, or he was telling the truth about everything. Or, he was from somewhere that just took non-lions as prisoners. She'd heard of places like that.

Asking questions made her nervous- questions were easily a punishable offense. But... so were a lot of the things she'd done on the way here, like falling asleep, speaking, breathing. Moving somewhere when she wasn't told to do so.

{"Who?"} Did she know her? It was not likely, she had been nothing more than a novelty, a toy. She only knew those who chased her and hurt her, and those were mostly men.

She didn't remember sand being this soft. Certainty, it had never been cool like this before.

alva, he says simply, the woman's name made holy by the worshipful way his voice curls around it. awed, loving; his feelings are raw and clear in that quiet sound. alva sigrun. not darkstone, not anymore. she might have kept that name initially, but he has no intention of her continuing that trend after what he'd seen. he will talk her out of it if it kills him - there is no reason for her to carry the name of that, that, that thing who sired her.

taking a deep breath to calm himself before he gets too worked up, he closes his eyes, kneading the sand with his many toes to help himself chill out. i can't tell her i'm going to go back. her father kept her ignorant of how truly awful he is, and i don't know if she'd forgive me for killing him. i'm going to, anyways. his eyes reopen, and he levels a steady gaze on @Menodora, his expression grave.

he is a threat to my family that cannot be tolerated. a threat to her, whether she realizes it or not. he will not let her be hurt, not ever again, and if landicus ever managed to figure out where she was? surely, he would come after her. bear prefers to neutralize the threat now, rather than waiting in uncertainty for god knows how long. he will go and take care of the issue and dismantle darkstone once and for all, so that no one else will ever suffer them again.

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The edge in his voice made her tense, but she didn't show it. Showing fear was another thing to be punished. Along with not showing fear.

Honestly, the rules were very confusing.

Sigrun must he his last name then. Interesting. Ahe tried to remember her own last name, but... it faded away like sand on the breeze. Interesting.

He continued to talk about his wife and oh. That Alva. What could she possibly want with a cheetah? Or was he taking her somewhere else? He'd said the jungle... what was in the jungle? What was a jungle?

{"He's a threat to everyone,"} she replied hesitantly, waiting for her fate to be sealed by speaking against him. As if he would descend from the bushes to strike her down himself.

he is, he agrees grimly, unaware of @Menodora's thoughts. he is, and he has to be stopped. permanently. the bear has no desire to allow such a monster to run rampant anywhere, let alone with the risk of it coming here to recapture his wife and perhaps his daughters as well. no - he will die before he allows that outcome. blowing out a breath, he drops his head back to his paws, eyes going listless again. your name is menodora, right? he thinks that's what they'd called her, but he's not entirely sure. i am seabear. you can call me bear, if you want to. he figures the common tongue translation of his name will be easier for her to pronounce, so that's what he uses.

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{"Yes, or Dora,"} she replied with a soft nod. Though in truth, he could call her something entirely different and she would respond, they could even change her name in this strange new place and she wouldn't fuss.

She didn't truly feel connected to her name, not anymore. It was just a word she knew meant someone wanted something of her, like 'cheetah' or 'run' or the million other little words they clung her way.

This was the most anyone had spoken to her in six years.

{"Okay, Bear."}

Had she been braver, she would have encouraged him to rest. She could hear in his voice how tired he was. But she wasn't about to risk telling him to do something. The rules were different, but there had to still be rules, right? There were always rules.

So she rested her head on her paws and waited. She wouldn't fall asleep if he was asleep. Someone had to keep an eye out for danger.

it's nice... to meet you officially, dora. he stifles a yawn in the midst of his sentence, looking a bit sheepish. noticing how wary she still seems, he sighs to himself - but he knows it will take time for her to overcome what's been done to her. she'd been captive there for a long time - he doesn't know exactly how long, but too long - and he has plenty of patience. resting his titanic skull on equally large paws, he closes his eyes and resolves to take a nap - promising himself that he'd wake in a couple of hours and finish the journey. you can sleep, he tells her quietly, if anyone tries anything here, my family will come to our aid. even if he were not their jarl, they would still come - that is what the sigrun do for one another, and so he does not fear an ambush.

- exit via sleep ? -

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