I tried to find you, but words can't describe you.

With much to plan for the upcoming wedding meant to unite Shiroshika with Vanderfell, Quicksilver was sure to make time for an introduction that he fretted over more than anything else. Meeting @Hotaru, beloved daughter of @Reiko, was something that was long overdue - and he felt nausea tear at his stomach as he approached his betrothed to suggest that the time had come.

He knew so very little about the Princess, for her mother had only revealed a tidbit of the troubled life they'd led before. He understood enough to know Hotaru's trust was a fragile thing, something the druid was prepared to nurture should she allow him, but what if she were to reject him entirely? What if she opposed of his intrusion on what remained of her family? What if Reiko resented him for unintentionally driving a wedge between she and her daughter?

Quicksilver was anxious as he and his snowflower trailed the mazes in search of Hotaru, though he drew some comfort from her presence. She knew her daughter better than anyone, surely - should things take a negative turn, she would be there to assume control.


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Though Shiroshika had made the shift to the mountain's lower paths some time ago, Hotaru still found herself walking in circles on occasion. Marked walls or not, the Pass was a mess of mazes and it only frustrated her further. This wasn't a home, nor would it ever be, but fortunately she knew this was no permanent residence for Shiroshika. That being said, she wasn't sure why they could not just continue to live at the Summit with Vanderfell. Wouldn't it be better even if there were two sets of rules in place? They shared a common enemy and many wolves were forced into recovery.

Well...she'd like to believe it was smart, but she full-heartedly knew the problems with overstepping the bounds of their ally's kindness. Was there truly nowhere else they could have settled though? She wouldn't have minded offering her aid in border patrols, except as she rounded a corner she'd lay eyes on a very familiar boulder marked at least three times now by her claws alone. Annoyed she'd groan behind a growl, half tempted to bash her head against the damn thing but opted to just lightly bonking as she stood there trying to figure out which path to try next.

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He heard it too, the rumble of frustration. Quicksilver drew his ears forward at the sound of another's growl, and his curiosity piqued as he and Reiko rounded a bend to find a pale-furred girl with her brow to a boulder. The druid halted alongside the pallid Empress and turned his head only to exchange a fleeting glance with her, before his attention turned fully to her daughter.

He inhaled a deep, wavering breath.

“Princess Hotaru?” Quicksilver managed, and should she turn focus on them he would muster a soft little smile. He fell silent, figuring it best that Reiko take the reigns to break any ice.


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The sound of footfalls graced her ears a moment too late as a voice quickly caused the princess to step back and adjust to a more proper posture. However, as soon as her lavender gaze met the stares of her mother and her...companion, she'd find her shoulders slouching in a disappointed fashion. They hadn't properly met, but she recognized him. He was the man who came to Tsukiishi often, and on more than one occasion she caught his scent in her mother's den. There was no doubt she held a bias towards him without what small bits she had put together, but given this was the first time he had actually spoken to her, Hotaru would do her best to swallow the annoyance she felt bubbling. “Yes?”

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The petite wolfess straightened herself, and turned to look upon he and her mother with a rather blank expression. He watched as the Princess' slim shoulders sagged, and it was clear to him immediately that she was not overly receptive of their presence.

Quicksilver swallowed, fearing already that they were off to a terrible start.

A sterling ear twitched toward Reiko as she piped up in question, asking for her daughter's time so that they might discuss the arrangements made for the future. The druid felt his stomach flop uncomfortably and he wondered if Hotaru might've already suspected the reason behind their pending introduction. Nervous, he waited quietly for the young Izuka's response.


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Her mother's words only felt like confirmation as she looked for her answer. The man beside her almost seemed to wither like a flower in winter at her stare, or maybe it had been her tone despite her believing she was being...friendly.

She knew in her heart what she wished to say, how she could question her mother's intentions, but she merely let the words churn at her core. And what exactly would concern the three of them? Her words would be meaningless. It was clear there was no decision to be made, they had already made up their minds.

Nowhere to run...

Nowhere to hide...

Though she kept her composure, she too felt a part of her wilt inside. “You ask as if this were an intervention...” Gods, was it? “Whatever you have to say feels as if it will happen with or without my opinion.”

So just say it. Confirm what I already know.

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Sorry! I'm an idiot and didn't realise it was my turn, lol.

---

He felt very out of place, and out of his depth. His gaze flitted between the two doves and he felt the conflict stir between them; the last thing he wanted to come from this conversation was any form of hostility. Quicksilver didn't know how to mediate, or if he should, so he swallowed.

“Not an intervention,” he tried, and mustered a thin and awkward smile for the Princess; “I'm sorry it feels that way, we... I-” Quicksilver felt his mouth dry, and he twitched a whisker to make another attempt: “I hope we can get to know each other?”

Reiko had asked him to be careful with her daughter, she who'd been made fragile by a past where her father - a wolf she'd loved and trusted, and who should've protected her - had been cruel to her. Quicksilver could understand her reluctance to accept a new partner in her mother's life, but he was hopeful that time might ease the tension surrounding it.


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She could only give her mother a look as she questioned her aloud. She would have answered her then if Quicksilver hadn't finally spoken up drawing her gaze. “In what world would I want for another father?” Her words bit harsh and she almost felt sorry for the druid. Hotaru was more concerned with her mother than him, but now he had been dragged into this family drama. Maybe he was nice. He seemed it, and the princess knew not all men were bad, but that did not mean she would like him any more. At the end of the day, nothing would change, and she was not interested.

“This family is cursed. You only doom yourself.” A lie half believed and half said in hopes to sway the man. Only bad things happened to them. That wouldn't change with him in the picture and that was not to say he would not be the cause for them. Glancing back to her mother, she'd look to hold her gaze, “Are you so low as to try and erase what's been done? To forget everything and abandon what little we have left?” Abandon Haruki for a new comfy life and new children who weren't haunted? Nothing would scare away the ghosts.

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In what world would I want for another father?

He had expected such a comment to come, but hadn't prepared himself for the way it pierced. Quicksilver stood there, awkward and anxious, sterling ears splaying backward atop his crown and not knowing if he should diffuse the situation by simply removing himself. Giving voice to his own single want of the Princess had proven fruitless, perhaps acted as a catalyst for her frustration, and the druid turned his gaze downward.

The information Reiko had given him regarding Hotaru's troubled childhood had been vague, and Quicksilver hadn't felt it appropriate to delve deeper into depths that were unknown to him. He wanted to know, to gain a better understanding of what it was the dove's daughter had gone through in the past, but it felt wrong to press for more. The Empress knew his heart was open to her daughter, that his shoulders were ready to bear whatever weight the family needed him to carry, and that he would be present in whatever way she wished.

He wished he could extend that same offer to his future step-daughter, but as she carried on with her barbed tongue he was afraid to breathe a single word that might further fuel her wildfire emotions.


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No, she couldn't force him to be anything to her, nor did she wish for him to be. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for who she allowed upon the throne. Even if she refused, would she truly turn him away? This was not the first time she had seen them together and her mother was aware of her feelings then, just as she was aware now. She would do as she pleased... “I can't stop you from doing as you will.” She could take her answer however she wished. In her mind, the Empress had already made up hers.

Despite standing in her beliefs, it did not feel good to speak her mind. Hotaru's stomach twisted with a pain she was uncertain if she would label regret as she watched the druid shrink beneath her. Her mother would do the same with apologies unfit of a mother to her child. All of this felt wrong. She was mad and wounded, but Quicksilver played no part in this. It wasn't inherently his fault and he had only unknowingly stepped into deep waters trying to live a simple life. He should have known, however, that she and her mother had always been drowning.

Only now would he clearly see it.

She wanted to vomit. “If you have nothing left for me, then I will take my leave.” She wished to turn and run as soon as the words were spoken, but she refused to show that stirring darkness that hung behind her. All this time she had been painting herself a villain if only to hide from the one that would forever lurk behind her. That much was slowly becoming clear to her now.

After all, how could you be harmed if you were what they feared?

She hated what she had made of herself.

She hated this weight she carried and it only grew.

She hated that there was nothing, not a single solution that would satisfy the pain.

She just...wanted for the impossible.

For Haruki. For their home. For what life once was...before she had been awakened to the horrors surrounding her.

Perhaps that was her curse.

When you are a light, you will only ever be surrounded by darkness.

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There was an emptiness in him, a void that he didn't know how to navigate. He knew there'd been a distance between Reiko and her daughter before he'd gotten himself involved, had suspected that the suggestion of introducing him as a more permanent fixture in their lives would not be a welcome one. Still, Quicksilver had held firmly onto the tiny sliver of hope that Hotaru would find some small happiness for her mother having found happiness in new company.

She announced her desire to leave, and Quicksilver maintained his silence as the Empress dismissed her. When they were alone and opportunity presented itself, he turned his sad blue eyes to look upon the side of Reiko's face; he could see the sorrow and hurt that lingered there. Tentatively, the druid reached for his bride-to-be, offering a small gesture of assurance that he was still there.

No matter what.

She nudged against him, keen to be on her way, and Quicksilver obliged. He padded along quietly at her flank, a silent support, with a sterling ear fixed toward her should she wish to give voice to her feelings.


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