until there is nothing left but doubt

Things had never been simple. Annika wasn't entirely sure why she had ever thought it would change, particularly now of all times. After having bid a sister who loathed her farewell, after having cried softly at the idea of leaving Valeska -- well, it would only make sense that she was doing it for the grater good, right? The Wayfarers were the greater good, allowing her wanderlust and desire to help others to blossom.

She just.. wasn't entirely sure it had been the right decision, now that she was undeniably with child. Annika had denied it for quite a while even after her conversation with Guild, but now the swelling of her abdomen and teats, well. Fuck was really the only appropriate word. It was a cruel joke, one she did not find humorous in the least, but it was what it was. Every morning she woke to check for the inevitable and every morning, her bed was strangely dry. So nothing had happened yet, that wasn't terribly concerning. Like her last litter, she doubted they would be born alive.. so really, it was nothing but a waiting game.

That evening she was restless, nauseous and feeling like she was about to explode. The only thing she could think to do was wander, and her paws had brought her to the edge of the watering hole for the time being. Wonderful.

She settled onto her haunches and, gradually, her belly, before turning her head up to appreciate the stars above. Annika had so many questions about them and their existence, but she adored them. Like the sun, they were a reminder that certain things were constant and unmovable. At the end of the day, the sun would set and rise again, the stars would come out. The routine was comforting in a world where nothing was ever routine, and she allowed the thinnest trace of a smile to curve her lips as she watched above.

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 @Flynn was nearby as often as not, especially with the news that she had yet to truly come to terms with. Tonight, she roamed a bit, deciding to travel the opposite direction of Elkshire in the hope that she would meet no one who was even the smallest bit familiar and friendly with the devils of the forest.

 At a certain point, she could see water up ahead. There were small scents of a wolf presence though none of the heavy markings of a pack. Curious, the woman strode onward, ears turning this way and that until she finally spotted someone. There, staring at the sky, was a wolf of similar stature and form as her own. She wondered on this, even as she realized her paws were taking her casually towards the other woman.

 A scent came up along the wind and her ears pricked. Then, as the light shifted slightly from on high, she saw what confirmed the smell. She blinked, surprised, and then shook it from herself. Of course other wolves would be getting pregnant, roaming around and having litters. After Celnes dropped hers, she was certain there would be more. Even her own, she thought with a chuckle that she realized was not as quiet as she'd thought. Pinning her ears back in embarrassment, she called softly to the stranger: “Oh, hello.”

 There was enough of a calm that she did not feel any sense of danger.

 Then, giving the other ample space, she settled down onto her own haunches to peer up at the sky. “The stars are all so different here,” she mused aloud, thinking of her childhood. Surely, she had seen many stars lighting up the sky in those times. She knew where many of them were and here, here it was far different. As if they were in an entire different space, where they stars they knew were far from here. There was no Orion, no Ursa Major or Minor. Just... stars.

 New constellations they had no clue what to name.

---

Tagging Flynn just for reference (if tags work again that is) - no need to join!

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Although it was silly to think, in retrospect she shouldn't have been terribly surprised that others were around. It wasn't as though they had claimed the water source for their own, but it still surprised her to see someone else wandering nearby. A flash of gold stole Annika's attention, the moonlight giving away @Meissa before the soft laugh. Annika wasn't terribly superstitious, but there was something tremendously eerie about the thing dangling from her nose. Was this a witch? Her eyes narrowed, brows knitted together in concern.

"What is that?" the wolf asked, staring blatantly at the piece of jewelry. Annika rose to her paws, her hackles raised, but otherwise remained as neutral as could be. Her head cocked to the side as she studied it, trying to discern its reason for existence. Did it help her hunt? Was it a birth defect? Annika sniffed the air to see what odor it gave off and found nothing but a strange, almost coppery scent. She didn't like it. Not one bit.

As for the stars, yeah. They were great and all, but Annika didn't have the thought to discuss them with a witch. Shit, she probably already had a spell on her, damnit.

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 The mood shifted and Meissa looked over, surprise in her eyes. Then it faded into a somber acceptance. Sometimes she forgot about her accessories, her freakish differences. Sometimes, especially when she was with her mate, it seemed as if they were all forgotten. Then she would come across someone who didn't know her or wanted to insult her, injure her, and they would act like this.

 It left a bitter taste in her mouth that made her want to return, check to make sure a certain someone wasn't up to her antics.

 She figured she might as well answer.

 “Before waking in this place, I was held captive by creatures with fur mostly atop their heads. They pierced my nose and placed this ring there, part of a muzzle,” she answered honestly, with a sigh. She was no witch, had no spells or mockeries to give. Only tiredness. “It reminds me of home, but it's merely a trinket.” Plus, it would be more than a little painful to remove, likely leaving a scar where it once lay if it ever healed.

 She had thoughts of removing it but had yet to actually go about planning. After all, who knew when the wedding would be?

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---

Restless, yes. It was a word that defined him perfectly. While others enjoyed placing more favourable, less erratic descriptions upon his cursed body, he felt the word was more fitting.

It equated to the way he marked the trees behind his beloved. It echoed the reason that he held her close, smothering her in his perfume.

Now, as he let a growl slip from clutched teeth at the insult, it was painted on him as bright as the moon hung low in the sky.

Restless, yes. Perhaps even possessive.

Nevertheless, he let her wander, vanishing into the thicket from which he never emerged from to begin with.

—

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Annika certainly didn't mean to offend, but her attention never wavered from the strange crescent. It caught in the light and shone brightly, causing Annika to squint as she tried to ascertain the meaning of it all. The story that @Meissa gave was confusing, and she frowned as she struggled to comprehend whether or not it was fact or fiction. Although she had no reason to disbelieve in it, the concept of creatures with only fur on their heads.. well, it didn't make too much sense.

"Why would they do that? What purpose does it serve them?" she asked, her frown shifting into something more sympathetic than accusatory. "Wh.. what's a muzzle?" Annika didn't understand, but she was curious. And a bit frightened. It reminded her of home, she claimed, but Annika couldn't see why she would want to remember somewhere she had been so terribly abused. Had she been given some sort of token like that by her homeland, she would have seen it away immediately. Alas, scars were not so easily removed, and she felt them pulse warm on her throat as she spoke.

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 She knew her mate had followed her, though he remained in the bushes. She heard the slight noise and knew it as a growl - but she did not need him to come to rescue her. She was fine, in this situation, and she would return to him given time to breathe and speak. After all, it was not often that she was able to see anyone except those within her home, her new family.

 “They were those that created dogs. I assume their purpose was... something to do with that.” she shook her neck, not wanting to vocalize what she had thought. It had never happened, thankfully. She had broken free before they had the chance to add her bloodline to their hounds. “A muzzle is a jaw-lock. Rope, stone, leather, anything that holds jaws together so that the muzzled cannot protect themself.” The battered ring about her nose told the story of escape, yet never truly free.

 She lapped at the fur on her chest, remembering how once, the rope that coiled about her neck had been stained red. “I haven't seen any of those creatures here, thankfully.” It was a wonder, for they weren't the most uncommon in her homeland. Perhaps they did not Arrive as wolves did or perhaps they suffocated in this air. Perhaps there were humans, beyond the lands she had roamed thus far. She hoped, in the end, that they would never be here.

 That she would never have to see them again.

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Created dogs. Annika didn't want to prove how ignorant she was of the world, so when the woman explained they had created dogs.. well, she just nodded. Naturally she hadn't a fucking clue what a dog was, but obviously it should have been common knowledge. Common enough that @Meissa assumed she would understand. Annika made a note to ask someone what a dog was later on.

She frowned, assuming they were some sort of canine considering what the woman was implying. And a muzzle.. well, she didn't like that one bit. "That is terrible," the Russian murmured, shaking her head. "Do you want it gone? Does it remind you of bad times?" Annika would have ripped it out by now, but she supposed everyone had their own feelings on the matter.

Her ear twitched at a soft growl, and a warning was issued in response. Annika glowered at the bushes, her hackles raised. Bitches didn't get to just come up and growl at her without showing their face, 'kay? "Who is that?" she asked, her gaze narrowed.

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 She considered the question. “It does and it doesn't. It... reminds me of survival for others' sake.” She gave a shrug. Then, the stranger seemed to notice Flynn's ambient presence her ears flicked back, eyes widened slightly. She didn't want a fight and especially not if it included her lover. He was quick on his feet but she was uncertain of his prowess in actual battle.

 “It's okay, it's just my mate,” she said, shaking her head - indicating to @Flynn not to come in guns blazing, if he could help it. “He's just making sure I'm not getting into any trouble-” as she said that, a man showed up. Unfamiliar, white, with a face that appeared almost sheared off - she wondered what had caused such a wound. Turning, back at the lady, she asked, “Yours?”

 From the man, an order to leave.

 She rose slowly, respectfully dipping her head to show that she was not initiating any aggression. “Apologies for intruding-” Was this taken land? It didn't have quite the same intensity as the scents that were thrown upon a claimed territory. “My mate and I will go.” She took a step back and looked back at Annika.

 “Perhaps some day, your unborn and mine will play together,” an offer of peace, one future mother to another. She knew nothing of Annika's worries, of her uncertainty of their survival. Either way, she shook out her coat and turned to go to Flynn - and back home.

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---

It was surprisingly humourous to the possessive man at the gap of time that stretched between their reactions. First, he imagined they either didn't care or didn't notice him, as he'd already walked a bit ways further and even had enough time to snag a small hare on his way back to check on Mei. Though, as he gathered himself to see, it appeared a new face had been summoned by their mingled scent.

He wasn't sure how he felt about them being so close with another pack, not if they didn't plan on becoming allies. He knew nothing of them, only that this meeting had turned from a simple outing to a pissing match... But he wouldn't be participating. As difficult as it was to withhold the pulling of his lips, he didn't slip; finding himself pressed alongside his mate with his tail high in the air.

Flynn hadn't appreciated the tone he'd used with his lover, but there was a silent understanding in their similar situation. It was something he'd have to agree with.

Grunting, he would push forward, following closely behind Meissa.

—

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zwaardfetcher moves in silence. the low-born king had the gait of a wall street investment banker, entitlement and arrogance filling in every bubble amid the archetype."will you meaninglessly pursue them too?" he quips to his brother, briefly alluding to his grievances with being pushed out the meadow. there will always be that plying of the well-worked spicule of gathering close what a man will find to piss on, but he had half the mind to finally fly away from these lowlands.

    the weirdly built woman who had beckoned the boy to her side, "they seem wholly unusual. to talk and watch others in their own land." outlandish, indeed. guildenstern gleans the raffish annika once again. "we have reason to leave, then." it made no sense to defend something that wasn't truly theirs — his. not that we can, he thinks piercingly, with children and woman in the frame.

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