〔❁〕Baby bang it up inside

For @Vendrussel! ♡

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  It had been some time ever since Izumi left the mountains of Vanderfell -- and Shiroshika in general. To fight the urge that would leave her running back to a place she'd called home for so long would be an understatement, she thought it was what was best for them all one minute, only to fell regretful of it the next. Was the crane really so weak that she couldn't make a simple decision?
  No, Izumi knew what she was doing. It was best to keep her space away from them all. At the very least, her new found independence will keep her from the strain that was her own confusion....over Reiko and Kuhn and who'd truly been the victim in all of this.
  It had made the cranebird physically unwell to think about all at once.
  Just like that -- Izumi was a rouge once more. On the run and meant to fend for herself just like she did as a yearling. Separated from her brother and sisters, and torn violently from her home. Living in Shiroshika for so long had made her too comfortable, and suddenly the luxury of a cache was no longer an option anymore -- something that the siamese had a bad time memorizing. Izumi was already a slender framed woman as it was, but with her lack of hunting as of late she'd she'd a few pounds. Ecspecially with constant travel.
  That would not do.
  If she were to survive on her own now, she needed to crawl out the thoughts of packlife and learn to fend for herself again. Just like she'd done well enough in the past.
  The darkness of last night was dense and challenging on her strained eyes, but felt safe enough to sleep with the lack of scents around -- Izumi had not much room to figure out exactly where she had landed herself this time, but waking up was a completely different story.
  The bird had dreamt of the sea; the sound of its waves, the smell of brine and salt, and the sight of gulls laughter overhead.
  An exact scene that she woke up to.
  Dark lashes fluttered open to reveal tired, frosted lilacs, which soon widened in suprise at what was presented before her: a rising and receding shore. Sand sticking to her fur, and a tidal breeze blowing her locks back gently.
  "I fell asleep...here?" she asked herself in a groggy, hushed tone -- dark lids still heavy post rise.
  Slowly Izumi rose to her feet, stretching in a "downward dog" pose and revealing teeth through a long yawn.
  Her fucking neck and shoulders were killing her.
  Maybe this was a reminder to never sleep on a beach again....

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Upon the Behemoth's Brim was a forest, held loosely against the mountain and beach itself. Lost to some within the fog, but not to the dragoness who hunted within. She would scorch it for prey that could not be found within the sepulcher ; such as the ram, who hung upon the mountains. Sometimes when they descended down they clung to the forest, ripe for the picking. And she, found it's trail. 

Vendrussel prowled through the forests, the stalking of a smell of a ram, and yet found it wandering away from the fords grounds. She could see it's steps, some mud inkling toward it's pathway of following down to the southern claims. It wondered toward Whisper Key, and she raised her head curiously to a wondering of why. The place was more of a cove then a beach, and though a grand forest hunt within ; it was an easy misstep to find oneself onto the bottom of the beach. A grand cliff, as high above was the forest, far below was the beach of rip foods.

But it seemed even her tracking, was a rather useless endevour for when she looked down at those same cliffs — there it was, dead without an attempt of personally hunting. She huffed lightly, but wasn't willing to let such a prey be lost. Finding the way down was tricky, to say the least — finding that slope of a stair-case downwards.. But it seemed she wasn't the only one.

"A familiar face," Vendrussel announced toward the Siamese who looked.. Skinny, at the very least. But she remembered the woman who wondered closely to Dragonford, and left like the wind itself.

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  She breathed, and the smell of the ocean took up space in her lungs. It took her back to the first time the fae had visited the sea -- an ocean-side pack, that her and her family had visited in the name of diplomacy. Of course, puppies were not concerned about things like diplomacy, just anything that the saw and found pretty -- and it was like an entirely new world for the baby crane.
  The faintest of smiles painted her muzzle in memory of those moments, lavender glass orbs scanning the moving sea -- which then faded into a frown when she slowly looked to her feet.
  Izumi missed her family.
  They may not have been the warmest of unions, but it was still home. Ecspecially in the rare moments where they didn't have to live up to the strict standards of royals and just spend time together.
  She missed Chiharu. Kohaku.
  They were the only family she had now. Her sister and nephew. But Kohaku was still a baby...it would've been selfish to drag them both along with her because of her own problems. The two of them were safer in Shiroshika, rather than with her. She trusted that Reiko to look after them, now with the added protection of Vanderfell....
  Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by footsteps -- a voice amongst the water's and the scent of something farmiliar that she couldn't put her finger on. Until she turned around, that is.
  "Ah...same to you." Izumi would greet neutrally, the tip of a feathery tassel twitching at her hocks. In all honesty, the cranebird would've thought that contact with those same seawater eyes was only solitary, and yet the two of them meet again.
  Bright lavenders turned back to the horizon, following the flight of a seagull flock while she spoke.
  "A farmiliar face under better circumstances, I'd say, but still without a name..."

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A smile to the other, though tore her eyes away relatively quick. The sound of gulls filled the area and she narrowed above ; them swarming to the fallen prey she was tracking most likely. Her nose to the air, inhaling deeply to the smell of boar and blood that bathed to the beach lightly — so fresh that the gulls almost seemed like they were debating whether it was alive or not.. But Vendrussel knew that anyone who would fall from the cliff, would either be dead or too injured to move.

So she followed such a trail, coming across the carcass and licked her lips. A warning snap at the birds who hovered around, before she twisted and looked at Izumi who was within a distance. She was.. Thinner, to say the least. With white, Vendrussel could see the other ribs almost, as if she lacked the meat and substance. As well as when she was looking for the boar, the scent of a pack was relatively.. Lacking. She tilted her head slightly, especially as their words indicated something rather unfortunate happen.

"You alright?" she said, forgetting to introduce herself.

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  Her question was not answered as the woman turned away, but the cranebird's lilac gaze still fell upon her with a curious head tilt -- as if to follow the smile she caught from the corners of her eyes. The silence didn't really insult Izumi -- rather, it gave her an opportunity to really take a look at the woman before her. Their encounter from a while back was quite brief and the ex-duchess never really had the chance to really observe them in a neutral stance. Now that she did though, Izu noticed something that she didn't take the time to notice before.
  "彼女は可愛いです..." — She's pretty... the crane commented to herself,
  Yeah, she is pretty.
  Izumi couldn’t say she had ever seen a coat such as hers, with marbling of white and....black? Maybe even shades of grey? Whichever color it was, the crane could see it was deep enough to almost give of a color of blue -- as if they'd been woven from the deepest, darkest depths of the sea itself. Not to mention how tall the mysterious sea siren was to rival Izumi's own height. However her build carried a whiff of elegant athleticism, rather than Izumi's own willowy build which had begun to look more....bony than willowy with time.
  The cranebird's stomach rumbled -- her attention turned from Vendrussel and to the scent of a dead carcass nearby.
  A boar, to be exact -- which looked like a fresh kill seeing how seabirds rallied around it. Judging by the position it lied on this sanded bay, it looked like the unfortunate beast had slipped and fell from the heights that divided land and coast. She watched as the blue sea woman approached the kill with her muzzle pushed towards it, eyes dilated with the hypnotizing pains of hunger that caused saliva to pool within her mouth. Izumi looked...feral, to say the least, and not within reality at all. It had been a while since the girl was even with sniffing distance of a kill that big, having to survive mostly off of small mammals and birds she could actually manage, and whatever sparse scraps that were left behind the bones of old carcasses.
  Suddenly, the mystery woman's seawater eyes sought Izumi's again, and her pupils constricted back to their normal size when she looked to meet them. Their was the slightest stran of drool coming out of one side of her jowls that the crane hadn't noticed until she ran a tounge over them, and her ears fell against her skull -- hot with embarrassment. Izumi then looked away to hide her face, which had slightly reddened.
  "You alright?", the woman asked.
  Izumi could feel her shoulders tense in further embarrassment, assuming they'd caught the way she'd been staring at that carcass and was either concerned or creeped out now.
  Regardless, the crane granted the woman an answer.
  "With the way that I look, I guess I can't escape the question by saying yes, can I?" The crane joked dryly, with a somber softeness in her voice that would suggest the true complication in her answer, but did not elaborate further on it. Instead, the girl closed her eyes gently and sighed before looking towards the blue-eyed siren again.
  "I guess I'm just a little tired. From a lot as of late....."
  ..........
  ..................
  ..........................
  "Are you going to eat that boar, by any chance?"

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"You seem like you need it more then I do." Vendrussel said in jest as her tongue slide over her teeth, and pushed the boar lightly. Though so large she would need to actually tug it through the sand, but motioned in it as a good grace of 'go ahead and eat.' As there was caches that were fully and prey to pick, she only followed the boar as another to add to the mass. Though stomach was partially empty, anyone could gaze at the lilac-wolf and know, that the willds were not playing nice to them.

"I am Vendrussel," she introduced herself.

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  As embarrassed as she was of her lack of manners, the way the walls of her stomach raged could've made her care less at this point -- ecspecially when the sea woman agreed to share the kill before them. Her movements were quick as she slunk in the space between the girl and the boar, and Izumi did not waste a second helping herself.
  The meat was savory, fatty, and one of the best meals she'd had ever since setting off on her own. If the bird could, she'd begin crying in happiness....but Izu at least had some pride left. Not nearly enough to mind her table manners, but some. Thats all that mattered, right?
  When Izumi finally decided to stop stuffing her face and remember that she had company she did not turn to face her -- not until the tounge that ran over her muzzle cleaned everything off. Her cheeks felt hot to the touch. Though it was probably bad timing to feel flustered now of all times...
  The only time she decided to turn her head and face the siren was when she actually gave her a name -- Vendrussel.
  "Vendrussel..." A name that slipped softly from dark lips -- suprisingly well for such a strange-sounding name. It made the crane wonder what it could ever mean, if it meant anything at all.
  "--and I am Izumi. Du-"
  --and Izumi paused right then and there, turning her gaze to ink sodden feet in rememberence. The name of duchess did not belong to her anymore -- in a home she no longer called her own. How silly of the girl to forget something so important.
  How silly of her.
  Izumi heart sunk at the reminder, and she suppressed the urge to physically droop. Instead she looked to the sea, and kept her posture as straight as it was before -- despite how weak it had been from malnourishment.
  "I am simply a traveler who seeks knowledge of the world...."

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Vendrussel watched the other indulge in her gluttony with minor amusement, as a smile played upon her face. She didn't mind — the other seemed hungry and needed it well. Would anyone let her starve like so? Though she had her moments, within the end her heart was warm and full of hope ; the desire to make life better for herself and those around. She would even invite the other before her into her ford, but it seemed like a storm brewed upon her. Words that fell and turned to something else, and finally a traveler, stuck to her throat.

"You seem to be struggling, I assume you were not always a traveler." Though curiosity could not be contained, for if she was well-versed into that life, maybe she would not be as skinny. She tried to make it seem poise and strong, but her earlier looks failed for that moment. Vendrussel saw her as a pitiful wolf, maybe thrown away by another.

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  Izumi blinked at Vendrussel's response -- and though she had said nothing, she couldn't help but lick her lips and tap her hind paw in silent defense. 'Struggling' -- the word echoed in her head like a parasitic reverberation, bouncing two and fro from either walks of her skull. The crane was not struggling, the crane had everything under control--! A little exposed bone through the skin was nothing out of the ordinary because she'd dealt with it before.....it's just....been so long since she'd lost this much weight....
  Suddenly the girl felt naked. Self conscious, already so when Vendrussel had looked at her before, and even more so when she'd notice the state of her physical health. The siamese didn't like feeling weak or helpless, and yet she suddenly felt more weak and helpless than ever before -- and lonely.
  "I wasn't. Although, I suppose you can say some wolves are always garunteed to stray from a place they've once called home, one way or another..." the crane released softly along with a sigh, her eyes skimming over the distance, as if she'd been looking for the mountains she'd left behind -- along with the freinds and family she'd left behind as well....
  "But you are no traveller, from what ive observed..... to what lands do you call your own, lady Vendrussel?"

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"Last time I had saw you.. You smelled of pack." She pointed out of the obvious, the woman didn't seem like someone that would give information willy-nilly, and Vendrussel was well over such eloquent words when curiosity overcame the sophistication. Anyone could see someone who was well fed and smelled of others, but now half-starved and scentless knew that something, one way or another occurred. To the pack disbandment, to a banishment or exile, she wondered which of these paths did the crane follow?

"I am Vendrussel, of Dragonford," her paw pointed down south to the beach, and yet since around them were cliffs and so.. It looked as if her paw was pointing toward a stone wall. With realization she smiled, placing it back down and gazing once more at the other. Calmly, as so, with the smallest tint of warmth to her.

"If you need a home you are free to call for me. Or otherwise, a needed meal."

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  Izumi was probably being a hypocrite right now -- itching to know more of Vendrussel's homeland despite being reluctant to share information about her own. Though the crane would only delve so far into what she'd been comfortable sharing, as the sea maiden had did with her. If Vendrussel was okay speaking of her pack despite the cranebird's preferred secrecy, then who was she to stop her?

  Dragonford -- Izumi's ears perked curiously, eyes blinking in the sea dragon’s direction and if you peered closely enough, there was even the slightest hint of a sparkle in her eyes. Fujiwara adored dragons; they captured the center of some of her favorite tales and imaginations despite being out of the realm of reality. The thought that another pack and possibly an entirely different culture that might've known about such fantastic beast definitely peaked the siamese's intrest...

  Yet she reminded reserved in Vendrussel's presence. Such fantasy would and will forever remain what it was: childish.

  "You would offer me food, even if I am not one of your own?" The girl questioned, her curiosity returning to Vendrussel's intentions. When she initially began to speak the girl contemplated nearly walking away in annoyance....assuming the only reason Ven had approached Izumi was to recruit her. Yet the blue woman insisted that she help her recover from her condition regardless.

  "Would it insult you to ask....what you could possibly gain from helping someone you don't know much of?"

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"I don't need to gain anything," her tail flickered lightly to her side, "my clan believes bonds are important" especially after the wars they started, and lost, the enrichment of the kinder packs that led them to favor kinder ancients then before, "and I follow that. Even those who may not join my ford, are still friends out there." Although Vendrussel would say the same thing, she would too be suspicious of wolves within this primordial land lending a paw without something to happen, as her actions for the meanwhile, and her words itself, are always taken a mile away. Even assumptions unspoken seem to swim around, and she wondered with the anger of those who left, what were they spewing? Truths, or fables? She suspected one but not the other.

"Kindness can go a long way to achieve a new relationship." They had proven no ill-well and if anything but a pity from the dragoness, and although she had committed deeds that were unsavory ; in the end she only wished to live within a well-dwelved peace among friends. It had been a year — and her wisdom grew, and would continue.

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I think this would be a good place to wrap things up! Feel free to do some light powerplay with Izumi and fade out if you want to slip in one more response <3

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  There was something strangely charismatic about the woman before her -- as if despite them never having met before, Izumi felt as if she could tell them anything. An air of strength, yet not so overpowering as to outbalance the serene nature she'd held -- the crane didn't know how to describe it. Vendrussel, who she would've expected to do or say something defensive in the face of such a purposfully blunt question, instead took control of it by standing by her philosophies with grace.

  She couldn't help but respect it.

  The princess would sit there, a bit dumbfounded by there response, and held a thoughtful silence between them after she'd stopped talking. Trust was difficult to come by for someone with trust issues, and freindship even more -- ecspecially after leaving behind the only people she trusted the most. Her only freinds....could Izumi really find it in herself to create new friendships? The better question was: would it truly hurt to try? With Vendrussel?

  “Dragonford...” the girl responded softly after a long while, raising her ears to listen if she chose to respond. The crane decided that she wished to talk more with the dragoness, and even enjoyed talking to her. “What is it's story? How did it come to be?”

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Vendrussel would then spend some time explaining lightly how she found herself within this land, lost of what to do. However one day she held a dream of a leviathan, and how the same night the galaxy above morphed to a wolf, that ran far, far away. Her journey set out until, she found the Leviathan's Sepulcher, and knew by destiny it was to be true. And only then finally, did Dragonford come through, a homeage to those she worship dragons.

Although as they spent time talking and eating the meal that was there, the sky was turning dark. Finally was time to depart, but not without a proper farewell and words to meet again, and for Vendrussel, to leave that Izumi was always welcomed if she needed a home or otherwise.

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