a rose by any other name - is kidding itself

The sun would set soon.

Reyes sat among the flowers, eyes drooping as weariness set in. It had been a long trek, but he finally entered another biome. Veering to the right, he had entered the Meadows from near the Mountain's Lake. He didn't know why he sat with the flowers. They never really spoke to him before. A little memory flash of a purple-ish roan woman telling him about certain ones caused the man to droop further.

Why do I not remember your name?

It felt wrong to want something you couldn't ever have. Again or never. He knew her, had smelt her, laid with her. They had been partners. Worked together. He respected her. He, daresay, had loved her. But if they never spoke those words to each other - it was too late now. She was gone, somewhere unknown. He wasn't sure this world housed her. So, here he was, brooding like a lost puppy.

Movement caught the man's eye, and he looked up to spy the pale shape of a woman. Old him would have laughed at this, the irony. But he wanted nobody else, not even for a quick tryst. Perhaps Reyes had wandered in search of his lavanda. He did not find her in the end, and here he moped. It felt cruel to take away someone's love, even crueler to take her name. Feeling a tad lonesome, he made a mistake.

He chuffed a greeting to the pale woman.

While his eyes showed pain, he ruffled his fur and tried to ignore it. He shuffled against the earth, sitting tall and made to prepare himself for conversation. He didn't want anything from the woman. He was just in the mood to talk. Get his mind off of things.

@Izumi

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Someone had approached Izumi from behind while she gazed upon the setting sun....a man who she had never met....

He was tall, woven in various shades of grays and silvers that comlpmented a well put-together Augouti pattern of stormclouds. Lilac eyes wandered up his tall forlegs as he approached to be met with an uncanny pair of peircing silvers, which with the timing of being approached out of the blue, had dabbled slightly in her fight or fight response. She couldn't help but blink and stare in pure bewilderment, as to who this was and what they could've wanted from her, and it seemed Izumi wouldn't be getting an answer until she returned his chuff...so she did, in the form of a simple question.

“May I....help you?”

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He was not quite sure she was 'eager' to help him, despite her words. Reyes blinked once, amused and uncertain and also strangely annoyed at the same time. Did he want help? Maybe. But would he accept it personally? Not really. Not with a stranger. He only wanted to talk, but she seemed to be bent on deciding if he was worth it - down to business. Nothing casual.

"Yes" he replied, making an excuse on the spot and finding it worked well enough "I am looking for someone" and "I wondered if you had seen them, senorita" The pain in his eyes, the uncertainty, was replaced with determination "you seem much more at ease in this world than I" and hence? "perhaps you have come across her." But he didn't hold his breath. He only asked this as an excuse.

And even Reyes would not get his hopes up, if he hadn't seen her yet. "She is purplish-grey roan, with blue eyes" he paused, allowing this to sink in "I... I do not remember her name, as strange as that may seem" But he continued "the last I saw her, we both fled a crumbling land. I lost track of her. I assumed she had been brought here too."

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---

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Izumi wasn't truly able to connect the dots in this situation, nor could she exactly sense his pain on a visual level -- the lighting was poor in the evening, and her self-protective instincts were still recovering from being approached alone in the dead of night. In the grand scheme of things -- he was a stranger, until he wasn't, and she was vulnerable...away from the group than she was comfortable with.

Still curled in the ball she'd fixed herself into, He had claimed to have been looking for someone, in particular, a woman, and asked Izumi for assistance. In acknowledging this, she began to relax a little, though not completely, in realizing his intentions might not have been bad. She blinked as his tounge rolled with the smoothness of velvet to refer to her in a name she had never recognized in her life. “I'm afraid I am not the Senorita that you seek, my name is Izumi.” did she and the woman named Senorita look alike? Is that why he approached her out of the blue? Either way, it seemed as though he sought out two women rather than just the one he forgot the name of.

“I apologize...I have not seen the two women you seek.”

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"Ah. Uh."

Reyes felt it would be terribly rude and insensitive to laugh. He scrunched his face a bit, resisting a biting chuckle before continuing on. Calm now. Do not laugh. It is not that funny. He gathered himself mentally. "No, no... Senorita means 'miss' in my native language." She had a bit of an accent too, so he could only assume English was not her first.

"It is like saying 'hello, miss' or in my tongue hola, senorita" Reyes' face slipped into a thoughtful frown "yet - I only seek one woman. She had been my mate. My love" Upon a time "though it seems she is not here. I haven't seen her, nor smelt here. It... is fuzzy. I cannot recall how much time has passed." He glanced to the floor, scowling now.

"I just remember running."

But, he could not afford to slip back to despair. Brows lifted as he glanced up at the pale woman. "My apologies, sen - miss" he knew it was unfair to place this on her "no. Izumi" he said carefully, purposefully, wishing to get it right the first time "thank you for humoring me." Reyes had not yet grasped the severity of this world.

That time and space were ripped open, cast around and aside. Of course, he had a feeling. Something was off about this world. He lifted a paw, placing it against his chest. "My name is Reyes de la Fuente." She had given her title, it was best to give her his own too. Just polite.

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---

❁

'Senorita means 'miss' in my native language.'

Suddenly, the crane felt out of place, and admittedly embarrassed by her wrongful assumption of such a thing. Languages already sucked to learn, Izumi knew that from experience, and now she was faced with the challenge of trying to decipher another that wasn't English. Luckily enough for the sake of her own pride, she had yet to sense his own mirth from her misuse.

Holding a paw to her mouth to clear her throat “Then your...mate.” The crane was quick to take advantage of his change of topic in order to hide her own temporary embarrassment. The girl personally couldn't sympathize with the losing grips of a romantic partner in comparison to a close freind, but understood that they might've been important to him, and would try to sympathize in the best way she could. Izumi stood up to a seating position and turned to face the man.

“I couldn't imagine such a thing being easy, my condolences Reyes...” the crane would comment with a slight bow of her head. If she didn't wish to butcher his language even more, it was best to stray away from trying to pronounce the rest of his name. Carefully she searched around the topic with her words, her voice calmed and her gaze the same in order to find a way to tread carefully when mentioning his own lover.

“You don't recall what direction you and her had come from? In the crumbling land you mentioned?”

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She seemed a bit embarrassed and moved on, not saying anything about his explanation in the language. It was fine. It was... almost cute. Though he thought of it as endearing and not attractive. Not yet, anyway. His heart belonged to another, though he didn't know how much time had passed since then. He didn't realize he had separated from her ages ago, thought dead to each other. Perhaps even moved on. But if he had moved on, why did he not remember a new love? It surely would be important to him.

"Thank you..." he murmured, dark eyes falling to the ground. Izumi didn't seem to suspect he was lying or fabricating a story to force her around, thank gods. He shook his head at her inquiry, frowning "this world feels strange to me. It seems to have eaten my memories." A sort of sin-eater if he thought his past was so sinful. But why... did he remember a sister? A family? He knew his sister was dead. He had seen it. He knew why it was a sin, but instead of taking that memory away... They made him keep it. As if he was supposed to atone.

The world let him keep more than he thought. A little starting point. A direction. "If I woke up here, she should have been with me" Or, a cold dreadful thought... She had abandoned him. This was the afterlife. She was still alive and he was dead somewhere among the crumbling world "forgive me, Izumi. I do not wish to place this on your shoulders. I'll figure it out. I just need some time" He lifted his head, smiling warily through his discomfort "have you all come here from another world?"

Falsk and Chantico hadn't been very informative, despite their advice. He sought answers all over.

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---

❁

His story and origin was different, yet sounded all to farmiliar at the same time. Izumi had a hard time believing there was a generation older than her that was actually born here, at this point. Everyone she had ran into ever since her own awakening had either died in their previous life or appeared her under mysterious circumstances. Yet they all seemed to share one important aspect in common -- including Izumi -- and it was that none of them had been born here naturally. This was the afterlife under her belief, afterall, she wouldn't have expected such.

“We have...at least, most of us have, including me. I cannot speak for everyone that walk these lands, however.” She admitted, the tail that curled around her paws thumbing in thought. “It has been nearly two years since ive awoken her myself, yet i was never birthed here. The last memory I have before waking up was loosing my balance upon the edge of a cliff, only to wake with a completely different place.” Though unlike Reyes, she retained every bit of her memories from the very beginning. In similarity with many -- some could recall their 1st birthday, while others couldn't even remember their own name. One thing was for certain, it was a frustrating thought to not recall something so important as your own history -- so Izumi couldn’t help feel sympathy for the man draped in greys.

“I do not know the details of your troubles, but you are not alone with what you may be going through, so don't apologize for feeling the way that you do.” the crane explained gently.

“-- and perhaps, I wouldn't be opossed to aiding you, if you have trouble finding her -- your lover, I mean...”

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The kind nature of strangers wasn't entirely lost on him. Though he much preferred the female aspect, over the male. He always assumed men wanted something in the end. Reyes did not believe this of women — much. It was always very obvious when a female wanted something. Their body language and their words spoke equally loudly. Men were cunning and vile most of the time. You couldn't change his mind so easily. In time, perhaps.

"While the offer is welcomed, I do not wish you to be indisposed" He began to Izumi "we have just met each other" He also explained "I would feel bad dragging you into this. I cannot even remember the woman's name — how would I ask around, let alone you?" All he had was a lingering nagging feel and a pelt color to his memory "if I can recall some more, I will welcome the help, of course." Two years though... Reyes assumed it was lonely. 

"If you wander these plains frequently; I could find you again" he added, feeling a spark of hope despite the loss "if you are not opposed, that is" He nods "you're perhaps the kindest face I know thus far" He sighed "and you don't seem to have ulterior motives." Chantico had been... kind. But also hungry. Her eyes had roamed all over him, and he had felt somewhat annoyed. Falsk was more in tune with Izumi's compassion, but Reyes had been sort of an ass to him.

Reyes just assumed he had bothered Izumi at first. It was nice that she sat with him and talked now. The nervousness didn't suit her.

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---

❁

For a moment, Izumi didn't really know how to respond...once again. Once again, she felt embarrassed, feeling as though she had actually invaded the man's privacy instead of offering the sense of calmility that she intended to give. He was right, she didn't know what the woman looked like, and while she was hoping he'd be able to give any sort of hints in that regard, it was a dead end according to him. The crane pretty much went in to help without making much sense of it, then...

“You wouldn't be, I offered, didn't I?” she assured them with a lowered muzzle -- she, in a way, knew what it meant to be separated from another who was practically a part of your life at some point -- and at one point, that 'another' was Izumi's old home. Her family. To have someone feel the lonliness in the way she had for all these years -- as to when she'd met Reiko and found out she'd lost her children -- it wasn't something the crane would wish upon anyone, really. It was a miserable existence.

It didn't seem as though the previous faces he'd met had offered much help in the way he worded it -- and though Izumi would be considered the 'kindest face' he'd met, she wondered if she would be of much help, either. Yet their offer to meet again might've given a chance for her to come up with some ideas. She had a lot on her plate in trying to move her suddenly larger group towards a different (an probably safer) location, though it would hurt to try helping Reyes in the process, would it?

“Very well,” the crane agreed. She had no clue exactly how much time she had left in the plains, but she'd use that time to help if she could...

“Let us meet again, and we can figure something out from there. Im sure of it.”

---

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She appeared uncomfortable again. Reyes resisted reaching out a limb to touch her front leg — which was too forward. They had just met, and he didn't know if she was averse to a friendly gesture or not. Instead, he puffed up his neck fur to show he, too, was uncomfortable. "As I said; you are too kind..." he rumbled, glancing at the ground between them with a bit of fluster. He wasn't sure how to take the help offered to him so freely. There was usually a catch.

Izumi continued to speak, agreeing to meet up again. Despite the, ah, problems and slow start... He was seeing a bit of hope. Somewhat, slowly true, but hope it was. Reyes nodded. "That is acceptable" he remarked, finally lifting his head to stare at her in the face now "I'll be around the Plains... For perhaps another few weeks" It was left unsaid; if Izumi didn't show up, he'd sadly move on "though I do hope to see you around sooner." The words did slip before he could help it.

Perhaps he really was lonely.

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---

❁

She remembered this feeling of discomfort -- yet the atmosphere was more uncomfortable than it should've been. It was no lie that Izumi had adverse reactions when it came to men in comparison to other women. Where women where easier to talk to for the crane, Izumi's heightened wariness around the male sex often made conversion more difficult if they weren't well known. Homura had instilled this notion within her -- that if she was not careful around the opposite sex, she would become victim to one when she'd least expected it.

So in the midst of a normal conversation with one, she didn't exactly know how to function. At times she wondered if she was just internally sexist in some way, but never pondered to heavily on it. There were men in her life that she trusted, so that wouldn't be the case, would it?

Her ears flicked and her head tilted -- 'hope to see you around sooner'. Well, Izumi didn't exactly know how "soon" they'd be able to meet but...she can certainly try, “In a few days, pray tell. Only if you promise to stick close by, I promise to track you down.” the woman responded, standing slowly to her height to shake her pelt and meet his gaze. “I travel with a group of my own. My time in the plains is limited as well...they say others work better under pressure though, don't they?”

A small jab that probably came out too dry to recognize it for what it was. Yet instead of waiting and wondering whether he'd get it or not, she'd outstrect a dainty paw infront of him. A gesture to take her paw into his, in a way, to shake "hands" and form their small, temporary little alliance.

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If he knew, he would have said the same. A bias against men was a thing, and he knew it well. But it was not said, and he could not assure her. Reyes did not take it personally, for he knew many men were capable of terrible deeds. Women, as well, but he saw it less and less. Mostly, the females were slighted in some way. It was easier to gain his sympathy for that than someone casually causing harm for the sake of their 'personality'.

"I promise" he uttered to Izumi now, extending his own limb in the gesture. It felt odd to be allied over finding a woman he didn't recall the name of, much less allying himself with a near stranger. Yet it did feel acceptable, and even pleasant, to meet up with the other wolf. If he couldn't find his lost mate, at least he had made a friend in the process "I'll see you, soon" A few days at most, near a week? Acceptable enough "you can tell me of your group next time."

He hadn't missed that. A wandering caravan? Sounded almost entertaining. Reyes had risen when she had, and he faced Izumi briefly before shifting his weight. "I'll venture further in then" he said "and find somewhere to reside for a few weeks" One grey eye looked back at her "I'll be north" He decided this on a whim, following it through "goodbye, for now, Izumi. Thank you." He began to walk quietly away, leaving the woman to regroup with her allies.

/end

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