I am my Mother's savage daughter

Tagging @Odium but AW to other Sanatorium wolves too! <3 Nyra returns to join!

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Nyra had left Alduin without much of a word.
It had been a week or a little (or a lot) over since she left him, since she forced herself from the grip of Banesteppe and the entities that roamed that land. 
It had been a seed in her mind and heart and soul...Sanatorium was her first home.
And, as much as Nyra loved Alduin, she didn't feel as if she belonged within his ranks. She needed something else, something she felt deep within...Sanatorium. 

So, the behemoth wandered, through the harshness of the Tundra, through the rocky spires of the Mountains, across the expanse of the Plains, and into the hellish desert that she had been accustomed to in the beginning. 
To the cannibals, she would return home with the hope Mother would allow her to be one within her fold again. 
At the borders of Sanatorium, Nyra lifted her head and called for The Divine Mother.
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 She was there within the halls of Sanatorium, walking and patrolling as their Divine Mother was resting. Though she wanted the woman to make a full recovery and reach her full strength, she could not deny the savage joy within her breast. Interim Mother. That was what she was. She would keep everything and everyone in line until Andraste-- no. Odium, was ready to reclaim her throne. There were none other here so worthy as herself to fulfill her duties while she rested.

 It was this reason why she heeded the call that was meant for the Mother. For now, she would take care of this. The large woman needed to preserve her strength and after assuring her that she would handle it, she headed out of the Eye to go to the stranger.

 Across the sands she walked, under the dimming sun. Over to the borders where she was met with quite the surprise. There was Nyra. She recalled how the woman had abandoned them and how Caligula had told her of her foolish display at their borders. Yet, Odium had seen something in her and had kept her around.

 Until her betrayal. Granted, the other woman had never seen it as such... but Exalted did. She could remember her own feelings but keep in mind Odium's. A balance, a dance, keeping thoughts in check... she would not be hasty or harsh with her judgements. She would walk in Odium's pawsteps and make her proud.

 So she approached, head and tail high as she radiated her confidence and authority. "Nyra..." She greeted, words as cold as ice. She would pause just on the other side of the border. "To what do we owe this visit?" Perhaps she wasn't here to beg and simper, perhaps she had a reason for the abandonment and perhaps a reason for her theatrics elsewhere. She would wait. She would see...

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It wasn't Andraste who met her at the border, but Exalted. 
The greeting she got was cold, which was expected and taken without insult. 
The Warmaiden took a breath and spoke. She would explain herself, as it seems was expected.

"I'm not here to visit. The months I've been away from here, I've felt entirely out of place. And though I woke up here with Alduin and I love him, I am certain now that my place is here, in Sanatorium. Not with him, or anyone else." The snowy behemoth held herself, and spoke, honestly.
"If you accept me, I will happily go through another judgement, and another set of trials." Nyra met Exalted's gaze briefly, not with the intent to challenge, but to show vulnerability, honesty, dedication. 

Spill my blood, if need be, so I may be blessed and bound  into Sanatorium again.
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 Ah, so she wasn't here on some diplomatic trip from another pack.

 In that case, they could get down to business.

 "You are for a higher purpose. Your coat and the fact that you were lead here attests to that." The young woman said, confident in her words but there was still no warmth in her gaze. For there was that simple fact. "You betrayed Death... and Death would not let you have peace." For perhaps It knew the potential in Nyra. How could it not? When It lead her here... maybe that was what Mother had seen. Perhaps Death had spoken directly to her. She mulled these things over, silently. One could not mistake a sign, the whispers on the wind, the disturbed mental state of a once-turncoat.

 "You ask me to accept you but are you ready to accept It, to accept us. You betrayed not only Death but us, your family, your Mother." For a brief moment it almost looked as if the coolness in the white wolf's eyes flickered to something warmer, something more like anger before she quickly covered it back up in that cool mask. "If Alduin returned to ask you back... would you leave again? Answer me, truthfully." She would return that gaze and she wasn't challenging but searching for sincerity. Was she lying? Was there something more that motivated her beyond a devotion to their cause? She could see the truth there, the devotion... but she wanted to hear it laid bare. To hear the vulnerability. "Would you devote yourself again to our cause? To be washed pure of any sin and be one with only us again?" She remembered Caligula speaking of her pitiful deceit. Was there a change of heart now that she wasn't following him around...? Maybe now she could reach her full potental as one of them.

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Nyra listened to every word, a soldier's dutifully stance as Exalted spoke, and the wardog slanted her ears back at the mention of her abandonment. 

You ask me to accept you but are you ready to accept It, to accept us. You betrayed not only Death but us, your family, your Mother.
​​​​​​The brief flicker of anger in Exalted's eyes. 

If Alduin returned to ask you back... would you leave again? Answer me, truthfully. 
Would you devote yourself again to our cause? To be washed pure of any sin and be one with only us again?

Nyra stood firm in her sincerity, keeping her gaze on Exalted's as if exposing her entire being - mind, body, soul.

"I am ready to accept Death. To accept all of Sanatorium as my family. If Alduin came for me here, I would deny him. I would kill him if commanded to do so. I would rip his jugular out and feast on his very flesh in the name of Mother, and of Sanatorium. I will readily devote myself, my entire existence, to the will of Death and Mother. I will welcome the washing of my sins." Nyra spoke, her body trembling from the sheer swell of emotion and dedication in her breast. 

"I am yours. Only yours." 
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 Their gazes held, one hoping to convince and the other still searching for any sign of weakness or lack of sincerity.

 Fortunately there was none to be seen.

 The young woman could see, no, feel the sincerity ringing true in the woman's words. She remembered when she was told how the woman pretended she didn't know Alduin. That she was a terrible liar... but there was no lie here. There was honest truth.

 She smiled, placated.

 For now.

 "No." She said after a pause. "You are ours." And with that she would be reaccepted into the fold... but there would be condition. "The First Daughter welcomes you back into the fold." She would step back, allowing the other to step across the borders unharmed. The severe eye contact would be allowed to dissipate. Her loyalties had been proven.

 "However, you are no longer a Disciple. You have not earned that trust back yet." Though she was pure of coat there had to be certain consequences to uprooting oneself for a Sinner. That much she was certain Mother would agree with. "For being led astray you will be a Sinner among our ranks and work to prove, not only in word, but in action that you are devoted to us. Mother and I will decide when your Judgement will be. Your white is stained in the eyes of Death, there is work to be done before you are washed clean again, Sister." And then, she would turn and usher her back towards the Eye. She could tell Mother about this later when she was properly awake. Hopefully she had done well.

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No. You are ours. 
Nyra averted her gaze as Exalted did, stepping across the border as she was invited. 
As Exalted continued to speak, lay down the conditions of her return, Nyra had very few words, only a firm nod of acceptance and acknowledgement. 

"Understood." The Wardog replied. 

With all said and done, Nyra followed Exalted back into the Eye.
She would find her old den unless given a new one, and would sit in silence until full nightfall. By the time the entirety of the sun was gone from the sky, Nyra planned to go above ground and sit at the lid of the Eye.

A Sentinel, a guardian, until she would eventually be called away from her post. 

I will prove myself again, and make you and Mother proud. 

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