But all the hell we’ve been through had a purpose

^^

back dated before DG trip

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Life as a new, single, mother had been more hectic than she had ever considered things to be. It made sense why her mother had settled down with Dimas, after they’d danced in the rain, or whatever; or why she had chosen not to settle down with a man with no pack.

Or why she had taught Harper to love nature — Harper realized now it was a ploy to keep Harper within sight, at all times, so she wouldn’t wander off, into danger.

She understood things better now, and part of her wondered if Violet treated Alder so differently, because he looked like he didn’t belong, like Dimas had. She had yet to ask or pry further, so she would watch the children carefully.

Until then, she would tend to her garden to keep her mind off things — it’s what she always did, when things were on her mind. And after an hour or so of pulling up weeds, Harper took a break by their lake.

A nice little swim to get cooled off as she sang a little tune for her sister; a song that their mother used to sing them.

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Valeska looked a little worse for wear.

She had just emerged from two back-to-back brawls (both of which she had lost, though not by much - this was a point of pride), but after a long sleep didn't seem to do much to soothe the sting in her muscles, she decided to limp her way over to Harper for a visit.

They hadn't enjoyed any one-on-one time together for a while, anyway.

Her sister wasn't in the garden where she could normally be found, but it had been freshly weeded from the look of it. Valeska put her nose to the ground and followed Harper's scent down and away from her little crop, and it wasn't long before the faint sound of singing carried up from the lake to tickle her ears. She recognized the tune, smiling gently - it stirred what few happy memories they had shared together before their family had broken apart.

“Hello, sister,” she called from the shore. “Are you busy?”

Valeska waited a few moments, then cleared her throat and gave the dark wolf an embarrassed look.

“I, ah... have been trying to hone my skills in combat, and was hoping you could assist in something for the muscle-aches and bruises I now have beneath my fur,” she said. “I only know of basic healing, like things for coughing and indigestion, but my knowledge is sorely lacking in pain relievers. If you have any advice as to what remedy I might seek, I would be grateful.”

Not the only reason...

“I wanted to see how you were doing, as well. We have both been so busy of late.”

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^^It was true; the sisters hadn’t been able to enjoy alone time with each other in quite some time. It was the downside of being an adult with responsibilities, really; she had missed being a child, in the early days of their childhood.

Before everything had gone so terribly wrong over one very close minded wolf.

Her sister’s voice broke the silence, asking silly questions. Harper was a blindly loyal wolf to Valeska; the only ones more important to her than her sister, was her children, and had she not been busy with them, she’d drop anything for Valeska.

Harper turned in the water, swimming in a semi circle to face her sister with a smirk an arch of an eyebrow. She was taking a swim; how busy could she be, at this moment?

“Hallo, sister.” Harper cooed softly in greeting. Her eyes would come to narrow upon the sight of her sister. Perhaps if she had not been singing the tune, she might have noticed the limping from the sounds of Valeska’s pawsteps.

An embarrassed look was cast upon her, and Valeska explained, and Harper nodded her head softly with an expression on her face that said something along the lines of: ah, that explains it, as though she was trying to mentally and silently figure out what was different about her sister.

“Ohs, you don’t wanna go again? Isn’t three time the glamour?” She blinked, paused and frowned. No, no, that wasn’t the saying. “Three time… the.. allure?” She tilted her head and looked at her sister helplessly for a moment.

And then she burst out laughing. Not because of her sister’s request, or that she was bruised and sore, mind you, but because the saying she had just butchered sounded so silly.

“Should we remove the fur to see how bad it is first?” Harper wiggled her brows playfully as she swam to the shore and closer to her sister, giving her a few — though gentle — licks to the forehead.

“For the muscles and pains, anything with curcumin will ease your pain. Don’t tell me you forgot about the time I used chamomile on you? Other things include the tasty herbs. Tummy-ric, cinnooomon, and that english word for the color red. Er.. Gen..gar?” Harper blinked with a huff, and shook her head, pawing at the air, into a particular direction.

“Oh, uh, I’m… ” Troubled? No. Kind of, but not in a negative way. She didn’t know the word for it. “I’m…” Her brows came together, and she sat down with this weird scowl like expression. “Troubled, but not in a bad way. Er, озадаченный — perplexed.” She’d said, not really knowing the english word for it.

She looked around and sniffed the air; wanting to make sure they were alone. And then, she dropped the bombshell.

“Мардохей хочет быть моим мужем. — Mordecai wants to be my husband.”

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Harper had always held an affinity for the water. She had been the first of their brood to dare swimming in the nearby streams of their home, even going so far as to brave the stronger currents during the melting of spring snow from higher up the mountain. Mother had joked that she was born with fish-blood in her veins, but it was spoken fondly, and her eyes were always warm. Valeska by contrast had taken to swimming only as a means of not drowning whenever she did fall in - she came to enjoy it more as a leisure activity later in life, but she still would not hold the same natural aptitude for it as her sister.

Watching Harper paddle around in tight, confident circles made her smile. Some things were forever.

“I think it is 'three-times-the-charm'... probably,” she pondered, having only heard the phrase spoken aloud once or twice before. A smile broke across her face, and she ventured a soft chuckle. "Но нет, третий раз звучит как неделя лежания в постели." — But no, a third time sounds like a week laid up in bed.

Drawing closer to the shoreline, she sat at the edge of the water, just close enough for the gentle waves to lap at the edges of her paws. The lake was growing chillier by the day, and with the onset of winter approaching, it would soon be off-limits or risk illness and hypothermia - it was always a sad affair, but there was still plenty of fun to be had when it grew so cold that the entire surface of the lake froze in a sheet of ice.

Harper teasingly suggested removing her fur to better assess her wounds, and Valeska shot her a playfully offended look.

“Ah, turmeric -” she said in some distress, feeling ignorant for forgetting. “I remember now - it is the orange, sort of worm-like-looking plant from below the earth, yes? It is a root. Gods, how foolish.” Valeska had received multiple courses of herbs and their healing properties from their mother back in the day, but once she had been forced to leave with Harper, her education had fallen by the wayside in favor of other... lessons. She cringed inwardly, wishing that she had been able to go with them.

“There is a reason why I come to you for these things,” she said with an embarrassed grin. “Perhaps it will be easier to pretend I am a child again, no?”

A brief chuckle was exchanged between the pair, and they settled into a comfortable silence as they looked out across the lake. The air had begun to smell different with the turning of the seasons - crisper, colder, with a hint of leaves. It was delicious.

"Мардохей хочет быть моим мужем." — Mordecai wants to be my husband.

Valeska blinked. Her eyes widened, and she leaned in surreptitiously.

“He does?” she gasped.

A smile twitched at the edges of her lips, threatening to encompass her face.

“Well - it is about time. You two spend many hours together, it is no wonder!” she chortled, thumping her tail in merriment. “But - you hesitate? Does he not please you, sister, or is it something else?”

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^^Despite nearly giving up her life in the same lake, months prior, Harper still enjoyed swimming. The way she could move in the water; the way she felt in the water — though most of it really had to do with their mother.

Oh you little fish, she would sing, jokingly, as she could come and splash around with Harper. The duo had always been so close, and now, she was gone, and Harper had babes of her own.

Two things, really, that Harper had never really thought possible.

Her sister’s correction of the phrase caused the land shark to giggle, smirking as she tilted her head. “ If you gets charms for another time, why not?” Harper teased, and then turned to stick out her tongue to her sister as Vaeska gave her that playfully offended look.

She shrugged with the arch of her brows. “ How’s yer docta of a seesta supposed to ee-val-you’s-ate yer bruises if the fur in the wayyyy?” Harper whined, in an attempt to beg, giggling at the idea of Valeska being half naked with the winter coming.

“The flowers are pink, and heh, yes, very worm-like; reminds me of an erection, in a way, no?” Harper wiggled her brows, with a smirk as she thought fondly of Mordecai. “It is the root of the plant that you’s gotta carefully break open to get to the powder — tis like suga cane, the power’s inside the root, and from there, you can do lots of things. Heal wounds, prevent skin damage, helps with bruising.. ”

Harper enjoyed teaching about the herbs, and other things, and secretly loved it when Valeska came for her advise. “I, of course, will be teaching my children about herbs. You and yours.. ” minus Violent, of course,.. “ are welcome to join in on the lessons.” Harper would offer with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I want to take Alder on a trip to Ichorwood. I fear history is repeating itself with Alder, and me. ” In which, Harper was suspecting that the others were treating him differently because he didn’t look like them. “He seemed very excited about the idea of leaves being red, all the time. It might be good for him.”

Seeing her sister become excited, Harper smirked and grinned over at her sister. She was always so supportive, even before she had gotten to know Crux.

“I’m afraid of losing him, too.” Because, how long had it been before she was wed to Crux, that the Five had taken him from her?

“I would not be able to handle losing him like I did Crux, sister.” Harper added with a heavy tone, suggesting that he was more important to her than the stranger she had married and fallen in love with.

^^
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^^Her sister was a very expressive woman, but Harper enjoyed seeing the puzzled look on her sister. A look that told Harper that Valeska wasn’t feeling quite so sure about her ability to crack open a root to inhale it’s insides. Visualizing her sister going up in a puff of orange smoke, though, was pretty funny, and Harper couldn’t help but to amuse herself.

“If Sreda and Mystery can touch the other side and come back, then so can anyone else,” Harper said, with an odd tone of voice and the arch of her brows. “So keeping them alive is no longer a job requirement.. ” She would add, a single ear flickering though she would admit it took great patience, as not every canine handled pain in the same way. “Are any hot springs nearby, though..? There may be a more simpler way to cool off those bruised muscles of yours.”

“Speaking of @Tallulah ” Harper’s tone now had a hint of jealousy, as she had botched that poor woman’s name the first time she’d met her, and needed a nickname to call her by, “I was wondering if I could speak to you about her. She possesses much potential, and if I am to wed to Mordecai, then he would become a Divine by right of marriage, leaving his position open…” Harper cooed, having been the only to defeat the woman in a spar since her arrival to Elysium.

She’d nod her head softly, as if hinting to things, assuming Valeska didn’t catch the drift of what she was suggesting, but also in regards to the Alder trip. “Thinkin’ closer to winter, perhaps with the children and Mordecai, or just myself. I haven’t decided yet.”

She came to inhale deeply, moving to rest her head on Valeska’s dainty little paw as it came to rest upon her shoulder. “No, I suppose not. If I were in his shoes, I would expect to be given the same chance as Crux was given.

You will make a wonderful aunt, as you have been a wonderful sister. I don’t know where I would be without you.”

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Hot springs? She'd never thought about that before. In truth, she had only ever encountered one or two in her lifetime(s), but the experience had been memorable. Unfortunately she didn't know of any in this realm, but that didn't mean they weren't around - “I do not know, but perhaps we could venture out to find one, sometime,” she said hopefully. There might be one or two further up north, or even sequestered away somewhere in the mountains nearby; it could be a nice day trip if they were ever able to get away as a pair.

Tallulah came up again, and Valeska listened with an attentive ear. She hadn't been around to formally introduce the woman to the rest of her new packmates, but she had hoped everything was going alright. “Oh - a promotion, you mean?” she said with twinkling eyes. Tallulah herself had made it clear she didn't care about rank, but given her innate talent for taking down almost every established wolf on the premises (barring Harper), it wouldn't be at all far-fetched to reward her so soon. She was a hardworking lady and had already shown great determination in doing her part.

“It can be arranged,” she affirmed, nudging Harper playfully. “And as for your trip to the Ichorwood, you have my blessing. I know that my son enjoys his time with you, and it would be a good experience for him to have.”

Valeska moved closer to sit beside her sibling, leaning into her side and letting out a comfortable yawn as she did so.

“Crux was a wonderful husband,” she ventured quietly, gazing out across the lake with a faraway expression. “But I know Mordecai has so much love to give. You will be very happy, I think, if you will offer him the chance to show you.”

The little wolf turned to nuzzle her face in Harper's ruff.

“And he will be an excellent father. I mean, isn't he already?” Valeska teased, recalling the way he looked at the children - all of them. “Perhaps he may also help close the wound in your heart - I know it still aches.”

She looked up at her, smiling widely, breathing in the scent of smoke and vanilla.

“I do not know where I would be without you, either. Probably very sad, and very alone. It is through finding each other that we have found everyone else in our lives.”

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^^Harper’s lips would come into the form of a pout as her sister mentioned going out to find a hot spring ‘someday,’ as she didn’t realize why Harper was asking about one. “Perhaps when the children are older,” Harper would comment with a huff, grin, and shake of her head.

“Putting heat on your wounds for a few moments and then putting some tundra ice on them right after is a good way to loosen up those muscles,” Harper said softly, though the sound of a sisterly trip was much needed. When was the last time she had even sat on poor little Valeska??

It had been much too long.

She’d nod her head at the mention of Tallie, recalling that she wanted to be a Windseeker, and Harper had assumed that lined up for warrior training. She had always gotten the hunters’ and warriors’ ranks confused, though.

Her smile would grow at her sister’s blessing, of course. She knew she didn’t really have to ask about it, but it was the respectful thing to do, and had the positions been reversed, she would had wanted to know. She’d nod again, though shifting to get comfortable as her sister came to lean on her like the pillow that she was, coming to curl protectively around her as she always had.

She mentioned the wound in her heart, and Harper smiled; she already had plans for that, of such would be coming into full circle soon enough. “He has been a great father to them, and I’m quite thankful for him,” Harper said, though not without Valeska’s very contagious yawn.

“If you need help finding any herbs, especially those not located in the garden, perhaps we can make a game out of it with the children, or something fun and educational.”

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Valeska's eyes widened, realizing what her sister meant. Oh. These injuries. Unfortunately she didn't know of any nearby, or even within the next thirty miles, so she would likely just have to suck it up and endure the pain for now. Taking it easy for a few days should help with the majority of her aches, though even the Five knew how she struggled to sit still.

There was always something else to do.

Valeska sighed, giving her a tired smile. “Well, we shall scout for future instances, then,” she said hopefully. The idea of a hot spring alone was enticing, and she wouldn't have been opposed to finding one even just for leisure purposes. “I will keep wrestling with the turmeric then in the meantime. Gods, but it is a task not to make a mess of the thing!”

The little wolf gave her sister an affectionate nudge, catching a strong whiff of her characteristic smoke-and-vanilla-scent. It was comforting; she breathed in a little more deeply.

“I am sure most of my children would appreciate the medicinal lessons,” she said gratefully, though with a touch of apprehension. Violet and Sreda were not particularly invested in the art of helping others - at least, not in any usual ways - but Dimitri and Narcissa would certainly take to it. Alder might, though he was reluctant to try anything new out of a fear of failure.

“Would you accompany me to find more of this turmeric nonsense?” she asked playfully.

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