Nature of the Heart [M] (DamoniquexBrokecollege)

[brokecollege]

(This post is rated M for mature content that may be explored. Be advised, and continue at your discretion.)

Ever since her youth, Adahlena knew that eventually one day she would become a priestess. She had fought it in her youth--vehemently so, in fact. There was even a point in time where she had actually run away from home just so that she could escape the inevitable. And then, Adelina found her. Oh, Adelina, with her shining hair and a wide, brilliant smile.
"What are you doing hiding in mother's carriage, little Ada?" she had asked as she tickled her younger sister, forcing a giggle to come from the pouting girl's lips.
"I don't want to do it!" Adahlena had cried as she pushed her sister's hands away from her, desperate to stay upset and angry. "Mistress Mithis is mean, a-and I don't want to be like her! A stuffy, old priestess who loves not anyone! Don't let them take me away and turn me into her." she had begged.
Adelina burst into a fit of giggles by that point, her green eyes scrunching up as she pulled back and covered her mouth. Adahlena sniffled, a look of uncertainty forming on her features as Adelina attempted to calm herself.
"You silly girl," she teased as she reached forward, her hand touching Adahlena's to gently pull her from the carriage. She had been hesitant at first, of course, still worried that she might take her to their mother so that she could be shipped off to the dreadful, dreadful mistress Mithis. Instead, she took Adahlena along through their family's garden. It was cloudy that day, but the flowers still shone so brightly.
And then, Adelina spoke of her own experience. "You have a gift, my sweet, just like me," she had told her younger sister. "The Goddess chose us to be her hand, to be her heart. To avoid your duties hurts her, don't you think?" They talked, and talked, and talked for what seemed like hours. By the end of it all, Adahlena had been transformed. Her resistance, her fear, every negative feeling about her future had been replaced with joy and excitement. She could not wait to be like her older sister, to help the Goddess, and feel as fulfilled.
Now, years later, Adahlena stood at the mouth of the forest, trained and prepared to fulfill her duties just as her eldest sister had. Adahlena should have been excited, in fact, she should have been thrilled! But instead, her heart was heavy. How could it not be? Her family name was in tatters, and her sister... her beloved sister was gone. And instead of searching for her, the court instead decided to replace her--and with her younger sister, no less.
She could find no reason to rejoice in this, even as her mentor began to recite the chant from behind her. "As priestess to this domain, you aren't to seek wealth or acknowledgment. The Goddess works through your will, through your actions. To dishonor yourself is to dishonor her, and your people." the older woman repeated the memorized phrase as her wrinkled hands fastened a locket around Adahlena's neck.
A reminder to the priestess of her duties, and of the place from which she came. Adahlena adjusted the gold necklace around her neck, eyes closing as she felt Mithis move from behind her. "You are ready, child." she finally announced. "You shall make your own way, now, to be accepted by the Goddess's children."
Adahlena felt relief set in her stomach. She looked to her nearby parents--both teary-eyed and somber, and yet filled with pride. They had worn their finest clothing to the ritual--or was it perhaps their most gaudy clothing? Adahlena couldn't tell the difference, sometimes. She smiled at them, though her heart ached at their tears. They had lost their beloved Adelina, and now they were losing their youngest.
Such a thing was bound to happen, Adahlena knew, but... she bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears from forming and spun around on her heel to face the large, stone arch that led into the forest.
It was mostly covered by nature, a combination of moss and leaves reclaiming the stone as its own. It was beautiful, and yet also completely unknown. And now, it was where Adahlena belonged. The priestess made her way through the arch, the green fabric of her dress dragging along behind her as she began to make her way deeper into the forest. The forest itself was beautiful, filled with life and unseen beauty. Adahlena could have lost herself in the sights alone, but her purpose pushed her further. She carefully stepped over fallen logs, her bare feet squishing into moss and mud as she continued further and further, hoping to even catch side of the spirit.

[Damonique]

The overgrown arch was anchored by neither wall not fence, standing lonely on the path, but nevertheless marked a perceptible barrier. On one side, the well-ordered fruit orchards and fanciful garden paths of the Faefolk, lit by multicolored lamps of glowing crystal. No fire, never fire...that was a part of the Peace.

Past the Archway, there was no light but those last few days of the fast-setting sun, nothing was fanciful, and all was anything but well-ordered. The trees of the elderwood had never met flame or axe before, and grown thick of trunk and limb, the eldest of them wider at the base than the tallest Fae stood, cloaked on moss and vine.

This dark and forbidding place was not the forest Adahlina remembered from her childhood, when her eldersist had kept the Firstwalker entranced and contented. That place had been wild too, yes, but brighter and more welcoming, the air full of birdsong and honeysuckle. Now the only sound was the chirping of multitudinous insects, and the distant howling of wolves...lesser beasts, for the song of Mourninghowl she knew to deeper, louder, sadder. The smell on the air was one of damp moss and decaying deadfall.

As the priestesses noiseless barefoot steps carried her deeper into the wood, the trees pressed closer and the path narrowed. Steeped in shadows and crowded with thick roots and fallen limbs, now and again even Adehlina's Fae-Sure feet lost their place, causing her to trip or stumble.

[brokecollege]

As Adahlena continued further and further, the forest only became darker and darker. There were even times where the darkness, paired with the unfamiliarity of the scenery, caused Adahlena to slip or stumble. Each time she would gasp and catch herself, heart pounding rapidly in her chest as she steadied herself before continuing further. But as she continued on her trek, she couldn't help but begin wondering: where was the spirit?
She knew little about the spirit itself--and as odd as that might have seemed, it wasn't uncommon. A spirit was only known most intimately by the priestess to whom they were bound. Only they know their secrets, their whispers, and their desires. Adelina would have known everything about it and, as a matter of fact, she did. And she held that precious, precious information close to her heart. There were times, of course, where she'd share something. It was always just a small piece, a small look into her world.
Their walk through their mother's gardens was one of those rare times. Adahlena remembered huffing and puffing, claiming to want nothing to do with spirits. "I want to marry a prince," she had pouted, "I don't want to spend my life being friends with a stuffy, old spirit! They're worse than mistress Mithis!" she remembered complaining. Adelina giggled at that, of course. She had always thought her younger sister so childish and funny, and she could never quite hide how entertaining it was.
"Now, Ada, that isn't very nice of you. A spirit may be old, indeed even older than papa--" she had paused to shoot a look at her sister, teasing grin and all, before she continued, "--but they aren't stuffy. A spirit is never just one thing. They are many things, ever-changing and yet ever-constant. They are never just a spirit, unchanging and stiff. They are what their domain needs, what the Goddess needs when needed." there had been such sweetness in her voice as she spoke, that it had brought Adahlena to a pause.
"Is that what your spirit is like?" Adahlena questioned, and Adelina seemed to glow as she smiled and nodded her head, "Yes, he is many things." she hummed. "He?" Adahlena had been shocked--she had always viewed spirits as "it." It was a spirit of the ocean, it was a spirit of the forest. Never had she thought of one as "he." "Yes, my sweet, he. He is a masculine representation of the forest. He embodies what the forest is, and what it needs when it needs it." Adelina had responded.
Adahlena was amazed. Mistress Mithis had shared so little about spirits--everything was always focused on reading, reading, and meditation. This was new and so very intriguing. "A spirit of the forest?" she repeated with interest. She had tugged on her sister's dress, desperate to hear more about her darling companion. "Yes, a spirit of the forest." Adelina giggled, before continuing on to gush about her friend.
Hart.
That's what Adelina had called him that day. Hart. Adahlena felt herself frown, pausing momentarily as she looked around the dark and unfamiliar area. A spirit was their domain, just as the domain was the spirit. Was that why, then, the forest looked as it did? Cold, and damp, and dark? Was this just a reflection of the darkness the spirit felt at losing his companion? It must have been so lonely without Adelina. She wondered if the poor spirit believed that Adelina had abandoned him. He couldn't have. He must have known, must have realized how much he meant to her sister. He had to know to have known that despite the court's decision, her sister would never leave him. Not when he meant so much to her.

[Damonique]

Nothing came to his place unnoticed by it's Hart, the moss she trod upon, more surprised that upset by the intrusion, told the trees of the dainty footsteps. A tree told a cricket, the cricket told a moth, the moth told a bat, and the bat told Hart, who was brooding upon a high branch of the Mother-Tree in the form of an impossibly large Owl.

While they were as wise as time was long, one thing neither moss, nor tree, nor cricket or moth or bat could do was tell any one Fae-girl from another. What care did they have for what differences the Mother Luna's younger, busier children pretended to have from one another?

All Birch trees were named Birch, all Starlings simply Starling, and they all lived the same lives in the same patterns as the millions before them had and the millions to come after them would. So what to them was a name?

For their prince, for Hart, this carelessness of his subjects allowed a few sweet moments of hope. Hope....that was a feeling that even for his years uncounted, the woodland spirit felt he'd nearly forgotten in the days that had turned to months without his beloved.

Adelina...my sweet, my Heart, my Adelina returned to me... Hart dreamed as much as thought, and with three great beats of golden-tipped wings took flight, letting loose a great and thunderous owl-call as he did.

"Hoo...Hoo Hoo...Hoo Hoooo!" It bellowed, carrying far and wide, finding the young priestess' sensitive, pointed ears on the trail she walked, and going further to reach those her family, friends, mentor, and the others waiting anxiously at the forests edge.

And for a spell, as his joyous call echoed through the great trees, all the forest seemed grow brighter and less hostile, as it was when both parts The Peace had been fulfilled,not so long ago. In that moment, the onlookers may have themselves hoped as much as he had that all would be well, that all was as it had been.

It was not to be so.

[brokecollege]

Adahlena continued to mindlessly wander the forest, though she would occasionally pause to gauge where she had come from and which direction she was heading. It was getting harder and harder to discern anything, though she persisted. She had no choice. Failure was not a luxury to be had by a priestess. It wasn't until some time later (the exact amount was lost upon her) when something bellowed from deep within the forest.
An owl?
But that sounded much too loud to be an owl! The woman looked up, grey eyes scanning the tall trees and their entwined branches. She could see no owl--though what could she see, to begin with? The forest was dark, so dark that she was regularly tripping over herself and the fallen things that were in her way! But as she continued to look, light began to peek through the branches and the leaves. It looked as though things were becoming... lighter? And those sounds--the birds and the wind and the deer! Had that always been there?
With her eyes still trained on the distant branches, she moved forward, though she stopped immediately when she heard a little squeak. It was such a faint, little sound that Adahlena was almost surprised she heard it at all. She jumped back almost immediately, stumbling over her own feet as her gaze dropped to the ground.
There, sitting amongst the moss and the dirt, was a little creature. It must have been some sort of squirrel, or chipmunk, with its fuzzy appearance and large, black eyes. Adahlena gasped at the sight of it, dropping to her knees to gently scoop the animal into her pale hands. "Oh, no," she frowned. She'd been so caught up in finding the spirit, that she had almost stepped on the poor thing! She carefully tip-toed from her spot, weaving through the trees until she found a low enough branch to rest the animal on. "That was careless of me, I'm sorry," she apologized as she stepped away. "Travel safely now, I won't get in your way." and then, just like that, she turned to go on her way. But then she stopped, freezing in place.
"He is the forest," Adelina said, eyes bright and thoughtful as she guided Adahlena through the garden. "He is the predator, the prey, the weak and the strong. He is why the forest should be feared, and why it should be awed." "How can he be so many things all at once?" Adahlena asked, as she so often did. "How can I be a priestess and your sister?" Adelina questioned, to which Adahlena's brow furrowed. "You just are," she replied, and Adelina smiled and pinched her cheek. "And Hart just is. He's a million eyes, a million ears, a million paws, and arms. That is just who he is," she explained. "A million hands?" Adahlena giggled, and Adelina laughed with that pretty smile of hers.
Adahlena turned around on her heel, eyes landing on the tiny animal once more. Would it know where the spirit was? It must've, it was of the forest! She thought about asking the little creature, though before she could open her mouth it was climbing up the tree, at which point Adahlena could only watch it. And so, she was forced to continue on the invisible path.
It looked almost unrecognizable by this point--filled with so much light and life. It was a sight, really. But one that could not distract herself from her purpose. "Hart?" she called out, gaze shifting between the trees around her. There were no animals to consult (with the only one she had encountered up close being that poor little creature she nearly stepped on), so calling the spirit's name was the only thing she could do. She couldn't exactly force a revered being to speak with her. "If we could speak for a moment..." she trailed off as she looked around. "You must have questions."

[Damonique]

Far away, the little creature, a humble chipmunk, had been minding its own business, rooting on the trail for nuts and seeds when the great call of the great spirit reached its little round ears. A happy sound it hadn't heard since it was a furling, enough a distraction that it didn't notice the dainty footfalls 'till one landed upon it's tail, and let out a high-pitched squeak of surprise.

Such a clumsy tall-folk....but kindly. The critter thought, when Adahlina apologized in sweet tones it understood not the words of, but surely the intent, as she brushed his fur lightly and set him off on his way. Word of this interaction spread quick, to the trees, to the birds, and to Hart, soaring above the canopy, fast as great feathered wings could take him to the forest edge, and needled at his thoughts.

Wrong, wrong... He thought, for his Adelina would never be so careless. She knew these woods as well as he, and was always so fleet of foot. All the wood dimmed with his nagging doubts....but there was still a faint flicker of his hope and a sudden urgency of concern.

Was she hurt? Was that why she stumbled so?Every day since he'd lost her, he'd fretted of what harm might befall his sweet, without him at her side to protect her. The great owl folded it's wings and dove down again through the canopy, alighting on the path, and changing shape, becoming the Wolf. Russetfur, the red hunter, hungry predator and determined protector both.

If it was Adelina, he would wrap her in his warm soft fur, and salve her wounds with healing tongue, and defend her evermore. And if it wasn't.... came a sharper thought, as that same soft tongue that promised healing salve, traced a maw of gleaming fangs that promised swift death.

Hart had been too patient with these Fae-folk. They'd broken their promise, broken the Peace. What stopped him now from stalking them as he had in days long-passed, make an example of one or two, that they might return what was his by rights?

Canine maw turned up to the air and let loose another cry, equal-parts longing and threatening. Preyish creatures of the ground dove for their holes, and birds took wing, and his pack-mates stirred, the lesser wolves letting loose their own howls to join his, reaching swiftly to join their prince, if truly there would be a hunt to join, they would not be found wanting.

The forest was in tumult, as confused as it's master as emotion dueled emotion, bright hope and looming doubt, protective affection and pent-up rage. The Firstwalker had been idle too long, and time was coming for a reckoning.

[brokecollege]

No response. Adahlena released a quiet breath, her tiny hand reaching out to grasp onto a tree's trunk as she looked around some more. But then, suddenly, there was a howl. And then another, and another, joining to match the first in a distant symphony. Adahlena would have thought the sound to be beautiful, if not for the terrible foreboding she felt behind it.
Perhaps Hart had heard her, after all. Perhaps she had made him angry. He had probably expected to see her sister, his beloved priestess, and companion. For just as Adelina had abandoned Adahlena and their family, she also had abandoned him. And just as they had waited for her return, so too had he. Adahlena looked at the birds fleeing through the trees. Just as she sensed the change of the forest, so did they.
Adahlena continued forward, pushing past bush and brush until she reached the bank of a stream. It was jagged in shape and filled with smooth stones. It was really rather pretty--and Adahlena imagined that it would be even more of a sight when the forest was at ease. She wondered briefly if her sister had ever happened upon it. She must have. She wondered if she had collected rocks like they did when they were girls. She used to find the most interesting shapes and colors!
Seeing no easier way across, Adahlena stepped into the stream. The water was freezing, but Adahlena did not stop to think about it. If she did, she would never be able to make her way across. Upon reaching the other side, Adahlena glanced down at her bare feet. They were red from the cold, though completely fine otherwise. Good. And on her way she went. She decided to talk some more--though she expected neither a response nor even for him to listen. But what else could she do to draw him out?
For as much as she knew about Hart, there was even more that she didn't know. Only Adelina would have known everything--where he normally was, for example, or even how she drew him out whenever he chose to hide or brood. Only his priestess would have that knowledge, and Adahlena was not that. Not yet. "Your priestess, Adelina, she..." she trailed off. What was she even to say? That she had abandoned him? He wouldn't believe that. Even Adahlena didn't believe that. "She has disappeared. You must be confused, and upset. If we could talk..." she looked around some as she continued to walk. "I could answer your questions, share with you what I know." she offered.

[Damonique]

On massive paws the Great-Wolf moved with gaining momentum through the undergrowth, covering nearly a dozen feet with each bounding step, pausing now and again on stone or branch to let loose yet more howls that echoed unnatural-long, and drew new companions to join the chase with their urgency. First the Wolves, dozens of them, large and small, in coats of greys and reds and browns, then the lesser predators, Coyotes, brazen in their numbers, the sly Foxes and even quick-footed Weasels stirred from their holes.

Through the branches above his head the came the birds of prey, proud Eagles and swift Hawks in their respective pairs, clever ravens in their black-winged multitudes, while high above Vultures circled in the moonlight. They would take no part in the slaughter, but would gladly pick over the remains when all was done. Only Hart could draw such dissimilar beasts together in singular purpose, where left to themselves they would never willingly cross paths in the wild. But when their lord called, the wilds woke in answer.

Despite his uncertainty and wroth, he paused in a clearing to turn glittering green wolf-eyes back at the assembly, and he could not help but feel a sense of pride in his subjects and domain, the were numerous, strong, hale and healthy and obedient. Truly, what did he and his bestial kingdom need from these feckless Fae-folk? One thing, and one thing only...and if he could not have it, he had no use for them. Hart tried to convince himself, suddenly aware of the silvery light of the rising moon at his back, filtering through the trees.

The Mother-of-all-Things would frown on this thinking...but she was his mother, not his master. She had pleaded and bargained with he, and all his sisters and brothers of the First-Woken to take pity on their fragile half-siblings, lost in the wide world. And he had kept his part, fed them with his fruit and berries, taught them the difference between herbs and balms of healing and of slaying, and saved their lives from freeze and foe and famine times uncounted, even at the expense of his subjects and domain. Hart had done everything right, followed The Peace to a word, and still he was being punished. And yet....no, surely not. A gift of love, truest love, could be no crime.

No. No. This was all the work of the Fae, grown over-proud and arrogant, lived so long with safety and plenty they had forgotten from whence it came. He knew their lives, sitting in their gilded manors, playing out their frivolous courtly drama, obsessing over honor and ancestry and foreign baubles, all such things neither the Wilds and the Firstborn had want nor need for. Hart knew all this and more, from his beloved's own lips. Something was rotten in the Courts of the Fae, and he'd see it named and rooted out, if it took all his power and fury. And all would be right again, as they had been.

With renewed determination, the Firstwalker set off again, determined to find answers. And it was so that he came to the edge of the wood where it broke to make way for a wide, slow-babbling creek, to find the solitary young Fae-girl at it's bank, vulnerable and alone. Hart stopped, and as one the great mass of fur and feather behind him followed suit. Watching. Waiting for a verdict.

[brokecollege]

Adahlena continued on her seemingly endless path, determined to find the spirit. She would not stop for exhaustion, nor hopelessness. But then, in the near distance, Adahlena caught sight of something massive approaching. She came to a stop, her body becoming stiff as it came into her sight. It appeared to be a wolf--though, Adahlena knew immediately that wasn't all that he was.
He stared at her, eyes dark and looming, and she knew it was who she had been searching for. Firstwalker, the Fae fearfully called him. But she knew him as Hart--that was what her sister referred to him as, what she wanted him to be known as. He was just as her sister had described, his energy being a combination of everything in the forest. The good, the bad, the protective, and the protected.
Adelina had said that Hart would take on forms--whatever form the forest needed, whatever form he felt necessary. Sometimes it was small and unknowing, other times large and threatening. And sometimes he appeared as something similar to the Fae--with features like their own, but also features that were entirely different from them.
And right now, it looked as though he embodied anger--or was it vengeance, and hatred? She stared at him for a moment, grey eyes meeting his only momentarily before dropping to the ground. And then, she dipped into a deep curtsy, hands holding onto the dirtied fabric of her dress. "Hart," she greeted calmly as she rose. She knew the importance of holding her ground, but she knew never to overstep. She was a guest in his domain--if she disrespected him, he was within rights to do with her what he pleased. Even now, she was at his mercy. She hoped that she could reason with him, talk him down from his rage. This was testing all of the things she had learned from her mentor. If she failed, it would be her death.
"I am priestess Adahlena Vir Lethalin Irlessa. I apologize for the intrusion on your domain, but..." she took a single step forward, making sure to move slowly so as to not frighten him (though, she doubted she could do such a thing) or the creatures she knew loomed behind him. "I was sent here by the Court, in response to the absence of your priestess," she explained. "I know you must be angry, and confused by what has happened, but I would like to help you," she added as she took yet another, a smaller step towards him. "Perhaps we could speak? Just for a time."

[Damonique]

Hart was not surprised by what he found there on the edge of the stream. It was always going to be a Fae-Priestess, a favored daughter of the Goddess, and this one in every way looked the part, marked for what she was by hair the nigh-translucent silver of woven moonbeam, bare-footed yet garbed in fine cloth of the deepest greens, amber locket glittering with unseen light about her neck, long, curving, pointed ears decorated with moonstone and silver.

And when she called him by the name he'd been gifted, Hart, so sweet a sound, there was a moment pure joy...but it only for a few heartbeats, before he noticed the eyes. Soft grey eyes, deep and placid like a moonlight reflected in an undisturbed pool. Beautiful they were, but they were...not...green. On noticing that, other things did not fit either. This priestess was a head shorter, even fairer of skin....his Heart had spent time enough in the wood and sun to tan nearly the sheen of polished copper in the sun, while this priestess looked as if she'd gone veiled and shaded her whole life. The final nail in hope's coffin was what she did next.

Adelina would have called his name with joy and run to him unbidden and unafraid, but the priestess instead shied away, bowed her head, and performed a well-practiced and well-mannered curtsy that would fit better in a ball-room than the sandy bank of a rain-filled stream at the edge of the deep wild. There was a twinge of nostalgia there, as had his beloved been not much different when she came to him, before he'd woke the wildness in her? The great hunter took a few, slow steps further into the clearing about the stream, so the moon shone full upon his coat, making reddish fur look as if made of orange flame.

The assembled beasts of his cohort continued to wait, to see what he might do. There was not a whistle or rustle or footfall from them, not a peep. Nothing but the sound of a single, drawn-out breath shared among a thousand sets of lungs, tensely waiting to be released, waiting, wondering about their Prince's judgement upon the Fae. Would the Peace hold, or was it time for blood? Was this new tribute acceptable? Could any other be worthy of the place by his side still left vacant? And worst of all... did the arrival of this priestess mean her predecessor had passed? That would bode badly...for all. Their lord had mourned and raged over Adelina separated from him...the impact of he death would be a hundred-fold worse. All hinged upon the priestesses' words, which only Hart would be able to understand.

And then came the name. Adahlena Vir Lethalin Irlessa. It brought the whole picture suddenly into focus. Hart had heard so many of those graceful syllables before, and formed them with his own tongue many a time, etching them into immortal memory. Name, Honorific, Family Name, and Title....silly Fae-things, yes, but full of meaning. If true.
And ignoring what more she had to say, the great Wolf padded closer to find out for himself, growing more imposing the closer he drew to the petrified priestess. Pristine white fangs glittered in the moonlight, canine eyes flecked with green and gold, with the shimmer of conscious thought behind them that set him apart from any common beast regarded her impassively, and his huge, wet black nose flared to drink in her scent in one great breath, then another, both of which filled his lungs with nostalgia.