[PRP] We Belong to the Land (Bare TreesxUnyielding Winter)

[Aric Val]

Was it a dream?

She asked herself yet again as she traversed the swamp, Sprig flying closely with the troubled doe. It still felt too real, too vivid, something she couldn't really make up on her own. But still, the revelations were real to her, thoughts that had plagued her for so long were -- finally getting clearer. Though she still had to know. To face it head on.

Bare Trees found herself moving towards her mothers territory, she'd only been there from when she was born and another time, she couldn't really remember but she still knew where it was and where to go. And as she found the ground more and more littered with bones stripped off their meat clean, broken bones and half-buried skulls in the dirt. Her heart skipped a beat, she was close. She really didn't know what to expect when she met her mother, would be too strange if she went 'Oh hello mother, long time no see, by the way, I dreamt of you!'

In any case --- she would say her peace.  

[Chrystali]

And the matron wouldn't keep the child waiting long.

Seeming to meld from the shadows, Winter came into view before Bare Trees, her hackles raised, her body tense. Frostbite was no where to be seen - which means the avian was above. It was their hunting formation. Bare Trees was in a bit of trouble.

"Give me one reason not to kill you where you stand, girl," the huntress' voice dripped with warning from bared teeth.  

[Aric Val]

Bare Trees truly looked like her mothers child from afar and down to the colour of their eyes. But they could not be any more different with everything else. The younger doe stepped back a hoof, Sprig could sense the very obvious danger, keeping eye on the other avian as she could. Though Bare Trees knew that she wasn't really a match. But that didn't mean she shouldn't fight back.

And the hoof that stepped back, moved forward, eyes at her mother.

"I only am here to ask a question. --Perhaps--- I can't give you a reason not to kill me. But I will fight if I have to."  

[Chrystali]

"You are...selfish, girl."

Her sunset eyes narrowed and the fur on her shoulders stood on end so greatly that she practically looked doubled in side, like an angry owlcat. She shifted forward - not the one hoof like the other, no, but a fluid movement, confident and full of practice and skill - teeth bared further. "You infringe on what I have built, my home, my territory, so you can find peace of mind with a question?"

The trees rustled. A low, throaty warning growl slid through the doe's displayed teeth. She didn't give permission for the question, but she hadn't lunged yet, either.  

[Aric Val]

"And I wont come any nearer, I will leave right after and -- you wont see me again if you don't want to. I wont step foot in your territory." She was ready, yes, but she was also cautious and -- logical about this. Bare Trees at least knew the core of her mother, and she was a huntress and a very strong and skilled one.

The doe wanted to talk, that was all, she would fight if she had to --- but she had to be brave right now and not just --- bow her head and walk away from her problems. "But I do ask of you, humbly -- to talk to me."  

[Chrystali]

Winter was already in movement before Bare Trees finished speaking; the huntress lunged at the doe she once raised, teeth snapping at her neck. It wasn't a killing lunge, but it was hard to say if Winter was being cordial or intending to draw out the hunt.

"Your offer is worthless!" she snarled, "I never asked to see you again to begin with! I will never come into my territory again - if you leave at all!" Another snap, this time sharply downwards and at Trees' leg, aiming for her knee. If the younger doe was not fast enough, she was going to soon be maimed and potentially incapable of walking well for many days.

"Get out! You are not welcome here!"  

[Aric Val]

Bare Trees did back down at that, hooves back and bowing her head especially at the lunge, the sharp pain on her neck and knowing that the only reason it wasn't a killing blow is because Winter didn't make it one. And clearly they were not seeing eye to eye.

She did not speak though, moving backwards but gaze still on Winter. Sprig made a loud sound up in the sky, but did not move as she had her own eyes set on the gryphon.

"---!!" Bare trees wasn't powerful but oh was she fast, barely getting away from the attack on her legs. She did however keep her head down low, as to show respect, and right in that moment not intending to fight back. Because this is not what she came for.  

[Chrystali]

It was only when the doe had finally relented her position and acknowledged the huntress as the alpha that Winter's seeming blood rage was momentarily staunched. Her sunset eyes narrowed, her own daughter's blood metallic in her mouth, but she stopped advancing. Winter slowly circled the other, ears back, spine tense and prepared. It was clear she did not trust the other.

Frostbite remained in the trees, hopping from one to the next, but only to observe. The bird never moved with intent to join, clearly aware this was the doe's 'hunt.'

She said nothing. Winter glared, tail whipping back and forth in irritation, watching.  

[Aric Val]

She would not cry.

Though the pain was like electricity up her neck, she only yelped once when she was bitten, but even her neck tricking with the blood from the wound on her pristine fur -- she would not be weak.

Her pose was merely a defensive one at the moment, though her head still bowed and legs still behind her, watching Unyielding Winter go round her, breathing a little shallow.

And she did say nothing as well, clear to her right now that words weren't as important to the other.  

[Chrystali]

Winter licked her muzzle, drawing the blood off her teeth. She stared at this doe - this creature she had spawned - and she showed nothing of what she thought on her face.

She remembered red. She remembered anger, disappointment.

She remembered, for one brief moment, that they had an understanding.

"You are not your mother, nor your father, child." Winter's fur began to settle, gravity in her gaze. "What are you doing here, tempting a fate you don't know how to handle?"  

[Aric Val]

Her eyes softened at hearing the words of the other, though still unfeeling in her tone and showing no weakness. She breathed in. The trickle of blood dripping on the ground.

"I..know. We belong to the land." Bare Trees said clearly, trying to see if Winter recognized what she was saying. "You are a strong huntress .. I would never compare. I just -- wanted to... know."  

[Chrystali]

Winter's eyes flickered as her own words were returned to her. So Trees remembered the dream too; it wasn't just a dream, it was a conversation they'd had. There was more there, then, than rampant misunderstanding and a threat to Winter's reign.

"Then ask." She regarded the other doe with cool disinterest, but that she was speaking and staying at all showed she was attentive.

The trees rustled again, and soundless, Frostbite glided down to land next to Winter, also staring at the other doe.  

[Aric Val]

She saw the way Winter's eyes flickered, sensing that perhaps she was right in assuming that -- it wasn't a dream at all. Sprig landed shortly after Frostbite arrived, landing gracefully beside Bare Trees. Clearly worried but the eagle's eyes watching the other two.

Bare Trees let out an inaudible sigh, straightening up slightly, "Thank you." She started, watching her mothers face. "So -- it wasn't just a dream, was it? It was you and me."  

[Chrystali]

The huntress exhaled visibly; clearly, that was not the great question she had been anticipation. Risking life and limb to confirm a dream seemed...ridiculous. Foolish. But Trees...was a different breed of Kimeti. She was not made for the hunt like her parents.

"It would seem." Winter wouldn't assume to understand the MotherFather's intent, but she had to acknowledge that something was needed from her. That she, born with dreams of an eternal winter that squashed the weak and hopeful, had birthed a doe whose name suggested that not only would Trees survive the winter to become a full grown tree, but that she'd survive many more.

Such was the way of things.

"Is that all?"  

[Aric Val]

And she certainly was different in many ways, she used to think that she couldn't ever belong if her family wouldn't accept her -- or acknowledge her. She thought she had to hide herself and show them that she could be a huntress --! But even if it was in her blood, it was not her. She was a whole new branch from her blood relations and that was alright. -- And perhaps she would form a whole new seed to plant.

She actually smiled a little at that, nodding her head. "Yes," she paused, lifting her head a little. "You told me, if it's family I seek, make one. And -- I wanted to say thank you for that. And birthing me." Perhaps her mother didn't understand her completely, and vice versa but somehow she did felt more connected to Winter after all this strangely enough. The MotherFather had their ways.

"Though I am not like you, and I may not understand fully, I am thankful for all that you've taught me."