All too quickly the well trodden path changed to cobbled road, the scent of earth and rain faded into the thick musk of too many unwashed bodies pressed close together in the heart of the city. The verdant greens of the forest faded away, what little could be spotted here had chosen the sensible thing and died, withering in the cracks in the roadway. A heaviness settled over her, a subtle shift in the air that spoke of the dangers lurking in the darkened alleyways. Even the surly bay mare beneath her, normally snorting like a demon, seemed unsettled. Her ears shifted back and forth, listening to the strange sounds around her. At her side strode the tall white wolf, his amber gaze shifting protectively back and forth among the throng of people. Hushed gasps parted their way at the sight of his quivering lip. Somewhere far above Sif flew, unwilling to venture too close to so many gathered. She hardly blamed him. This was not a path taken lightly for her either.

Memories like blades dug at the careful shield around her mind. It was here she’d shown up, half crazed, beyond starved, ripped to bloody ribbons down to her very marrow. Hel had struggled through the mire of memories, trying to pull apart what was real and what was nightmare, if they had not been one and the same. It was a marvel someone had not dragged her into these haunted shadows to finish what another had started. She owed so very much to one who had been a stranger until that day. She’d laid on the floor of that shop for weeks, her hollow belly pressed to the floor, unable to move from the agony on her back, struggling to breath through her pain. Trembling at the gentlest touch of her savior, trying to mend what she could of her back, her legs. The skin had grown back, jagged and thick making her whole in some ways again. There were still deeply shattered places within though, her own voice screaming into an endless agonizing void. A deeply rooted need for revenge and blood had taken root, for herself, for those she’d heard suffering around her, for the sweet boy who had saved her that day. No matter where she turned though, she hadn’t found the answers she sought. She only seemed to make a fool of herself.

A growl broke through the fog in her mind, forcing her to focus on the present once more. Ghost’s wary gaze met her own, almost chastising her for her distraction in this place, before he continued on. She smiled slightly, looking around the familiar shops lining the roadway. The weathered sign she sought out swayed in the breeze, Toad & Thyme. Slipping from the mare’s back, she took her around the side of the building to settle her before making her way inside, the wolf at her heels. She was instantly surrounded by the heady scent of drying herbs and medicinal plants lining the walls. Light shown through the array of colorful glass, filled with a variety of salves, oils and other various remedies. Plants grew thick along the ceiling, their vines interwoven, drooping in places where you had to duck beneath them. She peered around the room, noting a few customers walking along the aisles and browsing the shop’s plethora of merchandise. Hel made her way around, looking for the keeper she’d come to know as both friend and savior.


"Speaking color"

She heard her before she saw her, the familiar voice instructing her clients on the best ways of protecting themselves from the vermin slowly invading the city. ”Helayne!” she heard her friend call as she rounded to the front desk. Hel smiled as the woman's quicksilver gaze looked her over, assessing for signs of change or injury. It reminded her briefly of her mother, her healer’s gaze always looking over her children when they came home. She ignored the bright flash of pain that bloomed in her chest, shoving it back neatly into the darker corners of her mind before she reached the counter. ”Tanyi!” Her own dark gaze looked over the other woman, searching for signs of injury or trouble that she may have had in her shop while she was away. Everything appeared intact, but it did make her nervous for those that may brand her as something other or that the beasts she sought to protect her patrons from would come seeking reparation for their difficulties.

”It has been a while. What brings you back to Shanton?” Hel pulled the leather pack from her shoulder, laying it on the counter heavy with pelts, herbs, and a whole other variety of goods she’d found or hunted in the far reaches of the wilds. ”Too long,” she smiled, leaning against the counter as Ghost pushed his way eagerly around to seek Tanyi’s side, the only other person the wolf truly tolerated. ”I’ve brought gifts,” she answered, looking around the shop briefly before meeting her friend’s gaze once more. ”How have you been? Everything okay here?” A hollow question with the looming threat beyond the reaches of the door. The city was growing more aware, the threat ever more present. But more than anything she wanted to know her friend was safe. Her skill was unlike any Hel had known though, her power so like the shaman women of her country. Despite the immense debt and gratitude she felt to the woman, it was probably what had most drawn her in,, the familiarity and wisdom beyond her years, she felt like a small piece of home in this dark place.