Despite the cover and protection of the large shroud that engulfed the continent of Crue Efros, many deigned the light that did manage to slip through abhorrent. Not unbearable, but becoming spoiled in their comforts. So it was that in this time of quiet that he often traveled, unwilling to deal with the attention of those who would gawk and gather - question his motives or where it was he was going. While in truth his movements were not born of anything suspicious, wed to his work, his duty upholding. His superiors had long accepted his distant behavior and had grown to even trust and depend in his aloof cold shoulder. So it was this day that he rode out to check how the situation was continuing in Dunmeath. To ensure there was no building rebellion, and if there was.

He was to crush it.

There would be no flames left to fan the ambitions of freedom. The grasp of the Red Queen would be that of a steel vice - an iron fist that would one day come to encompass the entirety of this world. Perhaps when her victory here was assured they would expand their goals. Maybe he would even gain the chance to set eyes upon his homeland once again. A place that seemed worlds away, like a dream that he could only remember the faintest of impressions of. His mortal life was much the same, before he was stripped of the shuffling coil without choice. A strength he had been confident he could conquer. That he could outlast. That he had failed to quell in the end. Another monster. Before that immoral, carnal thirst his steel edged will and determination had wilted to the softness of a decaying weed.

A movement from the corner of his eyes drew his attention, and he would straighten from where he had knelt near the stream. His mount still continued to drink deeply from the cold, babbling brook. However, Osmanthus's attention had been captured by something. The feline was quick on his feet as he departed the saddle and leapt through the dense underbrush. He followed after, his gait much slower as he allowed the horse to continue its rest. After all, it was best to keep him well maintained on such a long journey in the event that he was needed. His hood remained drawn, a fluctuation of magic allowing him to peer through the inquisitive beryl eyes of the cat as he spied upon the only other trespasser nearby. One he came upon before realizing as his companion turned to peer at him himself. He blinked. Once. Twice. Clearing away the remnants of the connection as the familiar rubbed along his leg. "Greetings."

The sun was starting to set. Ira-Gula could very well be throwing a fit if it were in his nature to stir tantrums that she hadn’t returned home yet – let alone leave without so much of a warning or the where toos for that matter. Her cheeks were flushed in rosy hues after being out a little too long for one who possessed such sensitive skin. “Envy, did you make a wrong turn again?” Came a flustered concern, while gently tugging on the reins of the Friesian mare. The duo  had spent their day cantering about – quietly searching for clues only to result empty handed. “I do not think she would wander this far silly girl.” Though it appeared as though equine has its intentions set on the water of the nearby brook.

Cherry blossom eyes lifted, though straining with limited sight as the sun sank further in the trees. Was that another horse, she wondered? How curious, she hummed. Attention quickly tugged by a strangers voice in idly greet. Her expression its usual stoic vacancy soon finding the assumed heavily cloaked stranger. “Oh, Hello.” Cushioned words fell softly from pale lips. Her attention briefly returned to the lone horse a little ways away, minding its own. Enjoying the water just as her own  equine had done so. “Is that your horse up ahead? Its rather pretty, I think.” An odd way to break the ice but an effort nevertheless. 

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The sun was beginning to sink now, its apex far beyond it. The wood was darkening with the bruising twilight of the heavy oncoming night, further crushing under the supernatural veil that smothered the natural array of the heavens. How long had it been since he had witnessed true sunlight now? Something more than the mere visage of it from within the spires of a tower which the interior smothered him in obscurity. Even those had been before Lady Kaplan's rise to power. Before she assumed the throne as the Red Queen, the shroud had been amassing, growing under the false premise of gloomy thunderheads and the dreary drizzle of rain. It had allowed she and her associates the luxury of movement during the day, something that had become of the utmost necessity during the initial phases of her takeover. Some of which he had aided in, though it had been the mid to later stages, as he was... preoccupied prior.

The recollection has a hand idly wring the reanimated skin hidden beneath the long sleeves of his attire. A motion halted as instead his grasp ascended to push back the hood that threatened to swallow his features. “Oh, Hello.” Her voice was soft, cherubic as it departed her lips. Her eyes narrowed upon him, faintly, as if she had issue discerning him from their surroundings. A curiosity that bid him tilt his head softly. Perhaps she held a sensitivity to the golden chariot as well, though he sensed a pulse, the blood that flooded her veins. Her scent that of entirely mortal precedence, lacking even the tell-tale sign of bonding. A human with an aversion to the light in which they felt so safe? An oddity, at least as far as he was concerned.

“Is that your horse up ahead? Its rather pretty, I think.” His gaze shifted to follow her inclined direction. Back tot he small bend where the stallion remained, picking lightly at the grass that sprouted around the gaps of lichen covered rocks. "Nefarim." He answered, and the Arabian would raise his head attentively, ears lancing forward, though his feet were reluctant to follow the call, and with no sense of urgency bereft upon his master did he return to his feast. "And yours?" Despite the question and the gesture, he maintained his distance from the rather large mount. Animals that were not trained by vampiric hands often times did not feel inclined to allow the undead to touch them, often times becoming flighty or outright bolting, and he saw no reason to raise alarm.

The world around them appeared darker than it actually was despite the early hours of dusk careening through darkened clouds. Envy knew their normal route so why take another?  Avarice sighed quietly amongst herself; the Friesian certainly had a personality of her own which is what drew the maiden to her liking in the beginning. Cherry blossom pink eyes strained upon the stranger unable to discern the more defined details of his features while the cloak released his head. Avarice couldn’t help but wonder if they too struggled from the heat of the sun? Or, of what lingered of it. Certainly, the heat if nothing else. His hair was dark as the feathers of a raven, his complexion just as fair – if not more so paler than her own. Nefarim..

Her attention returned to the Arabian stallion, features softening enough to initiate the sense of appreciation, “It is a handsome name.” Unique too, she mused humbly while her own palm would gently glide down the neck of her ebony mare. Even if she was the slightest bit cross with the horse, it was difficult to stay irate for so long. And yours? Dark eyes the Friesian would stare intently upon the stranger. Ears rotating forth as she exhaled a teasing retort while stamping a hoof squarely into the earth. “Her name is Envy.” Avarice responded with her docile lilt. “She can be quite the trickster.” She sighed as her palm touched her temple in tiring gesture.  “I merely wanted to get away for a while, but I believe she has purposefully gotten us lost.” These wilds looked vastly different than the wilds of Vufrien.

She could just hear the amount of scolding she would receive when she would return home. Ira-Gula, the head maid, the entire staff. Of course, she couldn’t fault them knowing how temperamental her mother could be if word were to spring up should something become of the albino girl. At the same time, she had not seen nor heard from her mother for nearly two years now. So why would the staff make such a fuss then? “If I may, sir, are you a traveler?”


!

“It is a handsome name.” It wasn't often he would pass the time to exchange pleasantries with his fellows in Lavalles. However, they often held no interest in the names of horses or the smaller details of the world. Not like those he once did, a simple inclination from a past that was all but long forgotten. It felt like a dream then, as did the fear of death. While it was certainly still possible, in the long, unbearable years that had followed, he began to see the finality of it and of mortal lives somewhat as a blessing. There was even soft envy to be found within his heart, a hunger for that simple feat of life that had been woefully robbed of him. Never had he been among the zealots of those who deemed themselves 'his people' that craved immortality, an innumerable expansion to their days. Gluttons to a fault, a distinguished breed of loathsome pests. Perhaps that was why he cared not to converse with them. What was there to truly talk about with those who were as old as he? What was there to teach? To learn?

“Her name is Envy.” Came the soft answer, a delicacy to her voice that matched the fragile apparition of she. Beyond the veil of humanity, her bodice seemed akin to frost, the last of which clung to the beginnings of spring and oft times spelled doom for the dulcet blooms trying to thrive within warmer days. The same that matched her stare. The name caused him to tilt his head, an odd name for a horse, but it was only within his opinion. It was often theorized that names given to beloved pets were often reflections of their owners. Perhaps there was something she yearned for as well, but could never quite grasp. Maybe he was simply over thinking. “She can be quite the trickster.” A slight smile touched his visage, a likeness to both, he supposed. “I merely wanted to get away for a while, but I believe she has purposefully gotten us lost.”

The slight simper that warmed his expression fell, the soft glow of his sterling stare casting towards the curve of his shoulder slightly. He hadn't been directly followed, naturally. However, it did not mean he would be the only perceivable threat to her safety here. Not when she had seemingly crossed the borders into Crue Efros unbeknownst to her. "It's not my concern, but you should be careful of where you let her take you from now on." He would warn, allowing his gloved hand to reach out in direction to the mare, allowing her to make what reaction she would. An unspoken warning. A wordless announcement. "Do you know where you are?" His sight would return to her at her last question, the well mannered way in which she spoke. Was she part of an aristocracy? It had been quite awhile since he had heard a mortal display themselves in such a way, having grown accustomed to their slang and the pauper way they spoke. A mere few years since they had lost control of their country and it felt as though the majority of them had forgotten they were once kings and queens. If she was, he was keenly interested in where such a settlement resided. “If I may, sir, are you a traveler?” The hand that had reached out to her steed would withdraw, instead curling thoughtfully under the curve of his chin. "You could say that. I'm currently making the trip to Dunmeath to assess the situation there."

It wasn’t with intention to wander as far as she had – wherever it was Envy had led the pale maiden. Though it was her own fault for not exactly paying close attention to the Friesian mare as her mind had often wondered in many other places. Distractions perhaps would be the viable excuse in order for others to not raise an eyebrow of suspicion. She was her mothers’ daughter in more ways than one. It’s not my concern, but you should be careful of where you let her take you from now on. The strangers words brought Avarice’s gaze to him. He engaged pensively towards Envy who simply grunted and shoved his hand away with a jesting nudge with her snout. Do you know where you are? Cherry blossom gaze lowered with an unchanging expression. “No sir, I do not.” she answered quietly, hints of shame tuned her otherwise listless voice before clearing it. “I do apologize for my carelessness sir, I have no justification for my mares’ wanderings.”

Avarice wondered, judging by the get up the stranger wore, if he happened to be a traveler. She returned her gaze back to his horse where it continued to contently graze about, minding his own. You could say that. Attention returned, I’m currently making the trip to Dunmeath to assess the situation there. She simply blinked at him while processing his words. The maiden was not one to privy herself in political affairs but even she could not dismiss the unsettling tension when the topic became the center of attention. “I see.” Was all she would reply with briefly. Rosette-quartz colored eyes looked to nothing in particular upon the trees as they danced amongst each other provoked by a passing breeze. “May I follow you, then? There is a fork in the road just before Dunmeath to the Wilds, I know the path from there.” Avarice hadn’t realized she was tightening her grip upon her reigns out of nervous habit.

“I could pay you in crescents for the trouble.” She retrieved a pouch from Envy’s saddle. “It is all I have brought with me,” uncertain if it would be enough.


!

The horse merely snorted, brushing his hand away, and he nearly smiled at her aptitude, stubborn nature or otherwise it was rare to find a beast who was not I’ll tempered towards he and the kin he belonged to without extensive tampering. Nef has been such a beast as well, one that remained taken with the rider who had trained him since his youth. Animals were oft times far more desirable company than those who boasted their status of civilization. However, the diluted expression would die all together as the serene maiden lilted an almost abashed intonation. Reflecting briefly on his warning, it was far from his intentions to chastise the dame, though her reaction hinted that perhaps he had done just that. ”Far be it from me to scold you. Simply a warning: you’ve crossed the threshold into the unsettled territories of Crue Efros.”

He shifted his sleeve as the tension settled over the maiden like a swaddling blanket, her response short, though not curt by any means. He knew not the extent of common knowledge when it came to the tides of the war that consumed the borders, but it was apparently enough to sway the temperament in the air surrounding them. Perhaps she had family there, a great many human refugees had been captured in the aftermath of the successful assault, those that had fled their home country rather than be treated like heads of sheep and cattle. Like mice toyed with by malicious cats. However, her askance still came and he would give her a slight nod. ”If you wish.”

A short whistle bristled the air, one that brought the lazily grazing stallion to attention. His footfalls accompanying the quiet that fell after. At her offer of payment, however, he would shake his head. ” Keep your coin. Money matters little to me.” His movements were lithe, fluent as he effortlessly mounted the Arabian, glove smoothing the elegant bow of the creature’s neck as the feline lunged to perch at his back, long tail coiling against his side as those piercing eyes lingered on the woman, a lazy purr accenting the stretch of his claws. Habit. A comfortable one at that, as the Maine settled into the saddle. ”I will accompany you to the split in the road,” he repeated her terms, clarifying, ”If we meet anyone en route within the next few miles at least, mind what you say, and remember where you are. If it makes you more comfortable, I can address them if they stop, or attempt to stop us.”

In the wilds or even in the sanctuary of Vulfrien, should one speak of such a place would often leave others to quiver where they stood and their faces would pale with unbridled fear. There were moments where the young maiden would take note of the unease in Ira-Gula’s eyes when the subject surfaced. Curiosity won Avarice over more times than not before she would ever admit it with idle thoughts to travel to such a place but never found reason to do so. There needed purpose and she had yet to find it. Far be it from me to scold you. Came the strangers words, Simply a warning: you’ve crossed the threshold into the unsettled territories of Crue Efros. Her expression remained it unchanging neutrality. Instead, Avarice tilted her head slightly, casting her gaze onward watching as the trees tangoed with one another in the passing breeze. Alabaster waves brushed against gently blemished cheeks where diluted freckles littered from one side to the other. “I heed your warning sir,” came her lilt while one hand released the reigns of her mare and allowed her palm to glissade over the plush furs of Envy’s neck.

Elongated ears shifted as Envy grumbled followings a single kick with her left hoof into the dirt. She had been rather moody since this morning, Avarice thought. Perhaps she was just simply bored of the pasture for the day and their usual back and forth routine. Inquiry would flit from her lips regarding his travels and the ability to return her to the right path. There was more to say when acknowledging his warning though withheld her tongue. She couldn’t just simply judge a place on whispers and gossips even if such place was dangerous or not. Nowhere is truly safe these days anyway, right?

The grazing stallion answered the travelers call without a second to hesitate. Avarice simply glanced at Envy who in turn, glanced back at her with a flick of her tail as if to dare the pale maiden. The duo had just as odd as a relation as she and Ira-Gula had. The horse did well to ensure Avarices’ safety when she could – but the mare could also be a tease and a sly girl when she wanted to be. In the meantime, Avarice was reaching for the pouch of coin to offer the stranger for troubling him along his path. Keep your coin. Money matters little to me. Pale brows furrowed slightly, puzzlement flushed her features while slightly tilting her head. It was the second time someone had dismissed her offer of payment before she awkwardly would return it, latching it along the side of Envy’s saddle.

Mounting his steed seemed so effortless. A moment of jealousy stinging her nerves knowing how clumsy she was when it came to mounting and even dismounting her Friesian. Perhaps it was because she was so small in stature, or that Envy was just too tall for her maybe? Nevertheless, she would have been lying if she said she wasn’t impressed. I will accompany you to the split in the road. the traveler reiterated. Cherry blossom pink eyes focused curiously upon the perched feline. If we meet anyone en route within the next few miles at least, mind what you say, and remember where you are. She simply nodded while offering a slight wave to the cat in greeting. If it makes you more comfortable, I can address them if they stop, or attempt to stop us.

“Of course,” she obliged. “You do have my thanks sir – “ she paused for a moment realizing introductions were never shared. “Ah, I do not think I ever caught your name if I may? My name is Avarice.”


!

Her eyes were sensitive, he decided alas, however the level of that seemed to vary, or perhaps it was the fading rays of light that plagued her vision. Her stare seemed slightly unfocused, appraising the movement of the trees far beyond his head rather to gaze directly at him. Not that he held preference for her to look at him, nor did it seem she was ignoring his presence to be rude or condescending. Both of which meant as little to him as the promise of coin. Nefarim stirred in his station, his tail flicking as he paced in spot for a moment shaking out the lengths of his mane. He would loosen his hold on the reigns, bidding the horse forward, while keeping his grasp taut enough to mind his steps to a comfortable pace, unsure how skilled the maiden was in horsemanship. Going by her hints within conversation, she often allowed the Fresian to take lead of their direction, but it seemed to be a habit of comfort rather than not. A lot of time spent with the beast. A friend.

“I heed your warning sir,” she spoke, and he was uncertain if she duly noted the potential threat that could have befallen her. Again, a concern that was not his to bear. He loathed to see the treatment of humanity within the capitol and its surrounding lands, but in the same breath, so was the way of the world and the day in which they lived. The advancement into Vufrien had already begun, their victory over Dunmeath declared finality, soon, he wondered where it was that they and the dogs would seek refuge from the Red Queen and her regime of damning dominion. Would they take to the sea? To those unknown lands outside the fogged edges of their map? Perhaps back to the home that had originally birthed him. Could he recognize its features anymore? Was it still scarred by the tragedies of war as well? Its soils drowned and infertile now from the usurpation of carmine from countless corpses? Did the flowers that once flourished within his old kingdom grow to cover the rolling knolls and hills once more? Were they true memoirs? Or were the delicate white star points naught but a twisted recollection from a distant dream? The softness of grass against his skin, the warm breath of the summer sun bearing down upon his arms and face.

He was pulled from the reveries of the elden days, long lost to the ever shifting tides of time by the breathy chirp Osmanthus gave the young lady at her wave, his sterling gaze glancing to the large feline who seemed entirely content within his seat now. However, he had risen from his lazy slouch to a more alerted seat as his large eyes turned towards the emerald canopy over them. Now doubt looking for birds to harass, a favorite of his past times, since attention had been given to him. “Of course,” She spoke as he ran his hand along the feline's head, rubbing slightly behind his ears. “You do have my thanks sir – “ He would turn to face her as she paused, though her reasoning became apparent soon enough as she spoke once more. “Ah, I do not think I ever caught your name if I may? My name is Avarice.”

Gesturing to his familiar, he would entertain her. "This is Osmanthus." Another chirp accented his calling, this one long and drawn out by chattering teeth as he felt the familiar pounce from the back of the saddle towards the stretching eaves above them. No doubt having spotted the flutter of wings to draw his attention - no matter how poor a hunter he could be atimes. Spoiled in a life of luxury. "My name is Theodred. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Avarice."

She knew the world to be cruel. She knew the unfairness of life all too well but had long since accepted such hardships. Upon early age she knew of her biological father and his hatred towards her. Just as she was far too familiar with the sneers and jabs of jeering gossip and resentment of others. But she knew the love and adoration from her mother and the familial friend who helped raise her. She knew the uncontrolled savagery once the moon grew full and bore the scars to prove it. Avarice simply accepted it following the gentle nudge of her heels against Envy’s sides to coax her onward and the steering of her reigns. Thanks were passed in gratitude towards the stranger which was when she realized names were never shared.

He first gestured towards the lazy feline whose attention vied for a nearby bird perched somewhere upon the branches. The clumsiness of the cat was its own genuine comedy. This is Osmanthus. the introductions came. Avarice watched as the cat clumsily scampered the tree, failing his predatorial efforts of achieving an avian catch. Her expression merely softened upon the feline, amused and all the more fascinated. My name is Theodred. Her gaze would return to the traveler. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Avarice.

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Theodred.” The sting of guilt tugging at her chest wishing he would have accepted her crescents in repayment. “You’ve a strong name, I think.” She mused, adjusting the reigns in hand while following not entirely beside him but not far behind either. Enough to where he and his horse were obvious taking lead. Close enough to where shouting was not needed and the conversation – should it continue, be able to pass comfortably between them. Each of them seemed to possess rather strong names – at least in her opinion even if such did not matter. “Osmanthus seems to be quite the character.” Pink eyes strayed to search for the feline overhead. “Does he ever bring anything back to you?”

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