Closed Binding Ink

[Madeira Dusk]

38th of Spring, 518

The air was dry and the skies blue and clear. An ocean breeze climbed the great tired city and tangled itself under eves and windows and the ladies' hair. The crash of waves below and the whistle of the grass on the plains behind mingled in the air with the vibrations of a city going about it's business. It was spring in Riverfall, and it was perfect.

Madeira kept her head down, ignoring the beauty and searching for cracks in the cobbles as she walked. The perfection was a static hum in her ear; a kind of soulless, unbroken noise. She searched for imperfections to break the noise and prove to herself they existed at all. Her chest was tight, her limbs spring loaded. For someone who had lived their entire life in Alvadas, where the unexpected was routine, the stillness was unbearable. Without an outlet to expend the energy of her anticipation it turned inward and drove her mad.

Madeira hated it. She hated the city and it's straight lines and pretty gardens, the way it crouched as still as a cat before the pounce. The pressure of it's immovability was reared above her like a crested wave and she was holding her breath, preparing for a crash that would never come.

The tenseness set a hard lines in her straight back and tightened jaw, yet if anything she looked healthier than she ever did in Alvadas. Madeira's ever tired eyes had faded drastically since her stay in Riverfall. She had begun sleeping ten to twelve hours a day, having found comfort in the irrationality of dreams. She had even put on weight as she endeavoured to go outside a little as possible, and her figure was beginning to fill out the tight bodice of her high-collared dress. Yet there was a sickness in her. Something that seeped out in bursts of laughter or tears or a sudden and inexplicable breakdown in logic.

"Emma! Emma, wait. I can't see you." Madeira raised her head and squinted, looking for the ghost that was leading the way. Emma was no more than a suggestion of shape in the direct sunlight, so she felt more than saw the girl roll her eyes.

"You're moving too slow!" the child huffed, stopping in the middle of the street. An unwary Akalak cursed with shock as he stumbled through her cold, churning soulmist.

"Patience, sweetheart. Is it much farther?"

"It's right there, see," she pointed over the buildings to their right to Akajia's black tower. "Over there you can see the spire..." A muscle jumped in Madeira's cheek, and her eyes stayed fixed on the ghost, who changed track immediately. "It's not far." the ghost muttered, hands falling to her side.

'Over there' meant nothing to the Avalad. As far as she was aware, if the building was not in front of her it didn't exist. At least, that's what she told herself. The concept of anything existing in some permanent, definable way outside her field of view was too much for her already overburdened mind to handle. She ran gentle pressure over her Kelvic bond, anchoring herself until she could smile convincingly.

"Excellent. Keep close, now, don't let these people walk through... you..."

Ushering the ghost closer, she happened to glance to her left and through the small glass window in the door of a shop set in the cliff face. Through the small square splashes of colour were suspended. They undulated liquidly, grouped together like a school of brightly coloured fish. But of course, that was exactly what they were. A memory of a night less than a year ago, where she had to shoo a school of bejewelled fish out of her house with a book, hit her hard. Before she could check herself the Spiritist threw the door open with a strangled gasp, certain this was Ionu reaching out for her with its tricks and mischief.

Disappointment crashed over her, and the static came roaring to fill the space where hope had briefly flared. The fish were nothing but drawings covering the back wall of the small shop. The water was nothing but the warped glass in the pane. The bitter smell of ink hit Madeira's nose as she sucked air into her tight chest. Still standing in the door, one hand white and bloodless around the brass handle, she blinked hard to keep from crying. She mentally latched onto her bond like a drowning woman, calming herself with the erratic tide of Allister's thoughts until she could keep her head above water.

x

[Taurina]

Taurina missed the sound of Jarorra’s friendly voice and flirty smiles. She missed the way the woman had always given her a helping hand and how she had made the Eth feel at ease always, even when she knew that she had messed up greatly. Even Injal and Keil were missed. Injal’s overall knowledge and kindness, Keil’s eternal seriousness and judgement. These were the artists Taurina had grown to know, work with, and even -to some extent- care for. They were familiar to her. She knew that if she messed up or needed help, they would have her back and she had theirs.

It was not the same here.

Herrlock was not unkind, but he was a master of his trade and there was a certain level of perfection he required for each piece done within his shop. He had not allowed her to work on a single client yet despite the fact that she knew what she was doing. She had worked for a year under the careful tutelage of the Endrykas artists. In a city where gaining windmarks was such an important event in one’s life, one would think their standards among the highest out there. Herrlock had not agreed. He had been almost surprised that they had let the Ethaefal near a client. Not that he said so in so many words, but Taurina just got that feeling from him. From the words unsaid.

This day, she was dwindling away her time organizing inks and dusting the jars that had spent long untouched. There was a part of her that was looking forward to the day just being over. She had not been here long and already she had been brushed to the side for two Kuvan status tattoos. It was insulting really. She was competent enough to ink the simple patterns of lines and swirls that made up the citizenship tattoo. It took great effort to hold her tongue. Great effort to not just leave.

Taurina was not delusional, she knew that she was not the very best. She knew there was still much for her to learn. In that she knew Herrlock had a point, she was no master. But she was not incompetent either. She had grown a lot since her beginnings and wished to show what she could do, as well as continue to grow. That would not happen if she was not allowed near any clients. That would not happen if she was only allowed to play ink maker and cleaner.

The lines of ink jars were straight, perfectly straight, when the Eth was done with them. Every jar had been dusted to shine, the colors within the see through jars shining brilliantly now. Boredom paid off in one way, at least. Taurina was putting the last jar back in its place when the door swung open and the breeze created from it caught a piece of her hair. Caramel eyes looked up to take in the sight; confusion contorting her features when she saw the pale blonde with a grip like iron standing there looking as if she had just had her heart torn from her chest.

‘What in Leth’s name?’

Taurina stood to her feet before she could think, before her boss could take pause from his work on his current client and greet the newcomer. She found herself walking towards the new arrival with a curiosity that begged to be sated and desire to help in at least some way. Where those tears she was blinking away? Why did she grip the brass of the knob so very hard? Was she here for a tattoo? Surely not. She looked far too surprised and hurt to have been looking for this place.

“Hello,” Taurina greeted in common, giving a practiced smile to accompany her words, “Are you alright?”

The Drykas tilted her head ever so slightly, traces of concern beginning to etch itself onto her face. She tried to ignore it, tried not to care, but that was quickly proved impossible. Even if it was just because of her own burning curiosity, she had to know and she had to fix if she could. At least make an attempt.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Allister]

Allister was not doing as bad in Riverfall as he expected. Strangers could be kind as well as cruel and learning new things was not always fun though it seemed to always feel like a reward. The hyena was staring at a stretch of buildings with a road that wound along the cliff. It wasn’t the bottom and it wasn’t the top which was funny for some reason. The kelvic snickered and slapped a big blue man as he walked by on his chest. “Hey, fella! Isn’t this weird?” The leatherbound craftsman just stared at his chest where the pale hand had touched him then the Akalak inspected the owner of the hand with a disgusted look on his face. The black eyes of the former slave watched as the much larger man gagged a bit then turned and walked away. “Apparently not-” Once the lumbering azure giant was out of earshot, Allister continued the conversation. “Lucky for you that you’re so tall. Otherwise that stick hanging out of your arse might hit the ground…” Then he busted up laughing. The pale man laughed so hard that he began coughing and he doubled over for a moment to wrestle with this fit.

With a tilt of his head, the kelvic’s eyes traced back to the man he insulted. As it turns out, being big might also mean that one’s larger ears can hear better than a normal-sized being. Allister decided it best to ponder this at a later date since the craftsman was barreling after him shouting something in the blue barbarians’ course language that sounded like ‘magic’ and wielding a hammer from his work apron.

“Aww, maaaan.” Allister whined then he pivoted on his booted heel and shot down the road as fast as his legs would carry him. He really didn’t want to find out what it would feel like to be a nail so he pumped his arms and his legs in time while trying not to fall over as the road gradually sloped downward. Had he been more aware, the hyena might have been thankful for straight paths but the thunderous stomping of his pursuer only seemed to fuel his desire to focus. Allister hadn’t the occasion to flee much of anything but thanks to his Svefra pal, Mota, the bustling streets of Riverfall held a different kind of appearance. Carts and stacks of wares suddenly became platforms. Banners and ropes turned into swings and people became moving pieces in a game that only the kelvic was playing.

He maneuvered off to the left side of the street and planted his left foot on a bucket then shot himself out towards the top pole of an awning which spanned a small market stall. His hands gripped the wood tight and his momentum lifted his body over the ground like a pendulum. The kelvic hoisted his legs up to his knees and then released when he reached the opposite zenith. He sailed away and landed in a crouch on the cobble streets but he didn’t stop. Instead, he carried the momentum forward and continued to barrel down the road as the sounds of the angry blue chap began to fade.

Suddenly, like a bell going off in his brain, Allister felt Madeira reach out to him. He stumbled as he leaned into her, his eyes losing focus, and then crashed into a stack of barrels with something heavy inside. In a heap, the kelvic rolled over with a bit of double vision. Now there were two giant blue faces leering down at him and yelling. Did they not know that he couldn’t understand them? A grin spread across his face as Allister tried to get up. Nice men that these creatures were, they each grabbed piece of his jacket and hoisted him clean off the ground. The hyena suddenly had an urge to play with his new friends, who seemed to be quarreling over who had the most right to the skinny kelvic, but Madeira needed him and she shouldn’t be made to wait.

Allister looked quickly between the two- first the craftsman and then the stall owner then back again. While he did so, he loosed the razor in his cuff and slipped it down into his palm where he got it snagged against a callous and was able to spin it between two fingers. With his other hand, he fished a hammer from the work apron then dropped it down on the big blue’s foot. It wasn’t much but it was enough. The howl caught the attention of the stall owner even as the craftsman released Allister’s collar. The hyena swung his arm out and drug the razor across the arm that held him. Blood was instant as was the reaction to drop the apparent troublemaker.

Allister landed on his boots and rolled to the side away from a swinging hammer then sprang up and took off running once more. He panted and grinned, his tongue flying out of his mouth and flapping from one corner to another as he heeded the call of his bondsmate. She didn’t seem afraid but her needfor him was so strong that he simply chugged along despite the burning in his lungs, arms and legs. He had other wounds but the more subtle stinging sensations went unnoticed. He rounded a corner and began to scan buildings. He wasn’t sure why but he felt like she’d be indoors. He flew up to one storefront and stared inside only to be shoved back by a huge blue meathook. There was that word again...something like ‘magic’ but not. Allister just chuckled and grabbed his crotch at the man while making a stupid face then ran to the next store and looked inside again. Nothing.

The kelvic was starting to panic. What if he couldn’t find her? What if she really needed him and he failed her? He promised. Allister promised to always protect her and now he couldn’t find her! Alvadas had a way of leading its citizens to where they needed to go. When Madeira needed him, the kelvic always found his way. Here in Riverfall, there was no such help from the buildings. Black eyes went wide and an angry expression crossed his face as he turned in circles while walking along the street trying to look in every window and under every head of blonde hair. There were so many blonde ladies here- many of them had something on their faces and arms that looked like scales but maybe it was makeup or something. Allister didn’t care what it was- they weren’t his lady. He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair then squeezed until his hand a fistful for each hand. The kelvic opened his mouth and began to sing out of sheer frustration.

“They call me The Seeker
I've been searching low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die

People tend to hate me
'Cause I never smile
As I ransack their homes
They want to shake my hand

Focusing on nowhere
Investigating miles
I'm a seeker
I'm a really desperate man

I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die

I learned how to raise my voice in anger
Yeah, but look at my face, ain't this a smile?
I'm happy…”

His voice was rough, scratchy and it cracked a few times since his throat was parched but by the time he finished, he had stopped turning about in oblong circles. As the hyena breathed out of a smile the last two words, his black eyes fell upon the figure inside a shop with pretty pictures of fish. Blonde hair in a messy bun rested atop a thin neck in a high-collared dress. He trailed his gaze along her form while his legs mechanically jogged up to the door. Just before the former slave’s fingers grasped the handle to pull it open, he felt a twinge deep his body- something he’d experienced before but this was more primal. There was no hesitation in his movements but his brain lingered on the feeling while his stare remained at the slight plump beneath the dress. Allister cocked his head to the side as he stepped through the entrance.

Like a storm, the faded purple leather coat billowed out to reveal pale skin and dozens of ugly and monstrous tattoos plastered to his thin but no longer sickly body. A stern gaze looked nowhere but to the blonde. He felt her heartbeat in his ears and inhaled the scent of Madeira. Flared nostrils soaked it in as he came to stand near her, a smile creeping across his face. He didn’t speak- had no need for the bond was cascaded by relief when he had spotted her. He slowly tucked away the razor into his sleeve’s cuff and held his arms out a bit from his sides to embrace the only person who mattered. He had splinters stuck in his left knee, a scuffed forehead and blood from from a few places under his jacket as well as a split on his chin but he looked happy- almost peaceful.

[Madeira Dusk]

"Hello. Are you alright?"

A human woman her own age was crossing the small shop and into Madeira's blurred field of view, and the first thing the Spiritist noticed about her was her voice. Her accent was a bastardization of several different cultures, and it announced in clear bell tones that she this woman did not belong to this dead city any more than she did. It wasn't much, but even that simple assumed solidarity was a comfort.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Brown eyes sparked as the woman tilted her head, regarding her curiously. The little braids in her choppy hair shifted with the motion with a soft whisper of sound, like wind over grass. Was she one of the horse barbarians she had seen in the city? Her body had that lean, strong look of someone who could fend for themselves. Madeira let go of the door and folded her hands in front of her, suddenly embarrassed by their softness and the gaudiness of the many heavy rings she wore.

The shop she had stumbled into was small and dotted with colour, from the works of art on the back wall that so confused her to the neat rows of bright liquid that lined the shelves. Great slabs of stone were raised off the ground. One was occupied by a bare-chested young Akalak who sat facing the wall as another laboured over his shoulder with a strange instrument. The bitter smell of ink was in the air. This was a tattoo shop.

Madeira blinked, swallowed the lump in her throat, and returned the woman's professional smile.

No, I was mistaken. For one moment this place looked like home, but home is far away for both of us, isn't it?

She was about to make her excuses and leave, when a whirlwind pushed open the door behind her. Without turning she knew exactly who it was. A rush of breath she didn't realize she had been holding left her, and the weight eased from her mind as the Kelvic lifted it from her. He came up beside her and lifted his arm, and the Spiritist leaned into his side, fitting neatly against the muscle he was just starting to show. The smell of blood and leather rose off of him, and she realized this felt like home too.

She was not surprised to see him hurt; he usually was. But in her mind she worried over him even as she soothed the hard edges of his pain. Gods, she was thankful that he was there. Not just helping her survive Riverfall, but her life. It had changed irrevocably when the lanky madman smashed into it, and she did too. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the harsh black lines crossing his torso; brands of ownership from people who did not deserve him.

Suddenly a spark of thought flared in her mind, and in a tick it had turned into a wildfire.

"Yes, you can." she answered the Drykas, her smile slipping from professional into something genuine. "I'd like a tattoo. Of a hyena. Right here." she reached over her shoulder and patted her back. She was working on first instincts and emotion rather than any real thought, and the spontaneity was somehow calming. She wanted to mark her body in the same way the Kelvic had marked her mind. Yet not the same way his owners had marked his body as a claim of ownership. She simply wanted physical representation that he was as much a part of her as the skin she wore. She wanted a constant reminder that home was never as far as it seemed.

"Maddy! Where'd you go!" Emma came bumbling through the wall at that moment, her scabbed lips in a pout of childish irritation. "If you don't hurry we'll never get there! Oh, hi Ally." The child spotted the Kelvic first, then saw the small porcelain Drykas. She stared at the stranger for one uncomfortable tick and vanished, having blinked directly into Madeira's body. The Spiritist shuddered but otherwise didn't react, and simply waited to see if the strange Drykas would take her request

x

[Taurina]

There was no immediate response. No rush of need or want. Taurina’s smile began to wane and her curious eyes wandered. Blonde hair and pale skin, but not a Konti. A high collared dress and fingers covered by gaudy rings, not dress that mirrored the styles of Riverfall. Curious. Foreigner. A piece that did not fit in the puzzle. Eyes softened and a new smile formed, this one far more raw and feeling rather than the mask of professionalism her first had been. It was rare she found another wandering spirit in this city of blue and white.

Taurina saw the nervousness in the woman’s face, the longing. She wanted to reach out, reassure. There was not much the Eth could do here, but she could do her job. She could mark skin in a way that was lasting, take the stories of another’s heart and transfer them into a piece of art so that any who saw might learn.

This woman looked almost anxious, Taurina did not think she had come to a shop such as this before. She began to step forward, to speak, to reassure and tell that all was okay; to let this woman know she was in safe hands, whether Herrlock agreed with that or not. But before she could speak, there was a sudden whirlwind of movement and the color purple. Taurina froze.

The newcomer was comfortable with the human woman, and the human woman drew comfort from him. Taurina felt her chest begin to tighten when she saw the lean of the woman into the male, remembering a time when one had been able to steal such nervousness from her. She might have dwelled on it. Might have let her head get lost in such things and steal her from the present, but there was something to distract. This male… the marks that covered what could be seen of his body were… abhorrent.

Taurina was sure any remnants of her professional mask had fallen away as her features twisted into something surprised and appalled. A tremor of something like agony raced up her being at the sight, muscles becoming tense. Who had been allowed to do such things to another person? What monster let such untrained hands take ink to flesh? Her hands became fists as anger that she had no right to feel filled her.

Words began to form; demands to know, as if she could do something to change the past, beginning to filled her tongue. The human interrupted first, though, an answer to the questions finally coming. Taurina took pause again. Her gaze shifted from the male back to the woman before she forced herself to nod, slowly. She could do that. She could mark unmarked skin and create what was wanted. What she could not do was change the past or turn ugly marks into something beautiful. Not when they were as brutal as his.

“Alright, this I can help you with. We usually start with some sketches so if you would like to just come with…” Taurina stopped mid-sentence, eyes becoming wide at the new arrival popping out of the wall.

The Ethaefal had never seen a ghost before. She had not even known of their existence, not really, but when it popped into the pale woman and there was no reaction from her, Taurina became sure of their existence. Sure, and slightly concerned that there was no discernible reaction to the woman the spirit had disappeared into. Taurina blinked, worried and uncertain. This was an interesting group indeed.

“This way..” Taurina voice was a soft, unsure murmur, as she directed the pale woman and her companion-s to a table where they could discuss things more in-depth.

Thoughts liked to race at times like this, when dealing with the unknown and peculiar. Taurina tried to focus as she pulled out a piece of parchment and a few pieces of charcoal that were only half what they had once been. Once she had sat down her gaze drifted to the male, then the woman, then over to her Akalak boss who she found to be scowling at her as he continued his work.

Taurina cringed slightly, her face turning rosy, and turned her gaze to the parchment, taking a piece of charcoal in hand. It had been wrong to say yes without asking if she could first. It had been wrong to take on a client without approval, even if they were not of this city.

Herrlock would not come now to scold her, not admit to not thinking her ready in front of a client.. She did not think so. She guessed that she would hear about it later… He might even find it worthy enough of firing her. She surely hoped that he would not do that. That was why she was going to do the best job possible, make it so he could not deny her ability, and hope that that was enough to forgive her transgression. This was her chance!

“I have not seen a hyena before.” Taurina spoke honestly in her pavi tinged common, causing herself to focus on the task at hand rather than all the distractions aiming to clog up her brain. “You do not perhaps have a model do you? A description can work fine, but I find models do make it easier. How realistic are you wishing for it to be? And how big? The whole of your back? Just a shoulder? Upper back?”

The caramel gaze rose to fix on the pale woman, waiting expectantly. Taurina bit on her lower lip in thought, those caramel colored eyes doing a sweep of the prudishly covered body in front of her like an artist might study a canvas in a store before taking it home and actually working with it. There were many questions swarming the Eth’s mind in addition to the ones she had already asked, but this was just the beginning. There was time for it all and no need to overwhelm. They had a long way to go before unmarked skin was painted to tell the story the pale woman wished to tell.

“Is this your first time receiving wind—” Taurina struggled to ignore the twinge of sorrow that formed with what she had been about to say. “I mean.. have you been tattooed before or is this the first time?”

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Allister]

Allister regarded the human woman now. His eyes nervously glanced behind him then he turned back with a snicker. How wonderful Madeira felt against him! The scrapes and slight wounds stung at best but he ignored them completely. He wanted to feel every inch of her and poured his limited mental prowess into the task like a servant filling a thimble of wine for a god - with extreme care. Her thin body had always felt soft to the man used to such rough treatment but the extra sleep had given the young lady gentler curves that situated on her demure figure in such a way that she melted against him. No- that wasn’t correct. She melted him to contour around her. Madeira was sun and stars; she was life. If Allister was anything, he was the mundane. Grass that stood lifeless as he stretched towards the heavens for light and rain. The same stalks only danced when the wind favored to grace her presence upon them. In this moment, feeling strong and useful next to Madeira- his heart danced.

The request Madeira made brought a huge grin to Allister’s face but it quickly vanished. “You what?” He couldn’t believe it. Why would she do such a thing? He was paltry and dirty; an animal. His bond mate had promised him to always deserve his affection. Was this her way of keeping that? The immature kelvic’s brain spun in multiple directions at such high rates of speed that he felt his core tremble with a chill. The bond told him all he needed to know. She wanted to- she had been relieved that he had come; that he had kept his promise. The hyena had sworn to protect her and there was no more rewarding feeling that the gentle push of her love through the bond as she worried and fidgeted with the cloud of pain he kept as a travel companion.

Slowly, he walked next to her, his black eyes staring at the ground to give him the rhythm to match her steps. Right. Left. Right. Left. Emma? The gaze was lifted when he heard the child’s voice float in through the wall. “H-hi, Emmalemma Ding Dong!” His voice cracked at the off-balanced greeting then he simply blinked when the ghost disappeared into Madeira. He had seen her absorb a spirit before and she went rigid so the hyena curled around the woman with his arms flex; prepared to catch his life’s meaning. His arms snaked around her waist as he sunk into a crouch but nothing happened. Allister blinked then slowly straightened back up feeling a bit awkward at the volcano that erupted inside of him when he took her body against his core. The kelvic swallowed hard and blushed then gave a wide but toothless smile to the human shop lady. He avoided the purple dude in the corner completely.

When they followed the girl back to her little work station, the hyena glanced about taking in all of the art he hadn’t noticed before. It was amazing what people could do with colors and blank spaces. The thought made him happy. He looked to his own tattoos and while he had bad memories of them, each and every scarred mark, raised line and jagged edge served as a reminder of how good Madeira was. Her strength was only matched by her kindness towards the former slave and he swelled with pride that she chose him to dote upon with her love. His chest seemed to billow like a sail catching the perfect wind when this emotion filled his bond. He missed a good deal of what else took place but soon found himself right back in the conversation. Ears twitched and the black eyes peeled themselves from the blonde at his side whom he held like the world’s most valued treasure.

The woman was holding a piece of charcoal and talking about models and descriptions. He didn’t know what that meant but he knew what she was asking. Reluctantly, he let go of his mistress and suddenly felt like his body had been thrown into the cold sea. The absence of her body made him ache for more and he didn’t hide it on his face nor from the bond as he shed his coat to the floor. He inclined his head towards the tattoo artist and his expression dulled to something serious or at the very least blank. He watched her as his upper half was on display and his hands worked to undo his belt. “I’m her kelvic.” He said very plainly. When he undid the cinch on his belt and separated the leather from his skin, he used both hands to shove them down to the ground and casually stepped from the legs and boots until he was in the middle of their shop stark naked. His lower half was also plastered with horrendous and poorly done tattoos. He let the reality of pale skin, the template of bored and drunk minds, wash over the woman. Then, he looked to Madeira and couldn’t help but smile.

“Perfect.”

Allister was talking about her, of course, and before his body could react to being so free in her close proximity, he became a burst of light that was there and then gone. The man was gone and a long-haired, striped hyena stood in his place next to the discarded clothes. Allister padded over and stretched against Maderia’s skirt with his arched back. He opened his mouth wide in a yawn and wiggled his butt some as he adjusted to the canine form. The same black eyes peered up at the woman who had asked about a description. She smelled nervous. The hyena circled his bond mate slowly as his course mane stretched to touch her then he padded over in space between the two women. He turned in slow circles then walked back and forth several times to show her his full form, the definition of his stripes and his slightly stubbed tail. When he was done, Allister moved back to sit next to Madeira’s feet in an almost proper pose.

While he waited for something to happen, the black eyes focused upon the artist. His tongue flipped out to lick the hand of his master. Madeira was his master. She dictated their direction and their well-being with her superior intellect, skill and drive. He tasted her twice, something that sent waves of gratitude through the bond simply for allowing him to be in the relationship. He knew she needed him but it was not the same as how he needed her. The hyena did not doubt that he would be dead without her. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he closed his jaws and drew forth the astral image of himself. While absent-mindedly being rude and staring at the girl with the piece of charcoal, the novice detached his tongue slowly from his form. The lifeless organ fell heavy against the back of his teeth but he did not move. Instead, he guided the invisible licker across the room and towards the craftswoman. He hovered near her for a minute trying to decide what to do.

The artist was small like Madeira but she had tight muscles and tanned skin. Her hands looked like they’d seen some work and they also bore scars which Allister wanted to know the story behind. However, his curiosity of these things was outweighed by the question of what flavor she was. Lingering on the tension in her neck, cords and tendons straining to maintain some kind of order amidst a chaos that no one else could see- Allister could smell it. It wasn’t bitter like anger but there was a cheated sort of mood that lingered around the girl. Poor thing. He thought. Without thinking about it, he took his astral tongue and pressed it against her collarbone then licked up pressing it flat until the tip flicked off of her jaw beneath her left cheek. The taste was as expected; salty, earthen and sadness. The wild dog tilted his head down a bit as he stared more into the woman; a very faint whimper came from his closed mouth.

[Madeira Dusk]

Madeira followed the Drykas to the sturdy desk in the corner of the shop. It was a real artist's desk, stained with spilled ink and scratched with quills. Every gouge was filled with fine charcoal dust, making a delicate black web over its hard surface. As Madeira sat on the wooden chair opposite the Drykas she ran the tips of her fingers over the worn divots on it's lip from a lifetime of elbows.

The Drykas picked up a fresh piece of parchment and a beaten nub of charcoal, and began asking questions: what did a hyena look like? How real did she want it to look? How big?

Madeira considered this carefully, her brow furrowed and looking into the hard black surface of her onyx ring as she twisted it endlessly around her finger.

"Have you ever seen a ship mast in a windstorm?" she finally asked the Dykras, her brow still furrowed as she tried to sort everything out in her mind "It looks like that: bent and brutal and dangerous. Its coat is night in day in equal measure, both road dust washed in Syna gold and night flecked with a black kind of loyalty. It has a smile like a forest of bone and a crest a delicate as a ladies fan. I want it to be as real as the ghost lurking in my bones, but what's realistic for you is much different than what's realistic to me." she added sadly.

She was not equipped to explain it when her mind was still so raw to logic and homesick for chaos. Where the artist put the tattoo and how realistic it would be she put completely in this strangers hands. She didn't care what it looked like, she cared that it felt like her bonded. The Drykas could paint her skin with hyper realism, or wash her with pastels, or do a sketch of simple unconnected lines in the suggestion of his shape. She just wanted it to hold the hyena's damaged love and consuming loyalty.

Perhaps Allister understood her inability to articulate something so simple, for he started to undress in order to show the artist what she meant. She didn't like how he was so casual with his body, but in a moment it hardly mattered. In a flash of light a large stripped hyena took the place of the lean, grinning man. Allister did a little parade, showing off the sloped contoures of his canine body to the artist, and sat beside Madeira. She pulled her hand away as he tried to lick her, and instead smoothed down the coarse fur between his ears.

"This is my bonded, Allister." she introduced the animal, scratching under his black muzzle. "My name's Madeira, I'm a Spiritist. The girl you saw by the door is the ghost of Emma." Then in an undertone to herself, she spoke to the spirit in her body: "say hello, Em. You're being rude."

The shy ghost merely hunkered down obstinately. Through her soul Madeira could feel her irritation at being sidetracked that fueled the ghost's natural unwillingness to interact with strangers. If Madeira pushed the girl out, chances are she would run away. So instead she dragged the ghost forward in her body. She peeled her own astral body aside, and tried to stuff the unwilling ghost in the empty space. At once the child tried to weasel her way out, but Madeira summoned her will and built her soulmist-riddled body against her. The child changed tack and dug her metaphorical heels in, resisting the manhandling of her soul. Madeira simply uprooted her from her core a centimeter at a time, like removing a kitten from a cable-knit sweater. Finally, trapped and pressured by a master Spiritist into a possession, Emma had no choice but to gracelessly accept the body.

As soon as the child was in control, Madeira's body language changed completely. Her feet fidgeted under her chair and her shoulders bowed from her previously ridged posture. No longer able to make eye contact with the adult across from her, her eyes drifted to Allister, where she was drawing shapes in his fur with the tip of her finger.

"Hello", she muttered in Madeira's voice, though the pitch was higher and suddenly infused with the inflection of a Riverfall native. She glanced up at the Drykas, and there was a childish sparkle in her eye as she picked up on something the two adults completely missed. "Did you say Windmarks?" she asked shyly. "Do you have windmarks? Can I... can I see?"

x

[Taurina]

Despite all of the strange happenings within the group, they all came to join Taurina at the table and in that simple fact she found relief. They had not judged her and found her wanting. They had not found her abilities lacking. Perhaps all would go well then. Perhaps their faith in her would help her gain the trust of Herrlock as well. She could not count on it, but she could hope. She would hope.

The mangled one called the ghost ‘Emmalemma Ding Dong’ and while Taurina did not think this to be the spirit’s real name, she cracked a small smile at the familiarity in those words. They were used to this; whatever this was. So she decided that she would not fear it and just accept, tolerate if she could not understand. There were other things to focus her attentions on, more important things.

The Ethaefal’s gaze was fixed on the pale woman waiting for answers when the male peeled away and began to unclothe himself with words of who he was to this woman on his lips. She saw the movement more in her peripheral vision than anything else, but it was enough to attract her gaze. Confusion came first and then came surprise which caused her eyes to widen. She knew she should have looked away, even if he did not care his bondmate might, but the lower half of him was just as tormented as the rest and she found herself frozen. Frozen until skin became fur and things began to make more sense.

Taurina did not think it was the woman who had caused such brutal marks to be scrawled across the Kelvic’s body. She seemed too kind, too soft, for such treatment. No, this must have come before whatever events had brought them together. A chill raced up her spine. If someone had done such things to Alek… If someone did such things to her now… Taurina rubbed her hand over her eyes as if to rub the thoughts away. A gentle push of care was sent through her own bond, and then she tried to force herself to move on. She would not let that happen. She would not let any harm come to the Kelvic, her Kelvic.

That molten gaze studied the hyena. The way his body curved, the way the stripes curled down the contours of his body, and the way his fur moved as he walked. It was an interesting creature, the hyena. Similar to the maned wolf, but also not. Different colors, different heights, different tails. When Taurina looked in that face she did not see her bondmate, but she saw her cousin. The same family, but only distantly related. She smiled a little bit.

“It seems as though we have something in common..” Taurina spoke soft, more to herself than to the human or the hyena.

Caramel colored eyes rose to meet the pale woman’s, an echo of her smile still lingering. She found peace with this new knowledge. More than just their foreignness was shared, perhaps this crew was not so very peculiar after all. Or if they were, at least the Ethaefal could find common links and find a spot where she might be able to bond with them so the session was not made to be too terribly awkward.

“Hello Allister.” Taurina greeted as names were exchanged, her gaze falling to the animal before raising back to the human and also, she found out, the ghost that was inside of her. “Madeira, and Emma, it is a pleasure.”

Never before had Taurina met a spiritist. She did not even know what the term meant or what the job implied. She assumed it was a job by the way Madeira had said it, but she could have been wrong. It could have also just been a hobby… a very strange one. Taurina pursed her lips, rolling this thought in her mind as Madeira talked to the ghost inside of her, scolding it actually. Interesting. Very interesting.

Taurina wanted to move on, she wanted to get on with the commission. Not because she did not care or was uninterested, but more that she did not know how she was meant to act. What she was meant to do as Madeira became quiet all of the sudden and seemed to be focusing. The Drykas gaze began to drift again, around what she could see of the room before settling on the hyena. It made sense now that that was why the pale woman had chosen for a hyena to be tattooed upon her. An outward showing of the internal bond, kind of like a windmark actually. Taurina smiled absently at that thought.

Then she felt the lick of a tongue that was not there and her smile faded. Eyes widened again. The Drykas pulled back and blinked in surprise with a small shriek of surprise escaping her lips, a hand flying to press against the assaulted area. ‘What the petch was that?!’ There was nothing there, nothing left over. Taurina rubbed her fingertips across her jaw, her face contorted in concern. There was no way she had missed someone coming up to her and licking her. There were none who would even come and try to do such a thing. At least… she did not think so. Was she imagining things?

“I’m sorry.. I do not know what happened..” Taurina muttered out apologies, the concerned look not fading in the slightest until she noticed the change in the woman before her.

Emma’s appearance in Madeira gave Taurina something else to turn her attention to. She found herself fascinated. Once Madeira and now Emma, but the same body. Two different souls sharing a shell. It was like the Akalak, but it was also not because this was different. This was sadder, somehow.

“Hello Emma,” Taurina made her voice kind, a softer smile creating twinkles in her eyes.

The girl asked to see the windmarks, having caught the Eth’s slip, and though Taurina wanted to shy away, she did not. She only slowly nodded before she stood from her seat and turned her face to look upon the wall covered in multicolored art. Fingertips found the hem of her shirt and she lifted it so that Emma, and whoever else was looking might see.

The curls of ink covered the whole of the Drykas’ back in intricate swirls and whorls that looked like nothing from up close, but like complex knot work as a whole. Taurina did not know fully what it meant, but she knew it had to have done with something that was important to her. Likely family, maybe even her pavilion knot. Though it did not look as simple as that, not that knots in the web were simple, but this just seemed different. It felt different; like it was more than she knew to understand. Taurina sighed, she was unsure if she would ever get to know.

Once she was sure Emma had gotten a long enough view, she replaced her shirt and sat back down. She forced a smile, but it was sadder this time. The absence of her memories brought to the forefront of her mind. The Ethaefal had gotten used to the darkness, but that did not mean it was always easy not to know who she was. Who she had once been. Who she was expected to become. She was just another lost soul, sent wandering in a world with no direction.

“My name is Taurina,” she told Emma, or Madeira, whoever was listening, “Taurina Stormblood, from the Diamond Clan. I have worked at the Lilacwind pavilion learning how to create windmarks for the past year until moving to Riverfall and beginning to work here.”

Taurina picked up a piece of her charcoal, focusing her gaze on the parchment and began to draw some rough lines and shapes. Sketching always took some time. It was important to have a basic understanding of what the client wanted and to have something to work off of when it was time for the actual tattooing. The sketch would provide Taurina with a map for size and ratios and the actual design itself. Her gaze wandered between parchment and Kelvic, studying him as she tried to interpret him into charcoal.

“Emma, may I speak to Madeira please?” Taurina’s voice was soft, elevated, the kind one used to speak to a child. “I need to know what ideas she has in her head, a rough idea of what she would like painted on her skin.”

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Allister]

There’s a certain kind of pathetic state that recognizes something similar in others. Allister knew sadness. The flavor nestled upon the tattoo artist matched that peculiar woven emotion of sadness that comes from joy and happiness which has been stolen- ripped away by some filthy hand that knows nothing of the love that existed. Allister suddenly felt guilty for sating his urge to taste the woman’s neck. He called his tongue back to him and passed it over the top of Madeira’s hand to let her know that he was responsible for the slight freak out of the young woman. The black eyes turned into the fingers that drew shapes upon his scalp. He stared at the blue eyes that were a little different than normal.

His beloved Madeira’s voice was that of the blonde bondmate but it wasn’t. The mannerism was wrong. Emma was talking- curious little thing. Allister didn’t know much about the child but he loved how she always sang his name. It was like a game -life was- when emma was around. Everything was fascinating or exciting or disappointing or tragic. She had this way about livening up almost every single breath that the world had to offer. These thoughts came readily to the hyena and he rose on all fours while keeping his head under the affection of his people (even if they were sharing a body). The spine arched downward and his rump rose as the long brindle hairs on his back arched into a fan of fur that looked like a blade. The short snout turned to look at the caramel gaze of the artist so she could see the understanding in his eyes.

Allister poured the story of Madison into his obsidian orbs. He wanted her to know that he knows- that he gets it. He had happiness in his bond. He pushed love and gratitude to his bondmate though he wasn’t sure what that would feel like with Emma in the Madeira’s body. The canine stretched and moved around in a slow circle showing off the smooth lines of muscle beneath his fur. For the first time in his existence, his ribs were not revealed to show his malnutrition. Bonded, loved, care for and now with a purpose, the kelvic grew stronger but it was only because of the reciprocated emotions in the bond that made all of these things possible.

Madeira was a unique woman. Her mind, her heart and her ambitions were unlike anything Allister had ever experienced. Yet when she saw him- truly saw how he viewed her, she understood. That night with the high fevers and strange outbursts had revealed a bit of each person to the other in a way that cemented their relationship. Allister was a satellite that drifted around the spiritist. He was a buffer from the outside world so that she would be free to delve into her desires and pursuits without fear of disruption, sabotage or failure. The former slave pledged his life to the aristocrat and the willingness and freedom in his motives not only unlocked a piece of himself but it proved to be a stepping stone on the path to greater things.

The dog curled around the chair showing off his various attributes but made sure that every look at one woman or the other was transparent enough to convey these things. How different his life had become and how wonderful! Fear, sadness, pain- so much pain- were all worth their blood, sweat and tears because Allister now had the beautiful contrast of belonging, of love and acceptance to draw a comparison. He felt a peace around Madeira’s decision to get a tattoo and it was only fitting that hers be magnificent to reflect her beauty. He would bear the scars and poor craftsmanship and be the anvil. Madeira was that hammer- the driving force of their pairing and it was her will that forged their future. Allister was slowly coming to a tentative comprehension that he was the stable mass she needed to create and design all of the plans and dreams that she shared. The young woman pounded out her goals against the unbreakable kelvic; an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Instead of fighting against one another, they work together-- the gods better get ready.

Madeira’s coming.

[Madeira Dusk]

At the probing question of the ghost, the Drykas rose from her seat. The term 'windmark' was unfamiliar to Madeira. And from the sad sort of reluctance Taurina was showing as she turned to lift her shirt, she wondered if it was something private Emma should not have asked.

The ghost sat forward in her body, leaning on the desk, and from her soul came a bubbling fascination. The windmark was a tattoo, but not like any tattoo Madeira had ever seen before. Her entire back was dark with intricate swirls that looked almost random. But the longer she stared the more she could make out some sort of pattern, or at least a cohesive whole. It was like many separate marks coming together to tie an unbreakable knot.

Eventually the Drykas introduced herself as she pulled her clothing back down, hiding her mark from view. What the Diamond Clan was, and what a pavilion was beyond a type of structure, flew over Madeira's head. But something in Taurina's voice told her she was proud of it.

Madeira wrestled with the Emma's unskilled soul for a moment, reaching up to her own motor functions without uprooting the ghost. Cradling her and aligning their souls, sharing a mind as well as a body, Madeira and Emma spoke together.

"Pleased to meet you, Taurina."

Their voice was strangely dissonant, warbling between accents, and that short effort had the child spent. But Madeira was proud to have accomplished Emma's first graceful possession together. She praised the child while gently detangling the girl from her body so she could rest while Madeira took her place.

"I'm here" she spoke aloud to Taurina's request, sitting up straight once again and reaching over to Allister on the chair beside her to smooth down his wayward fur. Leaning over the desk she took a look at what Taurina was drawing. They almost looked like study sketches, all shape and form without details. There was one of Allister from the back, top-down and another from the side. For some reason, the last one made her stop and stare. She liked the movement of it, with the shoulders down and his mouth agape. But she saw it upside down, so it's legs were in the air, and its toothy hyena smile with split with something that looked like laughter.

"This", she said, pointing to the favorite sketch, a spark of inspiration in her blue eyes. "But this way", she flipped the drawing so Taurina could see it belly up, "I want a drawing of him laughing. He doesn't have a gentle laugh; It twists his face and rips his throat. And I'd like it on my upper back, stretching from shoulder to shoulder."

Across Allister's chest and most of his back were his tattoos of endless laughter, as if his abusers thought the abuse was a joke. Well, he belonged to her now. The Kelvic had a strange sense of humour and a wild way of showing it, and she was going to brand herself with his happiness.

x