When the Night is Over

His words hang between the pair as they observe each other through the darkness. The mention of Auden's mother had her practically salivating for more information, some withered and neglected connection yearning for anything to connect her to the family she'd lost before she could remember them. "How am I supposed to trust you?" Auden had demanded of the man if nothing more than due diligence, though her mind was already made up.

"You've been free to go this whole time. I haven't laid a finger on you." He'd gestured in the direction behind Auden, slow and deliberate. Back into the dark thick of forest to stumble around in the dark in stubborn hope for a road, or back to her aunt. Neither of which were appealing choices.

"And if I go with you and want to come back to the walls?" That knowing smirk had grown a fraction wider at her question.

"Then I'll bring you back, you have my word." He made some crossing gesture over his heart, non-threatening enough that it almost made her smile.

"The word of a man I don't know." Like the crossing of blades, Auden's rebukes, had been quick. Perhaps sensing that it wasn't him that Auden was trying to convince, he'd given her a small, exaggerated bow.

"Kieran Orroux, at your service, Lady Yusinne" His golden gaze had sparkled with some impish delight at her wary confusion. "Consider it a little proof, Auden daughter of Rowan and Tabitha, that I'm telling the truth." Knowledge was truly power, and it was clear the promise to learn more about those roots she was denied held a sway on her. She had convinced herself of other reasons, whatever else was in the forest she didn't want to meet, and even if she did make it to sunrise there was no telling how long it'd take to find a road.

There was no telling where it would take her and Auden couldn't go back to Laurel. It wasn't as if he'd told any lies she could detect so far. She was dirty from her nocturne trek through the woods, cold and the adrenaline of making it past the walls had begun to wane leaving her feeling exhausted down to her bones. For all those reasons and more that she was unwilling to name to anyone including herself, it'd only taken a few minutes of quiet calculations for Auden to agree to go with Kieran. Overhead the night sky has lightened ever so slightly with cobalt blues of the coming day eddied into the inky blackness.

The silver speckling of stars overhead and a scattering of clouds of gray wisp are backdropped by the sound of wind rushing through Auden's ears, the forest creaking about them. Her hands unwittingly flex tighter in the wolf's thick fur, her mind turning over their conversation. She had made a choice, but was it the right one? Further from home than she'd ever known, clinging to the back of a great white wolf, Auden was beyond second-guessing herself.

The warmth of Kieran's thick snowy overcoat radiates against Auden's chilled and goose-bumped skin, her face pressed deeply into the scruff of Kieran's neck, shielding her face against the branches and wind that whistled by. She expected him to smell of dog, of beast but there's only a clean earth musk, a hint of cedar. His passes large and silent carry them swiftly, leaves churning in their wake. The trees are intermittent with ash and oak and if anything lingered in the shadows, it dared not approach.

The chilled autumn air rushes down Auden's back, causing her to divert nestling further into Kieran's thick fur. Below her, he rumbles at the action, ever so slightly before his voice whispers through Auden's mind, and she flinches with surprise at the unexpected intrusion.

"Stop squirming," The command is clipped, and Auden doesn't try to suppress her eyeball. Ahead, a thinning in the trees ahead gives view to an ancient moss claimed fallen tree, its long dead roots extending past the lip of the rocky ledge. The sky seems closer here in the open, the moon seems to hover in cheerful greeting just beyond Auden's fingertips. The cliff extends down a deep and twisting path, tine-trodden by countless feet and passes.

Below the steep and rich path opens to a thick lush valley, a meandering river winding its lazy curving twisting path. The lights off a small village terrible up from the center of the sunken valley, the tall and thick grass rolled and ripped in the wind giving the illusion of a wave. Auden had never seen anything like it, and perhaps sensing her wide-eyed awe comes to a halt at the edge of the rocky cliff edge. Without the wind and forest whining at her face acts able to lift her head up fully, gazing down at the lush sight below.

"My home." She manages not to flinch this time as his deep voice rumbles in her mind.

"Does it have a name?" His laugh, raucous and not entirely unkind echoes through her mind as his black lips curl away from his teeth in what Auden can only take for amusement.

"Orroux." There's a weight and solemnity to his words that gives the copper-haired woman the impression there's some history and meaning but she doesn't press. Rather she absently sinks her hands deeper into his scruff, relishing at the warmth that licked her skin. 

"It's hard to think all this time and I never even knew it existed." Kieran rumbles beneath her again. She tries for something light, but she can tell it doesn't land as his wolf's body stiffens ever so slightly beneath her.

"Well yes," again that dry juxtaposition between amusement and irritation bubble in his voice. "The less humans know, the more likely it'll keep the crowds with pitchforks and wolfsbane at bay." The words aren't something that Auden has a response for but it doesn't seem like Kieran had been searching for one as he shakes his head, as if shaking off some clinging, stinging emotion. Tipping his back he looses a series of long, ethereally haunting howls that rip the night's silence asunder. Below them from the cratered valley, a greeting scattering of howls dances back to them.

"Hold on. You don't want to fall off here." Kieran warns and with that she feels the wolf's muscles bunch before he springs forth, his paws easily finding even in the dark the trodden, steep and veering path that led down the rocky cliffs. Bits of loose, tiny rocks and gravel clattered down the steep path beneath his paws, though Kieran doesn't waver.

Auden for her part, grips his fur tightly her knuckles nearly matching his snowy fur. Though he doesn't speak, Auden can practically feel his amusement as Kieran hurtles down the steep paths, his paws sure and confident as Auden tries to bury herself into his side, her eyes squeezed tight as she buried her face into his scruff. Gravity seems to pull her forward and Auden shudders at the mental image of her quite literally tumbling heels over head from the wolf's back down the steep and dropping time-trodden path.

"Oh, sweet Gods around this is how I die." She moans into his fur, earning a mouthful in the process for her effort. Again that deep laugh cuts through her mind, free and infectious. 

"I wouldn't let that happen. You'd leave me with two fist sized bald patches and I'm very, very vain." Again his attempt at a joke manages to find its way past Auden's guard and she gives a strangled, swallowed snort of amusement. Soon enough she feels the ground even out beneath them, the long dying grass of late-autumn brushing against her legs. "Open your eyes Auden." 

His voice all liquid velvet slides through her mind and hesitantly, her eyes crack open. She finds themselves in the crater of that valley, the air sweet with wild grass and the sounds of the river somewhere beyond filling the air quietly. It even seemed slightly warmer as he carried them further down the path. After awhile she noticed more and more paths that branched from the main one but they never split from it. 

Through the withered tall grass, Auden can see those lamplights that looked so small from the cliffside twinkling and shining through the grass ahead. The sounds of other wolves and people fill the air though the moon has well passed its apex. The wind rattles the dry grass, a rasping melody as they break through reaching a large wooden post and gate, a small fence surrounding the village. Two wolves sat still as statues as Kieran approached, Auden on her back. 

Instinctively, Auden pressed closer to Kieran feeling his heartbeat beneath him. One wolf was a deep, black of the most imposing starless nights. While it wasn't as big as Kieran she noted just as many small scars littering its body. The wolf beside it is a misted gray-furred wolf, with bright sparkling green eyes. The deep respect they hold for the scarred white-wolf is obvious in the way they dip their heads. Auden can't hear what they say, their voices don't slip through their mind as Kieran's does but she can tell from the way they position their bodies, the flick and presses of their ears and eyes they are communicating as Kieran had with her earlier. 

Still after a moment they step aside, and from within the gates are pushed open. Two more guards, both in human form beam brightly at Kieran and Auden, toothy but friendly grins. Torchlight illuminates their imposing figures, two females with sharp features and the same predatory grace that Kieran carried and even held himself with. Their dark hair is braided intricately, pulled away from their faces to showcase their proud, sharp features.

She doesn't miss the way their eyes linger at the sight of the weary copper-haired wisp clinging to the male's back. In response she feels a heat across the nape of her neck and she shifts to get down but she feels Kieran's soft rumbling, as if warning her otherwise. With a soft noise of compliance she sinks back against him, mutely thankful for the warmth he provided. The guards stay at their posts, and the other more nocturne-inclined villagers slink to the shadow being sure to give them wide berth after Kieran had warned a few too close and curious with vicious sounding, lip-curled snarls. 

"We have a cabin dedicated for our visitors. I'll take you there, rest tonight." Curiously she leans forward, trying to peer into his eyes but he stiffens and before he can rebuke her to again stop squirming she straightens back up. "Did you eat before your impromptu foray into the forest, or would you like something beyond the stale bread rolls in your satchel?" It's odd, how quickly Auden's grown accustomed to hearing his voice her mind, and she shakes her head in refute. 

She had never pushed herself so much then she had tonight in the woods, and she could feel the stinging minor cuts and scrapes from her excursion. Her legs burned, stiff now from her ride upon the white wolf, skin prickled with goose-bump and Auden feared her cheeks may always be flushed that angry crimson red. She was exhausted, cold and the only thing she could think of was a soft bed and warm blankets. 

The rows of small homes are mostly dark, and Auden stifles a yawn behind her hands as they carry on. Towards the edge of the small village near the forest line and the small fence, Kieran comes to a stop at a small cabin. This time he allows Auden to slide from his back; and this time he doesn't shift back to a man. Rather he sits down, practically face to face with Auden. In this form she again is drawn to the wide, deep scar slashed flatly across the bridge of his nose; and the countless smaller ones. 

Perhaps uncomfortable with her examination he gets to his feet with a small huff, turning to go but hesitates after a few steps. "Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we'll speak. Anything you wish to know that we can answer we will, Lamb." Some contented, satisfied smile touches her lips as she gives a subtle nod, her wind-swept wild waves bouncing about her pixie-like face. She doesn't even bother to rebuke him for the nickname, rather bounding up the sturdy, dark wooden steps to the cabin. 

There's a fire going inside, and Auden only assumes she has Kieran to thank for that. The air is toasty, chasing away the remaining chill from Auden's body as she disrobes; peeling her clothes from her body and leaving them in a pile by the fireplace too tired to properly put them away. She doesn't bother to look for fresh clothes, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace against her pale skin and the way the moonlight filtering through the windows accentuated her freckle-kissed skin. Auden's too heavy feet by some miracle managed to carry her to the small bed in the corner, thick blankets and pelts thrown down for her comfort.

Auden's head hardly hits the pillow before she's asleep the sound of her deep breathing fills the quiet and empty space.