Exploited Anguish

[Guppy]

Whelp did not often allow It to sway her. It was a creature who oft used manipulation to get what It wanted. It's words were poison and filth. Whelp was much stronger than she gave herself credit for, else the creature would not have chosen her to bind with. Not everyone who met Death received this deal to extend life, after all. There was something special about her that the creature chose not to tell her. It continued to let her think that she was a minnow against a shark. Sheep against wolf. The creature lay in wait at every opportunity until the girl would be impressionable to It's words. Like it or not, there was not much that could undo their bond, so It could either try to destroy the girl or seek to darken her soul to match It's own. Gloria, the seamstress, had unwittingly given It an opening that It did not often get. Gloria had looked upon Whelp as if she, too, were untrustworthy. The exalted Friend had turned her gaze upon Whelp and found her wanting. In an instant, joy at seeing her friend turned to ash in her mouth. Gloria looked at her as if she were the monster. Taking in the roiling emotions pouring off the girl, It tried to keep the glee from slipping through their bond and instead, muddied the waters.

Your friendship was a false one. It meant the world to you and nothing to her. She just took pity on you. Elliot, too. I will remain with you forever. We are the very best of Friends, little whelp. I will protect you. They will not hurt you again.

The pulse of dismay that It felt from the girl after It's words made It smile. It basked in the emotion. Should she continue to be this perceptive, the creature knew that she would soon be fractured beyond repair. Soon, the girl would leave those she had bonded with at the Dagger behind. Soon, It would have complete control and they could begin to work on It's path to power. Perhaps It would not need Elliot or Niall after all. Perhaps they had merely been means to an end. Not having to share power would be sweeter still.

Whelp wandered, lost and alone in the darkening forest, and she wept hot tears that ran unchecked down her pale cheeks. Her heart was breaking, turning into a hollow lump in her chest. Her steps slowed and she sank to her knees. Broken. Noura no more.

[Jirai]

Niall did not care about many things. Even after years (how many? Five, six?) here in Myrken, her room was almost empty, lacking even in furniture. Such things did not matter. What mattered was... well. Difficult for Niall to put into words. She couldn't even fall back on the fact that this was not her first tongue, not after so many years. She just did not think about things that way.

She'd tried the girl's room, the other night. Perhaps it had been her intention all along, perhaps just something to do while Gloria and Solena discussed something she was clearly not meant to hear. Perhaps it was something more, for when she got no answer there she went searching elsewhere and if Niall was no good at talking and explaining her thoughts, she was quite good at hunting and tracking.

Steps slowed as the sounds of grief reached her ears. Not what she had expected. Not something Niall was accustomed to. Still, it would not be all that long before the scarred woman was crouched before the girl, her face as expressionless as it usually was. Considering.

[Guppy]

The wildling was aimlessly wandering, tears blurring her vision as she stumbled in her path. She was not interested in a destination. Just away. Away from the friends-that-were-not friends. Trying to escape the caustic whispers of that which shared her body. When Niall found her, her dress was frayed at the hem and there was grime coating her face. Two tracks of clear skin trekked down her cheeks from her tears and there was snot smeared across her cheek. There were angry, red scrapes upon her skin from the thorns in the underbrush she had blundered through like a blind beast of burden.

When she stumbled and sank to her knees, it took her far too long to notice that she was not alone. She quieted with a gasping sob, holding in her sorrow and wiping angrily at her tears. Those pale eyes rose to meet Niall's, but danced away rather quickly again to stare at the area slightly above one of her shoulders. Those eyes were wild and unfocused, approaching the edge of something unsaid.

Despite her turmoil and obvious vulnerability, It was clearly not in control at this point. Still, her expression was cautious. Whelp did not speak for a moment, just sat and tried her best to calm herself down. Niall, the Mother-Bear, watched her silently.

She is judging you too.

Whelp scowled. "Come to tell me to stay away from him too?," she asked, her words as brittle as thawing ice, and almost as cold. Lashing out at the woman since Gloria was not present. It's poison words prodding her to do so.

[Jirai]

There were levels here. There was Whelp (though she hated that name) and Not-Whelp. And these two meant entirely different things to the tatttooed young woman. She crouched before the other woman, dark eyes staring, scarred face blank. That was not unusual. Niall was, well, Niall. She considered the other for a moment more, harsh words taken in along with the pale tracks of tears.

After a long moment, the scarred woman reached out a hand, aiming to set fingers briefly against the other's cheek. Without any consequence from Niall's usual defenses.

"Should I?" She asked simply.

[Guppy]

To say that it was a surprise when Niall's fingers stretched forward to touch upon her damp cheek was an understatement. Whelp nearly tumbled over from the shock of the touch. She had not known the scarred woman long, but it was immediately obvious to anyone who met her that she did not often do such things. Instantly, the anger seemed to shatter and she made a pathetic little mewling sound and tilted her cheek against the other's hand. Grateful for the show of support.

"You probably should," she admitted, the fight going out of her as she slumped her shoulders. Defeated. For all her rage, Gloria had been right to tell the others not to trust her, not to allow her near Elliot. "He asked It to come out to talk to him. I can not stop It. He asked. It would not let that lie. And then Gloria. She.. she hit me. Hit the creature," she stammered through her explanation that was not altogether clear, even now. Something big had happened, obviously. Those tears were gathering at the corners of her eyes again.

[Jirai]

Niall did not often do such things, that was completely true. And this touch wouldn't last long, a moment only before she dropped her hand, rocking back slightly on her heels as she continued watching the other without blinking.

"And if he asked, and you cannot stop It, and Gloria hit It, what is that to do with you?" Niall questioned. "I hit you once." She pointed out. "You did not act like this." The tattooed woman pushed herself gracefully to her feet and began walking, clearly expecting the other to follow.

[Guppy]

The warm hand was drawn away at such a rapid pace that the leaning Whelp nearly tumbled over from that. She managed to keep herself upright, those wounded eyes following Niall as she rocked back on her heels to regard her. Considering.

Judging.

Whelp flinched slightly, but the reason was not apparent. Niall knew well enough that the reason may be the dark creature that lurked in the depths of her mind. Niall rose and began picking her way through the underbrush and Whelp considered if she were going to follow. In the end, she begrudgingly lifted to her feet and trotted after the scarred one in order to catch up. She followed at her heels, tromping through the plant life as if she were city folk instead of the small game hunter she was known to be. Uncaring if the animals fled. Sulking. "The hitting was not the problem, but I really wish that everyone would stop that," she admitted, unable to keep the whine from her voice. "When I was back and It was gone, she ordered them to keep me away from him. Like it was me that hurt him." The girl bit her lower lip sharply to keep from blubbering again. She doubted that Niall would tolerate too much feeling sorry for herself.

"It did not harm him. I did not harm him. He.. fell. He seemed dazed and It went to help him." She faltered for a moment, shoulders slumped as she trailed dully after Niall. "If everyone sees me as being the same as It, then why bother trying to be different?," she asked, voice small and needy.

Exactly. You may as well take what you want in life, instead. Stop fretting about what others think and do as you wish. You can not change what they think about us.

[Jirai]

At first there was silence behind her, a silence that stretched out almost too long. Then the silence was broken, the sounds of the other woman trailing behind her, unexpectedly loud. In contrast, the scarred young woman's steps were carefully silent. If Niall were anyone else, she would have smiled. She did not, but she was satisfied nonetheless.

"Either you are different or you are not. And if you are different, then why should it matter what they think? If you are not different then, well, they are correct, are they not?" Here in the woods, alone with Whelp and It, words came easier to the normally taciturn young woman. She continued her steady pace, seemingly with some goal in mind.

"The seamstress did not know that there were two of you the last time I spoke with her. She is not nearly as observant as she ought to be; it is possible she did not know it was you again." And Niall was not nearly as cautious as she ought to be, with this one at her back, not within her line of sight. One of the few who could be a real threat to the young mage.

[Guppy]

Niall was so matter-of-fact in her explanations. She made things sound so simple when Whelp felt they were anything but. She faltered in her steps for a moment before trotting again to catch up. It was strange - the two were the same age, but Whelp seemed so much younger than she. Especially now, in this moment. "It matters," she insisted, chin jutting out in a stubborn movement. "It matters because they are my friends. It doesn't matter what Elliot thinks of you?," she questioned, curious what the other's answer would be.

Whelp did not know where Niall was leading her, but it did not seem to matter. She would follow. Her point about Gloria was a good one, she supposed. Still, it was a point that she would need to think on for a time before swallowing her ire on the subject. "You.. you do not seem to be bothered by It. Nor by me," she observed, almost shyly. Niall, despite her outward reserve, almost seemed the most accepting one of those that Whelp considered dear to her.

[Jirai]

It was not so strange as all that. Niall always seemed older than her age would indicate - and wasn't that in fact Kacela's name for the scarred girl? Oh, it was less obvious now than it had been when she was little more than a child in years, but it was still there.

"Elliot knows what I am and I know what he is." The tattooed woman answered simply, even though the other woman might have a point there. Maybe. If Niall thought about it more.

"Why should I be bothered by either of you?" The tattooed woman had her own interest in It, of course, which few others might say. Her attention to Whelp, on the other hand, was harder for her to explain to herself. She kept walking.

[Guppy]

Niall was ever-steadfast in her assurance about her position in Elliot's life. Whelp, on the other hand, was not confident in any of her relationships at this point. Things were Gloria were strained and Elliot was not in his right mind when he was around her these days. When he recovered, she wondered if he would despise her for her part in making him that way. Not that it had been on purpose. The incident had been a surprise to everyone involved. "Well, that must be nice," she mentioned, her voice a little dispirited. She wondered if she would ever have such an enduring relationship with anyone.

As she asked why she should be bothered, Whelp lofted a brow and kept her gaze between Niall's shoulder blades. "Well, because no one knows how dangerous It can be." Not even Whelp. "And It seems to have an uncanny interest in both you and Elliot," she reminded the woman, carefully.

[Jirai]

Or, at least, Niall was steadfast when talking to others about her position in Elliot's life. Not that she did that often. The part about Elliot, that is, though really, one could just go with 'Niall doesn't talk often' and it would be accurate.

Speaking of which, the scarred girl did not reply immediately to the other woman's comments. She walked a little further, then took a sharp turn, bringing them into a small clearing, bordered thickly by brush. The remains of a firepit were evident.

"I know very well how dangerous It is. That does not bother me. A challenge, perhaps, and I have been very bored lately." She said, seating herself on a log that had clearly been used for that purpose before. "And while I may dislike It's interest in Elliot, I have an interest in It myself, so why should it bother me if It is also interested?"

[Guppy]

The sharp turn surprised the wildling a little, for she was not paying much attention to where their feet were taking them. She paused at the edge of the treeline as Niall continued on and settled on the log beside the abandoned fire pit. Her booted feet kept her there a moment longer before she sighed and continued on.

She would seek to settle across the pit from the scarred young woman. Those pale eyes gazed at her in the gathering darkness, yearning for something that she did not put words to. A palm lay beside her on the log, index finger's blunted nail picking at the peeling bark there.

"You and Elliot both like to play with things you shouldn't," she remarked, giving the other her casual observation. "For now, It seems to want both of you to come into power with It. I'm not certain how long that will last, though. It will watch for you to drop your guard," she warned.

There was a shift, a change in the air that was almost imperceptible and the girl was sighing. The sound was a vexed one. "It does not like being talked about as if It is not here." The drawled change in her voice and the stance of her body was unmistakable. One leg crossed over another and she stared across the short distance with half-lidded black eyes as she folded hands in her lap. "Do you mind, Niall? I was this (and here she held up forefinger and thumb in close proximity to one another and squinted) "- close to tearing the girl away from all of you ... distractions." The word 'distractions' was said with a gesture at Niall and an expression of disgust. As if she found them distasteful. As if Niall were a good-for-nothing cur that did its business right in front of her. "I will use you both if I must, but I almost had her where I wanted her. Not needing friends. Nor her.. What does she call you?" A flicker of amusement across her pretty features. "Mother-Bear Niall?" A low chortle sounded, as if she found them quaint.

[Jirai]

Niall sat, outwardly relaxed, but one foot was tucked back. She could be on her feet in the blink of an eye if such were needed. As it was, she sat calmly, watching the other take a seat as well. Then, just as she was about to reply, things changed. Scarred lips curled in a tiny smile.

"I was wondering how long it would take you." The young woman said idly, though her gaze was intent on the other. Silence for a moment, then, before the tattooed girl continued, unimpressed. "You need her. That is unfortunate."

[Guppy]

The smile upon her lips was sly, but not quite as flirtatious as the ones that she bestowed upon Elliot Brown. Not quite. "I couldn't take the whining anymore," she admitted plainly, lifting a hand to peer down at the filthy nails in distaste. When she mentioned that the creature needed Whelp, the smile widened. "Well of course I do. This is her body," she remarked, spreading her arms wide and peering down at herself. "I can invade it all I want to, but at the end of the day, this is her body and it was given to her. Mine is long gone." She peered across at the other woman. "You and Elliot, I can tolerate. The little bird, Gloria, she is infuriating." The creature's expression clouded with irritation. A pause, considering for a moment. "...Am I interrupting? Did you want to speak with her or me?," asked idly, watching her with a knowing expression. "Your affection for her is.. unexpected," she gave that wide, predatory grin. "It's annoying how quickly she digs her claws in and inserts herself in your lives, isn't it?" She almost sounded proud. "Now," she began, slapping a hand on her thigh, "When are we going to take over this pathetic little town, Mm?"