Better days are coming for you.

The rain came heavily, and appropriately. Quicksilver listened to the rain batter stone beyond the safety of his private quarter, heard the biting wind as it howled through the caverns. Somewhere farther off, a rumble of distant thunder; tragedy had befallen Vanderfell Woods and Shiroshika both.

It pained him to think of Orlaith, and the bad blood that'd been long harboured between them. He didn't think he'd ever done anything to warrant her suspicion of him, and over time her blatant mistrust had never seemed to cease. Quicksilver did his best to avoid her and, with news of her demise, he sorely regretted his decision to refrain from extending that olive branch.

Guilt bore heavy on his shoulders, yet there was much to be thankful for. He turned then to @Reiko, who'd been understandably quiet, and concern was clear in his eyes should she choose to look upon him. The marring of her face would scar, he knew, and he'd done his best to tend each fierce wound made by the cat's claws with care, but he worried for those that were not visible. He wanted to reach for her, to press his lips to her crown, but he was afraid she'd reject the contact.

“The rain isn't permanent,” he tried to smile, but it was clearly feigned - simply hopeful. “Soon, we will dance in the sun again - you and I.”

The tiger lived and thus, the war wasn't over. But there could be light at the end of the tunnel.


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The rain that sang from outside the den filled the silence. A static that tried to help erase the constant noise that bombarded her thoughts with little success. Perhaps peace of mind would never return to the dove. Something that seemed like an impossibility since her arrival in these new lands over a year ago. Each new event adding to the noise that screamed internally for attention to the point she could only hope to grow deaf to. 

The rain isn’t permanent, the druid said. To which she fought the need to turn and smother him in kisses - fearing her own features. Keeping her focus on the rain just beyond their reach, paws pressed up closely on either side of her muzzle as though to hide the ugliness she felt.

A long pause followed his hopeful words. A beautiful thought that brought a fantastic image to mind; only to be squashed by a reminder.

Vera thought herself to be ugly due to the scars that maimed her face. Tiberius as well. Though perhaps she didn’t think of them to be ugly without internal reasons, maybe the world didn’t share the same thoughts.

“Am I still pretty?” A genuine inquiry.

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There was a discomfort that settled in the pit of Quicksilver's abdomen to hear nothing but rainfall following his hopeful quip. He blinked, stealing another glance down at his belovedto find her muzzle buried beneath dainty paws. The druid's ears splayed backward and he stifled the whine that rose in his throat; to hear her utter such a question broke his heart.

He hesitated for only a moment - not because he had to consider it, but because the last thing he wanted was to deepen her insecurity in any way. Their relationship had been a rocky one before Winter's arrival and while distance hadn't dampened what one felt for the other, it was clear that Reiko now worried how her war wounds might affect their future. He, still very much smitten with everything that made her who she was, had not once considered that. “No matter what,” he sank to his belly before her, keen to be more on her level. A limb was extended, and he attempted to nudge his toes to the Empress' ankle, “you will always be beautiful, Reiko. I mean it.”

He loved her, all of her - including the broken parts of her. It killed him to know how she fretted over how she looked when she simply did not have to.


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As shallow as it may seem - there would always be that nagging bug in the back of her mind. How a woman must look, how she, an Empress must appear. The image of her own mother was ever so present in who she must look up to and no matter how often she would turn away from that image, it would simply creep back. From the eyes of a child, her mother was perfect. The perfect Queen, the perfect mother and wife.

Hearing the necessary words from Quicksilver and his reassurance next to her, she melted into his touch though simple and small it may be. A sigh relaxed her the best it could, shuffling herself over to the druid thankful for his presence.

“I look forward to it.” This time she spoke turning her head to him, a smile pressed against her lips - tired and sorrowful but trying to remain in the moment the best she could. 

Did Ira tell him of their agreement she wondered? When would be the best time to bring up the topic? Was it too soon? Would later be too late and come off as secretive to his own future? 



“Has… Ira spoken to you at all of our agreement?” Quickly deciding she would not risk the secrets.

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Again, silence from the Empress. Quicksilver felt that he might deflate, disappointed that he could not succeed at all in lifting Reiko's spirits, but he was determined to maintain whatever was left of his strength. Even if it bore no fruit and didn't seem like much, it was something - all he had to offer.

At last, his beloved appeared to let down her guard. She scooted across the furs and into his willing arms. Quicksilver gathered her close, mindful of her tenderness, and shifted to curl himself at her back. With a croon he nosed her unmarked cheek, and was content to simply lay with her for a time until she wished to entertain his small talk.

Sooner than he expected, she piped up in question. The silverwhite pricked an ear, curious. “No,” he said, entirely unaware of the grand plan that both Queens had in store for his future, “what's that?”


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Here she felt almost at ease enough to let fatigue sweep her away. Almost would be the key word in this instance. Quicksilver had taken her in the warmth she felt from him radiated through her. So long as he didn’t see the marks upon her face as ugly, what others thought no longer mattered.

At his answer she was uncertain whether or not to be thankful that Ira hadn’t already spoken to him of it. That perhaps it would be better to hear it from her than the High Queen as it was she who had initially brought up the thought as opposed to offering her daughter outright.

Hotaru had been through enough as it was after all. If there could be avoiding bringing her into any more of it, it would be done. A long exhale eased her nerves as she pondered how to answer. How to open the discussion she had brought to the table.

“Ira had requested an offering in exchange for Vanderfell’s involvement.” Something they had obviously so desperately needed after seeing the outcome of the fight. Had Ira and her warriors not been present was not an image she liked to think of. 

Still, she was not proud of the desperation. “I only had one thing precious enough for me to offer in exchange for assistance Shiroshika desperately needed.” Another nervous pause. Her ears flattened against her crown anticipating Quicksilver’s reaction. “I offered my children. Hotaru or the firstborn of the next litter. Ira was reasonable, offering a tentative alliance until I wed and then we can speak further… that was when I asked for her blessings with the idea of you in mind.”

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The druid detected anxiety creep back into the dove's being, and felt his own tension rise. An agreement, she had said, one made by Reiko and Ira, and one that clearly made the former seem... uncomfortable? Quicksilver flicked his tongue nervously over his upper lip and waited with his breath held.

I offered my children.

He swore his heart skipped a beat.

The firstborn of the next litter.

He blinked.

Did she... want to marry him to provide her with children to sell!? The idea, at once, both shocked and horrified him. “You...” he fumbled with his words, not sure what he was supposed to feel, “you want us to have pups? And you want to... give them away?”


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Naturally he was upset. She had known this from the beginning and there was no avoiding any of it. Whether it was with Quicksilver or with some other random man to give her children, he wouldn’t have liked either one of them she was certain. There was a lot more to talk about, more to be said than what had originally just been uttered.

It was a lot for her too. The pack’s safety, the deaths, the well-being of her only daughter both physically and mentally - now this. “Not quite… Ira said that between us, our children might not be necessary.” Even the word “might” was too heavy for her, but it was what was offered. 

“My children, our children, were the only things I had to offer… but when I mentioned you as a possible man of interest, we seem to be good enough instead.” Nervously she continued, babbling and essentially vomiting as much as she could to have an understanding here. Of all the things she had been shouldering, of all the things that had to come still to fix this mess Kuhn and Valmúa had thrust them into.

“I know this rushes things… and I can understand if you are mad.”

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An arrangement had been made where he was expected to play a key role, and Ira had held her end of the bargain - all without him knowing. Quicksilver felt dizzy to think of it, and the rush of emotion was difficult to bear. His mouth dried and he turned his face away, rooting himself to the Empress' side despite the sudden desire to peel himself away from her. How could she be so reckless!?

She loved Shiroshika, but more than her children? Would she favour them when the time came to sacrifice one, have a change if heart and thus sever the bond forged between her pack and Ira's? And what was he, a puppet? A pawn?

Quicksilver would not father pups to be shipped off from their home and their family at a tender age, not without their willingness to go. What on earth would Ira want with a cub, anyway!?

There was a small comfort in that "might", but it was short-lived. The potential was there, and it terrified him.

“I...” his breath wavered, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the beginnings of a headache, “I want a family. I want that with you, but not-” Quicksilver felt emotion swell in his throat, and he looked at the dove once more, “I'm not saying no, but...what if I didn't agree? Would you...?”

Would you find someone else?


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She would not blame him for walking away. For denying it all and leaving it all for her to figure out. This was her mess after all, and unfair to have been made with haste without him being a part of the discussion. 

His emotion was clear in the tone he took. Once so hopeful just moments ago and crushed once more with the weight of her own decision. The lesser of two evils. She would happily take the brunt of this if it meant the pack was safer - but in the end was it? Had all this and future aches gone in vain? 



“Hotaru would be the next possible offer…” Something she hated more for some reason than any other children in the near future. “I cannot be certain I could bear sending her off.” Her only daughter. One-half of the two things she had searched for so long upon arriving here in the new world. Someone who had already dealt with so much.



“I do not want to think of what would come if you were to say no.” She didn’t want to whore herself out. Nor did she want to see Hotaru go. Arguably to a safer pack. That also meant the only family the two would have left would no longer be together. “But that is a freedom you do have.”

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He respected Ira and Vanderfell was the one place he knew his offspring would be safe, but to make that choice for them was out of the question. It wasn't fair to make prisoners out of children, and for what? To be reared as a soldier so they might face the sane fate as Orlaith? To be wed against their will?

“You know I want to marry you,” he said, swallowing the lump in his throat, “and I... I wanted to do it right. I wanted it to be special.”

To court her. To give her some grand proposal. To be ready.

He sighed. “I don't like that it has to be this way Reiko, not... not one bit. But I'll do it - for you, for Vanderfell and for Shiroshika. What I won't do is rob any children we might have of their freedom.”

Why were peace and happiness so difficult to achieve?


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Though Quicksilver’s words weren’t that of rejection or hatred, they stung all the same. There was no malice found or desire to cause pain and yet she could feel it. She could feel it from him and through herself.

“I agree.” She muttered. Agreeing that robbing the freedom of their children was not something she had wanted to do either. But what other choice did she have? What other things did she have to offer in their stead had she and Quicksilver’s union not been enough? 

“I wish none of this had happened. That Kuhn had never hunted on our lands, that he and Vamlúa had left us alone from the beginning. Had kept to our agreements.”

It would have made everything so much easier. No one had to be hurt. No one had to die. No one had to worry that leaving Shiroshika borders could lead to their demise over some disagreement over boundaries. 

Though her eyes did not sting with the familiar sensation of tears, her chest tightened with a shudder that sent tremors through her body. “None of this had to happen.” Which included the predicament the druid was thrust into so suddenly.

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He was hurt, of course, to have had his path carved out for him by Ira and Reiko in exchange for aid in removing threat from the Everfrost. A union with his Shiroshika dove was what he wanted, of course, but he'd been content to let it shape and grow in its own time. Quicksilver was in no rush to make it official considering he barely knew her children and her pack-mates. It would also mean he would need to relocate sooner than he intended, and the thought of leaving his young wards pained him above all else.

He was uncharacteristically frustrated, but he tried not let it show. Instead he allowed it to fester right at the heart of him, let the mental image of sending his firstborn baby off into the unknown fuel his simmering anger. Quicksilver inhaled deeply, reminding himself that it did not need to be, that it was a mere possibility. He would sacrifice himself first - be sure that his family be borne of love, not for the fulfilment of a contract he did not agree to.

“I understand you felt desperate, but... in future,” the druid said, perhaps a little coldly; he could not meet Reiko's gaze, “I ask that you do not bargain lives in exchange for soldiers.” He shot her one last sideways glance, and curled himself away from the Empress in an effort to keep himself from falling apart before her.


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A rift was born between them once more. She could feel it, see it growing as Quicksilver’s tone shifted and he moved away from her. Though he said he wished for them to still be together, the actions, the tone; clawing its way into her heart and soul. Carving a home for it to nestle into while her walls were weak from a year of what felt like never-ending hardships. 



Rotten from weather and stress, they were no longer strong and barely capable of standing on their own. She was barely the woman she recognized in the reflection of mirrored water. Both physically and in spirit.



“It will never happen again.” Empty she spoke., like some river that had run dry moons ago. Feeling he didn’t want anything to do with her now than to keep a promise she had made on his behalf, the Empress of cold, of snow and ice rose to leave the shelter they had shared just moments ago. Perhaps it was her destiny to be chilled, it certainly felt like it.



At least they weren’t alone. It was the only thread she had left to hold onto. No longer did Shiroshika face Kuhn and his accomplice alone, regretfully Ira had been dragged into their business but the Shiroshikans were now allied with others. They were stronger and no longer had to fear the world beyond their walls.



Maybe that alone would make all this worth the aches. Knowing Hotaru didn’t have to be sent off and watch the anger bubble and fester deep into her own young soul as well. Quicksilver being furious seemed less hurtful than watching hatred grow in Hotaru’s eyes. 

Something she could and would shoulder as opposed to seeing Gyrfalcon return once more the way she had on her previous mission. As opposed to hearing Kuhn and Valmua had once again imposed themselves onto borders they were not welcome to. To wondering if anyone would disappear and think Kuhn was the culprit.

Even as the rain touched her skin the cold of spring’s breath didn’t phase as much as what was felt internally. Perhaps a walk was an order as sleep was now out of the question.

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Darkness clouded his mind, and once more Quicksilver began to wonder if Reiko had ever meant what she said when she'd told him she loved him. Time and time again she would press him, push him for answers, expect more from him than he could give. Was that the way their life was meant to be? For so long he'd yearned for her, a fool bound by whatever destiny had brought them together, so socially and romantically inexperienced that he'd convinced himself he could ever be more than a pawn to provide heirs that might save strangers.

The dove gathered to her paws and wordlessly departed the chamber, and Quicksilver did not pursue. He remained lain atop his furs and regarded the sound of her footfall with a sideways can't of an ear. When he could no longer hear them, the druid inhaled deep and exhaled a heavy sigh.

He remembered Ira and Hiero's wedding day, two souls bound willingly and on their own terms and surrounded by friends to celebrate with them. His own union to Reiko would not be so magical, he felt, considering how he'd been robbed of the opportunity to ask her as tradition expected. Quicksilver shifted uncomfortably, hating that children were expected from him to be presented to Vanderfell as payment.

The silverwhite gritted his teeth and bit back the threat of tears. He would never allow it, he decided then and there. He would die before being forced to submit his son or daughter to anyone, regardless of Ira's demand or Reiko's promise.


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