[SpringsSong]

“A… human form?” Tali asked as Yuki took his, and she lowered her head as she nodded slightly.  “I do indeed have a human form… I just rarely use it.  I prefer to keep to this, or my Lucain, forms.  I feel… better in these forms, as opposed to my human form.”

As she said this, she took her human form—her blue-streaked black hair fell freely over her face, she wore a floor-length black dress and a cloak of fur around her shoulders.  She shuddered as she noticed the state in which her legs were in; she could see how they were twisted at odd angles and otherwise useless.

“I… if you don’t mind me asking,” Tali said quietly, looking at her legs, and then back to Yuki, “…how did you discover that you had powers over ice?”

[SpringsSong]

Yuki frowned as he examined her legs, but did not take too much more time to look at them as he had work to do.  He stood up quickly, picking up choice pieces of wood and furs from their individual piles in the den.  When she said that she had a human form, but that she preferred to keep to her Lucain and Paragon forms instead, saying that they felt more natural, he nodded slowly.

“I know what you mean when you say that,” he said before turning to face her again.  When he saw her blue-streaked hair and her pale skin, the wood and furs almost fell from his arms, but he kept a steady hold of them as he walked back over to her and moved her skirt to where he could see her legs.

“I’m going to numb your legs so that I can set the bones easier,” he said, a frost beginning to cling to his hands.  “Let me know if it gets to the point where you cannot feel a thing anymore… I have never tried to set bones this way before.”

He sounded more nervous about the thought of using his powers over ice to set the bones and leave Tali in as little pain as possible, but he hesitated here.

“…it was when I was a young boy… on a ship called the Trócaire…” he said quietly.

[SpringsSong]

“Don’t,” Tali snapped, her voice almost resembling a snarl in Lucain form, or a growl in Paragon form.  “I may be a woman, but I’ve been through pain that you could never imagine—and trust me when I say that you never want to be able to describe the kind of pains I’ve been through, physical or emotional.  No one should ever have to go through those kinds of pain.”

She looked away here as memories took her from herself.  She could feel the fangs penetrating her neck; could feel the want to cry out and beg for it to stop, but she knew that it would not.  After all, this was war—and she was a warrior that had trained herself against experiencing pain.

This pain, however, was beyond anything she had ever gone through, between her rigorous training and having brought fourteen pups into the world.

“You… you were a seafaring child?” Taliña asked.  “I’ve never heard of the Trócaire… but I recognize the language.  Doesn’t it mean ‘mercy’?” she asked, coaxing him on with his story.

[SpringsSong]

When Tali snapped “don’t,” the frost that was clinging to Yuki’s hands disappeared instantly.  Clearly, she was not afraid of a little pain—but then, she looked away and seemed to be in a different world for a few moments.  When she said that he would never want to be able to describe the pains she had been through, he frowned slightly as he looked away from her as well, grabbing two pieces of wood and a strip of fur from his pile.

“Is it as bad as losing one’s sister before she has even been alive for a week?” he asked.  “Or losing one’s mother before you even enter your prime?  Or losing the love of your life because she could not swim?  Or never knowing your own father?  That is how my life has been,” he said, his voice gaining an icy edge again.

“Yes… Trócaire means ‘mercy’, and that ship was always at the mercy of the gods.  Every time she would set sail, inevitably, she would sail right into a storm.  My sister, Youko, and I were born on the Trócaire, in the middle of one of these storms.  Sadly, she did not live to see the end of that storm,” he said, frowning slightly.  “She had taken a fever, and, desperate to help her, I would apply rags with water to her forehead.  The water was too warm for her, and one day… I placed my paw on the water, and it almost froze solid.”

[SpringsSong]

“Oh, the pain I have been through is far worse than losing loved ones,” Tali said as he set her left leg into place, and she inhaled sharply.  “There is only one thing worse than losing one’s parents, siblings, loved one, or other family—and that would be losing your own life.”

As she said this, memories of the last words she had heard before she had offered a prayer to the goddesses and had slipped away for a few brief moments came back to her—lumping her in with the other Imperialists who fought with no mercy.  She remembered also choking on her own blood when that happened, and that her body had been covered in scars.

The worst scars had been the one over her right eye, and the one on her right arm—covered cleverly with a bandana sporting the Purine colors.

“Not only was I one of the most wanted soldiers on the Imperial side of the war,” Tali whispered slightly, “I was one of the few who died… and was granted new life by the goddesses.  But I have felt death, Yuki; I have felt my own death, and it was not a pleasant thing to feel…”

[SpringsSong]

Of all of the rebuttals that Yuki had imagined Taliña coming up with, what she said caught him entirely off-guard.  She had mentioned that she was one of the most wanted soldiers before, yes… but she had never mentioned that she had been killed in combat!  Almost instantly, his head lowered as he focused on her right leg, gently setting it into place and wrapping it tightly with the fur.  After several long moments, however, he spoke again.

“I think you have me beat on that one, Taliña of the Darkpaw Pack.  I have never experienced my own death, and I hope that I will not have to experience it for a long time yet.  Obviously, though, you were supposed to remain here for a reason—do you remember which goddess it was that revived you?  Did she say anything to you when you were re-awakened?” he asked, and then, he noticed the scar over her eye and how the bandana had slipped slightly from where it had been, and saw the nasty gash on her arm there.

“…those… they are from the battle that ended your life, I assume?” he asked hesitantly.

[SpringsSong]

“It was Lady Sa’ouna who brought me back to my family… to my mate at the time…” Taliña said.  “She said that there were many who mourned my loss… the man whom I loved… my brother-in-arms… my fourteen children, and the grandchildren which my children had either sired or brought forth…”

Here, she sighed as she looked away from him, adjusting her bandana so that it covered the scar more fully.  She also adjusted her necklace, frowning as she looked outside, noticing how the rains were still falling heavily.

“These were from that battle,” she said, sighing deeply.  “It was my only battle, for I had trained so hard that there were few who could rival my strength.  The man who killed me was one such man.”

[SpringsSong]

“The only battle?” Yuki asked, tilting his head slightly as he tied the furs in place.  “I would have guessed you to be one of the ones out on the main lines at all times—you have that air about you; an air that says that when you put your mind to something, you will not be swayed from it.  That is something that strikes me about you.”

Here, he lowered his head as he listened to her speak.  It seemed like she had gone through a lot when she had been killed, and then brought back.  When she mentioned her loved ones, Yuki frowned here, taking his Paragon form again.

“This man whom you loved…” he said hesitantly.  “…where is he now?  Should I leave this place for when he returns here?”

[SpringsSong]

Tali hesitantly took her Paragon form, her hind legs still bandaged and set in place.  When Yuki asked about the man she referred to, Taliña looked away, her eyes darkening and her countenance also darkening slightly.  She rested her head on her claws, sighing deeply.

“He’s not a part of my life anymore,” she said.  “He hasn’t been for many a moon… I know not what has become of him; I just know that his role in my life is no more.”

Her heart stuck in her throat as she said this.  She hated mentioning that she didn’t know what had become of the man that she had been lifemated to—she honestly did not know what had become of him after she had left him in Jawan that day, all those moons ago…

“…I am sorry,” she said finally.  “I still remember him from time to time and cannot help but wonder…”

[SpringsSong]

“Cannot help but wonder what?” Yuki asked, looking down at Tali (for he was easily three times her size in Paragon form) when she said this.  “What can you not help but wonder?  Something unresolved with your lifemate that you never got a chance to resolve, or…?”

He realized that she had said that he was no longer a part of her life, but he was still curious to know.  He knew that, doubtless, she would be hesitant from his inquiries about her past life, but he would be just as willing to share whatever information that she inquired of him.

“I know that it is probably… peculiar that I am asking so many questions of you, but I am merely curious.  It’s not every day some woman walks onto territory, claiming that it is hers, and then can fight and hold her own rather well.”

[SpringsSong]

Taliña looked away for another few moments, trying to find a way to put it into words.  It took her several long moments to do so, but when she did, she looked up to the Ambia Paragon, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

“…I left him…”

She said this in a quiet voice, as though she could barely bring herself to say this.  But the fact that she was able to say this seemed to lift a great burden from her shoulders.  She looked away from Yuki here again, resting her head on her claws again before she resumed speaking.

“We were in Jawan… that was where we were going to live, after the war,” she said.  “We had already gotten everything set up… everything.  We were going to have our children move in with us—those that would live with us, that is—and then… something happened, and I just… I left.”

[SpringsSong]

“…I left him…”

The way Taliña said this made the Ambia Paragon look down at the Placid Paragon, his golden eyes filled with sympathy as he moved a little closer to her.  He could tell that she was taking it a little hard—maybe he was one of the first ones that she had been able to tell about this particular situation.

“Something… happened,” he repeated quietly.  “Can you… describe what you meant by that?  I think I know what you meant, but…” he said, frowning slightly as he said this.  He had felt something similar at one point in time—in fact, it was after his mate had died—but he couldn’t tell if her situation was similar to his, or if it was completely different.

“I… I mean, if you don’t want to tell me, I understand…” he said quietly.

[SpringsSong]

“No… it’s fine; you’re just the first person who has managed to coax something out of me about this situation.  Not even my own children know the full story behind this… not even the three that I had with that man know the full story behind what happened,” Taliña said.  She looked down again before she would look him in the eyes again.

“I can’t really truly explain what it was that I felt…” Taliña said.  “I just got this feeling that I… was not supposed to be there, that I wasn’t supposed to be with him, either.  I can’t really explain it all that well, other than it was a feeling that I acted on, and though it breaks my heart to think about it still.”

She looked away again, before looking back at him again.  “If it’s already the rainy season… that means that the snows are not all that far behind, doesn’t it?” she asked.  “My legs… will they be healed by the time the snows come so that I can hunt again?”

[SpringsSong]

Yuki looked at Tali’s mangled legs, and then, he looked at the Placid Paragon.  After a few moments, he sighed as he shook his head.

“No.  Your legs are going to need a season to heal, at least.  I will not be letting you hunt—or out on your own—until you have healed.  Do not worry; I will be caring for you throughout the winter.  However, I will need to know if you prefer your Lucain form or your Paragon form, so that I will know whether to store up more meat or more plants, as I do not care which I eat,” Yuki said, looking around the den.  “Obviously, I have a fairly hefty meat storage, but… I do not know how my herb storage is.”

He looked around once again, and then, down to Taliña.  “Whichever you prefer to take, I will hunt for.  I will not put you out because you are incapable of caring for yourself.”

[SpringsSong]

When Yuki said that her legs would take at least a season to heal, she lowered her head as she sighed.  That was one of the things that she was the most afraid of; the fact that she would be out of commission for longer than she ever would have wanted to be.  If she were in her Lucain form, her ears would have been flattened against her skull and her tails would have been swishing around angrily.

“That… this sucks,” she said bluntly.  “I… I want to help hunt!  Surely I could fly and help you gather berries and herbs?  I can… please, just let me help somehow.  I do not want to be a burden to you…” she said, frowning here as she beat her wings emphatically.

“Ever since I was first able to take on this form, I have kept to my Paragon form over the winters,” she said.  “It is easier to sustain myself on plants and berries than it is to on meat for an entire season,” she said, looking to him with pleading eyes.