With sure-fire focus, the youngling of red and gold whispered the long list of poisonous flora in her head and under her breath. She worked with a sharpness that was honed over her time being smacked and prodded for picking the plants wrong; grinding them and mixing them in the opposite order; all done by the crone from a life long ago. Thinking of this, Mila snickered, the golden trinkets woven into her thick hair jingling as she shook her head.
Foxglove. Belladonna. Moonflower.
Moving with a dancer's grace, she worked; using the outreaches of her mind to pick the herbs she needed from the weeds along the shores of the lake. A couple leaves here, a couple stems there, as she piled them into the wicker basket sitting on a boulder beside her. She continued to whisper the names from her past — the ringleader, the crone, the goons — and when she was at the list's tail end, she would repeat the practice. Forever immortalized and doomed to die, should she ever cross paths with them again.
Hemlock.
Yes. Her plans fell together with a satisfying click as she remembered the missing piece of her puzzle. A wicked little smile tugged at her supple lips at the thought.. oh Calligo help anyone who dared become a nuisance to her now.
@Lavinia + anyone welcome ❤️
super short post, I'm sorry dearie! still getting used to her.
Lavinia had decided she'd head to the lake for some knife throwing practice. Sometimes the auburn splattered young woman liked to come out to this lake to practice whether or not it was with knives depended on her mood. Playing with knives when angry was hardly a good idea, her old mentor had once told her. Her steps were soft and light as she reached the shore of the lake, her golden gaze spotting a very familiar form to her. A slow smile sprang up across her lips as she started towards her twin. It was Mila, her twin. She must have ventured out to the lake to work as well though she didn't know for what.
It wasn't a shock to see her as she took note of the wicker basket not far from her sister's frame. She was gathering herbs, she had to wonder if these herbs were for healing or..something else entirely. "I see you're busy at work dear sister." Her voice came out soft and low, her head slightly lowered to look into the basket out of mere curiosity. Lifting her head up she cast a glance over to Mila, "Planning on stocking up just in case?" She mused as she stood off to the side.
Lavinia turned her head to look out at the lake for a moment, it was beautiful here but she expected no less out of the home her and her sister had found among the Night Court and it's king. Though Reich would always be her king of crows before anything else.
nder a sea of falling stars and evening-painted skies, a wicked smile tugged at Mila's lips as she hummed to herself a laundry list of her favorite toxic plants, not entirely unaware that she was no longer alone. The wicker basket floated, following her like a second shadow; taking no little effort of using the tendrils of her mind to control the thing. Such simple magic, she mused. And oh, how she wished she were blessed with an affinity for earth and flora or possibly fire. She fed the wicked thought with gasoline, the flames of her wishes burning brighter. To be gifted with magic to craft toxins that even the most knowledgeable scholar would not — could not — understand, or to become a phantom of wildfire to burn her enemies to ash and dust. Such wild dreams.. and one that surely brought her more than a shred of joy at the thought of them.
She giggled, a bell-like, wicked sound, as she picked another handful of herbs from the grasses lining the lake. Without surprise, her sister's voice broke through Mila's humming. Her smile cracked even wider as she turned to look at her through lowered lashes. Lavinia was the only one alive who could ever spark true happiness in her chained little heart; the only one who consistently knew every detail of her soul and backwards. Sure, the other Crows were her family — and she was forever grateful for it — but they would never come to be as close to her as her own Twin. The darker half of their coin; the louder, seductive Twin of red and gold. A perfect match to Mila's more quiet, silent mischief.
With a snicker, Mila blew air through her nostrils at the sight of her lovely sister sniffing at the herbs she had been collecting. "I wouldn't get too close to those, sister mine," she told her matter-of-factly, another batch of picked stems floating in the air and landing in the basket. She turned around to face her twin fully, her mind working with the lesser telekinesis they all were gifted with to retie her mane into a messy bun, securing it with here favorite golden ribbon. "I always keep a good stock, Lavi," she replied with a devilish grin. Her words rang true; at "home", where they slept, Mila kept an apothecary of all of the herbs and plants she had collected in her travels, as well as a multitude of bottles of every poison she had ever created.. and then some. When she wasn't working or dancing, or reading for the matter, she was tinkering with liquids and crushing leaves; ever developing more enhanced ways to use the lethal venom.
Mila followed her sister's gaze over the lake, not entirely focusing on the details as she watched Lavinia's face. She searched and tried and failed to figure out what was on her mind; why she seemed so deep in thought. Her smile dropped as she nudged her twin's side. "What's on your mind, dear sister?"
"Of the dangerous sort huh?" Lavinia almost smiled as she glanced over at her sister for a moment, clearly amused. There had been many times when Mila's knowledge of herbs came in handy for not only Mila but also for Lav. So the darker twin could appreciate her sister's skills even though she herself didn't have the knack or patience to learn what each herb and plant could do. All she saw were plants nothing more. Then again she doubted many understood her love of knives and dancing with them. The way the steel moved as she tossed it in the air and sliced through it, it was something she had fallen in love with as a child when she first began to learn.
Her ears pricked forward a bit at her sister's question that she shook her head a bit to clear her thoughts. With a slight apologetic smile gracing her lips she turned her attention back to Mila. "Oh nothing really. I was just remembering old memories, old faces from our history." She gently nudged her sister back with a slight grin. "Anyway do you need any help today dear sister? I might not know everything about herbs but if you tell me their description I could help gather." Lav offered her sister as she glanced over her, a gentleness about her that only her sister and fellow crows saw.
er little heart swelled and warmed at her sister's words, a mischievous grin tugging her lips upward and brightening Mila's face. Her emerald eyes sparkled with amusement as she met Lavinia's golden gaze, a giggle bubbling up in her throat. "They don't call me the poison twin for nothing, after all," she joked, swishing her tail. She nearly snorted as laughter continued to bubble and burst. Now, Mila could find the light in her lifestyle and hobbies; but before, their gifts had been what kept them on the brink of survival in the far off deserts of a land -- thankfully -- long forgotten.
Her face fell as she watched the seriousness leach from her twin's face, however; delicate ears flicking and pinning back against her neck at Lavinia's reply. The faces of those who had done them wrong flashed across her mind, one by one. A droning list of the Coming Dead; the doomed. Whether if they knew it or not, each one of them would meet their end by Mila's hand.. or Lavinia's for the matter. The ringleader and his god-damn circus would no longer pluck orphan girls from dunes and back alleys just to be bought and sold and taught harsh, wicked things. No more would he and his ring of bastards steal the innocence of young girls and boys. It was her mission to end him, to end them all.. a snarl rumbling in her throat at the very thought.
Lavinia's soft bump and even gentler grin -- uncommon for anyone but Mila -- broke the poison twin from her dark thoughts. A small smile played at her red lips, the gesture not quite reaching her eyes, as she looked up to meet Lavinia's gaze. "I appreciate your offer, dear sister, but I've actually finished." With the tendrils of her mind, Mila floated the wicker basket towards them, hovering it between the two twins of red and gold. "I'm going to take these back and tinker with them," she explained, staring at each individual plant, "I just need some hemlock from the mountains. Then I can develop something truly special." A wicked grin broke across her face at the plan that she saw so very clearly; a new toxin, a slow-working poison. But one with a little extra kick.. one her fellow Crows would benefit from it's uses. And she could not wait until it was polished and ready for them to see.
With a tilt of her head, excitement coursing through her veins like a drug, Mila searched Lavinia's golden eyes. "And what about you, Lavi? Any plans for the evening?"Any jobs? Something interesting perhaps? she asked silently, blatantly curious of her sister's happenings.
Lavinia knew that look in her twin's eyes better than anyone. It was similar to her own whenever she thought of that damn circus and it's cronies, especially the ringleader. A brief smile flitted across her lips as she listened to her sister explain she was finished save for one ingredient. Whatever her dear sister had planned for her concoction she wasn't sure she really wanted to know who it was for. Mila could be downright frightening with her poisons, knives which were Lav's specialty could be frightening but not quite the same.
"I pity the fool that ever ingests your poisons dear sister." She replied with a soft chuckle leaving her. Her ears twitched a bit at her sister's question about her plans, a slight grin crossed her face. Her golden gaze looking into her sister's, "I was going to work on a few new moves with my knives tonight. Otherwise I'm afraid I am not up to anything too interesting." She admitted with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Not quite the most exciting thing but she did enjoy dancing with her knives, there was a certain dangerous tone to it that she enjoyed.
olden red mistresses they were, gathered around the mirrored lake as one goddess stepped back to allow their Calligo take over the skies. Like all of true children of the Night, she was drunk off of the beauty of the stars that began to glimmer in the shadows, the darkness a most welcome second home to her. So unlike the endless sands and scorched earth that was the desert that they had once hailed from. But that was another place, another time. Here and now, she called Denocte home. She called the Crows home; and that is all that truly mattered.
Her sister's reply had a soft sigh loosing from her own lips, and even a smile at the sound of Lavinia's musical chuckle. Together, their gazes were bejeweled daggers; her own of emerald gems, and her twin's of molten gold. Not a hint of surprise touched her as Mila listened more; ahh, her sister had come to dance along the shores of the lake. Funny, how they were so alike and so different with their own, separate, mischievous habits. Where Mila was toxicity and flames, her other half was wildfires and lethal metal. They both had become their own kind of dancers, but Lavinia had been gifted from the very start, especially with her special set of knives. Her daggers were an extension to her own body, and Mila would not dare to ever be on the wrong side of one of her sister's blades. She had admired her for it; how she moved with such grace and something truly divine, however fatal she could be if she wanted.
Their talents combined had saved them too many times; for maybe, they were not a curse after all, but a gift.
A broad smile tugged at her lips, brightening the lush green of her gaze. "May I see, sister mine?" she inquired.
