B e l o w Z e r o
the cold never bothered me anyway
There was so much that her sister had missed out on, so much that she just . . . didn't know. So much Bel should have been there to teach her about, just as their mother had taught her - would have taught Pol . . . She offered a soft smile to her sister at the other's reassurances, and she sighed before pressing her muzzle against her little sister's neck, "I know I can't keep wearing blame like a second pelt, but I still wish . . . wish things had turned out differently. If I had the knowledge I did now, or if I knew that you could have been healed - it would have been different." She choice not to bring up Ice Shard, to not react to her sister's blame - see blamed him as well. He had forced her to leave her sister behind, what was more or less the only family she had left, when her own father barely made it through the day, in his blank state. Pol needed her, and Shard made her leave.
Sure, he'd apologized as they swam away, tried to reason his actions. She'd seen the guilt in his heart that he couldn't wear on his face. She remembered the brush of his muzzle against her cheek when he explained they'd tried all they knew, that Pol wasn't going to get better, wouldn't have been able to keep up, would have been picked off eventually. She didn't respond to any of his words, her heart heavy with sadness and shame. He gave her a little space, backing off verbally, but still being close enough to catch her should she fall apart. And even now, years later, she couldn't bring herself to hate him as others suggested. She could only blame him for what had happened.
Bel managed a faint laugh at her sister's quip, before that smile softened, saddened slightly, "I'd rather have you in my life with scars than not have you at all . . ." Bel admitted, pulling her sister close and hugging the younger Treader tightly. "I've blamed myself for long enough, for the both of us then. Always wondering if I could have done more, said something different to change the outcome of that day. But perhaps those actions were needed for your proper survival. We didn't have the medical knowledge to fix you . . . whoever found you did . . ." She sighed softly, "But, even so, perhaps if we had just waited a few more days, those very individuals would have come across the pod, and taught us just as much as they healed you . . . " Could begging off a few more days from Shard really been all that would have been needed to keep the pod together, her sister at her side . . . her at Shard's?
She quickly dampened that thought, burying it back under the currents of pain in her chest that protected those fondest memories with the bull, refusing to unlock that hurricane of emotion. "Yes, we'll move forward together, and we'll be stronger for it." Bel agreed, only for her sister's comments on Pol having her completely at odds with shock. Pol's laughter didn't help of course, and Bel huffed faintly, her eyes still a little wide in alarm, "Oh, I hope I haven't given him the wrong idea . . . I love him, but not near like that. He's like a big brother more than anything." Bel admitted with a shake of her head before smiling at her sister's words, "Sol is a troubled individual though . . . his past shrouded in pain and regret. He needs to learn to love himself before I can ever imagine him with another." Bel added with a sad shake of her head.
Bel smiled gently at her little sister, "Don't fret, Polar . . . It's okay. I understand. You had a horrible experience. At least it doesn't keep you from water . . . But keep it in mind. Besides, some sharks aren't scary, I bet you'd find the little Epaulette shark to be cute. It's maybe as large as half of my fin, tiny and precious." Bel admitted, thinking of the odd shark who could walk on land from tide pool to tide pool with its fins. "But until then, How about you show me around some of the lake depths here? I bet you've seen many neat things under the surface - I haven't really dived below the waters of the land yet."
Bel offered a soft, reassuring smile, wishing she could give her sister more than just words of what their mother and father were like. How they acted, how they were together. She didn't have much to go off of. It was painfully unfair. She had memories, stories, the lullaby her mother sang to them, all buried in her mind . . . and Pol had nothing but fear, panic, that horrid icy day. At her sister's words, Bel offered a faint smile, "It's hard to imagine that feeling, of what Treaders feel when they know they've found the right one." She admitted, not going into detail, not wanting to touch on something so outlawed in her own heart.
She froze at her sister's words when she brought up the very thing Bel worked so hard to ignore, her eyes meeting Bel's. Bel was frozen, panic, fear, pain swirling in her eyes before she broke the contact with Pol's. She didn't talk for a moment as she tried to control the maelstorm inside, "Shard . . . we . . . We were best friends, Polar. Grew up together, you know? But he had a destiny to rule the pod, as his father before him, and his father, and so on, had through the generations. He was destined to be the one to make choices, the good and the bad." She shook her head, drawing in a struggling breath, "Pol, what he did isn't something to just forgive. He destroyed me that day. Showed he would put the pod before me, that even when I had begged him to see reason, he wasn't willing to give me the few extra days with you. His council whispered in his ear, they plagued his decisions with their own wants and desires. Including their opinions on me."
Her gaze lowered, her heart heavy, "I fought that bonding not because I didn't love him, but because I didn't think I would be the one who could properly rule the pod by his side . . I knew I couldn't. Not when the pod's decisions were never the ones I considered. And the Council didn't appreciate my input either. I was 'too soft' they would say." Bel shook her head, her features twisting almost bitterly, "But I don't think about it now . . . After all, Shard put the pod first before. He wouldn't forsaken his title of Triton for me." Gathering those emotions up Bel shoved them deep down again, drowning them down where they couldn't touch her, couldn't effect her. The laughing, smiling face of Shard when they were younger, more carefree, and the position of Triton didn't draw the wedge between them.
Her sister's words were a distraction Bel grabbed with all fins, pulling it in desperately with the promised need of a story it offered, "Well then, settle in, little sister. Let me tell you the old stories. Many, many years ago, Treaders lived on an aquatic planet, far more water than earth - as far as they eye could see. We were smart, learned the land, and learned the best way to tackle anything that came at us. We protected the weaker, defending our fellows, and did everything in our power to keep the peace between the different creatures of the world. It gained us notice by the Sea Empress, who had long governed the planet with her gentle nature and her eagerness to see everyone flourish. She granted us the power and knowledge to be the defenders of the world." Bel paused her, her gaze grinning, "Our pod lost the knowledge of that power we were granted, but Yukime did not. . . . We weren't just given a title with nothing to utilize in defense of the oceans, the Sea Empress knew we would need something behind us to stand up - and we were given very control over the waves we harnessed. Some of that ability remains today in our vapors, though we've lost control over them.
"But everything wouldn't remain peaceful . . . Others came to the planet, wanting to study what the planet offered . . . at first we worked with them, eager to help, eager to learn more oursevlves. We never realized how disastrous this would be. These others began to experiment on things they shouldn't . . . they recrafted an old virus that had long died on our planet, and through those experiments, the entire thing would become a disaster. The virus was released, the Sea Empress imprisoned where no one could reach her, and the planet was quickly becoming infected. We had little choice than to escape.
"We had to carefully check over our people, our fellow Treaders for sign of infection. I don't know if you remember, but with the pod, green glows are considered bad luck - a sign of illness that would spread to the others and kill the entire pod, if not the planet. It is a fear that comes from this virus, as it would cause green glowing spots to appear on the skin of the infected at which point it would begin to kill them, while spreading to others.
"Our pod wasn't largely infected, and the majority cleared to travel to a new world, this world. But that was many years ago, and today most of the Pod no longer believes the old stories. They're told to us as scary bed time tales . . . but Yukime escaped from that planet herself. She saw the destruction after we left, had been protected in a part of the ice zones of the planet and able to make her own escape." Bel's smile was a touch playful as she poked her sister's side, "So, don't start glowing green, yeah? Or I might have to assume you ill and take you to every healer between here and Delumine!"
"Bel"
Yukime
@Polar North
Notes:: Well they are getting better at least. Finally, aye?
Sure, he'd apologized as they swam away, tried to reason his actions. She'd seen the guilt in his heart that he couldn't wear on his face. She remembered the brush of his muzzle against her cheek when he explained they'd tried all they knew, that Pol wasn't going to get better, wouldn't have been able to keep up, would have been picked off eventually. She didn't respond to any of his words, her heart heavy with sadness and shame. He gave her a little space, backing off verbally, but still being close enough to catch her should she fall apart. And even now, years later, she couldn't bring herself to hate him as others suggested. She could only blame him for what had happened.
Bel managed a faint laugh at her sister's quip, before that smile softened, saddened slightly, "I'd rather have you in my life with scars than not have you at all . . ." Bel admitted, pulling her sister close and hugging the younger Treader tightly. "I've blamed myself for long enough, for the both of us then. Always wondering if I could have done more, said something different to change the outcome of that day. But perhaps those actions were needed for your proper survival. We didn't have the medical knowledge to fix you . . . whoever found you did . . ." She sighed softly, "But, even so, perhaps if we had just waited a few more days, those very individuals would have come across the pod, and taught us just as much as they healed you . . . " Could begging off a few more days from Shard really been all that would have been needed to keep the pod together, her sister at her side . . . her at Shard's?
She quickly dampened that thought, burying it back under the currents of pain in her chest that protected those fondest memories with the bull, refusing to unlock that hurricane of emotion. "Yes, we'll move forward together, and we'll be stronger for it." Bel agreed, only for her sister's comments on Pol having her completely at odds with shock. Pol's laughter didn't help of course, and Bel huffed faintly, her eyes still a little wide in alarm, "Oh, I hope I haven't given him the wrong idea . . . I love him, but not near like that. He's like a big brother more than anything." Bel admitted with a shake of her head before smiling at her sister's words, "Sol is a troubled individual though . . . his past shrouded in pain and regret. He needs to learn to love himself before I can ever imagine him with another." Bel added with a sad shake of her head.
Bel smiled gently at her little sister, "Don't fret, Polar . . . It's okay. I understand. You had a horrible experience. At least it doesn't keep you from water . . . But keep it in mind. Besides, some sharks aren't scary, I bet you'd find the little Epaulette shark to be cute. It's maybe as large as half of my fin, tiny and precious." Bel admitted, thinking of the odd shark who could walk on land from tide pool to tide pool with its fins. "But until then, How about you show me around some of the lake depths here? I bet you've seen many neat things under the surface - I haven't really dived below the waters of the land yet."
Bel offered a soft, reassuring smile, wishing she could give her sister more than just words of what their mother and father were like. How they acted, how they were together. She didn't have much to go off of. It was painfully unfair. She had memories, stories, the lullaby her mother sang to them, all buried in her mind . . . and Pol had nothing but fear, panic, that horrid icy day. At her sister's words, Bel offered a faint smile, "It's hard to imagine that feeling, of what Treaders feel when they know they've found the right one." She admitted, not going into detail, not wanting to touch on something so outlawed in her own heart.
She froze at her sister's words when she brought up the very thing Bel worked so hard to ignore, her eyes meeting Bel's. Bel was frozen, panic, fear, pain swirling in her eyes before she broke the contact with Pol's. She didn't talk for a moment as she tried to control the maelstorm inside, "Shard . . . we . . . We were best friends, Polar. Grew up together, you know? But he had a destiny to rule the pod, as his father before him, and his father, and so on, had through the generations. He was destined to be the one to make choices, the good and the bad." She shook her head, drawing in a struggling breath, "Pol, what he did isn't something to just forgive. He destroyed me that day. Showed he would put the pod before me, that even when I had begged him to see reason, he wasn't willing to give me the few extra days with you. His council whispered in his ear, they plagued his decisions with their own wants and desires. Including their opinions on me."
Her gaze lowered, her heart heavy, "I fought that bonding not because I didn't love him, but because I didn't think I would be the one who could properly rule the pod by his side . . I knew I couldn't. Not when the pod's decisions were never the ones I considered. And the Council didn't appreciate my input either. I was 'too soft' they would say." Bel shook her head, her features twisting almost bitterly, "But I don't think about it now . . . After all, Shard put the pod first before. He wouldn't forsaken his title of Triton for me." Gathering those emotions up Bel shoved them deep down again, drowning them down where they couldn't touch her, couldn't effect her. The laughing, smiling face of Shard when they were younger, more carefree, and the position of Triton didn't draw the wedge between them.
Her sister's words were a distraction Bel grabbed with all fins, pulling it in desperately with the promised need of a story it offered, "Well then, settle in, little sister. Let me tell you the old stories. Many, many years ago, Treaders lived on an aquatic planet, far more water than earth - as far as they eye could see. We were smart, learned the land, and learned the best way to tackle anything that came at us. We protected the weaker, defending our fellows, and did everything in our power to keep the peace between the different creatures of the world. It gained us notice by the Sea Empress, who had long governed the planet with her gentle nature and her eagerness to see everyone flourish. She granted us the power and knowledge to be the defenders of the world." Bel paused her, her gaze grinning, "Our pod lost the knowledge of that power we were granted, but Yukime did not. . . . We weren't just given a title with nothing to utilize in defense of the oceans, the Sea Empress knew we would need something behind us to stand up - and we were given very control over the waves we harnessed. Some of that ability remains today in our vapors, though we've lost control over them.
"But everything wouldn't remain peaceful . . . Others came to the planet, wanting to study what the planet offered . . . at first we worked with them, eager to help, eager to learn more oursevlves. We never realized how disastrous this would be. These others began to experiment on things they shouldn't . . . they recrafted an old virus that had long died on our planet, and through those experiments, the entire thing would become a disaster. The virus was released, the Sea Empress imprisoned where no one could reach her, and the planet was quickly becoming infected. We had little choice than to escape.
"We had to carefully check over our people, our fellow Treaders for sign of infection. I don't know if you remember, but with the pod, green glows are considered bad luck - a sign of illness that would spread to the others and kill the entire pod, if not the planet. It is a fear that comes from this virus, as it would cause green glowing spots to appear on the skin of the infected at which point it would begin to kill them, while spreading to others.
"Our pod wasn't largely infected, and the majority cleared to travel to a new world, this world. But that was many years ago, and today most of the Pod no longer believes the old stories. They're told to us as scary bed time tales . . . but Yukime escaped from that planet herself. She saw the destruction after we left, had been protected in a part of the ice zones of the planet and able to make her own escape." Bel's smile was a touch playful as she poked her sister's side, "So, don't start glowing green, yeah? Or I might have to assume you ill and take you to every healer between here and Delumine!"
"Bel"
Yukime
@Polar North
Notes:: Well they are getting better at least. Finally, aye?
![[Image: i-jTNwWx8.png]](https://photos.smugmug.com/BelowZeroNovus/n-X9d9fZ/i-jTNwWx8/1/e09fb6c3/O/i-jTNwWx8.png)
