[AW] a winding, weaving fate

[Pavetta]

p a v e t t a - - - “As am I. If not for the portal that appeared…” she shook her head, unwilling to imagine what might have happened otherwise. For all her wild fiercness and raw strength, she was not a particularly refined or calculating fighter.  “There aren’t such creatures here?” A world without monsters? It was difficult for Pavetta to imagine such a place. “How strange,” she murmured, mostly to herself. The fear of being in a new realm was very real, but perhaps not so overwhelming as before. Somnus was here now. And he seemed a steady sort, deeply rooted and unwavering. She wondered at his steely calm, his steady resolve. He was unshaken, unchanging. She saw flashes of stone warmed by sunlight and still water in her mind. He was overall a wholesome feeling. Earth and air combined, somehow. Who is he? Not a healer-knight, he assured her. Well, she wasn’t so sure he wasn’t. He suggested they go to the stream to rinse her wound, asking her if she thought she could stand. “Yes, alright.” She closed her eyes briefly, sucking in a deep breath, bracing herself for the pain. She lurched unsteadily to her hooves, swaying as she fought to right herself. Somnus was there. Rooted, unwavering. He is like a tree, she thought. He lent her his strength and she accepted. His skin felt warm and sure against hers. She had long since forgotten what contact with another felt like. She could hardly even recall the last moments she had spent with her husband, it seemed so long ago now that she had watched his pyre burn. Months alone in the wild had turned her cold and callous, and she was glad for this stranger's kindness, his selfless patience. With his guidance and support, Pavetta managed to leave the willows behind and stumbled ungracefully into the stream. She gasped at the cold shock of the water then waded farther out until the water covered the gashes on her hind leg. She stood silently for a few moments, leaning gently into Somnus for support (careful not to bend his wing feathers) and enjoying the pearly splendor of dawn and the murmuring of willows and water. Their breaths and bodies steamed slightly in the brisk morning air, rising from their backs like strands of mist. The cold water numbed her injured leg quickly. The pain receded slightly. She sighed, feeling at ease for the first time in a while. “I find it difficult to believe you are a mere servant, Somnus,” Pavetta said at last, a melancholy tone in her voice. She knew the hollow, empty life of a lowly servant and could not picture this magnificent golden creature as such. She knew far too well what a life of servitude meant from her years with the priestesses in the mountains. A life where she had no true self, no real meaning. She had been raised to serve and if she could not serve, then she would be disposed of. And disposed of she was, as soon as it was realized her magic would never manifest. Married off to a lord she had never met. And then she had served him too, because it was all she had ever known. But perhaps it could be different here. She was not so sure she wished to return to the realm of shadows she had left behind. “What is this Dawn Court you speak of? It is an Order of some kind?” she asked hesitantly, wariness in her rose-quartz eyes. What weird twist of fate had brought her here? And why? isn't it a little late, shouldn't you fly away?  little dove with cigarettes ---