It was spring. Birds chirped gleefully, flowers began their fragrant reveal, and all of Novus stirred as though awaking from a deep slumber. It all made Anandi restless and unhappy. She hated the sun, and the way the days rapidly grew longer, and the stupid sleepy way in which the landscape awoke; all the world slogging along in a creaky-boned stupor.
It was spring, and with each passing day a certain emptiness grew larger and larger within the green-eyed aquatic emissary. She had not seen the last woman she made kelpie, not since turning her. She didn’t think she wanted to see her again, and yet… she found herself always turning toward the sea, the little bay where it happened… and she found herself wondering… and softening, yielding like butter to a warm blade...
And then one day she found herself there, at the place she had come to think of as theirs, even though there was no they in the actions that unfolded that night. Just Anandi and her pride and rage and brutal instinct. She steps forward to stand knee-deep in the calm water, heart alight with some strange fire. Her shoulder itches with the memory of dragon’s claws (”gods damn that fucking dragon”) sinking into flesh.
Although the water is still and calm, the beach empty, Anandi’s heart is aflutter like there’s magic about. And so she asks, feeling foolish, “are you there?” She flushes with embarrassment, to be speaking to the empty air.
It was absolutely idiotic... But she found herself full of hope.
A N A N D I Like a deep woman, the sea hid a good deal; it had many faces, many delicate, terrible veils. It spoke of miracles and distances; if it could court, it could also kill.
At first, she had gone looking for the other kelpie. After hearing rumors that she lived in one of the Courts, she set off to Terrastella, but was completely disappointed. Not only did the trip suck, but Anandi was nowhere to be found at the time she arrived. At the least, the rumors proved to be correct. The woman is a complete hypocrite.
She remembers their first meeting like it was yesterday. Not only because it was when she became Changed, but because of their conversation. It had started off innocent, if not like bonding. The two women shared their disgust for the Courts and their citizens. Then somehow it got weird and ended with Lucinda blacking out in the sea and waking up a kelpie. She still laughs that the woman didn't have the heart to kill her. Either that or Abraxia wouldn't let her.
The dragon is near- Lu can sense her with their mental link. Nowadays, since she can't follow Lu by land or sky, she will circle around the sea where she knows her companion is nearby. Abraxia keeps a close eye on any dangers that might arise along the surface or by the shore. This is how Lu is alerted to Anandi's presence from the ocean depths.
She waits. Just like she said that very day, Lu answers to no one but herself. She will not follow some kelpie cult where Anandi is their leader. She may technically be the maker, the one who caused the Changing, but that is just a small fact. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. They do not have a connection and never will, Lu will make sure of it.
So why is there a pull? She can feel it, even though it's faint, but it's there. It's similar to the way the sea keeps pulling her closer and closer any time she's walking the shoreline. It never likes her being away for long. But that is a connection she can understand and accept. She wants nothing to do with the other woman.
The only reason she decides to show herself is more for her own satisfaction. Lu has been waiting for the chance to call the Emissary out for being just that. Even if she might be a spy in the end, she can't understand what benefit there is to being in the heart of it all. The money can't possibly be that good.
And for someone who seems so tied to the sea and their kind, why drift to the swamps to live among the regulars? To feed off them and make more of yourself? Was it that worth it?
When Lucinda finally emerges from the water, she's still in her underwater form. Her eyes glow bright green and her long, wavy mane is tangled in what appears to be seaweed. Her coat that used to be ebony is covered in a sheen of shimmering blue-green similar to scales. There are sharp pointed fins on her back and sides, but one is not able to see her beautiful tail as her hooves reach the sand. In the blink of an eye, she's shifted to her land form with all four legs, but some of her kelpie qualities remain. Her fins have shifted back into her wings and her eyes have dimmed their glow, but there is still a wickedness in her smile.
The sea seems to rage around her as she glares at Anandi. Abraxia breaks through the clouds with a loud cry to land by Lu's side. The dragon too is glaring at the other woman, flexing her sharp talons so they make marks in the sand. They have not forgotten what happened here.
"Anandi," she hisses, her eyes flicking her over in a judgmental stare. "Or should I say, Miss Emissary?" She spits the title out like it's poison. Lu does not say that she's expecting her or that she went out to find her. Instead, she laughs.
"Clearly you didn't have the heart to kill me. Unless-" she gets closer to the gray mare, flashing all of her new sharp teeth. "You've come to try again." It's a dare and one that she almost wishes Anandi would follow through with.
Oh, the things Lu could do to her now. How lovely it would be (and taste).
Anouk ripples across Anandi’s belly, excitement palpable. A watery alarm-- something’s coming, Anandi. Something’s rising. It’s her, it’s--
Lucinda.
Familiar but not the same. But how could anyone be the same after that?
Anandi takes a step back. (She instantly regrets it. It feels like a betrayal to her people, her home. Since when was land a comfort?) She peers curiously at the black mare. At the thing she created. She, like a god.
She smiles.
Her creation speaks and she finds herself completely unperturbed. “My, I didn’t know I was in the presence of such a talented detective.” She coos; voice sickly sweet, dripping venom. “You can call me whatever you like, honey.” Her smile is wide and arrogant. That dazzling confidence has got her so far, she can’t exactly drop the act now. Come at me love. This ain't my first rodeo.
Then talk turns to killing and the mood shifts. Anandi snarls, peeling back her lips for a not-so-subtle glimpse of sharp teeth that would no doubt be familiar. “I didn’t come here to kill you.” She wanted to apologize. That’s all she’s wanted ever since the changing. But something about the other mare was so aggravating that instinct suggested (demanded, even) that she start another fight.
The grey takes a deep breath in. With great effort she loosens her stance, tosses her mane casually. A single hoof absent-mindedly toys in the sand, drawing small circles. “I just wanted…” A cavernous pause, as she chews through all the vile things she wants to say to find the indeterminate truth at the heart of it all. “To know how you’ve been… To know if,” she tilts her head, knowing it’s a weakness she’s showing, this softness, and fearing Lucinda will take this opportunity to spit in her face. Or, with those newly sharpened teeth, something worse. “you’ve been alright.”
Anandi grits her teeth. Pride forces her to look away and some other aggravation keeps her from apologizing. Probably the cocky expression on the other woman’s (admittedly beautiful, that was the worst part) face.
i know you thought that you could bury me
put me six feet down beneath your guilty pleas
Anandi's smile is disgusting and infuriating. It makes Lucinda want to lean over and rip it off her face. Of course, the woman would likely enjoy it all too much, so she does not move. Instead she listens to her talk and cringing at being called honey. This must be her game- give her all these gestures and remarks until Lu snaps.
Unfortunately for her, Lu has a lot of patience.
But it seems maybe, Anandi is the one to snap first. She shows her teeth when Lu speaks of killing and it seems she's been insulted. Lu smiles back, her own sharp teeth appearing. She's ready for a fight and to taste blood on her tongue, but is disappointed to see the tension ease off.
Coward.
It takes a minute for the kelpie to get her words out, but when she does, all Lu can do is laugh. It's a loud cackle that she tilts her head back for because the statement is just too hilarious. Anandi wanted to know if she was alright? Here is the woman who had not too long ago had her jaws around her throat. Who dragged her down, down, down, into the dark abyss of the sea. Who wrapped her sea-form around Lu like a snake until she could barely breathe. Who left Lu at the bottom of the ocean to fend for herself. It's a relief Abraxia had been there or else maybe she wouldn't have made it back to the surface.
At least before Anandi disappeared, Abraxia had made some kind of mark on the woman's flesh. Some day, she'll have to look to see if her talons left a scar.
The dragon is growling by her side at the Emissary, but Lu brushes her head with the tip of her wing to calm her. "You are quite the good liar, I have to say," she finally says, her stomach aching from all the laughing. "Sharing in my disgust of the Courts, but it turns out you're one of them and living in the luxury of being Dusk's Emissary. Now you're worried about me like a detached friend or family member?" The only one who truly cared about Lu is her brother, Diaval. And of course, he is nowhere to be found.
"You're something else, you little witch," she adds with a wicked smile. There is something deeper now, as if she's no longer laughing at the situation and a darkness has come over her. It's like hunger and wanting. What would happen if a kelpie killed its own kind? Would she be marked a traitor to her species? It's a dare she would love to act on.
So, why doesn't she?
"Obviously I'm not dead," she growls, her green eyes glowing. Abraxia's muscles tense and she takes a step forward when Lu does as if to narrow in on Anandi. "If that's what you were so concerned about."
“Are you a child? Life is not always as simple as it seems.” Anandi flicks her tail to the side with annoyance. If they were underwater, it would be a dangerous gesture; but they aren’t, and the useless thing just swats against her silver flanks, a tired flag.
Lucinda couldn’t know that Anandi was born and raised in darkness. Taught to scavenge, and wait, and hope a husband would magically fall from the surface so that she would be so lucky to bear his children. And raise them in darkness, and so continue the dismal cycle.
Lucinda couldn’t know Anandi cried the first time she watched a sunrise, or that Dusk Court to her was a wonderland of new sights, smells, sensations. She couldn’t know Anandi had left her family behind, deep down in the dark, and was hustling to make a safe home for them in the sun.
But it was true that Anandi was a shameless liar, and her actions were not always as benevolent and selfless as she might claim. And the two women’s first interaction had been an ugly, violent affair, so the winged kelpie could not be blamed for being a little… close minded. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, so to speak. Anandi grits her teeth, and attempts to be the bigger person.
It would be so much easier if she could cut the tether between them. If only it were a physical restraint that could be sawed through. Anandi so longed to cut these ties and be done with it. Instead she has to stand here while the other mare laughs
in her face,
she has to swallow her pride and feel the prick of Lucinda’s disappointment. Coward. Anandi reads the sentiment in the sneering curl of the woman’s lips. “You’re something else, you little witch.” It takes every effort to keep her face wiped clean of any emotion. She watches the darkness spread across Lucinda’s face. The curiosity. The hunger.
Her own belly feels like it's full of eels. She holds her ground when Lucinda steps forward, dripping salt water. And when she speaks, her voice has the electric tension of forced calm. “There is a bond between us. A pull.” Like the tide. Something beyond themselves. Anandi does not understand it, but that did not matter; it was a thing that was felt, not thought. The mind could try and wrap itself around it, but it would only end up in knots.
She tries very hard not to sound condescending. It is difficult, but she manages-- she thinks. “Tell me you don’t feel it, and I’ll leave. You’ll never have to see me again.” As soon as the words come out, she wishes she could take them back. They reek of a lie.
i know you thought that you could bury me
put me six feet down beneath your guilty pleas
The angry tail flick does not go unnoticed. It's clear the woman is getting annoyed and it only makes Lucinda smile more. After all, she's not here to please (or at least not anyone but herself). How many more buttons can she push? She wonders. It's a kind of adrenaline rush. Lucinda's already been Changed by her, so would she be capable of killing after all?
"Child? Please," she answers with a laugh. "I'm old enough to be your mother." Anandi's remark had been amusing, but it's true that Lu is much older than her. She's seen many things in her lifetime. The gray kelpie wouldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds during the battle back in her kingdom.
The smug look on her face instantly disappears when Anandi starts speaking of a bond and a pull. It makes Lu stop in her tracks. Is this the feeling she has deep down? Is this the reason she feels the need to get closer? Is it not a hunger, but a bond?
The thought disgusts her, but it makes sense. She hates that it makes sense.
She quickly looks away, half wanting to turn and rip the girl's throat open in one swift move. Would that break the bond then? Lu didn't ask for this.
There is mild panic setting in, but she doesn't let it show. Instead, she turns back and narrows her eyes. The woman is offering to leave forever if Lu admits she feels nothing. It seems too easy for a way out and like she should expect a catch. Or it's all a lie anyways since Anandi is so good at it.
Still, all she wants to say is no. Yet for some reason, she can't bring herself to utter the word.
"Never again?" she asks. Her tone makes it sound like she's highly considering it. Abraxia tilts her head with curiosity. "But then we wouldn't get to have this lovely banter we're having, would we?"
There is a fight within her that wants to get rid of Anandi forever. To not have any ties to the woman anymore in any way and to be free. That's all that Lucinda has done, go at things alone with only her best interest in mind. She's done doing things for others. She's done caring.
In truth, Anandi is repulsed by her own actions. She is disgusted by her urges, embarassed by how easily she folds to temptation. She feels fake, fake, fake-- so very far gone she doesn’t know who she is anymore, stretched to breaking behind the portrait of a young, beautiful, untouchable girl.
But it’s too late too backtrack. Too late for apologies. The emissary is too deep in the illusion.
All she can do is lean into the myth she’s made of herself.
Anandi’s lips are pursed in a smirk as she regards Lucinda carefully. “Oh. You’re right aren’t you. You’re much older than me.” Her eyes are alight with laughter, barely contained by the hummingbird flutter of those long, dark lashes. She was only teasing, one girl to another, it was only a game… there were barbs, maybe, but Andi could hardly be blamed… Lucinda set herself up for that one.
And, since we’re being honest here, Anandi has no idea what this is. This dark gravity that pulls her toward the creature she’s made. This tension, scarlet and black, acidic and heavenly. Oh, how many ways there are to want. She wants to aggravate the other woman. She wants to kiss her, or kill her. Desire, she’s learned, is rarely decisive.
I’ve made you a monster. Like me. There’s no choice when it comes to chaos, don’t you see? It spreads without retreat, like a poison or a fire.
Anandi bites her lip, dreams of biting other things. All at once she is aggravated and proud, calm and ashamed. It’s all so much-- too much-- and she feels herself falling back on animal instincts.
You feel it too, don’t you? The pull.
Don’t you?
When Lucinda speaks, “But then we wouldn't get to have this lovely banter we're having, would we?” It is not a concession-- not quite. But, and this hits with a surprisingly strong sense of relief, she does not tell Anandi to fuck off and die. Andi exhales, with a tentative kind of laughter. “I’d kind of miss it, wouldn’t you?”
She takes a step forward, head gently lowered in a sort of submission that was exceedingly rare. As if to ask is this alright? They’re close enough now to share the same breath. Lucinda smells of the sea in a way that twists Anandi’s stomach with longing.
“Would you like to go hunting?” The words are dreamlike, tantalizing. It is the closest thing to a truce her pride will allow her to offer.
i know you thought that you could bury me
put me six feet down beneath your guilty pleas
As Anandi laughs about age, Lu raises her brow unamused. While she's far from elderly, she has seen much more and lived through many more things than the kelpie could dream of. She considers herself wiser in this sense, therefore making Anandi the child. She's naive, perhaps even afraid of the true capability of their kind. Stupid, even, settling herself within the safety of the Dusk Court when she could be freely roaming the sea. There are no chains out there and that's exactly how Lu likes it. No tethers to stupid rules or customs the Courts love to hide behind. Maybe she will never understand it.
It's likely she won't ever understand what this is either. There is tension so strong it could be cut with a knife. There is desire, to be more, but mostly to kill and get revenge. While Lu enjoys her new form, Anandi still left her to die and for that, she will always be bitter.
But yes, she would miss the banter if she completely got rid of this mare. For that, she hates it and herself. She growls silently out of disgust and refuses to admit anything.
Her eyes lock with Anandi's when the gray kelpie gets closer. She doesn't step back, even when she feels the other woman's breath. Lu can smell some of the sea on her, but there is too much muffling it like swamp and woods. Her eyes narrow.
She is about to snap (or maybe she's not), when Anandi surprises her with an offer to go hunting. What the hell is this?
"I suppose that depends on what you had in mind for this hunt," she answers gruffly, although she's not entirely uninterested. She very much enjoyed hunting, more so for prey than anything else. It would be even more fun if they were to search out another to turn, but there is something about Anandi that says that would be unlikely.
Still, she could always hope. There is more thrill in a chase when fear is involved.
Anandi has never felt such immensely conflicted emotions for a single person before. Lucinda annoys her to insanity-- to the point of murder, even, as evidenced by their first encounter. Yet there is a certain kindred spirit between the two women. A shared revulsion for the simpleminded masses, an impatience with the weak. A fierce fire burns in them, and when close together the flames reach for each other across the still air.
To consume, to be consumed. It was something like love..
“I suppose it depends on what you had in mind for this hunt.”
The words are spoken almost grudgingly, but Anandi can hear the note of interest in Lucinda’s voice. She can see it in the slightest shift of the other woman’s body, a subtle leaning in. Anandi laughs freely, the sound satin in the moonlight. Her eyes fill with the almost lazy ease of someone completely without fear. A lioness. “Whatever we want.” She angles her head, eyes prettily crinkled in amusement. Don’t you understand? Her tail cracks like a whip against her side. We are gods. All the world, land and sea, is ours. She smiles, catlike, then steps past Lucinda and into the cold, dark water. As the waves reach her chest, her hind legs fuse and lengthen with a fluidity that defies nature. She slips into the sea, too proud to look back but hoping, boldly hoping, that Lucinda will follow.
Surely they would get along better beneath the waves, where they wouldn’t have to hear each other speak.
I would beg to disagree
But begging disagrees with me
i know you thought that you could bury me
put me six feet down beneath your guilty pleas
Hearing the woman's laughter brings a smirk to Lucinda's face. A kind of wicked look that, in her own way, is a form of fondness. As much as Anandi makes her blood boil, there is something else going on here. Something like friendship, but not entirely. She does not completely trust the other kelpie and it's likely Anandi does not completely trust Lu either. The two are at odds, yet feel the closeness of their unexplainable bond.
As Lu follows behind the other kelpie, the sea gladly welcomes her back. The waves brush against her legs like a caress and she does not hesitate to dive down deeper. With the magic that came with her turning, she sheds her land form again with her legs and wings turning back into fins.
Her eyes seem to glow brighter down in the depths of the sea. This is her home - their home. They are the rulers of the world down here. It's a power that gives Lu meaning.
