[COLOR=808080][CENTER][COLOR=8ECDB7][sup]__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][img]https://i.imgur.com/j1Y1xJM.jpeg[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=8ECDB7][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]The Blackwood[/I] - [I]Ünterland[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=8ECDB7][b]Human #5.097:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Don't Blame Me[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][center][COLOR=8ECDB7][SUP][sub]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][/center][indent][sub][color=8ECDB7][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/color][I] N/A[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=8ECDB7][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [COLOR=808080][I]Game of Survival[/I][/color][/right][/SUP][/indent][/color]
[indent][color=#808080]Rest evaded Aurora, as it so often did.[/color]

[color=#808080]The Blackwood was yet another new place where she found herself resting her head, though the coven felt considerably more secure than Cassius’ home had. Amma was the closest thing she had to familiarity now, though the redhead had never felt completely at ease in her presence — and clearly, neither had Amma, judging by the lukewarm reunion. Maybe that was why Aurora had managed to close her eyes at all, falling into a dreamless, shallow sleep that held her for an hour, possibly more.[/color]

[color=#808080]When she woke, the room was dim and hushed. Aurora blinked up at the low ceiling, disoriented for a moment before memory caught up with her. She sat up slowly, wincing as a dull ache threaded through her stiff limbs. The tightness in her chest - the one that had gripped her the moment they crossed into Ünterland - remained, a persistent, heavy reminder that she was somewhere she didn’t quite belong.[/color]

[color=#808080]Knowing it was unlikely she’d doze off again, Aurora rubbed her face with both hands and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Scanning her surroundings, she realized she was alone once more - Amma having slipped out in the short time that she had fallen asleep.[/color]

[color=#808080]Pushing to her feet and pulling her cloak from the bedpost, Aurora wrapped the fabric tightly around her shoulders before venturing out the door. The storm had softened to a steady drizzle and the night remained heavy with the scent of wet earth as she stepped outside, the wind gently weaving through her copper waves. [/color]

[color=#808080]The coven milled about, their voices too soft to catch as they whispered to each other, their words carried away in the breeze. Aurora watched them for a moment, uncertain. There was a rhythm to their movements, a quiet urgency. She could feel it prickling against her skin - not panic, exactly, but a tension that thrummed just beneath the surface, like a string pulled taut.[/color]

[color=#808080]A few of the witches glanced her way as she emerged, their expressions unreadable in the darkness. None approached her. None spoke. It was as if her presence was noted and then quickly dismissed, as though she were a guest at the edge of a conversation she wasn't invited to join. She knew they were wary given the events of the last few hours, and of her companion.[/color]

[color=#808080]The companion who stood stoically where she had left him, a lone silhouette facing the forest unmoving except for the slow shift of his head as if tracking something unseen.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]“Cassius,” [/color][color=#808080]Aurora regarded him softly as she approached and his head tilted slightly as she made her presence known, but he did not turn to face her.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“You should be resting, fair one,”[/color][color=#808080] His voice was low, almost distracted as he murmured, but the redhead ignored his dismissal, her feet remaining firmly planted in the soft soil.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]“I couldn’t sleep.”[/color][color=#808080] She replied simply, following his line of sight towards the treeline. The branches swayed in the wind, their dark skeletal silhouettes shifting and curling in the light of the crimson moon, but aside from that she saw no other movement. [/color][color=#8ecdb7]“Amma went somewhere and I was hoping to talk to her. Have you seen her?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Not since [/color][i][color=#ffffff]he[/color][/i][color=#ffffff] showed up, no.” [/color][color=#808080]The vampire stated and Aurora’s brow instantly furrowed. [/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]"He?"[/color]

[color=#808080]Cassius finally turned toward her then, his obsidian eyes meeting her sapphire gaze. His expression was difficult to read, as per usual, but there was a tension in his face she recognized.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]"A man,"[/color][color=#808080] He started, [/color][color=#ffffff]"Came out of the woods not long after you went to lay down. She knew him."[/color]

[color=#808080]Aurora froze. Could it be?[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]“What did he look like?” [/color][color=#808080]She pressed, inching closer without realizing it, and Cassius tilted his head, considering her question prior to answering.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Dark hair,” [/color][color=#808080]He started, and any hope in the redhead’s eyes was instantly snuffed out. Not Lorcán. [/color][color=#ffffff]“Tall, blue eyes with a beard. Seemed happy to see her.” [/color][color=#808080]Her eyebrows raised.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]“Gil,” [/color][color=#808080]She breathed, the tightness in her chest decreasing ever so slightly. One more piece of the puzzle was resolved- they hadn’t seen him since arriving in Ünterland. [/color][color=#8ecdb7]“That’s my friend, the one I told you about, who we lost when we came here.” [/color][color=#808080]Fearfully, she asked the question at the forefront of her mind. [/color][color=#8ecdb7]“Was anyone else with him? Maybe a man with lighter hair and orange eyes? Scar on his face?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Unless your lover has wings and multiple beady eyes, then no, he wasn’t with him.”[/color]

[color=#808080]Aurora huffed a small, breathless laugh, the sound raw and utterly tired. She didn’t even want to ask what he meant by that. [/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]"No," [/color][color=#808080]She muttered, dragging a hand through her hair. [/color][color=#8ecdb7]"Definitely not." [/color][color=#808080]She was relieved - truly - to know that [/color][color=#808080]Gil[/color][color=#808080] had found his way back to them, to Amma. But the unease didn’t fully dissipate. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, arms wrapping around herself against the chill that seemed to seep from the very earth into her bones.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]“Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and the witches?” [/color][color=#808080]The redhead pivoted the discussion to another thought that had been eating away at her since they’d arrived and for a long moment, she thought he might refuse. Then, Cassius shifted, the movement slow and deliberate, like a man carefully unwrapping old wounds.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]"I wronged one of their own," [/color][color=#808080]He replied, and Aurora could see a sliver of emotion in his obsidian eyes.[/color]

[color=#808080]Pain.[/color]

[color=#808080]She frowned, waiting for more, but he offered nothing else.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]"You wronged them how?"[/color][color=#808080] She asked delicately, her curiosity outweighing her caution. There was a long pause. Then, without looking at her, he answered.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]"I made a promise I did not keep." [/color][color=#808080]He uttered, the words were soft but cut deeper than if he’d shouted them.[/color]

[color=#808080]Aurora opened her mouth to ask for more, but something in his face, the distant way he spoke, warned her against it. It was more than anguish that ate away at him, it [/color][color=#808080]was regret[/color][color=#808080]. A regret so old and settled it had become part of him. But she had nothing else to lose, so she cleared her throat against her better judgement.[/color]

[color=#8ecdb7]"Was it… someone you cared about?"[/color][color=#808080] She carefully probed, and Cassius’ mouth twitched, that flicker of emotion barely visible, rising to the surface.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]"Once," [/color][color=#808080]He wistfully said, [/color][color=#ffffff]"A long time ago."[/color]

[color=#808080]Cassius’ lips parted slightly as if he was about to divulge more, but then his entire posture shifted- it may have been subtle, but Aurora noticed the instant tightening of his jaw, the way his shoulders squared. His gaze darkened and flicked past her, narrowing beyond the trees. Something was coming.[/color]

[color=#808080]The temperature of the air suddenly spiked around them, a stark contrast to the chill of the storm, and a glow flickered at the edge of her vision, orange and vibrant.[/color]

[color=#fe650d]“Aurora!”[/color]

[color=#808080]She’d know that voice anywhere.[/color]

[color=#808080]Aurora spun on her heel, heart lurching into her throat as there, standing in the clearing, was Lorcán. Her breath caught, not just at the sight of him, but also at the familiar fire that engulfed his hand.[/color]

[color=#808080]Lively flames licked up his palm and wrist, a beacon in the darkness indicating that against all odds, he’d regained his abilities here in Ünterland. It didn’t make sense, in fact, it was nearly impossible based on what Ellara had foretold. But there was no time for explanation, not when Aurora could see the simmering anger that only intensified as he grew closer, the light from the fire illuminating his tense features and his molten gaze pinned on Cassius.[/color]

[color=#808080]Approaching quickly, his fingers curled into a fist, the flames snapping and flaring brighter, hungry for something to burn. And as he spoke, Lorcán’s voice was edged with something volatile, something barely restrained, heat rolling off of him.[/color]

[color=#fe650d]”Get away from [/color][color=#fe650d]my[/color][color=#fe650d][i] wife[/i][/color][color=#fe650d].”[/color][/indent]