Skill: 「 - 」
Thread Title: Shrek 2: 「 Little Drop of Poison 」 

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Aksel remained moving, exploring the Alpines as he escaped from the meadows. He held the knowledge he’d learned from Golde and Sólúlfur, north of those plains was their home—Dawnbreak. Gradually, he shied away from the mountains where they resided, there was no need to potentially cross the women’s path and relive the agonizingly long night they’d all shared.

His travels had brought him to a different range, its summit looking as if it touched the sky above. While Aksel did not particularly care much to meet and greet every pack, this one seemed unusually busy. Dozens of scent trails accumulated in one place, which simultaneously made him cautious and curious.

It took little to no convincing for him to approach, finding himself stopping at their freshly marked borders and letting a howl into their territory. It echoed within the near pines, and Aksel stood with his head lifted and ears tentatively cupped forward.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

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[ ♫ ]

It was a lovely - and rare - winter day to sunbathe. Although she should have been enjoying the festivities, Solvi had stepped away for a moment of respite - it seemed even the honeybee herself had a limit, though it was often difficult to reach the ends of its capacity. She knew the importance of taking steps to avoid burnout and it was imperative she was in tip-top shape to heal the battlers the next day. The combatants deserved healers who were well-rested and capable, though she hoped the injuries would be minor since these were supposed to be good-natured spars.

Her thoughts turned to Alder - she supposed she might be a little biased in her determination to ensure he was cared for properly, whatever wounds he might sustain.

The hustle and bustle of Northfall's heart was not far from her, however, as she posed not unlike a cat atop a particularly stable and warmed stone. With its covering of snow removed, it had begun to soak up the modicum of heat the winter sun offered and she was all too happy to take advantage of it. Her lineage was crafted for mountain living, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the rays.

Solvi's head began to drift downward as a light slumber overtook her, eyes fluttering closed and her posture sinking. Her tan nose almost touched the rock before a howl rent the air.

Her ears strained against the call and, at first, she wondered if she was dreaming it into reality. That was Aksel's voice she heard, clear as day - she would know it anywhere, no matter the place or time.

Green eyes snapped open as her head jerked backwards, away from the rock she was settled upon. Her heart drummed with adrenaline, a fragile hope cradled within her chest. At first, she could only stare in the direction the howl came from, her brows scrunching in quizzical thought - it sounded like Aksel, but that couldn't be right. Surely she had dreamed it in her not-quite-nap, and it was simply just another wolf attending Northfall's festivities.

... But what if he was real and not imagined at all?

She was no member of Northfall and, although it might have been seen as rude for her to answer a visitor's call, she could not keep herself from lifting her own response to the mountain atmosphere - if this really was Aksel, then he would recognize her, wouldn't he? She had never considered that he might not know her in this new life, but all good sense had long flown out the window.

Through motions she did not consciously make, Solvi rose to her paws and began to press forward, half-blindly picking a path down the rockwork to reach the border. With each passing moment, her steps grew more desperate, clumsier as they gathered speed. In her haste, her paws slipped against the icy stones, but she did not yet falter nor slow - her mission was simple: She was going to reach the border as fast as she could, danger be damned. She would not risk him leaving or disappearing as he had in the cave, if that had truly been him.

She wouldn't let him.

{ Arriving next round }

Skill: 「 - 」

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Gusts of wind rolled past him, rippling his fur in different directions as he stood there almost rigidly.  Seconds ticked by, yet for some reason it felt longer. He chalked it up to be due to his faint unease; should a group this large grow hostile, he would have no chance against them. He was not used to their terrain, they held every ounce of advantage over him. Aksel’s brows furrowed lightly, as if focusing his gaze sternly would help him identify their friendliness.

Aksel shifted his weight between his front paws, the snow crunching with the movement. He gave quick side-eye glances to his left and right, trying to ensure there was no ambush. It was all in vain though, wasn’t it? He practically accepted the idea of death when approaching a group of over 30 wolves. Besides, he held no right to fear the ending of his life. Dying simply meant being reunited with—

A howl rang out, a distant answer from a source he could not see. Time froze as his eyes widened with a mixture of disbelief and unexpected adrenaline. Aksel felt his heart plummet into his stomach, the heaviness causing a sudden bout of nausea. He could hear nothing beyond the throbbing of the pulse in his ears and the deep, shaking breaths that were going in and out of his mouth. It sounded real and lively, yet also ominously haunting. Could another truly sound so frighteningly similar to his Solvi? No. No. That wasn’t possible. She was special, unique, irreplaceable. There was no chance the Mother would have dared to give another a voice that matched the honeybee’s note for note. It was just some cruel trick, wasn’t it?

Aksel’s limbs trembled, a single hind leg taking a step back to aid in stabilization. He… he wanted to run. But, was it running towards the sound or running away from it that his body so desperately craved? He couldn’t tell. The men felt like his body was going to rip itself in half as it battled to establish a direction. He— He had to move. Somewhere, anywhere, he had to move.

A shaking paw took the first stride, the others following its guidance. The racing of his heart caused him to be momentarily lightheaded as his blood rushed. It was the cave all over again, the pain he’d been trying so hard to move past was being unearthed and shoved in his face without warning. Aksel squeezed his eyes shut and bolted, his head angled downward as if trying to ram through something that barricaded him from the source of the call.

It had to be her, and he had to find her at all costs. Solvi. Solvi. Solvi. Solvi! Aksel yelled out, his voice hoarse as if he’d been shouting for her all day. It had to be her. The sword sprinted through the pines, disrespecting the borders of a group he’d never met, risking his life just to check, just for a single glimpse. It had to be her. A man with rationality etched into his bones had abandoned his own morals the moment he believed her could see her again. It had to be her.

It had to be her, it had to be his Solvi.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

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[ ♫ ]

Reckless creature that she was, Solvi had not considered what the next step was if this visitor was not Aksel. She had not allowed the option to gain any traction or settle any sort of roots - the suggestion alone was a wicked interloper into her inner peace that she plucked on sight.

As soul-crushing as it would be to discover foolish hope had once again led her straight to disappointment's doorstep, her resolve held with each scrambled footstep down the mountain's slope. Had she been less familiar with mountaineering, the descent might have bore disaster, but her near-tumbles were gratefully few even in her haste. Her heart beat quickly within her chest, incapable of embracing any reality other than finally being reunited with the final piece of her family she had lost.

... Except for her father, but did she truly miss his presence? It was a troubling, soul-searching thought reserved for another time and another day.

Her name rose to the mountain air, woven by an ever-familiar voice, and the relief was instant, reflected in a wide grin that made the corners of her lips ache with the effort and the prickle of imminent tears. That was Aksel - she could not forget the voice of her Blade, no matter how much time had passed. She had known him from the day she could open her eyes or hear his words through folded puppy ears, and the last year without her constant companion and brother had been far too long. Renewed effort pushed her forward with greater urgency.

Solvi turned the corner and his shape materialized.

She stopped, chest heaving from the physical effort, as she wondered if her eyes deceived her.

It didn't seem possible and yet to find him again was certainly a gift from The Mother. Every action was predetermined for this moment to unfold. Had she been back amidst the healers or the party, she might have missed his call entirely and, by extension, him - perhaps their paths never would have crossed, passing ships through the foggy sea of time itself.

Aksel! she called out in the only warning he'd receive as she sped forward, aiming directly for the umber-toned wolf, not unlike a heat-seeking missile. If he didn't dodge in time, she would propel into his taller, sturdier frame.

Skill: 「 - 」

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Aksel’s heart was heavy, constantly weighed down with the unrelenting burden of guilt and grief. Not a day passed—truthfully not even a moment passed—without feeling the sorrow that constricted around him, wrapping so fiercely at times that breathing was not an option. All stemming from the loss of his charge. But, she was more than that, wasn’t she? Solvi was no mere ward that he was tethered to through oath alone. No, Solvi was… Well, Solvi. Had Aksel needed to label her as anything, it would be “soulmate”.

The Mother had woven the threads of their fate into the same cloth, they were meant to be together forever. From the moment Solvi first breathed air, she was his and he was hers. Companions, partners, friends, family. To Aksel, she could even be described as his universe, his home. It was only natural that he crumbled in the wake of her supposed death.

It was all of these feelings that pushed him further, his lungs aching as he took in quick, frantic breaths of cold air. He had to keep going, he had to keep looking. Then he spotted it, the golden sheen of a figure. Aksel stopped, his shoulders and rib cage expanding and contracting as he attempted to level his breath. It felt so still, his eyes locked on the figure ahead. Gradually, the world around him faded out of existence, the trees and mountains falling into nothingness. All that was left was the two of them. standing yards apart, unmoving.

It was Solvi that acted first.

The sound of his name, her call breaking through the silence of his world like the sun breaking through the clouds. The ceaseless tempest of the Blade’s heart was finally calming, allowing warmth to flourish as he watched her— his Sun. All Aksel could do was brace himself as she began to barrel towards him with an untamed speed. Solvi! he called, a faint tremble in his voice, his fear of this not being real was rattling him to his core. It would linger until she slammed into him.

A choked exhale escaped him, wrapping himself selfishly around Solvi the second he was able to stabilize himself. Embracing her shattered the wall he’d built up to guard his vulnerability, a barricade constructed from his raw emotions. Aksel clenched his jaw, the scrape of enamel could be heard through his sealed lips. It was real—she was real. All of his sleepless nights, and every moment he had been certain he’d never hold her again, suddenly poured out in the form of falling tears, as if washing them away from existence.

Aksel felt himself shake as silent sobs racked his body. Solvi… Her name—a plea, a prayer, a strained whisper, his worry of speaking any louder would break whatever fragile reality this was. Where— Why— How— Solvi… none of his questions mattered, right now. All that was important was how tightly he held onto her, preventing her from drifting out of his life again. Never again. Never. He wouldn’t allow it. Not now, not ever.

Solvi, a whine, high pitched and nearly child-like. Aksel was melting into a form of absolute emotional exposure, Mother’s Mercy… The Mother had brought her back to him.

He’d found her, His Solvi.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

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[ ♫ ]

The collision could have broken every bone in Solvi's body and she would not have cared. His voice carrying her name was as welcome as a spring breeze, serving only to press her further into her pursuit of him.

Her gathered speed throttled Aksel only slightly and he stabilized quickly, his familiar embrace wrapping around her as she nestled into his ruff. The scent of Lagerfeld roses rode on each inhale, inflating her lungs, as she recalled the cave she had ventured into; it had seemed a fool's errand at the time, to think he was there, but now she was not so certain. Perhaps he had been here all along, maybe even as long as she had been; it was a thought that twinged at her heart. Had he been well and safe? Warm and fed? There was slightly less mass to his body now than she last recalled and, distantly, beneath the churning tides of joy that they were reunited, she fretted for her Blade and what he might have endured in the time they spent apart.

His sobs rattled even her own body and she shifted closer, slender legs gathering around his neck as best they could within his crushing embrace. She had never seen him crumble as he did now and the raw emotion drove itself like a wedge directly into her heart, whines falling from her lips as she sought to sponge away both his tears and her own.

Unable to will her tongue into forming words, her muzzle pressed against his cheek as she whisked the tears away, even as her own flooded. It was as though an eternity had passed since she saw Aksel last, but the void his absence left filled quickly in his presence.

She had pressed on in her life within Mythris, not out of determination to forget her loved ones, but as a tribute to them. Her mother's sacrifice had to mean something, the distance once placed between herself and all of them had to culminate into something worth its gravity. Solvi tried to remain within The Mother's path, to make something of herself that she felt would make them proud.

Whether she succeeded or not didn't matter inside Aksel's embrace.

His rapid-fire questions, each one a singular word, earned a flicker from her ear and a small smile spanned across her lips. I do not know, it is only by The Mother's will, Solvi whispered, each word shaken with the wavering quality of her voice. But you are here.

She still found it difficult to believe. Darker implications lurked at the back of her mind, suggesting others she did not wish to see may also walk the lands of Mythris, but it was easy enough to force them away in the glow of reuniting with Aksel.

Móðir and Brynhild are here in Mythris, too, she added, sniffling.

Skill: 「 - 」

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Aksel fell silent for a moment, his erratic motions morphing into a sudden calmness as he buried his face in the full plush of her neck. Solvi was much smaller than he was, but the blade’s crown held a heavy weight as he leaned against her like a pillar of support. She was real. I believed you to be gone, that I would never see you again, That he had failed her and all of the Sólskin wolves. The man’s tail tightly curled around his haunches, ears splayed as he remained entangled with the golden honey-bee. Logic was reaffirming that she was here, but the doubts taking root were relentless. What if she was taken away from him again? Aksel felt a sensation similar to a knife stabbing him repeatedly in the belly, knots of fear and uncertainty making their home in the deepest parts of him.

An exhale escaped him, Aksel’s breath released into the dense, winterized coat of his ward. How could things feel so familiar yet fictitious? A part of him was bracing for the moment he would be forcefully awoken from this dream. It was Solvi’s voice that finally drew his ears forward and beckoned his head to rise. Ylva and Brynhild were here, too. Aksel was but one of many missing pieces, and Solvi was collecting them without pause.

I— Aksel swallowed thickly, his eyes wavering as emotion crept in like a brewing storm. Had they told her? Did Solvi know of Isúlfr? Of Sólskin? Perhaps they had not wanted to taint their reunions with such grievous topics. What was he meant to say? What was right to say? I will never lose you again, Solvi. I will stay by your side until your last breath, and into the next life. Until you grow sick of me, I will be your shadow. The blade’s toes dug into the snow, clenching tightly as he reclaimed his sanity with an oath of devotion, one he had already failed at before. 

A foreleg lifted to drape around her, his heart still hammering from their previous running and uncontrolled rushes of emotion. Ég elska þig og ég er svo stoltur af þér fyrir að hafa stjórnað öllum þessum tíma ein. ( I love you, and I am so proud of you for managing all this time alone.) Aksel allowed himself to embrace her, his tongue scattering kisses across wherever he could reach.

Solvi was his everything — Aksel owed his life to her family, and he owed his entire reason for living to Solvi.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

Truthfully, she had thought the same.

As she fled Solskin's territory and embarked on an ill-fated journey down the precarious slopes and ledges of Mors Fjell, she felt so certain she would never cross her family's path again. They would stay within the packlands and move on without her - maybe, on some distant day, she could have found her way back and reconnected, long after her father had passed, but it was a selfish want that paved the way for discontent.

I feared I would not see you or the others ever again, Solvi told him. I thought I found you once, in one of those strange caves, but I think I imagined it all. I walked and walked and I never found you.

The caves had been vexing each time she encountered them - it seemed fitting it would also lure her in with the promise of her Blade, only to dash her hopes.

Aksel's renewed oath brought a soft bow to her lips and she shook her head. I would never bid you away, Aksel, she told him. And you will not lose me. The mark on her flank lent by the fangs of Cypress were proof of that - it was harder to be rid of the honeybee than one might think. She had managed to surround herself with souls who cared about her wellbeing, but she recalled the bone reading Dimitri had done for her... she couldn't let everyone else bear the brunt of her protection.

She did not want to tarnish their reunion with discussion of what this life held - how he no longer had to bind himself to her. Aksel could have true autonomy without worry of her father's favor souring, the politics of old were no longer relevant.

Selfishly, she allowed him to pull her in closer. She expected nothing less of her Blade, to embrace his old oath so keenly, but combined with his profession of pride in her, it stirred a guilt she hadn't allowed to breathe oxygen until now. Solvi's ears slanted back and she tensed within his grasp - not because of his words, but because she remembered, all at once, that he didn't even know.

He didn't know why she had left or what had happened leading up to and after she stepped paw out of Solskin's territory. She couldn't have told him because he would have stopped her or worse, he would have taken it upon himself to resolve the issue, even if it meant tearing Isúlfr's heart directly from his chest. He did not know that both her mother and herself moved within the shadows to get the timing of her departure right, conjuring the perfect storm for her to disappear.

His pride in her was as caustic as it was uplifting, serving to singe the wings she hoped to fly with. Would he still be proud of her when she told him all of it - or would the deception be too much?

She wouldn't blame him.

Solvi pressed her nose to his cheek briefly before she reluctantly retracted from his hold.

Ég elska þig og hef saknað þín sárt (Norse: I love you and have missed you dearly), she returned in the Mother's Tongue, then relented to common. I am here because of the members of Dawnbreak - they took me in when I appeared east of here.

Her words ended like there was more she wanted to say, but it took her a few long beats to find the words as she fidgeted with a cold pebble at her paws.

There was so much she would have to tell him about, both before she left and after she arrived in Mythris.

Did Móðir ever tell you? she asked him, studying his face to gauge his reaction to the question. ... About how she helped me leave?

Skill : 「 - 」 

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Aksel felt an unnatural mixture of guilt, shame, relief, and joy. He had failed at his duty, which led everyone to feel that same suffocating fear of being alone. Solvi had suffered the same thoughts he had been haunted by: Will I ever see them again? Are they okay? Will I be alone? What happened to them? Where do I go? What should I do next? It was almost laughable how those once heavily weighted questions sounded ridiculous now that he was beside her again.

Of course they needn’t worry, the Mother had bound them from the start of their very existence. Aksel was tied to Solvi and she to him, it was written in the stars and their threads of fate had been intertwined since Solvi’s first breath. He would have found her, dead or alive, in this world and any other. He believed the Mother would not sever a bond that is so intensely treasured.

The mention of the caves made him momentary prickle, his muscles tensing as he wrapped around her a bit tighter. He recalled those damned caves and how he had also thought he’d found his companion. In a sense, Aksel did find some version of her in the cursed caverns, but it was not his Solvi. Her words of acceptance were enough to soothe the rigidity he’d felt from the mention of the trick filled caves.

While Solvi’s mind raced, her body would tense and react to whatever doubts and thoughts she had, but it did not bother the Blade. Aksel remained coiled around her like a snake with its prey, there was still a distant fear deep within his psyche that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t real. Though, he did his best to push away the flicker of doubt and bask in the familiar plush of blonde fur.

Words he expected and words he could not have predicted. She loved him and she missed him, naturally. But… the ones who had taken her in. …Dawnbreak? he asked without thinking. Aksel’s mind filled with the little, golden wolf and the larger, monochrome one, and of course how, er, intimately(?) they had huddled up. The Blade’s eye twitched, a foreign sense of unease flooding his belly. Was he going to have to see them again? Did Solvi know them closely? Had they ever mentioned the strange, unknown man they met in a blizzard? Hopefully they hadn’t. If the Mother was kind and just, those two would have been long gone by the time he went to Dawnbreak with Solvi. Maybe the blizzard ate them or they fell off a cliff? It would be better than having to swallow the ill feelings he had surrounding it all.

But the shift in topic made his heart still from its anxious hammering. A single ear twitched at the final words to leave her lips. Helped her… leave…? Confusion clouded his often readable expression, clearly unsure of what she had been talking about. Ylva helped Solvi leave? Leave Sólskin? Leave her family? Leave her home? Leave him?… But why?

Aksel didn’t understand, even as he strived to. Solvi had fled without anyone or anything, she had convinced him that she was missing—or worse, dead. The man swallowed thickly, his mouth feeling dry and his throat swollen while he formulated his thoughts. I was unaware she aided you, there was a subtle lack of presence in his voice, as he still tried to make sense of it. I do not know the reason you felt you had to leave alone, without me but I trust you had a good reason for your choices, even if he didn’t understand them, even if he felt slightly abandoned or unwanted, this was Solvi. She would never make choices to harm him.

Have you… Aksel shifted, as if a physical pain was making him move. Have you spoken of Sólskin? they should discuss both topics, since neither would be heartwarming or joyful. They should release the burdens they each carried.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

Unaware of Aksel's run-in with Solulfur and Golde and the resulting mire of crisis it caused him, Solvi was blissfully content to revel in the return of her Blade. It was his great misfortune that both were very much still with Dawnbreak and one happened to be of the highest regard in Solvi's opinion - she had saved the honeybee twice.

She witnessed the change in his expression as she scratched the surface of what unfolded in the lifetime before. As she met his gaze with her own, she almost wished she hadn't mentioned it all - but confronting her own failings, her own selfishness never promised to be painless.

Solvi drew in a steadying breath, issuing a silent prayer to The Mother that She would give her the right words to say.

I see, Solvi said quietly, noting her mother had kept the plan under wraps just as well as she had. Any crack could have proven to destroy everything, she knew - and even telling Aksel after the fact likely would have seen him go in search of her. Any with half a brain would have immediately known something was amiss and had him tailed at best, or questioned him at worst. She knew him and so did Ylva. In the quiet few moments following her words, she studied his facial features, considering how she would breach the rest of the subject. She aided me in escaping before the betrothal could take place - I went to her, months before, because I could not go through with it. Min far (Mother's Tongue: My father) would not hear reason, and it was too late to back out without consequence.

Nevermind that she had no siblings to swap in her place, no one to absorb the role she did not want. Ferghus would not, could not have presented a satisfactory alternative. All the same, Solvi knew he wouldn't have if he could - his word was iron-clad, for better or worse, and he expected her to do as she was told. It was the least she could do for all her other shortcomings he worked to gloss over to protect her public-facing image. It was the only plan we could think of, but no one could know. I could not be found, and it would have endangered anyone who knew, Solvi supplied, hoping he would read between the lines: she did not want harm to find him. Already, he had sacrificed so much in the name of her safety - she would not bring more to his doorstep unduly. She snuck me out so it would appear I had gone missing, presumed dead. From there, I ran-

She paused for a moment, debating the finer points of telling him she had died just before coming to Mythris. He deserved the truth. I lost my footing and fell from a cliff's edge I did not see in time, but before I reached the bottom, I woke up beside Frostfang Vale, where Dawnbreak resides, Solvi explained. I have stayed with them since.

His shift did not go unnoticed and her expression grew more somber, if it could have at all. This was a lot of information for anyone, but she did not relish being the bearer of truth to Aksel, who had dedicated so much of his life and energy to the preservation of hers.

I have mentioned Sólskin only a few times - no one here seems to know anything of it, neither do they know The Mother, Solvi added. I do not carry the name here - it does not serve me and it is not mine.

She was not a Sólskin anymore - that lineage died with her father.