driftfleet | 002 ➳ audio + action.

Entry tags:

002 ➳ audio + action.

Who: Nyssa.
Broadcast: Fleetwide audio.
Action: On the planet.
When: When the Fleet makes planetfall.

[ Briskly, ]

I am leading a hunting party. One companion is ideal; I will take no more than three. Bring your own weapons and dress for the cold. We depart at sunrise, from the lodge at the foot of the mountains, and there will be trips every other day beginning tomorrow.

[ Beat. ]

If you wish to come and learn, you are welcome, but if you cannot keep up, you will be left behind.

[ ooc: action prompts in comments. let me know if you'd like a custom starter. ]

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[ they stole my brother's head and replace it with that of his direwolf -- how could robb possibly be better, like that? and her lady mother, murdered and abandoned. her teeth grit, but ultimately she bows to nyssa's wisdom. ]

Such a miracle ought only to happen in stories, [ she answers in a whisper. compliant, in her own way. ]

[ Better than lost in the madness of a Lazarus Pit, wandering sick and crazed, with the souls of hundreds of others to haunt one's waking and sleeping moments. ]

Ay. Yet, even this miracle cannot hide weakness, or rot, and it can only cheat death for so long.

[ and so -- ] May I ask what befalls your father in its use?

[ a personal question. too personal, perhaps, and sansa's wince is preemptive for the likely possibility that nyssa will be cross with her for having asked it. but if this sorcery is so awful, she must wonder why the lord of nanda parbat permits himself its use. ]

Edited 2015-12-26 02:48 (UTC)

Madness.

[ She looks at her hands. ]

He has strong will, as he must, but I loath the use of such means. I would not wish it upon my greatest enemy, and never upon those dear to me, or to you.

[ a low and solemn nod. the curse of daughters, she decides, is to watch their fathers be cut down. eroded away. turned made, or imprisoned, or executed. it's a sin; father's should remain giants in their daughters' hearts. ]

I cannot imagine myself possessing half-so-much restraint as you.

[ She huffs a laugh. ]

I am not that brave. I would often remove myself from the room rather than watch, even now.

-- Were you permitted? [ to leave, to remove herself, to avoid it. ]

Yes, I was.

[ Because she was heir, and did what she pleased, no one questioned her. ]

Then you were fortunate. Matters of state and circumstance can be so...[ horrible. ] Distasteful.

Were you required to sit in to many, Sansa?

Nearly every one, when I was at court. Most were as boring as dirt.

It is a tedious proposal to run a kingdom. I have met your King Robert. He does not strike me as suitable.

[ -- it's a secret she hasn't told before now. because to upset such a balance would be a terrible thing: she'd felt that truth in her bones. but nyssa, she suspects, can keep a secret. ]

His Grace, King Robert, is no longer the realm's protector. He hasn't been for -- for some time.

[ — Ah. ]

Has a better one taken his place, or worse? [ though, this might be too forward, and she adds, gently, ] You need not speak if you not desire.

[ she doesn't -- want to speak, or relive, or indulge those bad memories. her attention shifts away from nyssa and (instead) she stares at the pile of pelts. they remind her of the north, and of nights that got so cold that she and arya actually shared their furs. arya, who (blessedly) never had to endure joffrey's reign. arya, who would very possible love nyssa should they ever meet. ]

Lions, Nyssa. [ if she cannot tell the whole truth, then she can speak in heavy-handed allegory. ] Lions took his throne.

[ There's a brief expression of puzzlement, then it dawns. Nyssa hums, quietly. ]

A difficult creature to kill. They must be downed in a single blow by a sure hand, for wounded lions become vindictive.

[ Allegory isn't her strong suit, but Sansa has set the tune, and Nyssa does her best to follow. ]

[ by public accounts, joffrey is a stag. not a lion. but cersei's claws are deep in the throne, now, and her once-betrothed had embraced his mother's house more than his father's. alleged father. the rumours swell; she will not speak them.

what she will explain, however, are the sigils: ] You speak the truth. Of course you do. [ nyssa is good at that. ] Lions are the symbols of House Lannister. [ a little more proudly: ] The Starks have direwolves.

[ She smiles, unexpectedly. ]

There were wolves in the mountains where I grew up. They were always a reminder of home.

[ one smile begets another -- though there persist the telltale signs of sansa trying to dampen hers. ]

Once, I had one for a companion. Her name was Lady. [ ... ] She was beautiful.

Of that I have little doubt.

[ She stands, not abruptly. ]

Perhaps a warm reminder? There is a skin amongst those I brought that is very much like a wolf's.

[ politely, she stands as well -- mere moments after nyssa. ]

I pray it was quarry that put up a brave fight.

Indeed, it did.

[ She stands at the opposite end, waiting for Sansa to make her choice. There's furs of all kinds, some recognisable as wolflike or bearlike, others unknown and with the skin patterns of leopards or tigers. ]

[ it isn't an easy thing to choose -- but she delights in the choice. running her fingers across the pelts, she's torn between the familiar and the foreign. her fingers dig into the fur of a bearish hide, feeling the bristly hairs against her knuckles. it reminds her of winterfell, and of her bedding there.

but the tiger-pelt is different. alluring. seductive, almost, in its wayward stripes. she can feel how she covets it in her heart: it appears fashionable, and special. she wants it dearly, but want is not need. and the bear fur is warmer.

so (with ginger movements) she raises the bearlike pelt and folds it as neatly as she can. ] It's perfect.

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