driftfleet | Catelyn | OTA and a closed tag for Robb

Who: Catelyn Stark
Broadcast: no
Action: a nice dose of hallucinations, for the most part
When: now

A. Hallucinations, OTA

[ At first they were faint, such that she wasn't even certain that she heard them. But a mother knew her children's cries. They were distinct to her, even when they were only small babies. And though she knew in her heart that none of her children would sound like infants, still she heard them. And as time wore on they only got louder and louder, and the compulsion to find them grew more and more urgent. So in earlier stages, she'll simply stop at seemingly random points, listening intently. Later, she will find herself doing things like ripping up the deck plates, or trying to, growing more and more frantic. She may not recognize people that she should. And these moods are chaotic and come out of seemingly nowhere, so you might find her to be perfectly lucid as well. ]

I will find you, my sweetlings. Nothing will hurt you now.

B. Closed to Robb, in the Iskaulit gardens

[The voices did not follow her here to the gardens. And though she was not given to praying in the godswood at home, preferring the ritual of the sept and voices raised in song, she felt compelled to seek the green space and it's quiet here and now. She has closed her eyes and is singing in her heart, seeking a calm she struggles to feel in any other way. And even here it is fleeting. Though it is ship's night and she should be sleeping, she cannot. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Joy and sorrow war across her features and they almost cancel each other out with their intensity. Joy wins, for the moment at least, and she moves to take Sansa in her arms. There is a ferocity in her embrace, a toughness like old roots. She did not succeed in shielding her child in life; she will not fail to do so in this second life. ]

I am here, and I will not leave you again.

[ sansa clings to her mother -- fierce fingers like talons digging into the cloth of her dress. her face scrunches up in pain, but she refuses to cry. even now, she will not allow herself to shed her tears. instead, her ear finds the beat of catelyn's heart.

she dares to listen. ]

I have missed you. So very much. [ a heave; almost-a-sob. she hasn't the heart to explain to her lady mother that staying here is not a promise she can be certain of keeping. ]

[ Catelyn smooths a hand across her daughter's bright hair. The gesture may be better suited to a much younger child, but it seems right all the same. ]

I have thought of you with every breath we have been parted, until my last breath.

[ until her last. the way sansa's face falls -- the way her body tightens into an all-over knot -- suggests she knows. knows her mother is dead. worse than dead: murdered. most foully.

she sucks in a shivering breath. even so, she does not cry. ]

I wish I'd never gone South. I was a stupid girl, mother, to want it so badly.

[Her heart twists inside her, to hear such bitterness in her daughter's voice, she who was always so happy. ]

We should have all stayed safely in Winterfell, child. We could not have known...else you know your father would never have made such a decision.

Life is a journey, sweetling, and there is no map.

You have no blame.

[ but she feels blame. and a great deal of it, at that. sansa curls into her mother's embrace -- clinging on as best she can. there is no way that she can explain to lady stark why her conscience is burdened. blemished. ]

As you say, [ she murmurs. obedient and good, as a daughter ought to be. ] You speak the truth.

[ she despairs for how easily a lie it is. ]

[ Catelyn knows her daughter well enough to hear that faint note of doubt in her tone, try as Sansa might to hide it. She well knows that there is guilt and blame in double handfuls for anyone to claim, and now is not the time. Still, she would hold any of the children blameless. Yes, even Jon, much as it would irk her to do so. Thorn in her side or no...but now is no time to think of Jon, either. ]

Enough, for now, of the past and of blame. Tell me of your time here, my sweet. Have you been treated well?

[ Aside from, you know, essentially being a captive to some faceless unknown's whims.... ]

-- The Blue Fish is a lovely ship, with lovely people on it. [ something primal and needy in her wants to beg her lady mother to join them aboard it, but she's afraid of how it might sound.

instead, she decides to sing the ship's praises and entice her that way. ] Our Captain is a brave and kind man. He takes care of us. And he's only ever been welcoming to our family.

Given the choice, Catelyn would have chosen to be with her children. But she was not quite certain how things worked here. Still, she would find out. No need to lure; her only thought was once again her children. And with the knowledge that her augment provided, she would do a much better job at protecting them this time. "And who is the Captain of this ship?" she asked, wanting to thank personally the man who had sheltered her children.

His name is Sokka. [ and she's quite fond of him, though she's not nearly self-aware enough to understand the depths of that fondness. for now, she sees him as an anchor point: radiating protection and kindness. ] And he's vowed to look after us, here.

[ She files that name away, and vows to make his acquaintance at some future point. ]

It is good to have allies, my sweet. One can never have too many.

Catelyn | OTA and a closed tag for Robb

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