A wide ravine where a shallow, gentle river flows. Years of drought and silt deposits have built this area into a fertile delta. The river remains low and dry most of the year, staining its waters brown and creating muddy shores.
Caedwyn answered that he hurt everywhere, but as she continued to gently inspect him, she discovered that perhaps besides his pride, he had come out mostly uninjured, or at least it seemed that way at first glance. She did remain partially suspicious of his injuries as he continued to rest in a lay, conveniently not getting to his paws just yet. Or, more rationally, perhaps he was just catching his breath and letting the shock of the pain ebb away. His humor made her believe more and more in her more rational explanation she'd come up with. "Yeah, he's a dick like that, as you can see." she retorted to his comment of the tree appearing out of nowhere. "I'm sorry Caed. I thought you saw the nod. I guess that's something I'll have to work on, learning how to communicate with you better with my body. I guess, really, we are still learning one another." While there were many factors that contributed to the failed hunt, Enya blamed herself the most for the failure. It had been her failure in communicating with Caedwyn that had gotten him hurt.
To Caedwyn's question of whether or not she'd been successful in bringing Buck down, "I can't bring him down. We are linked. But... it's weird. I used to be able to feel his presence, his emotions and even understand him. I should have known he was there in the clearing, and yet I hadn't a clue until you went for him." Caedwyn shifted to his paws and Enya let out a sigh of relief. His legs all seemed to be working, though perhaps sore. She stood to let him inspect her wounds that had re-opened. "I'm fine. It's nothing life-threatening. Don't worry about herbs. I've had worse." Like her hind leg nearly being torn off. "I'm more worried about Buck. We had him. We had him. He had fallen limp in my grasp," She lifted a paw up to her neck where she'd inflicted wounds on herself while simultaneously holding Buck's neck with her teeth, "but I couldn't command him. He resisted every attempt. His defiance won out. Even if we had restrained him, he had given up. You saw it, right? How he laid there limp? He'd given into his prey instincts. He was ready to die. You understand what that means." She knew Caedwyn was smart enough to put two and two together. "I had to let him go. I didn't have a choice. Now, though, he's out there, running wild. He's aggressive because he's mad. He's vulnerable because he's alone. He's a prime target for predators." She needed to figure out what had stopped her bond from linking with Buck. She also needed to figure out how he had even ended up here. If he could recall, would it be possible to go to the world of her own? Would she be able to continue searching for her children? Was it possible for them to find her? She prayed to Tsillah the answer was yes.
Weariness overtook Enya as the adrenaline from the hunt and fight waned. Her legs ached. Her shoulders, neck, and back all ached. She yawned, her jaws wide and her forked tongue curled, then closed her muzzle. The day was full of twists and turns. She wondered if it was done, or if there was more in store. She let herself fall into a sit, but she didn't dare let herself relax. Buck was still near. He could have a change of heart and charge the pair at any given second. She stayed alert for crashing underbrush, or her Buck's grunts and groans. A thought struck her and she chuckled as she spoke her thought out loud: "It's never a dull day with me, as you can tell."
Caedwyn watched anxiously, his eyes darting over Enya as she began to answer his questions. She didn't immediately say she was fine but instead apologized for somehow miscommunicating with Caedwyn. He simply shook his head in response. "No, it's fine," he said reassuringly, not wanting to interrupt her. His body relaxed a little when it seemed she wasn't going to suddenly shout "I'm dying!" or "get the medic!" at him, which he was grateful for. He straightened a bit, moving to a sitting position so he could listen while she explained more about her connection with Buck. His tail gave a small waggle when she reassured him that she was fine (finally) but it grew still once more as she continued. Somehow her familiar had defied her. Caedwyn had already connected the lines that Enya now spoke about. His eyes followed when she moved her paw to the injuries on her neck.
She was connected with Buck. The bond itself was worrisome but even more given that Buck was a prey animal. Sure, he had horns and hooves, but many creatures might attempt to harm him. Looking to Enya, Caedwyn felt a twist in his stomach forming. If something terrible should befall Buck, Enya might suffer the same fate - given how they were connected. Caedwyn couldn't have that. He wouldn't. Enya was right. Buck was a prime target for predators. He sat quietly, mulling the situation over. He was angry that of all creatures, Enya was somehow bonded with something so vulnerable. But he knew he had no business commenting on that. He'd never had a familiar and he didn't know much on how such bonds worked. He wasn't mad at her about it. Hell, he wasn't even mad at Buck. He was just mad that she was in danger.
"It's never a dull day with me, as you can tell." She chuckled and he let out a sigh with the breath he'd been holding. At lease somehow she could see the humor in the moment. He returned her comment with a meager smile, not wanting his worry to show too much. He leaned forward,, pushing his nose under her jaw and rubbing the top of his nose gently under hers.
"We'll figure this out," he said before pulling away to be able to look into her face. "Do you feel up to going after him? I don't like the idea of him wandering around out there like this and you getting hurt; but we don't have a plan and no way to safely contain him right now. Hmmm..." Caedwyn let out a frustrated grumble as he thought, his brow furrowing and ears flicking backward in annoyance. This damned deer was such a nuisance. It would be easy to just kill the beast but that definitely wasn't an option. The damned thing was making everything difficult by not submitting to Enya's will. "I don't want to lose the opportunity to catch him, but if he already resisted you once, now may not be the time. Maybe we should see a shaman about this?" His ears flicked forward with curiosity and his eyes came alight with a little hope, and he watched Enya's face to see if she approved of the idea or not. "They might know a way to restore your connection... and if not..." he paused, debating whether to allow his thoughts to escape his mouth. He wasn't sure how Enya would react to what he was really thinking.
He took a breath and his tone grew more serious. "... and if not, we must find a way to break the bond."
Caedwyn leaned in to rub his nose beneath her jaw, to soothe her. It was odd, him making such a gesture. She wasn't used to it and yet as he brushed against her, she felt a wave of tension melt away. A simple brush of affection was such a powerful tool to have at one's disposal. When he pulled away, she wished that he hadn't. "We'll figure this out" he boldly proclaimed, she was sure, to try and reassure her. She couldn't see a solution ahead of her. If she couldn't control Buck with her Will, how was she possibly supposed to keep him safe? The adrenaline from the hunt and the fight waned, yet her anxiety and fear grew as she realized the situation she was now in. The lands were full of predators lurking in the shadows. Someone could kill the Queen without even meaning to. She could die in any given second while he was roaming out there free. He wasn't safely tucked away in the walls of her old Kingdom. He wasn't wearing his collar she had made for him. He was a wild stag and had no indicators that he was bonded with Enya.
"Do you feel up to going after him?..." Caedwyn spoke. She shook her head no while she sat trembling, aching and exhausted both physically and mentally. The longer they sat there and didn't hear Buck rushing through the brush to charge at them, the more and more relaxed Enya's body became. She had to relax. Her muscles ached from the tension. He suggested they see a shaman, and Enya found herself thinking back to Ember and wishing she were here to help her. "Chasing him is no good if I can't control him. There's no telling what he will do to resist me." She feared he'd leap right off a cliff if given the chance rather than submit to her Will. Seeing a shaman was a good idea. The problem was Enya didn't know any Shamans in this new kingdom. Maybe they could somehow send the word out to the Kingdom they sought to rule... but that would take time. Time was something she didn't necessarily have.
Caedwyn then said something that brought her back to focusing on him. She blinked for a second, watching Caedwyn with disbelief at what he had suggested. How had she never thought of such a thing? She had always viewed the bond as permanent. In truth, however, she wasn't sure how the bond really worked. She could be panicking over nothing. Buck could die and absolutely nothing could happen to her. She figured that was far from the truth, though. "I don't know. I mean... I suppose it's a possibility. I just don't understand why he won't obey me. Have I gone soft? Am I becoming weak of Will?" What did that mean for her worship of Tsillah? Would she be consumed if she died again? She had tried to keep humor involved in the situation, but as the reality of the situation sank in, she was finding it hard to breathe.
She was right. Chasing them would do little to improve their situation if Enya wasn't able to control the beast, and Caedwyn didn't want to make things worse by persuing aimlessly. That's when mistakes happened. The sooner the buck calmed himself, perhaps the deer would come to his senses and allow Enya to reconnect their bond. It was wishful thinking but Caedwyn didn't know what else to do. His brow had furrowed in troubled thinking when Enya asked him a surprising question. Soft? Weak of Will? Caedwyn's face became visibly confused. How could she think that? What about this situation had made her think she'd gone soft? The confusion quickly turned to rejection. Caedwyn was rejecting that notion entirely.
"No." He said sharply, lifting his head up and looking directly to her. He may not have had much authority to speak on the subject but his tone left no room for disbelief in what he was saying. She certainly wasn't soft. Well, at least not in the sense that she meant. "You are anything but soft." he continued in an almost scolding way. He meant it to reassure her. How dare she say such things about herself! He took a breath and let his voice settle into a calmer tone. "There is magic in this realm that is beyond our understanding. That has nothing to do with your Will or mine or even Buck's - if deer have such things. There's something at work here beyond our control. You can't blame yourself for that... The fact Buck is here at all proves it. Some part of your bond to him must have summoned him."
Caedwyn finally let out a sigh, letting go of the last bit of sharp energy he'd held and leaned in toward Enya, pushing his nose gently under he chin. The touch was small, not wanting to aggravate any of her wounds.
The look of absolute in Caedwyn's eyes stilled Enya's racing thoughts. It hushed the murmurings. 'She will devour your soul.' they whispered to her. 'You are failing her' they tried to coax. They failed as Caedwyn's voice boomed within her mind. His tone was firm, harsh. She kept her gaze locked onto his, feeling through it the disappointment Caedwyn had in her speaking in such a manner about herself. He was right. She was not soft, or even weak of Will. She was a follower of Tsillah, and this was but another trial for her to overcome. She could lick her wounds, both physically and metaphorically, but she couldn't give up on the fight.
Enya sunk down from her sit back into a lay. She wished her legs would stop shaking already. Geeze. "You're right" she muttered as he lowered his muzzle to gently touch her chin. She leaned into the gentle touch for a moment before she pulled away to yawn once again. "I'm going to have to figure something out. If physically restraining him won't work, and he refuses to abide by my Will, then I must figure out another way." The idea of him freezing up again in her grasp, or him flinging himself off of a cliff to elude her repeated in her mind, yet this time the thoughts were not so strongly accompanied by fear. Instead, she was trying to reanalyze the situation and explore a different outcome. "I don't think he will fall for a trap. You doubt if deer have Will, but I can tell you with certainty that they do. Have I ever told you the story of my reawakening?" She was fairly certain that she had not.
Nor did she wait for him to answer. "When I died, I saw a black void before me. It felt like it was swallowing me into nothingness. I tried to fight it. I couldn't. No matter how hard I willed my body to cooperate, it did not budge. I was immobilized by the void. I wondered to myself if the Void was Tsillah, so large and all encompassing that I could not bear witness to the ultimate reality that is our holy She. Perhaps it was. Perhaps it wasn't. I don't know if I ever will know, or eve if I want to know. If it was her, then she was both beautiful, admirable, and absolutely frightening. I always wondered what it would be like to be paralyzed in place, not of an element, but of just one's sheer existence.
Anyways, I digress. I was trapped, until suddenly one moment I was not, and around me suddenly was swirling lights of an immeasurable amount of colors. It suddenly struck me that I felt the sensation of falling. It was the oddest thing, going from feeling nothing to feeling something. It was overwhelming. Then, suddenly, there was a flash and there I was, laying in a field with deer corpses scattered about me. Three, to be exact, and there was Buck, standing there staring at me with a fury and hatred I have never seen before in a prey's eyes. It was during our battle for my second life that our Wills clashed and became intertwined. I saw it, visibly, with my own two eyes. You are correct. There is mysterious magic enchanting this world. Mysterious does not always have to remain as such, however."
With her story told, she readjusted her position only to groan in discomfort. "Caed, can we go find a place to settle down for some rest? I'm not sure how much longer I can keep pushing my body for in this condition, let alone how hard you've been pushing yourself in yours."
