1x1 between Alpha* and Daisy!

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Kipsa glanced over at hearing her name, questioning and unthreatening. She slightly dipped her head in thanks at the mention of his ancestors, not quite prepared to answer such a thing with words.

"Your work?" Ice asked, sitting up. "where will we be going?"

[Lemon Tea Rain]

(Hello! I changed my username c:)

[Alpha*]

(Hey! Sorry!)

FallenRains wants to explain, but he knows- from past experiences- that what he has to say would not be... believable. The silver cat smiles wryly and then truthfully utters, "you know it's very hard to explain. It is much easier to show and then answer questions. "

Or watch his mate run far from him.

Or worse yet be attacked for it.

(Indeed he has heard before the word monster. ) blue eyes are sorrowful a long moment. "I will be taking you to the human kill grounds ... with their traps, and you will see."

--

Bowen had cleared the paths. He had fought a wold pack and has some injuries but he was free. Having feasted on flesh he stretches and sighs, it's time to move on.

[Lemon Tea Rain]

(No worries!)

Ice gazed at the cat as he spoke, a chill running through his warm body. Seeing the traps was never an enjoyable experience, but he got to his paws nevertheless - he was up for the task. "Okay." He meowed, dipping his head. "Lead the way, and I shall follow." Kipsa glanced over again and gestured silently that she'd wait for them here, fluffing her thick fur against the cold and settling in to her spot. Each pawstep felt like a mini betrayal against Bowen, and she was still waiting for him to catch up.

[Alpha*]

Bowen continues making his way from the broken cliff near where the Mera still reside. He is careful to disguise his scent in wolf scatt and to take the strangest of paths. As large as he is, he makes good time, and he is barely a few miles from the trio when the moon rises high in the sky- indeed he would be to them by dawn as exhaustion drags at his remaining paws.

--

Fallen leads the way, his nerves causing his heartbeat to slow almost far too much. But again, death does not come for the glittering silver cat - it shuns him and punishes others. Before they enter the clearing he hesitates, "you don't have to do this Ice. You don't have to come. You can go back to the den or stay here and wait for me. "

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Kipsa let out a deep sigh and rested her chin on her paws. She longed to simply wander off and find him, but it'd surely cause alarm if Fallen and Ice returned to their spot to find her missing. She just closed her eyes and murmured a prayer to no ancestor about safe returns.
~~
"I can't stand by with my eyes closed forever." Ice murmured, stepping closer to stand and brush up against him. "Whatever comes next, I'm here to experience it." He laid his tail over Fallen's back and gestured for the smaller tom to lead the way.

[Alpha*]

Stars how he loves his mate.

FallenRains raises his paw - claws glittering cruelly, he then lowers his paw. There are gentler ways to lay one's eyes bare before the beyond. With that thought in mind he licks a sigil into the fur between Ice's ears- this way it would not be permanent - and then dust across his saliva. The silver cat steps away. "Open your eyes and see, Chosen. "

He knows his pelt is full of stars and rain - as if those two things weren't exclusive. Like smoke and snow. He knows the dead rally around him, twining their tails and paws through his ghostly fur.

He knows Ice can see it now too, though not feel it as he can.

His once blue eyes appear as distant galaxies, with innumberous stars distant and dying, and he stares openly at his mate. Waiting for a reaction. "I'd understand if you want nothing to do with me." He says over the voices of the dead that the other Tom can now hear. "The mark I placed on you can be wiped away at any time tonight... or you will no longer See at dawns light. "


---

Bowen enters the log-camp clearing, tired from his travels. He has forgotten the common tongue, so long it has been since he had spoken. "Kipsssa." Is greeted.

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Ice visibly did a double take at the dead passing around, suppressing a shudder that had begun to rise it's way up his spine. He swallowed; his mouth felt suddenly dry at the sight. His gaze steadied itself upon fallen's face as his mate opened his eyes, and his jaw fell open at the sight - had he been collected enough to think, he might have laughed at how comical he himself probably looked to Fallen.

He finally began to collect himself as Fallenrains spoke to him, fur settling flat where he had even realised it had risen and remembering to breathe again. "This... is a lot." He murmured when his voice recovered from the shock. "Quite a lot." He glanced around, tail tip twitching, at the dead around them in a wondering silence. "Fallen.." he began after a while. "Is this how you see, at all moments?" he turned his gaze back to his mate, this time sympathetic.

---

"Bowen!" Kipsa greeted, getting quickly to her paws. She was quick to work, shoving together a makeshift nest by working a dent in to the snow and filling with soft moss from the log's north. "Here - rest." she gestured to it. "I'm sure your paws ache with work."

[Alpha*]

A timid nod of answering, "yes." Responds the ethereal cat, voice faint with relief. "But i... I can touch them too... or they can touch me." How can he explain?

FallenRains is silent a long time, "Ice. It is one of my duties to send them to walk the stars." He begins, "you can wipe the mark I left off if you so choose and you should see them or hear them no more. " his throat aches - "or you can follow me as I offer Ablution. " with that he turns to the first of the dead and murmmers quietly with them for a few minutes, then, with a nose to what used to be their shoulder and a flash of light that dead soul is gone. ... and the loner shutters as their soul passes through him and into the beyond.

--

Bowen hums a low note of gratitude at the nest - his remaining three paws DO ache from his efforts and travel. "Kipsa, are you well?" He asks gently, noticing the worry in her eyes.

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Ice watched him quietly, making no move to wipe the mark from his head. He stayed quiet and observant, just getting used to the busy sight and sounds of the dead around him, and how Fallen interacted with him. The looks and quiet pauses that had confused Ice before made sense now - now that he could see Fallenrains was interacting with beings, not just with the snow in front of him. It was... odd.

~~

"I'm well now." Kipsa returned, sitting down. "I.. wasn't certain of your safe return." She admitted softly. "I considered turning back to meet you a couple of times, but I didn't wish to interfere with you too much. You can handle yourself well, I know that... It just felt wrong." The lynx struggled some to put her thoughts in to words - being a naturally solidarity animal, the worries of losing his companionship were very foreign to her.