[PRP] We Belong to the Land (Bare TreesxUnyielding Winter)

[Chrystali]

"The MotherFather is not one we can ever claim to understand," Winter agreed in her dark way. She was not good at comfort, reassurance, empathy - these were qualities she didn't possess and never truly wanted to.

Now, however, she had to remember her own words. Weakness makes us stronger. Ignoring what she lacked - especially in this moment - would only make her weaker still.

Frostbite glanced up to the doe, who didn't look back in turn but flicked her tail over feathered wings; perhaps the only way she truly knew how to console. Perhaps she was drawing strength from her other half. Perhaps she had no idea what she was doing.

"I did not pick your name, child." Winter regarded the other severely, as if she was chastising her rather than saying what she was. "The MotherFather gave you your name - Bare Trees - which by its very name, undermines mine." The doe exhaled softly. It was hard to speak...clearly, to speak at all, when she was a doer and not a talker. "It means you have weathered winter, girl - not once, not twice, but many times, with many more to come." The huntress frowned, stamping one hoof. She was not sure she could be more uncomfortable in that moment.

"This is not your end, not your beginning, but it is your life. If you shape your life after another - even if that other is me - then you are still disregarding all I've taught you." Her tail whisked, and Frostbite made a soft sound near her knee. Winter seemed to take some sort of cue from it, gaze hardening. "The life of a hunter is to find what's worth chasing and take it. Seek your pleasures. Find your joys. Don't let anything take it from you or challenge it."

That was it, she was talked out. Winter exhaled and simply looked annoyed then. She wasn't good or even desiring of being a mother, but she'd done all she could. If it wasn't enough, Trees would have to figure it out for herself.  

[Aric Val]

Bare Trees' eyes widened as Winter spoke, taking in every word and memorizing each one. For a moment she was sure it wasn't her mother talking, but someone else -- but no it was her and she felt a little faint, knowing somehow they got to each other. Maybe it was a humble step forward. But it felt like the biggest leap she had ever taken and will ever take in her life.

Her 'weakness' wasn't wrong, it would make her stronger. She wasn't perfect, and so was Winter, but they both could continue to grow with this. And she felt the threat of tears even stronger than before -- but tears of the good kind, her eyes only slightly hazy as she nodded her head.

"I saw trees that would grow again, that are strong and would come back after every harsh weather. But the winter made me stronger every time, to have confidence and not wait for anything." She still couldn't believe the other was speaking of her this way --- in a weird, small way Unyielding Winter 'accepted' her. And it was all she could ever ask for.

"I thought you were strong before but -- I see now that you are stronger than I'd ever imagined, I am proud that -- I was a part of you once before." She did feel herself more emotional as each moment passed, breathing in deeply and nodding her head.

"Again... Thank you." She didn't even 'see' that look of annoyance. Merely seeing that they've come to --- something, maybe saying a resolution was too ideal, but something happened and it made Bare Trees' chest light.  

[Chrystali]

The huntress listened, giving the doe her time to speak. Winter already knew she was strong, but there was something - some thistle of pride in her that burrowed deep when Trees spoke of her own pride of once being a part of her.

It was pride, for both of them. To have come into this land, survived it, and made a life of their own.

That's all Winter wanted. It's what any mother would want.

The brighter doe turned when Trees finished, trotting towards the shadows with Frostbite at her side. She glanced back to the doe - just another part of the land, a child of the MotherFather, her daughter - and nodded. Wordless, Winter stepped into the shadows of her land and disappeared into it, returning to the life she knew.