SO DARKNESS I BECAME | p, delphinium

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[b]☾ IOTA [abbr="speech; self-reference; thoughts"]x[/abbr] info [abbr="attacks"]x[/abbr] MEDIC ☾

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Treading away from the Tanglewood borders wasn't something done too often by the young medic, Iota. She hadn't seen the sights outside of murky swamplands since her acceptance into the reclusive clan, and the exploration and observation of the spectacles of the outside world around her were quite the bittersweet moment to her. The last time she were this far from her new home, her new family, she was a hurt, damaged and broken young girl. Yet, she needed this time away from home; the many disappearances as of late within the clan stressed her out, especially a select few, and she decided she needed some time to clear her head. With permission from the deputy, the feline set off on a quest to find inner peace.

The eye-catching pinks of the summer blossoms drifting in the warm winds gave her a slight tinge of post-traumatic stress; it reminded her of herself, the monster that she could have been, and the monster she was created to be ... but she made peace with her former self. With the blossoms, the floral arrangements of the hibiscus atop her head fluttered in the breeze, tickling her forehead and making her flinch slightly.

It was a much better feeling than the dreadfulness of knowing the jagged bone-like structures that were her horns sat atop her head most her life. Being reborn was the best thing that could ever happen to her — she finally found a reason to be happy. She found her purpose in the clan she was absorbed into: not only did she wish to save the lives of the ones she cared about immensely, she wanted to spread kindness and love even in the places where it was scarce, and Tanglewood was such a place. Her head was in the clouds at that moment while passing the many cherry blossoms that lined the outer reaches of the four territories. The warm summer breeze soothed her body, and at that moment she felt truly blissful.

Maybe the outside world wasn't so bad.

She could feel her heart begin to warm at the thought of love. Although Nayru disappeared, she was not devoid of any love she had for anyone. The leaving of the former sawbone did strike a nerve in her, but she felt as though the sawbone had better things to do; the goddesses probably needed her more than they did. So the girl resorted to spreading the love she had about everyone else, trying to bring everyone together as a family. She felt like that's what Nayru would have wanted.

Love...

As she passed through the blossoms, the brush of the larkspur that lined the meadows against her pelt made her tingle slightly. The touch of the blue carnation against her skin felt like a vivid, happy memory that returned to her mind, and gave her a sense of pure happiness. She closed her eyes as the flowers brushed against her fur, lips curling into a smile as she pranced through the field. Her heart felt warmer and warmer, almost as if the heat would set her body ablaze. Yet, she didn't mind at all. It was a feeling of pure euphoria.

The blue hues across her body slowly began to fade into a different shade once more: pink. She was beginning to regain her former colors once more. She slowed down her joyous prancing as she noticed her sudden change in hue once more. "... Huh." Covering her face with her paw, the feline looked up towards the shining ball of light above as its heat beat upon her pelt. "So, it ... wasn't the solstice that changed my color?" The feline began to pace, her former thoughts of love suddenly clouded with confusion. What the hell was happening to her? At a time she felt truly happy, her color changed back to red? But why? What was she truly happy about, other than love itself?

Her heart continued to beat at a rhythmic pace as she suddenly noticed its dense thumping against her chest. It felt like her heart was going to explode, but she still didn't realize why.

The larkspurs rustled nearby as the feline realized she wasn't camouflaged anymore. A smell unlike her own, yet ... familiar. It smelled of the Laboratory. Her post-traumatic shock began to settle in as she fell over on her backside, attempting to move away from the source of the smell. Jumping to conclusions, she made only one assumption. "No ... It can't be, it mustn't be true. She's still ... alive?"

She froze. It's time to face the music. Whoever this is, she had to mentally prepare herself for it.

[member=1575]delphinium[/member]

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☼ - The outside world. Delphinium had always fantasized of roaming plains without borders, without boundary, without walls to stop her. She'd caught glimpses of the beyond as a child, what felt to be ages ago. Roaming through the halls of the Sanctuary, so free from the confines strapped even to her other Sanctuary 13 companions. Perhaps it was her aptitude that gave her such freedom. 015. The tracking collar around her collar seemed to suffocate her at the thought. A life she had once been content with, with petty desires and wants, unaware of what could be waiting for her on the other side of the bleached white walls and men in lab coats. As she aged, as she was forced apart from old friends and pushed into a new social circle, Delphinium began to see the world around her differently. More realistically. She saw it for what it was, a cruel place she had the privilege of being spared from because she was different. Different in a way they could not afford to lose. An achievement, an asset, but she took what little blessings she could in the fact that Delphi knew her friends would not be harmed so long as they were like her. Chlorophytum, Argentea, Genista - her sisters, connected in a way flesh could not accomplish. Where were they now? Delphinium had always fantasized of roaming plains without walls to stop her, but without her companions at her side she had never felt so alone. Isolated, no way to call out to them, her surroundings devoid of life but in the flora that surrounded her. Suffocated her.

Sooty paws parted unruly grass, numerous tails twining around themselves as Delphinium cautiously treaded unknown soil. She knew an ideal image of the outside, a manicured garden they were left to wander when they weren't undergoing tests. But this land was untouched by man, a manifestation of wild in a manner the fledgeling kitsune had never seen before. Olive green eyes flicked nervously around her, well-feathered wings drawn tight to her side as her senses worked overtime to detect anything around her as she moved. Delphinium had never been taught to hunt. She never had to, she ate what was provided to her or she didn't eat at all. The most she preyed on were spiders as a cub, grasping the basics of complex movements. Delphinium did not know how to check the air for scent, did not know how to track the sounds of footsteps around her. But she knew someone- something- was near. For where her physical senses failed, her abilities filled in for her. She could feel their presence akin to another sense. She took care to not make too much noise as she moved through the grasses, slowly giving way to a thick bundle of flowers. Delphi recognized them, almost intimately so. Larkspurs, delphiniums, her namesake. Her connection to an identity beyond that of a binary number. She had never seen them in person, only in books. They were beautiful. A dark paw slowly lifted up to reach toward the deep blue flower, pad grazing over the thick bundle of petals. So soft to the touch, so aromatic, so beautiful.

The sudden disturbance of grass nearby followed by a soft murmur immediately pulled Delphinium from her stupor, wings flaring out instinctively at the disturbance as the sudden movement left a wake of ashen feathers pooling at her paws. "Who's there?" The kitsune challenged, despite the blood rushing through her ears. Her voice carried a confidence the rest of her failed to mimic, shaking paws taking a slow step forward as she caught sight of an aura through the thicket of grass and wildflowers. It was familiar. Ever so painfully familiar, as though she had come in contact with it a lifetime ago. She knew she had never seen it before. Not with her eyes, not with the knowledge of what it was. But it was one she had encountered before, under much different circumstances. It had changed, shifted, evolved into the sight before her. Another step forward accompanied her overthinking mind, wings drawn down to hang loosely at her side. She could not take flight yet, not with her feathers clipped, but at the very least she could blast back an attacker if this was not someone she expected it to be. The form on the other side of the grass did not seem to be advancing, so driven by her curiosity against her better judgement, Delphinium stepped through the remaining flora standing between herself and the unknown being.

The sight of a small pink feline greeted her, a blooming set of hibiscus flowers on her forehead. A beautiful being to happen upon, if not for the tense air between them as Delphinium's movements came to an immediate stop. Her fur bristled, feathers ruffling as olive eyes widened. She could not take her gaze off of Iota. Off of 002. Slowly her gray muzzle parted, tongue running nervously over her lips drawing in a long breath to still her trembling body. She looked so different from the girl Delphinium had once called a friend. Sundrop eyes met her in place of piercing sky blue, the gentle curves of a flower instead of the jagged edges of half-grown horns. But it was her, Delphinium knew. The fur framing her face, the edges of her eyes, her spirit that retained the warmth it had as an unharmed child. This was not the girl of her past, no, but this was not the girl of stories whispered amongst lab workers and the other inhabitants of Sanctuary 13. In flesh they were the same but in mind, in heart, she had changed.

"002," Delphinium spoke Iota's old name barely above a whisper, lifting a paw to press self-conscious at the slim band wrapped around her neck. 015 engraved in the metal, the last thing they had in common that Delphinium could reach out to the Nurse with. The numerical name slid heavily off her tongue, almost a taboo to hear herself speak it. "You're alive," the kitsune fumbled another step forward as her paw slid from her tracker, eyes narrowing in an attempt to bide back tears. Another hasty step came as Delphinium closed the distance between herself and Iota, suddenly stopping short as blunt claws buried themselves in the soil to ground herself. How badly Delphinium wanted to pull the pastel female in for a tight embrace, to draw in the scent of a simpler time left behind long ago. But she did not want to end up attacked - it had been so long since she had seen 002, would she even remember Delphinium?

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[b]☾ IOTA [abbr="speech; self-reference; thoughts"]x[/abbr] info [abbr="attacks"]x[/abbr] MEDIC ☾

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The tense air around the two felines followed in wake of an ear-piercing silence that seemed to last centuries. Iota could not take her eyes off of the other feline, maw agape as she observed every part of the kitsune that faced her. The deep blue of the pelt, the ivy of their eyes, the vastness of their wings. The absence of one of her tails. It really was her. She was speechless, breathless, as the two childhood friends could not help but to blink at one another as the tense atmosphere weighed down on top of them. The only sound around them was the summer wind against the larkspurs and the blossoms as they waved in unison, giving motion to what otherwise would be seen as a moment completely frozen in time.

As the kitsune muttered her former code -- 002 -- it felt as though every hair on her pelt stood on end. She recognized her, despite her many changes in appearance. Sunset eyes were met with the horizon of tears as they clouded her eyes. She was in disbelief: not only was her best, and only, childhood friend alive, but even after everything she went through, she felt no judgment whatsoever. It was the same 015 she knew, the same 015 she loved.

"015 ... Is that really you?" Even upon confirming the presence of then other former lab subject, she was still in complete disbelief. Was this all some sort of mindgame that the universe had placed upon her? Or was it really the kitsune she had grown to love? She didn't care. The ocean of tears that had welled up in her eyes suddenly flowed like rivers down pastel pink cheeks as the feline approached the eight-tailed that had sat parallel to her, almost defensively. She brushed against Delphi, embracing her and exchanging the warmth she had felt earlier. Her mind and heart felt as if they were about to explode. She sobbed into the chest of the kitsune.

"I can't believe it's really you ..."

Her head made contact with the cold piece of metal that coalesced around the neck of the kitsune in a ring-like fashion. The chilling steel sent shocks down her body as she expected the warm embrace of her friend instead. Sniffling and retaining the urge to sob even more, she recoiled. "You even kept on your collar ..." She sat for a moment. That thing couldn't have been comfortable on her. She unsheathed a single claw, wincing as it exited her paw, and jimmied it against a rusted hinge of the collar in an attempt to break her loose from its grip. Finally, with a click, a screw came loose, the hinge falling apart like an eggshell. The ring of steel crashed into the ground before them.

"There. Now this will feel a bit better."

She, once again, pushed herself against the kitsune, embracing her with all of her love. She breathed in her scent, taking it all in. She smelled of the Laboratory, yes, but she smelled of the past she used to hold dear to her heart, the part of her past that didn't give her chilling nightmares. The kind of past she wanted to return to. She smiled weakly, looking into the kitsune's eyes. She sniffled, pressing her head against her chest once more.

"I've missed you."

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; text-align: justify;"]☼ - The few seconds of silence that followed Delphinium's words were weighty, the recognition igniting their eyes speaking more than their words ever could. Yet the lack of vocalization sat heavy on Delphinium's heart, vision clouding as she could no longer stop tears from forming in her eyes. She watched as Iota mimicked her own motions, bristling at the kitsune's words. The anxiety coiling tightly in her gut made her stomach churn, growing restless as her tails flowed freely around her. When Iota finally spoke it drew the breath from Delphi's lungs, tears beginning to flow freely down her cheeks. It was a voice she had not heard in so long, a voice she never thought she'd hear again after being removed from the Sanctuary and isolated from her sisters. Even her voice echoed her age, no longer an innocent child sneaking out to read books in the library. The use of her code caused her ears to rotate back, slate ears pressing against her head in a very feline-like mannerism. The first thing to fall from Iota's lips were the very thing that kept them apart, a minute detail that shred her heart.

"Yes," she breathed out a confirmation, a wavering smile pulling her lips upward. Tears streamed steadily down her cheeks, whether from joy or heartbreak Delphi did not know. A melancholy sense of remembrance had wrapped itself around her heart, bittersweet and painful and worth it. "I... I go by Delphinium n-" the kitsune choked on her words as she bit down on her tongue, squeezing her eyes shut and jerking her head side to side in an unstable shake. She had intended on finishing the sentence with "now", but there had never been a time that Delphinium had not held the name close to her heart. As soon as Iota had given it to her she had announced it to the other inhabitants of Sanctuary 13, serving as a small spark that quickly led the young kitsune to nickname the other three she shared an enclosure with. Numbers alone did not fit them. Binary to explain the infinite, bright eyes and youthful smiles that deserved true names. Genista, dainty and beautiful. Argentea, eye-catching and proud. Chlorophytum, flowing and elegant. Her sisters had grown to fit their names so well, embodiments of their flora names. What had inspired 002 to name her Delphinium?

Delphi had little time to contemplate time past as Iota quickly closed the distance between them, fur ruffling out as the pink feline brushed herself against the kitsune. But this time, it was for a much different reason. Her nerves were alive, reacting to the smallest touch from Iota with a pleasant buzz that spread through her body. Delphinium immediately returned the affection, pressing her head in the crook of the smaller feline's neck as her wings flared outward to wrap around Iota and draw her even closer. The kitsune took in a heavy breath to inhale Iota's new scent, free of fear metallics but replaced with the smell of the wild. Of oak trees, wildflowers, brackish water, dusty books, of life how it was meant to be lived. Not a permanent addition to a laboratory. She released her breath with a heavy cry, pressing her head further into Iota as her body trembled. Delphinium knew how to feel, she knew of love and sorrow, of hope and heartbreak, but never before had she felt so intensely as pressing against her childhood friend.

A soft murmur of words in her ear went unregistered by Delphinium until a slender claw was prying at the collar around her neck. Her shaking ceased, temporarily replaced by fear as she was caught in the most vulnerable position she had ever been in before. Instead of blood or pain, rather, there was the soft chink of dislodged metal as her tracking collar fell into the soil. Delphinium withdrew her head from Iota's fur to slowly turn her gaze downward, focusing on the heap of metal at her paws. Her collar had been... removed. She had never known of a time when it had not been latched around her throat, measuring her vitals, tracking her location, her psychological ratings. To have the weight lifted off her neck, to see her own number stare back at her, it was an experience that was almost out of body. Slowly Delphinium's olive gaze rose to meet Iota's, wide as possible. Following a brief moment of stillness Delphinium threw herself back at Iota, openly weeping in a way she had been trying to contain before.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she gasped, reaching her forepaws out to wrap them around Iota and pull her in physically for something akin to a hug, or the closest she could achieve with her anatomy working against her. "Thank you," for removing her collar. "Thank you," for returning to her. "Thank you," for being alive, for being unharmed, for being happy.

"I missed you s- so much, 002."

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[b]☾ IOTA [abbr="speech; self-reference; thoughts"]x[/abbr] info [abbr="attacks"]x[/abbr] MEDIC ☾

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She really must have been dreaming.

The scene was picturesque: two childhood friends reuniting in a beautiful field of larkspur and cherry blossoms as the bright summer sun beat upon their backs, the pair fully embracing each other as tears flowed down their young faces. Not a cloud in the sky. Only the crisp heat of the wind had accompanied the reconnection that had been occurring out in the uncharted fields. Body against body, the mutual longing for one another was intoxicating to Iota, her nerves tingling with the warmth of love for her long lost companion.

It was when 015 revealed her true name that revealed to the pink-toned feline that the kitsune had kept her longer in her own heart than she could have ever imagined. It told Iota that 015 kept the name that the feline had given to her as a memento of their long-separated friendship, and that she would never forget of the times they shared together. Iota didn't forget either. The fact that she called her 015 by nature was an effect of the mistreatment that the Laboratory gave her. No names. The only method of referring to one another in the torturous test chambers were code names, and any straying from these laws were met by harsh punishment, usually more torture stacked upon what was normally administered. She choked up, realizing she had upset the kitsune slightly with her mistake, and made an attempt to amend it.

"I ... I'm sorry ... You ... You kept your name. D-Delphi..."

She couldn't even finish saying her name before sobbing again. The disbelief was massive, and the moment was bittersweet; she was relieved that Delphinium was alive. That she remembered Iota's existence, and never forgot about the times they shared. But, even so, she feared the worst, that it was all just a dream, of her mind playing tricks on her once again. She didn't want the moment to ever end, let alone let go of someone she truly loves with all her heart once more.

Her citrus eyes gazed into Delphinium's once more, stifling a small, tired laugh as they truly connected once more. "Hah ... I — ah ..." She hesitated to reveal her true name to her; what sort of name was Iota in comparison to something as gorgeous as the flowers that lined the field around them? Even if it weren't some sort of digit that represented nothing more than a piece of data, it wasn't much more than that. It was still a code name. Even worse, it was one given to her by the Nines. She didn't have much else to go by, though. The kitsune hadn't given her a name prior, and she was content with staying as code 002 at the time. She wanted Delphi to be unique with her name; no other test subjects prior had a nickname like the one given to her by Iota. Plus, she had already well-acquainted with Tanglewood's cast, and she didn't feel a name change would be too efficient. She swallowed deeply as she could sense the kitsune beckon her to complete her statement. "I'm called ... Iota, now ..." The name rolled off of her tongue distastefully. She wondered if she even knew how awfully the Nines treated her.

"Hah ... It was you that made me pink again, wasn't it?" She realized then how idiotic of a question that was to ask her; she hadn't seen her in what felt like centuries, and she probably had no inkling of her color-changing "ability." She didn't care. The thousands of other thoughts in her mind outweighed that singular notion. There was one, though, that overpowered hundreds of thousands of others that raced through her head: what if she lost Delphi again?

No. That wasn't going to happen, she decided. Never again will they be separated by the will of the outside world, and Iota would make sure of it. She wanted to be by her side for as long as she could, through thick and thin, 'til death.

Iota choked up again, but breathed deeply, exhaling sharply as she made an attempt to clear her mind and speak it to her companion. "Delphi... I don't ever want to leave you again. Not ever." She sank her head back into the kitsune's chest, again taking in her every scent as if it were the last time she'd see her again. "Come live with me. Come live in my clan. I need you back in my life. I ..." Sniffle. "I don't think I could take losing you again." She was very sure of that.

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☼ - She was apologizing. 002 was apologizing, for why Delphinium did not know, but she wanted it to stop. What did she have to apologize about? Delphi did not know what exact circumstances had torn the two apart, but she knew even as a child that her friend would never leave her alone by choice. But there was nothing Delphinium could do to fight it, with no idea of where Sanctuary 9 was and without access to anything beyond Sanctuary 13. They had been forced to part ways by circumstance beyond their control, why would she apologize for it? Or perhaps she was apologizing for calling her 015, a code Delphinium had grown accustomed to only from the lips of laboratory workers. How could she possibly apologize for that when she was the very one that freed her from the literal shackles of her binary code? Despite her sniffling and free-flowing tears Delphinium withdrew from her embrace to meet Iota with her own watery gaze, giving a subtle shake of her head as her lips curled up into a bittersweet smile. Her eyes closed again as she leaned forward, resting her head atop Iota's, cautious to not harm the flowers that had budded from her forehead in place of her horns. Where had they gone, anyways? Now was not the time to ask, Delphi knew, for even if she could muster the strength to ask she did not want to risk hurting her friend with an insensitive question. Not now, not yet, not when things were so tender and sweet between the two of them.

"D-don't apologize," she murmured, throat closing as she spoke her request. Delphi didn't want to discourage her from speaking, not in the least, but finding the right words she wouldn't choke on was proving to be a challenge. With her head placed atop the pink feline's her face wrinkled further as her legs struggled to keep her up through her trembling. "You did nothing wrong, o-okay? You never did anything wrong." Despite the words she just spoke Delphinium had to swallow the urge to apologize herself, for demanding so much physical contact. For correcting 002. Instead Delphinium released a slow breath, shuddering and wavering as it exited her lungs as she slowly regained her composure. Of course she had kept her name, to think 002 had ever entertained the idea Delphinium had forgotten her entirely once she was out of her life. Was that the sort of fear she had lived with for so long? That she had been forgotten entirely by the ones that loved her, left to the hands of those that did nothing but hurt her? The waterworks Delphi had contained for a brief moment were unleashed again, tilting her head down to bury her nose into the top of Iota's head. A hole in her chest was filled by hearing that nickname fall from familiar lips. "Of course I kept it," Delphinium whispered, no longer able to raise her voice to speak coherently. "It... It means so much to me," the confession was spoken so softly it would have been lost in the light winds if Delphi was not pressing herself into the smaller feline.

Silence relapsed between the two old friends, not one void of sound as Iota took her turn to weep but one without words as their tears told everything they couldn't manifest into words. Delphinium's legs could not hold her up any longer as she slowly slid down into a sit, inky wings drawing in to hang loosely folded at her sides. Comfort was not a luxury Delphinium was well acquainted with, neither in the Sanctuary with the constant threat of her sisters being taken from her nor wandering the wilds with the ever present threat of predation. But with Iota at her side once more, the tension drained willingly from her muscles as her mind stopped searching so desperately for any sign of life around her. Only the creature before her mattered, captivating her attention and refusing to let go. The kitsune would not want it any other way in this moment, in any moment.

The comfortable silence was broken by 002 speaking once more, hesitating on her words. It made Delphinium's eyebrows furrow, wings unfolding to brush against the grasses surrounding them. What sort of topic would make her friend uncomfortable? Had Delphi been the one to bring it up? She had been nervous of making her friend uncomfortable and it seems she had inevitably done it anyways. Time had marred them both with scars unseen, marks on the heart and mind they couldn't convey to each other. When she spoke once more, Delphinium was silent, absorbing the information. Iota. As in, Nine Iota? She had shed her code name to take another name from her captors? Sharp canines grazed her lower lip as Delphinium mulled over the news. It stung that 002 - no, Iota - had taken a new name of her own when as children she had been content with her codename. It was selfish to be jealous over something so small, Delphinium knew. She was proud Iota had made it this far in her life, a life she never thought she'd get a chance at to begin with. She had chosen such a beautiful name, one that still hearkened to the life that had made her. But Delphinium could not shake the bitter ache that she had missed so much of 0- Iota's life. A life they could have shared if she was just a little more driven, a little more dedicated, a little less scared. Would she have been able to make a difference for Iota? Could they have carved a future together far before fate had designated for them?

"You kept a name from the Sanctuary," Delphinium noted quietly, speaking her thoughts aloud without expecting an answer. "It's - it's very beautiful," she followed up with a soft smile, letting her head slide off of Iota's head to brush their cheeks against each other and to duck under Iota's own chin, despite their size difference. She didn't want Iota to feel as though she had to explain her name changes to Delphinium. It hurt to know, yes, but it did not matter to her in the end. Iota could call herself whatever she so liked so long as Delphinium could see her face to face again. To Hell with labels tacked on by the men in lab coats, with the aliases they had made themselves, with the names chosen by their peers. The kitsune knew she loved the cat before her, knew she wanted her presence and her touch, and did not need words to put a barrier between that. Her thoughts were disrupted by Iota's next comment, remarking on the change of her fur colour, something Iota had been absent from entirely. It pierced needles into her heart once more, a reminder that she truly had missed milestones in Iota's life. "What?" She questioned softly, tilting her head to the side slightly as she withdrew from beneath Iota. Delphinium did not need to know exactly what she meant to know it was something she should have been present for.

Instead of wallowing in the thought, Iota broke her chain of negative thoughts by speaking her nickname in a soft voice that drained whatever semblance of anger or bitterness remained in her body. How beautiful it was that Iota timed her sentences so well, interrupting Delphinium's self doubts and overworked thoughts. It made Delphinium wonder what was going through Iota's own head, joy replaced by the heaviness of reality bearing down on their shoulders once more. No longer children that could hide from such a weight. Iota pressed herself into Delphi's chest this time around, and Delphinium reacted instinctively by reaching her head down to rest against Iota's head. Her words made the kitsune rigid, jade eyes slowly widening as she digested Iota's offer. This whole time Delphinium told herself she would never depart from Iota again. She hadn't entertained it as a genuine possibility that fate may wedge itself between them once more. "I'm not leaving you again," Delphinium resolved, daring the earth itself to challenge her words. Ignoring the bitter reality that she had no power over what may come next. "Never." Her voice cracked, the facade of strength she had built as she spoke falling apart in a single word. "Of - of course I'll go with you, 00- ah, Iota. S... sorry." Delphi corrected herself gently, eyes falling gently shut instead of having to force them closed like before. She felt so safe next to Iota.

It didn't matter that Delphinium didn't know what a Clan was. "I'll go anywhere with you." It only mattered that she had Iota.