Eight Intertwined

64 - Shells

When morning came, Primrose woke up earlier than most to try and work out the tension in her shoulders before they hit the road. She had been stressed all night, not that she could particularly put a finger on why. She leaned her head back to watch the sky as the sun started to crawl over the horizon, desperate to force the rushing in her mind to stop.

She knew exactly what was going on deep down. How could she not? Vanessa's actions the day before had caught everyone by surprise, and they were all mad as could be that she had so casually tossed aside the value of life in the name of her own ambitions. Primrose knew all about death; it was what had started her on this journey to begin with. She had seen her father die at the hands of the foul trio of crows. She had watched the way Yusufa's blood was swallowed by the sand outside Sunshade prior to her burial. She had enjoyed the way Helgenish writhed as her dagger plunged into his body and stole every ounce of life he possessed. She had stared down at Rufus as he faced his final moments, knowing that she was offering justice to every other person that he had hurt. Death was part of Primrose's life, constantly following her regardless of where she went or how fast she ran.

Primrose watched the sunrise from her place beside the inn, wondering half-heartedly if perhaps she should go on a walk through the town before they left. She hadn't expected to wake up so early, she had to admit, and she could only hope that the others took long enough for her to try and calm down. It shouldn't have been influencing her so much, and yet--

"Dost thou thinke Alfyn will be alright?"

The sound of H'aanit's voice startled Primrose out of her daze, and she whirled around to see the huntress approaching her carefully. Primrose swallowed dryly as she let out a sigh in the huntress' direction. "H'aanit... I didn't realize you were awake," she admitted carefully, doing her best to calm the screaming in her chest caused by H'aanit's sudden arrival. Primrose sighed heavily as H'aanit continued to watch her levelly. It took Primrose a few more moments to find a grip on herself once again enough to answer the huntress' question. "I... I think he'll get there. It might take a while, but... He's going to figure it out eventually."

H'aanit hummed in response, and Primrose could tell that her companion was still worried. Linde curled her tail around H'aanit's legs, and the huntress reached one hand down to start scratching at the snow leopard's head. Linde purred before leaning against H'aanit a bit more. "I thinke he is frightened," H'aanit said after a pause that seemed to last an eternity. "He hast much on his mind."

Primrose nodded. "You're right," she murmured, swallowing dryly once again. She eyed the ground in front of her shoes again a beat afterwards before sighing. "I... I never wanted a life like this for him. I didn't want it for anybody else either, honestly."

"The path of violence," H'aanit concluded before Primrose was able to explain herself. Hägen let out a small groan as he leaned against H'aanit, and the hunter decided to split her attention between the two animals vying for her physical affection. 

"Yeah," Primrose forced herself to say after a pause that she was convinced was going to suffocate her. She tried to find her words for a few moments after the fact before sighing. "He didn't want it to come to this. He never wanted to have to fight against Vanessa, not that I can blame him. He was hoping that this would be a time for all of us to relax, and in the end... She spit in our faces and made it clear that we weren't going to be given a chance like that."

H'aanit nodded as she glanced up to Primrose. "Thou understandeth the violence of this worlde better than most," she began. "If anyone could confronten that darkness, it wouldst be thou."

"I can only hope," Primrose scoffed, too embarrassed to know how to thank H'aanit. Pink was already starting to stain her cheeks though, so Primrose was sure that H'aanit already knew what she was thinking. Primrose shook her head a beat later, and H'aanit watched her ever movement carefully. "Alfyn... He's a healer. He wants to help others by saving their lives, not by stealing the existences of those who are dangerous to others. Vanessa... He was the first one to show him that something like that might not be possible for others. I hate her for it."