Anger and Madness

By the time that Auranar gets home from her trip, it's late at night. Past dinner but not so late that she expects to find Verna in bed. Though part of her hopes that the other woman will get some extra rest in, while an even more secret part of her hopes that Verna's stayed up so that they can talk. Auranar smiles at the night sky from her front porch, finding the moon hanging fat but not quite full in the sky before she slips into the house that they made together and pulls off the sachel at her side even as she kicks off her one remaining boot.

The combination of actions puts her off balance, but she manages to toe off the boot and the sachel dangles from her hand as she looks around the house to see if Verna is in residence.

Verna is, in fact, in residence. Further, she is not yet asleep. Best, perhaps, she is in the lounge thus promptly apparent. She looks up from the tome resting open her lap at the opening of the door; she would not expect anyone other than Auranar at this hour, and is already beginning to offer a smile.

"Welcome home, dearest. I trust-" A pause as the off-balance and single-toeing brings to focus the oddity of only one boot. "Are you alright?" Concern, though not so dire; her tome is set aside neatly before she moves to rise, rather than dumped for a dash.

"Just lost a boot." Auranar smiles and slides the boot aside so that she can dig into her sachel and pull out a familiar looking statue. It's a horrid, twisted little thing, and her warm smile has become more of a grin. "I found one of those statues that Dolan had! He'll be pleased don't you think? He was looking for them right?"

Verna does trust Auranar and her judgment. That said, after stepping to her, she still takes a moment to glance her over top to bottom, as if to assure that all is well. Admittedly, Verna is always pleased to see and view her. As her eyes return to top, the statue is revealed and Verna blinks.

Not that this is the first time such a thing has visited their lounge (which is not entirely a positive point, admittedly), but it is still a surprise. She does not attempt to confirm this magically; the similarities and Auranar's statement are proof enough. "...Yes, he is, and they should be protected. How did you come by it?"

Auranar is by all accounts largely unharmed. Her hose on her right foot is damaged, dirty, and wet. It shows a few scratches, some of them uncomfortably deep, but none of them still bleeding or in danger of becoming worse. Auranar herself is so pleased by her findings that she hardly notices the injury anymore. Still, the question steals the smile from her lips and a flash of anger crosses her face.

"A man in the woods had it. He was controlling a pack of wolves I think. Making them attack a farmer's flock. We think to lure people in so that he could infect them." Anger burns through Auranar and her fist tightens on the little statue. "Why would they do that Verna? Purposefully try and hurt people, it just doesn't make sense!"

Verna's curiosity and tentative concern shift into something far more aggressive. She closes the distance to put her hands upon Auranar's shoulders. "Were they just wolves?! Was he just a man?! Were you bitten?!" Small scratches dismissed before suddenly become of dire worry. "His goal, -their- goal, is to spread their chaos and affliction across all Ea, even beyond. These," she looks to the totem and back, "are artifacts forged by the gods themselves! They are not trinkets nor trophies! They are dangerous!"

Auranar blinks under the onslaught of Verna's emotional outburst. "Yes. No... Just..." She can barely get a word in edgewise to reassure the other woman, and the rest of what she says makes Auranar's shoulders sink. "I know!"

She almost shouts the word, fist clenched tight around the little horrible thing she'd recovered. "I know it's important. That's why I brought it to _you_. I knew you'd know what to do with it." Auranar looks at her quizzically. "Should I have left it behind? Is that why you're so upset?"

"No." The word is firm, though not as emphatic as those previously. Verna takes a breath in attempt to calm herself and clarifies. "No, you were right to safeguard it and to bring it." She removes her hands from Auranar and reaches one to grasp the totem, intead. "These can cause terrible effects on those carrying them, some of which I am uncertain of. I would not have you suffer any of that. Your happiness is paramount to me!"

Auranar calms as Verna calms. It seems strange to her that Verna be so emotional. Usually of the two of them, she is more likely to be so. Still, Verna's last words make sense, and she smiles at the other woman. The both of them holding the totem for a moment. "Then let me go to Dolan's house. I know where he lives, and... He's already got one right?"

Auranar venturing off alone, at night, with such a thing? The risk is too great. That would not be the logical choice, were Verna to rationalize her concerns at the moment. However, she now does anything but.

"No!" This time the word is vehement and sharp as she attempts to yank the statuette from Auranar. "It is not your burden!" Should not be her burden. Auranar has bourn so much already; too much.

GAME: Auranar rolls sense motive: (1)+3: 4 (EPIC FAIL)

Frankly, Auranar is not expecting a physical confrontation of any kind with Verna. She stumbles forward as Verna yanks on the statue and without thinking about it releases the item totally. "What?" She stumbles backwards, feeling beyond stunned that Verna is... She feels as if she's done something horribly wrong. She MUST have. "You can have it Verna. I..." She folds away from the other woman, confused and heart-heavy.

The look of shock from Auranar and her withering back gives Verna a moment of pause. The sense of something amiss should be ringing clear, and yet... other things come to mind. Namely rapid flashes of recollection, snippets of nightmares past. Things that terrify her, torment her. Thus, her actions seem, instead, justified. She is protecting her, preventing fears from becoming reality. On some subconscious level, perhaps, the increase in ire and possession of the totem might be correlated.

"I will bear it. Away from you! To Dolan... or better a temple! These should be secured away from any one person! For their own safety!" She then moves for the door, further frustration and ire venting further with a muttered, "I should have safeguarded the last one, not left it to one man..."

It makes sense, and in retrospect makes her excitement of having found one seem... childish. Auranar stands in the middle of the room feeling dumb and useless once again. Everything she did seemed to turn out so wrongly. Blinking back her bitterness she rouses herself to follow Verna to the door. "I'm sorry Verna. I should have been thinking more logically." Her apology makes her feel slightly better, and she lays a hand on Verna's arm gently. Trying to ease some of the anger that the other woman is feeling. "I love you."

Verna's steps are firm and determined, yet the abruptly halt and pause at the touch. She turns to Auranar, her scowl and creased brow easing a moment. The ...tension is still present, but her handling of it is briefly bolstered. Her voice softens, though is no less certain, "As I love you, Aura. Thus I must take this burden."

The respite fades or the statement reaffirms of the duty she took upon herself. Verna turns back to exit through the door. After a step or two, almost as an afterthought, she adds a strained, "I will return" before continuing out to the road under the moonlight.

-End