In Dire Straits - To our gods, we pray.

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INDRA

Open to 3 others. Liquid timed to after the pack thread
yet to be posted where she's introduced as White Rose.

Gigantea has finally returned.

Gigantea has finally returned.

The words of the Yellow Seour echoed in her mind again and again, even weeks after her life had flipped upside down with the events of that day. She was numb to the steps she took, walking over the hard earth without thought of her destination. Wandering was her preferred method of thought, giving herself space and time as she took time to think and... pray. Except she was now Gigantea, and her people would pray to her name. To the name Samsara.

There was still a bit of shock lingering in her system, not from the lightning strike (and seriously, maybe godliness had its benefits because she wasn't sure she would have survived had the spirit of the holy rosa not yet entered her), but from the worship in the eyes of Oukokuans as they looked at her. She'd never been on the receiving end of such... adoration. It was a little unnerving, truth be told, but Indra would never show such a reaction. She couldn't bear the thought of shaming the Gigantea before her, and to reject the worship given freely to her would be shameful.

Indra knew she had to be worthy of their adoration.

I will be.

She came to a halt under the shade of a juniper tree, just at the edge of the forest maze. White eyes surveyed her surroundings for a moment before closing as Indra lost herself in her thoughts once more.

Rosa Samsara didn't know what the future would hold for her... but she was ready to meet it.

It was no wonder why Sphinx was there.

There had been a time where the ground underneath her paws felt solid. Her world didn’t sway with each passing breeze; she had grown in her faith each day then, had felt herself becoming the wolf she was meant to be. She was still amazed how easily it was to lose all of that. Now, she felt the pieces of her that had been put so firmly into place by Grendel and Achilles and Hayley and her children melting away into nothingness. She was lost, her faith was shaken… and she didn’t know who she was anymore, save for the single truth she was holding desperately onto: “You belong to the White Rose.”

If there was any chance that she could find herself again, here and now, she was going to take it.

For the first time in months, she was optimistic.

It was his eyes that gave her hope. Achilles had known Aglacea, had been pretty well acquainted with his spirit, so when he came home to their den and delivered the news one rainy night… Her chest felt close to bursting. Her golden knight was not easily fooled.

The pretty priestess ghosted onto the scene, green eyes wandering over the wolf before her. Hope was there, trying to burst through barely holding seems, but she didn’t want to fall victim to it. She would not let it fool her this time. Sphinx would look into Gigantea’s eyes this time and she would know.

”I’ve been lost without you.”

Or she’d last five seconds. She believed Achilles’s eyes. She believed Foetida’s decision.

The words came out whispered, shaking, honest... hurt.

There had been so many things she wanted to say, so many mysterious, white-trained words that would prove to the new Goddess that she was her most loyal follower… but those words slipped out instead, just like the truth always slipped out in front of Grendel. And just like she had always done then, she found herself quickly.

”Welcome home, Gigantea, praise be unto you.”

   She follows the lead of her Bond. If Sphinx belongs to the White Rose, and Ashtaroth to her, well then... She saw her, at the coronation-- ascension, ceremony, unveiling-- but never so closely. Ashtaroth lived under Scheherazade's shadow, accustomed herself to the darkness, and thrived there. Now Anamelech has abandoned them, and poor, battered, deceased Raphael had been right all along. She was never Gigantea, really-- but to fool a pack of faithful followers, there was plenty of White in her, still.
   Her experience with the Roses is limited to a falsehood, she knows-- no matter if Oukoku-Kai has realized it yet. A child of traitors twice-over, it seems. The young wolf watches her Bond with a fixed expression, even as Sphinx's cracks. Finally, brown eyes shift to the goddess, taking in her glory as it was meant to be.
   "So much prettier than Anamelech..." she muses quietly, not meant to be heard, but something needed to be spoken. She adopts Sphinx's impression; how does one treat a true god? "Truly a worthy vessel for our exalted Rosa."
   Samsara. Samsara. Samsara.
   Now there's a prayer.

|☠| oukoku-kai |☠|
the banshee & bondless

"Fear and greed are potent motivators. When both forces push in the same direction, virtually no (human) being can resist."
-Andrew Weil

The news had shaken her to her core, her Goddess was gone and a new one ascended in her place. Carissi's mind reeled and the gears mashed together in overtime, turning red hot with effort. If what the Yellow Seour had suggested was true, Carissi had had some amount of favor with the previous White Rose, she could have used that favor. She was silent and behaved during the announcement, Carolina blue eyes studying this Samsara over with a straight expression hiding fear. The creature was lovely, moreso than Anamelech even, with her faded pastel pinks and smooth grays. White eyes; the Bondless did not miss the interesting feature, part of her wondered if there was a parallel between the eyes and her Rosa color. Of course she would have to believe the faith to believe in such nonsense; in Carissi's short amount of time understanding the ways of deities it had occured to her that most religions were false and fell. Would this Valley be any different? And now that her Rose was gone, what would this Valley be to her? The half-Bacchus was not foolish enough to request to leave. It was apparent she was lucky to not be a slave, and she was too stubborn to allow herself to fall down a peg just because apparently the past Gigantea has.

But rolling in her agony and fear would do her no good, Carissi must pick herself up and form a new plan. And it was already forming in the soup black goopish sections of her soul... She had favor with Scherazade, or at least, she supposed she did. Perhaps she could charm her way into favor with the new Rose... Or even if she didn't gain favor, the large brutish woman knew the importance of knowing her Rosa and being on positive terms. After all, this woman was a Goddess here to the wolves of the Oukoku-Kai and she could make Carissi's life miserable if she did not like her. The red and gray mix had not came this far to fail into nothingness, now she was determined. To do well, to suceed, to grin in the face of the bratty child and to grin in the face of the failed Valley wolves while a heathen from the outside stood in golden cloaks. Grandeur was a side effect of dreaming, Carissi simply wanted the power to look down on others and not have to take their orders. To watch from a perch like a hungry vulture as they moved about their mundane lives, bowing in the dirt to their idols.

To do that she must adapt, Mother had not raised a weak creature, she had raised a giggling monster with a saccharine smile. Whiteraine had raised a winner. Carissi was too bull-headed to allow herself to be anything but. So when Samsara moved, the Bondless Bacchus woman moved too. Though she was beaten by another woman, the beast did not fret. Sphinx was a new face to her, but the gravity of her words and the emotion so strong she could feel it made it clear the strength of this one's faith. The gray and red brute would sit down, shifting her weight and letting her muscles twitch beneath her scars (entry and past). For all the things Carissi was, she was not selfish all the time, she was not cruel to be cruel. The pretty yellow woman clearly needed a moment with the Rosa and so the Bondless hung back and watched silently. When the long still seemed to edge away, the half-Bacchus would rise again and move towards the pair. A genuine expression of consideration towards Sphinx, offering her a curt dip of the head; Carissi was careful to greet everyone as if they were also a Seour until she learned otherwise. There was a child too, Carissi noticed now, very similar to Feizin, a faint smile was offered to Ashtaroth, but just as the girl, the beast was captivated by Indra.

Large paws would stop her a distance away, still slightly behind Sphinx's position facing Indra. Blue eyes would study the White closely now, taking in the intricacies of her features before offering a low bow, so low her nose grazed the ground; and oh god did she hate it but her face remained smooth. "Gigantea," The Bacchus would start slowly, noticing how bold her features were compared to all the other women here; a sore thumb of heathen perhaps. Mind drifted to Crux and back. "I am Carissi, a Bondless. It is an honor," it was savagely against her nature to behave so humbly and belittled, but her caution was well founded. "I was brought here by Scherazade, interested in the Valley. Though my heart questioned the faith of the people... until I saw the three stand today, until I saw you my lady. Your divinity is palpable."

INDRA

”I’ve been lost without you.”

Lashes fluttered against her cheek as Indra's eyes slid open, revealing opalescent white irises that took in the black and yellow form that stood before her. A perfectly triangular ear flicking towards tremulously spoken words, and Indra stood without a word, white eyes looking to meet green and holding their gaze.

”Welcome home, Gigantea, praise be unto you.”

It took only a few paces to cross the distance between them, but in that time Indra could see the emotions flickering in the other woman's eyes. She saw a tremulous hope, the look of one who had been broken but not shattered, who still clung to faith alone- and Indra could only resolve to ceaselessly cherish such powerful emotions as she saw in Sphinx.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long," came Indra's softly spoken reply as she reached up to touch the larger girl's cheek with her muzzle. "Thank you for your faith." The words she uttered drifted quietly like breeze, whispered so softly she likely did not even ruffle the fur along the Warden’s jaw.

The time in which they stood together could have lasted for a moment or an eternity, until at last Rosa Samsara withdrew from her side.

She did not leave the Priestess to stand alone, but instead turned to regard the youthful figure that also approached, licorice and wine and cream curling in her fur link trails of ink. A feminine voice murmured under their breath, the words lost in the breeze that fluttered in the air. Another wolf approached from further away, and Indra viewed the Bacchus hybrid's form with interest.

"Come," the newly named Rosa Gigantea commanded, "Tell me your names, and about yourselves. All of you." For some reason, her eyes came to rest once more on Sphinx, a weighted stare towards the woman that somehow felt... familiar. But she also wanted to know the others that surrounded her. These were her people, and she would listen.

But she turned then to Carissi, gaze lingering thoughtfully on her muzzle for a moment before meeting and holding deep blue eyes.

"Gigantea." The word was spoken slowly, and Indra breathed softly as her lips drew upward slightly. The more they uttered that word... the more she herself was convinced of it.

"I am Carissi, a Bondless. It is an honor. I was brought here by Scherazade, interested in the Valley. Though my heart questioned the faith of the people... until I saw the three stand today, until I saw you my lady. Your divinity is palpable."

"Carissi," she spoke, tasting the name as it rolled off her tongue while she considered the words the other had spoken. One of questionable faith... "I am glad you have joined us, then. This valley of ours... Oukoku Kai has seen its fair share of trials and hardships recently. Your strength and your newfound faith are both needed here."

Indra moved closer then, the petite Rosa staring up at the larger girl with unparalleled boldness. "Are you ready to be of service?" the small wine colored goddess asked. "Are you ready to dedicate your life to the cause of your brethren, to fight tooth and nail against our enemies and win? If my divinity is as certain as you say..."

Rosa Samsara paused for a split second, the weight of her words hanging in the air as she softly demanded, "Are you prepared to swear your life to me?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sphinx registered that her false-bond and someone she couldn't quite place had arrived. Maybe, if anyone else had been in front of her, she would have turned to Ashtaroth and Carissi and greeted them, she would have given the yearling a nod of approval, and she would have thanked the stranger for her extremely generous consideration. Anyone else wasn't in front of her though, Gigantea was. It would take a lot more than a loyal member of her house or kind stranger to get her to peel her eyes off of the spirit that had saved her life once... off of the spirit she was so desperately praying would save her life again.

Sphinx didn't care that Ash and the other wolf saw her break. She did not belong to them. They could not help her.

When the goddess blinked open her white eyes and stared into her own green, the Warden's breath, barely audible, caught in her throat. They weren't his eyes... No, they weren't his eyes, but it was different than the way that Ana's eyes weren't his. There was a part of Sphinx, still hurting, still broken, that was trying to keep the walls up--it could happen again, baby girl, remember that--but those walls were tumbling hard and fast. Those eyes weren't Aglacea's, but this time, it didn't matter. This time, it didn't matter because those very different eyes found a way to do the same thing that his could. Samsara's white eyes, fluttering behind long lashes, found a way to rearrange her entire world until there was only them two.

There was suddenly no space between them.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. Thank you for your faith."

Sphinx could have cried. She might have, if the new white Rose hadn't sent a new fire through her system with a touch. Damage had been done, some that the priestess thought would be impossible to erase, but those words, that... that lightning. It went to work igniting months and months of damage, whisking it away with powerful ease. Gigantea was back. Her White Rose had returned. Sphinx knew. While Indra reveled in the slowly building confidence, Sphinx burned with unshakable belief. Nothing else could have made her feel this again. Nothing else but the White Rose's true return.

When the goddess moved away from her, even slightly, she felt a familiar rise of jealousy and possessiveness from days past. As it rolled over her, she didn't fret as she had before, no... now she basked in it. She missed feeling this way.

"Come. Tell me your names, and about yourselves. All of you."

"My name is Sphinx." The pretty priestess followed the command as easily as she breathed, warm smile lighting up her soft features as those white eyes once again move to her. What could she tell Samsara about herself? Who was she? A familiar voice echoed in the back of her mind.

"You are different. You are mine. You are mine in mind. You are mine in soul. And you are mine in body. You are my bond now. Mine, and mine alone. A True Bond."
"Your's alone."

"I am yours, and then the White Order's, above all else." With Gigantea here, she knew exactly who she was again. There was no doubt anymore."I am the Warden, but I also work as a priestess under High Priest Tibet."

Sphinx's eyes followed her goddess then as she moved towards the newcomer, and the woman couldn't help but smile at the Bacchus's words. Your divinity is palpable. Nice. It was such a good sentence, a great way to show praise. Some of the wolves in the priesthood could learn a thing or two from her. The Warden priestess's smile grew bigger. Carissi, eh? She had potential.

"Carissi, I am glad you have joined us, then. This valley of ours... Oukoku Kai has seen its fair share of trials and hardships recently. Your strength and your newfound faith are both needed here. Are you ready to be of service? Are you ready to dedicate your life to the cause of your brethren, to fight tooth and nail against our enemies and win? If my divinity is as certain as you say..."

Sphinx watched the exchange with interest, nodding along with whispered "Yes's" at Samsara's questions, even though they were not for her. Maybe they should have been hard questions to answer, but they weren't. The Warden Priestess hoped the bondless knew how much this meant... how much it could grow to mean. If others could feel they way she could, right now, who would deny that? Who wouldn't give everything to feel that way?

"Are you prepared to swear your life to me?"

Always.

   Her eyes narrow minutely as Carissi speaks. She was brought back by Anamelech, so swayed by flattery, but she was a falsehood. Ashtaroth hopes Samsara is not so easily deceived. It's a blasphemous thought, banished as quickly as it arises, and Indra answers, just as a deity of deception would. Ashtar remains still, eyes fixed on the bondless, and blood loud in her tall ears. If she answers incorrectly, Ashtaroth will make her an offering to Gigantea.
   Give the woman a moment to consider; reflexively swearing what someone wants to hear is worse than lying. "I am Ashtaroth, a Boshin under Sphinx's tutelage." She nods to the Warden, still caught up in her religious experience. She really does believe, doesn't she? "I was born of traitors, raised by the false Rosa before you. I..." Am so relieved you're here. "Look forward to growing more devoted in the White."
   She ducks her head, deference and reverence, a bondless Bacchus in the corner of her eye.