belladonna, in italian a beautiful lady; in english a deadly poison.

She fears bears and yet is friends with the cub? Aodaun chuckled deeply in Lakota's mind. Any other time the blackened lips of the woman would have curled in sinister, dark amusement, but her eyes were fastened to the pale figure of the child before her. Is she a threat? Aodaun huffed from where he pressed his bulky form almost playfully against Murtagh, knowing the colt could withstand it. Even if he could not, the ensuing pile of flesh and fur would spur just as much amusement from both parties. She is a child, Aodaun pointed out, exasperated by Lakota's protectiveness. Violet eyes turned to slits as the snowy girl trembled before her, a leaf in the gale of Lakota's demands and territorial promises. 

Thin legs drew her close as silent and suffocating as a shadow, Murtagh's explanation of Aodaun bypassed as she bore down on the filly. Even children are capable of murder, Ao. You know this. She could still see and feel the thick cling of blood to her tiny legs, taste the acrid iron on her tongue, hear the screams of the dying as she wielded her blades and her poisons. Aodaun sighed softly against her son's skin. This is not your homeland, Kota. The Poisoner said nothing, waiting until Erthe's eyes shifted away before the ice chipped away from her eyes and shoulders. A mass of shadow she would remain, with her elegant limbs and sharp, curving face, but her smile would still hold contrasting warmth as it was portrayed on her lips for Murtagh. 

"Mammina."

Nothing else mattered when he spoke softly to her that way, baby muzzle pushing against her skin and making her close her eyes, smile soft and so full of love it nearly hurt. Every time she was around her son it was like a continuous rebirth, awash in flames of love that scorched the darkness from her soul time and again. They never ceased, but she could not imagine a time when they should have to. Her love for him was eternal, even if her soul were to depart from her mortal body she would write her love into the galaxies for him. Every heavenly body would know his name and face, and she'd sing his praises in the lilting voice of the angels so that he may hear it upon the mortal plane. Even if she were to burn in the pit of sin for her crimes, she would scorch the earth with her love for him, unbridled and chaotic. Her singular saving grace, the heavenly light that would fill her breast even as the rest of her turned to coal and ash. 

One eye cracked open as the filly began to speak, regarding her from where she had pressed her face into Murtagh's crest, and reluctantly pulled herself from her son's skin. The World's Edge? Aodaun grunted softly, echoing Lakota's sentiments exactly. Lakota glanced down at her son as Murtagh explained that Ktulu had been present when they'd met last time as well, and hummed softly to make sure he knew that she'd been listening. 

"Of course you may play with him. Do your parents know you are here?" Her eyes cast critically about the clearing before raising her brow at Erthe. It would not do for the Edge to come screaming down upon the Falls, accusing them of stealing away the little filly. That would simply be so...bothersome for the Poisoner. "I'm Lakota the Poisoner, since Murtagh clearly does not understand the meaning of introduce," she chided playfully, smile re-emerging as she bumped her muzzle into Murtagh's shoulder. Turning, she flicked her tail and pointed her muzzle towards the innards of the Falls. "Come, you do not mind me accompanying me on your playdate do you? I wouldn't want any of the Falls members thinking you are trespassing. Can you handle the terrain?" As the former Earth Medic she frowned softly, the motherly side of her finally - reluctantly, perhaps - emerging as she looked at the twisted legs of the filly. She would not ask further on the limbs until Erthe was not busy with Murtagh, nor did she want to bother her son with such painful memories and realization, but the healer inside of her - and the soldier that had once been a child Erthe's age - cringed to recognize the wounds. She had escaped unscathed due to her talent, but other foals...they had returned from war with similar injuries, screaming and crying their agony. 

Lakota