The Weeping River is named because at one point it was said to flow directly from Natrina's tears upon losing her sister, Lotus. The river actually came from far up in the mountains, already rendering the name nearly irrelevant, but the spring that gave birth to the legend to begin with has dried up in the Dog Days, too. I walk up the dry riverbed, past the first few tarps, Eudican fragrance hot on the air. The Eudicans were Natrina and Lotus's ancestors, though their pack were early cast-offs from the lot... and now, the Eudicans have come back for protection from their own descendants.

Those who do catch my eye as I pass shy away from me. I look like a proper con, now, none of that Lightstepper, Whitetongue business. I'm only holding the satchel, but my fur is ragged and I haven't slept properly since I exited the village on the mountain. Everything since has been a blur of sensation. I've been underwater, drowning beneath that waterfall.

A white shape paces the outside of the castle (by castle I mean massive, hulking wall of stone, the likes of which make me want to tuck my tail and run for the hills again), and I realize the magnitude of the mistake I've made. "Ill--" The noise chokes in my throat. Maybe it's not her. Who am I kidding? The light dances off of her like it's alive. It couldn't possibly be anyone else. "Ill--uet?"

Frantic waves of light pass over the Canis before me, who looks up, startled, and the two of us stare at each other like we've discovered new Sentient species. She steps forwards to run with me, than raises the paw, almost falls over, and yells, "Get over here! Whoever you-- I mean-- you are-- Hawk? That's you, isn't it? Why are you here? Don't you have somewhere else to be? Are you alright? Are you--"

We meet, and almost close in for an embrace before awkwardly stepping out of each other's way. "It's me," I say, which is hard enough to do while holding the package of Sorrows in my mouth. I manage an uneasy, likely unreassuring grin around them, and Illuet looks at the package. I drop it, holding it beneath my paw, and say, "I promise I have an explanation. Truthfully, it's likely not a good explanation, or one you'll accept, but nonetheless, it's all I can give right now."

She nods. "I figured you wouldn't show your sorry face around here without a reason. You weren't planning on coming to visit, were you?"
I shake my head. "I... had a hunch you'd be here, but regardless, I wanted to see Natrina."

"Me too," Illuet admits. "I figured, once you'd left, that I wanted to be less of a coward. So I'm going to speak to Natrina, you know, ancient guardian of Omnia, the companion of the Auspicia, old as the trees and older, that... Natrina." She flinches.

"How long have you been out here?" I ask.

"Only... only a few days," Illuet says bashfully.

"You sure showed me," I say. "Got yourself a camp?"
"Not really. The guards know my name by now, though, so walking in will be easy. We just have to go talk to them about what we intend to do once we're in, that's all," Illuet says. "You do know what you intend to do, don't you?"

"Got something to do with the seeds," I tell her. "I'd like to run it over with the immortal companion of the Auspicia, all that, if she wouldn't mind. Get some peer edits from her."

Illuet gives me that old, chirrupy laugh, and I realize the magnitude of how lonely I'd been. Funny how it hits you all at once. Is she sure that's not her real power? "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

I smirk. "I don't know how you came to that conclusion. I'm hard to get rid of. Like an infestation of fleas."

"You really have the most incredible talent for making your presence sound as pleasurable as possible, Hawk," Illuet says.

"Well, I don't think you'd find my metaphor inaccurate, would you?"

"I would not," she agrees, and presses herself against my side. "Unfortunately, even after all that you pulled, I'm somehow happy to see you."

"You realized that after I was away, didn't you, huh?"

She sighs. "Yes," and adds, wryly, "Admittedly, though, and I'm sure you'll agree, I miss Altair far more."

I can't argue with that. "Thanks."
We approach the gates, where not two, not three, not four... we'll cut to the chase here, but for the record, there are at least twenty Sentient guards on the outside of the castle, and next to no bones. There's one thing scarier than the dead, and it's Natrina. In fact, Natrina is basically half-dead, and she's whole-scary. Messing with Natrina sounds like the best possible way to join the dead. Illuet pluckily approaches the guards, as if they were mere puphood friends, and says, "Oh, I'm ready to speak with her now. This is a travelling companion of mine. He's looking for peer edits on some scheme of his."

"I don't like the word 'scheme' very much, your Luminance," admits one of the guards, a Canis with horns so large that they probably wouldn't need bones to mess you up.

"They call you what," I call.

"He's harmless," Illuet says, "Except to himself. As for my title, it's.... well, isn't it something! My sister and I are going to have a talk about that, as soon as I get inside. Do you think you'd mind opening the gates for us, please?"

The Canis and her fellow front guards step out of the way and a massive drawbridge lowers, one clanking chain at a time, and I realize that the Auspicia's dearest companion might not want to see a con, and that her judgement is probably going to be a lot less vague and mystical than Suvi's. It might just end with me getting dragged out of the castle, or existence, by the ear, and suddenly I'm not fond of the idea.

Illuet is already gone the moment the drawbridge touches down. We walk across wood smoother than dirt, smooth as a river beneath the paw, and into a courtyard of trees and light. A thousand varieties of plant shoot up, climbing the walls and each other, each placed so that it has just enough sun, enough companions, enough anything... if the Sentients here are treated anything like the agriculture, it must be the best living in Opphemria. I see dragon's tongues, the plants I grind for sleeping powder, at least four kinds of lilies, and at the center of the garden, surrounded by an island of water, there's a single white flower, which I haven't seen in ages.

"Bliss," I say.

"That's... well, that's what I've learned here," Illuet tells me. "It's not called Bliss here. It's Lotus's flower, from the flower that once adorned her back, in the myths. The Candeflit Lily."

I can see the glimmering outline of the wing-like petals on Illuet's back, enhanced by the being here. The guards lead us through, and Illuet glances back at the flower, with a gaze familiar to me... perhaps from when I was young, before I had the opportunity to screw things up. That was how my mother looked at me, as if I was the most beautiful thing in the world.

I'm not sure if this is touching or just very, very Illuet. Regardless, I try to bump her reassuringly with the least filthy part of my tail.

Meanwhile, the guards lead us up a step of perfectly quarried stairs, which go on straight up into the mouth of a massive stone building. Vines curl around the entrance, standing sentry with the living guards, and a massive arced door of wood stands overhead, though it's... is it living? Flowers grow off of its surface, and the whole building seems to breathe and tremble with their might. The foliage here, too, seems to be afflicted, or perhaps enhanced, by the Dog Days. After a world of yellow, decaying grass, this is paradise.

The guards nod to each other, and one whispers to the wood. A hole opens in the interior, and we see into a delicate throne room, in which are more plants, of course, and I can almost see the outline of a willow, which is guarding... something.

"Natrina, we require you urgently," calls one of the guards.

A voice like life booms, "Not now. I'm trying to remotely confer with Suvi about the whereabouts of my sister's heartline, but the scrying pool is being fidgety. Have you spoken with Risa about this? She's the one whose water magyks have been keeping us, if you'll excuse my horrendous wordplay, afloat--"

"See, the thing is, this also so happens to be about the whereabouts of your sister's heartline."

The hole in the wood shuts and the doors open. Natrina stands over us, her eyes full of light, and the Dog Days have done almost nothing to her, but she doesn't need it. An array of florals decorate her body, with that Lily over her heart, and similar flowers dancing around her massive horns. She's nearly twice the size of your average Sentient, probably from age, and her pelt is mossy, as in literally mossy, despite being naturally green. Her ancient eyes probe us both, and flit from my seeds to Illuet, where they fix.

"Lotus?" she asks.

"No. I'm not. At best, I'd be a third of your sister, but I would like to offer, instead, that I'm none of your sister at all," she says.

Nonetheless, Natrina lowers herself down as far as she can. She finally drops into a full bow, which is likely as close as she can get to intimacy without being awkward. "You don't know how much I've wanted to see you."

"I've needed to face you, too," Illuet says, with a quick, awkward muzzle press against the side of Natrina's face. She jumps back as if she'd just been struck by lightning. More quietly, she asks the ancient Canis,"Why aren't you doing anything?"

"We have been. We've gathered thousands of Sentients in our castles, respectively, and the Defenders are taking in more. Even the most fierce gangs wouldn't dare cross into our castles, so we've heavily fortified as many cities as we can to wait for the worst of it to be over. It's hard to get word out, but we've done what we can, especially for legal cities... it's doubtful there are many who haven't heard, unless you're in an isolated village, or say, Weltva."

My hackles rise.

"They'll be done, soon," continues Natrina. "Borrowed magic burns out your own internal reservoirs. It's not that no one knows. It just happens to be so inconvenient a truth that most bandit groups don't want to hear it, and as for the locals, well, they can't afford to hear the likes of it. When all you have is the present, there's no use in preparing for a future that won't come if you don't attend to the former."

Illuet blinks. "So that's it?"
Natrina nods. "You should stay here. Keep your friend, if you want, although he should likely bathe up..."

Illuet steps back. "No, no. This is wrong."

"Excuse me?" says the literal deity Illuet is correcting. I tuck my tail, like a sane, sensible Sentient. It would fit her well to do the same, but that's Illuet for you. Somehow she thinks I'm the one with a deathwish.

"The legend of the Gardenkeeper's Daughters has me doing the same thing. Resigning myself to despair, sitting idly by while the world turns on... I always fail to save those I love, and then I hide from myself until everyone who still loves me is gone, and there's no one left to grieve."

"I love you. You'll be safe."

"I've lost others!" Illuet exclaims. "I've lost so many. I didn't go with Altair, I left Tempasse again--"

"Did you say Tempasse?" asks one of the guards. "You're lucky you didn't stay in Tempasse."

Illuet's voice goes from a wail to a whimper, choking in her throat in one of the most awful noises I've ever heard. "Can you explain," she begins again. "What would have happened had I stayed in Tempasse?"

The guards look to each other, but Natrina shakes her head. "The Red Desert's been moving north," she says, describing it as calmly as a weather pattern. "We've been making rescue missions up in the mountains and past them, but few Sentients are willing to leave their homes. Our forces fight with them until they give, one way or another, but it's a small comfort. Illuet, I'd love to tell you that we had the resources to save them all, but when you're moving so many pieces around, you can't save everyone."

Illuet looks to me. "I don't know about that."

I shake my head at Illuet, trying to mouth back it off, back it down, but there's no way that won't go through a demigod. Seeing as Illuet is Lotus, there's another chink in my wonderful, foolproof plan... alright. I can at least pitch what I need from Natrina. "Can we bring your forces up towards Tempasse for a confrontation, preferrably before they hit that city? I know this includes you, and I know this sounds... let us say impossible, but if we can draw all the rogues towards it, I think I can knock them all out in one blow. At the very least, I know that there is a way to kill the Blasted Tooth's leaders, it's just very, very, very... testy. You don't think you could pull simultaneous decapitation, could you?"
Natrina looks at me as if I've just asked her if grabbing a bite to eat might be taxing on her mouth.

"Bring all your forces, with all the Sentients they can gather from the surrounding villages. They don't have to fight if they don't want, and I know these numbers will be slim, but we're going to provoke an actual all out conflict."

"Whatever for?" asks Natrina.

"Joining," I tell her, "At the start."

Natrina nods shrewdly. "I have a better idea as to where that might be. Do you all know the Rift Plains?"

"Besides the fact we were walking across them forever and met Suvi there, no, not really," I say.

"Well, they are the place where Verhamera first came into the world, and furthermore, they're not far from your mountains. We join there, and begin raising our army as fast as conceivably possible. I hope this is a suitable compromise?" she says. "Furthermore, I'm guessing you've already formed your own ideas as to what the 'light' is, and how to... burn it out."

"You definitely won't like it," I agree. "I was hoping we do it in the midst of battle, because you'll have the gangs of the Red Desert out there, looking for you..."

"And you know they'll come?" she asks.

"Of course. Do you think they could resist the kill? They'll think that it's all peasants out there, making a last stand together. We'll support that by hiding your involvement."

"So they'll be relatively unarmored," Natrina says. "Hawk, I don't like that."

"Do you think you could create a portal around the edge of the battlefield for your forces to rush out? Spacial fields that contract the radius of our party to make it look smaller?" I ask.

"I think I can do whatever you need me to do just fine, accompanied by my mages. I can get the Auspicia in on this, if that seems prudent. You'll need someone to herd the Red Desert in your direction? We can hit and run. She's been making patrols anyways, just picking entire thieves dens off."

She's in on this.

"But I want to know what you plan to do with Lot-- I mean, my sister, I mean, if you really insist, Illuet, now."

Illuet sighs. "You want me to take the Sorrows, don't you?"

I nod. The bag's around my teeth, so it doesn't exactly strain my tongue, but it weighs heavier than a few seeds have any right to be. "On one side, I want you to know that you could probably release enough energy to rend the soul magic out of their bodies with these, and the war would be done in heartbeats. On the other side... you know this could kill you."

"Those are spirit seeds," Natrina says, interjecting. "I do prefer your name, but they're not common enough for us to have categorized them... and you found four?"

"A field," I correct her, "In a slaughtered village."

"Don't touch them," she says. "What you've offered thus far has been enough, and Lotus will not be sacrificing herself for any more undeserving mortals. We take our the Red Desert and thousands of Sentient lives will be saved. As for the Dog Day Wars, you are combining just and sinful, and so, at least in some sense, you're already nearing the prophecy. The rest will handle itself. Just... " She takes them, by telekinesis, and hangs them around a willow branch. "Do not touch those. I will withdraw my assistance. Is that understood?"

Illuet and I both nod.

"Be at peace, then," Natrina says, "We leave at dawn."

Illuet turns to leave, escorted by the guard, and Natrina looks into my eyes, her expression dark as death. As we face each other, mortal and god, sinner and deity, she says, "I take it you've turned on your own," Natrina says. "Multiple times. You have the look in your eye of someone who feels terribly guilty. Let me just say that this will be the best betrayal of the worst kin you've ever had, and in the end, you will live to be thankful you took part in it."

I nod. "Thank you."

Ingrate. Later, when I am with Illuet, we walk in silence through the halls of the castle pproper, where there are, in fact, Sentients who must not have spent the past few moons living on the thin edge of damnation. They look well fed, well groomed, and their auras are friendly spectres, an augmentation of kinds. Are they tired? Of course, but it's nothing in comparison to the broiling crock of hell Illuet and I have lived our lives in, together.

"That was your plan, wasn't it?" she asks.

I nod.

"You can't use your magic or he'll be back," Illuet finishes.

I nod again.

"She'll let me into the garden. Her garden. She'll drop her guard around me," Illuet says. "I'll get your Sorrows back."

"That's incredibly stupid," I tell her.
"She'd kill you."

"You could die. Later. If you really..." I shake my head. "I don't deserve your trust, or your help, or anything of the sort."

"I know," Illuet says. "You really don't. I'm not helping you. I'm helping every Sentient who is going to die within the week if we let this just be a battle. We'd win a battle, of course, but that's not the problem. The problem is that we save a few Sentients, now, or we end the Dog Days. I've done enough running, enough hiding, enough--"

Her voice has peeked. I shush her with a quick stomp on her paw. "I don't need your ultimatum. I know," I tell her. "Still, thank you for believing in me, even when I don't deserve it."

Illuet's snout twitches. "Love isn't about deserving, Hawk. Otherwise, everyone would have given up on you a long time ago."