Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - July 7, 2024
July 2nd, 1894 — The Reach
"Calm your mind, Blair, my darling. If I can feel your tension, your horse certainly can." Titania rubbed an affectionate hand along the mare's neck, her attention still on Bonnie. The redheaded child at her side had grown so much in her absence. Titania's heart ached for the time she had lost with the girls, with Murdock. Whoever had worn her skin during the horrible tea incident had cost her dearly. If she ever learned the identity of her pretender, there was no telling what would come next. Not naturally vengeful, Titania still had a list of particularly nasty potions she wouldn't mind inflicting on the imposter.
Titania was determined to move forward, choosing to trust that, in time, she and Murdock would find themselves joined as they were meant to be. The girls would truly be her daughters, as they had been in her heart for nearly four years. All would be righted, even if it was the last thing she accomplished on this earth.
They were still near the Reach, just on the edge of the estate near the stables. She knew that Bonnie could ride, but if the girl wished to prepare for her animagus transformation, something required of all the Greyback women in the pack, Bonnie had to learn to master her emotions. Titania knew the struggles of her transformation, and she refused to let their baby girl Bonnie walk the same path without guidance. That, and she refused to take the child she adored into the dangers of the forest on horseback without assurance that Bonnie could hold her own.
"Your physical balance is exemplary, but it is your heart that needs to calm." She smiled, knowing already how patience was much to ask of a thirteen-year-old eager to learn. "Here, feel her heartbeat." Titania moved her hand to the draft mare's mane, giving the giant a gentle scratch while waiting for Bonnie to step forward. "Do you feel how steady her heart is, how calm she is with us near?"
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - July 8, 2024
Bonnie sat on the mare, a beautiful beast and looked at the tall woman that held their Father's heart. It wasn't that Bonnie disliked Titania, on the contrary, she was a good woman that made father quite happy and treated her step children well, but Bonnie couldn't help but wonder what exactly had happened over the last year. They trusted their father, but what father tells his daughters every detail about his love life, so Bonnie could only take his word that the situation was resolved and that Titania was back in their lives. Bonnie would be watching closely, at least she still called her Blair, that meant a lot. Bonnie lifted their braid and pushed if over their shoulder before leaning down guided by Titania.
"Her heart beats very slowly, she is much calmer that her son." The teenager grinned as they placed their hands onto the pulse of the large creature. Péintéir, Bonnie's young stallion was a great horse off the tracks and into the rough, but had a similar frenetic energy to the young Greyback.
Bonnie leaned back up and adjusted their poise to have a straight back and breathed deeply to calm themselves. "Is this better?" it probably wasn't Bonnie focused hard on being calm but that likely only made them more aware of it. Bonnie giggled a little as the horse beneath them shuffled and snorted in response to their inner thoughts. "Perhaps, Anya, my tension is the cavalryman's edge?" Bonnie lifted their arm as if holding a Sabre and surveyed the distance as if ready to advance.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - July 24, 2024
"Very good, Bon." Titania praised in Scots Gaelic. The children had their French lessons, and Titania was determined they not lose the language of their ancestors. The child before her had grown so much in the past four years, Blair was starting to show the first signs of their adolescent days. It would be far too soon that Blair would need to attempt transfiguration. It was the only safe way to run with the pack. "And when you remain calm, she will remain calm. You are a unit; you are one, and your hearts must beat as such."
"Yes, my young knight," she offered her youngest with a conspiratorial smile. "But you must learn to relax that tension and calm your heart. When you become an animagus, you will have two heartbeats, just like this. If you are not calm, your animal won't be. It is not a pleasant feeling, my dear."
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - July 27, 2024
Blair nodded and smiled as their step-mother guided them and even humoured their joke about being a cavalryman. Blair would have loved that life if it had been on the teen's course, a head of fire swept back by the wind and nothing but thunderous hooves to hear.
The mare felt restless underneath blair, probably feeling the eagerness of her rider to move. ”Being an animagus seems so complicated, if only there was another way one could run with the pack.” The playfully sarcastic tone of the young greyback and the glint in their eye made it quite clear what was meant, and it was hardly a secret amongst the family that Blair hoped to one day become a lycan like the male Greybacks.
Blair squeezed the horse and tapped the reins to put her into a slow walk in a circle around Titania, being sure to keep their back strong and straight so the horse knew who was in control.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - July 29, 2024
"It is complicated. It may be the most complicated magic you ever learn." Titania was torn between ignoring and addressing the thorny truth her stepdaughter introduced. Yes, there was another way Blair could run with the pack. It was the truth that woke Anya in a cold sweat more than once. All men of the family took the bite. By tradition, that horrible fate was only fated for the males, but this was not the first time Blair had made such mentions.
"The other way is no shortcut, Blair," she cautioned, her voice losing all warmth in her sincerity. "The bite means early death; that is all that it promises." Titania ached to say the words, but she knew they were true. She was a healer; she'd seen death come from a bite, and she'd seen others beg for death upon survival. Never would she wish that on her youngest beloved.
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - July 29, 2024
Blair listened to their step-mother and sensed the shift in tone that said much more than the words alone could. "I'm sorry, I should not make light of such things." Blair was sincere in their apology, they had no intention to offend or upset Anya and were well aware of the dangers. It would be years until Blair could even hope to make such a thing happen and even then, the chances of father allowing it were absolutely impossible.
The teen would change the subject "I do hope I manage to get the right animal, a girl at school turned into a doe. I wouldn't like to imagine what the pack might think of that." Blair laughed and put their tongue between their teeth to express humour. "Did you get bear on your first try?" The horse actually seemed to be responding well to Blair's distraction, perhaps not thinking about riding helped them relax and ride better, but the horse seemed to be becoming less restless and was happy in its slow circular trot.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - August 8, 2024
Titania forced herself to pause before responding, needing to find the words. With a gentle hand, she took the mare by the bridle, bringing her to a stop so Titania could look her youngest in the eye. "Blair, my love, I am not angry but will always be concerned for you. For you and your sister. That is the way of," Motherhood? Mayhaps, but Titania had seen and heard too many horrible stories where a mother's love didn't win the day. Not everyone adored their children, no matter their origin. "It is my way, my dearest. I want you to be safe, but I also want you to be happy. This is a difficult balance and it is the way of things when you are an adult." Anya loved her stepdaughter and felt an affinity in their shared house to be rational with her. She also didn't want to crush spirits.
Giving the horse a nudge to continue and releasing the bridle, Anya went to her own horse for the day. Though he had been most unhappy about it, she had apparated her favorite gelding from Allaway House to The Reach, her days now spent more here in the islands than at home. Giving her daughter a wink, Titania pulled herself into the saddle deftly, making no effort to sit astride out of polite company. "The pack will adapt, my dear. There is historical record to show that animagi can form relationships with animals that would naturally be both predator and prey. That does not mean I want to use you as an experiment, Blair." The idea made her paler than usual, her heart somewhere in her toes. She also knew the girl's birth mother had an undesirable form. Titania couldn't imagine the humiliation of being a salmon among wolves.
Happily distracted by Blair, Anya considered how to answer that. "You don't meet your animal on the first try, not really. It is slow and insanity-making. Whatever vision you have in your mind is only that. I had no idea I would become my bear. I didn't know her and, in a way, I didn't know me. Your animal, if you're willing, will teach you much about yourself."
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - August 10, 2024
There was a slight laugh from the teenager as tjeh thought about it more. "I think I still hope to be a wolf, would rather not have to put my cousins in their places as an elk or something. But I suppose I will see." Blair didn't even know if there was mandrake on the islands, they had read all about it but was disappointed that would have to wait so long to learn it.
Blair watched her step mother deftly mound her horse and begin to walk the gelding around. Blair extended their legs a little and pushed the horse into a faster trot. "It's a shame we don't play polo up here, I'm told it's basically quidditch on horseback." Blair made a sweeping motion with their arm as if hitting a hammer across the ground. It was a brilliant game which the young seeker could not wait to get back in to in the autumn.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - August 11, 2024
Titania laughed her agreement."I am certain that you will be most formidable, whatever form you take." It was unclear how much personal preference had to do with the animagus transfiguration, but if anyone was going to wish themselves into a specific animal, it could be Blair. She was much like her father, all bullish determination.
Titana took the gelding into a few collected maneuvers and a few dressage steps to keep the animal focused. She watched Blair's posture in the saddle, noticing happily that the child rode with confidence, any stiffness gone from her body. There was something so innocent about this moment, watching Blair play at games without a care in the world. Here, where Titania knew she could protect her. Anya pushed her horse into a trot to match her stepdaughter. "I would much prefer polo myself. I will leave the skies to you. I do not know how you are so fearless." Titania hadn't been on a broom since she was forced to take flying in her first year. She loathed it, loathed anything that forced her to consider the consequences of falling.
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - August 14, 2024
Bonnie laughed and peered at their step mother, fearless? From a woman who voluntarily came to run with the Greyback's that was quite the complement. "I love being on my broom, flying at high speed trying to catch the snitch. I'm hoping dad will buy me a new one before September." The laughed continued as the redhead whipped around the training area.
The teenager allowed Titania to match their pace and rode side by side. "I can't imagine my sister being in an animal form, don't tell her I said, but she seems far too lady like for all that stuff." Bonnie was their father's.child through and through, they hoped that one day they might even be named heir.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - August 17, 2024
Titania exaggerated her shiver, but barely. The idea of flying any higher than her horse could take her was of zero interest to her. "And that, my love, is why I call you brave. And why I need to remind you that your birthday isn't until October." Anya laughed at the younger witch and the speed at which they lived their life. There was courage in their blood, both of Murdock's daughters. Titania marveled at it, at the reckless spirt that seemed to fuel them. Had she ever been that free?
Titania considered her words carefully, not wanting to speak ill of the girl. "I will be most surprised if your sister chooses to become an animagus. I think she will favor spending the extra days in London." Watching Blair from the corner of her eye, Titania softened her tone. "I know it upsets you, but you will run with the pack soon enough." Picking up the trot and heading toward the treeline, she redirected. "Tell me, what are you most excited for this year?"
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Bonnie Greyback - August 21, 2024
Blair laughed, "What's the point of having rich parents if I have to wait until my birthday?" there was no doubt that Blair was only teasing, as much as they had different plans than perhaps Father did, Blair was a respectful child.
It didn't take long for Blair to come back with an answer as to what excited them most for the new term. "Definitely Quidditch, the other seeker's are really good and I'm hoping now that I have a year of experience that I can give them a real run for their money." Blair would never admit to the other seekers that they looked up to them and hoped they could be as good of them, of course Blair was already just as good at them. But the older Slytherin and Gryffindor girls were in the sights of the Greyback of the coming term. "I'll be flying the flag for Scotland." Blair nodded and clenched their rein light the knight they saw themselves as before leading the horse toward the gate.
Titania Allaway
RE: Cover Me In Sunshine -
Titania Allaway - August 22, 2024
Snorted outright at that. "Try not to say that in front of your father. He might try and teach you a life lesson, that monster. We will see about the broom, dear." She was well aware that a new broom was in Blair's future, whether that was a going away gift or something for their birthday. As if their father, aunts, and uncles weren't already generous, Titania was a known easy target for the children. Titania can hold her own with adults, but the children and her nieces and nephews all knew the fast way to her heart.
Titania survived cheering on her brother in his Hogwarts career and was grateful she'd only had one or two occasions to see a game at Hogwarts since then. Anya hated watching her loved ones in the air as much as being on a broom herself. Still, her pride over her child's confident assurance overwhelmed her heart. "For Scotland and Ravenclaw, both are marks of distinction. I am most proud of you, sweetheart." Knowing better than to force her little knight into sentimentality, she gave a nod to the trees. "Come on then, race me to the cliffs." With a wink, Titania was off. There were no headstarts in this family.