Bane didn’t know where Anath had gone off to this time, but it was hard to care. When the woman spent so much time coming and going, the champagne mare had a hard time really giving a fuck what her mother did these days. Maybe the old bat had gone off and died this time– that thought was a bit harsh. Still, it wasn’t far off. It’s hard to care when Anath treated others as she did. When Anath treats you like she does, Bane reminded herself. Though the general had been revered in her day, Bane found herself resenting the woman. She’d given her life, but not much else. Hell, maybe she was being entitled. Maybe, though, it was something else. Still, the codebreaker tried to push the anger from her head and from her bones.
Her winter coat had come in, dense and thick. Bane had that to rely on at least, every year, without fail. It would shed in, and it would keep her safe. She would keep herself safe. The only one she had to rely on, after all, was herself. After all of this, after all of this time and all of these feelings. Processing all of the things in her own mind, Bane really was doing her best. Doing her best and her worst, all at the same time. Carefully, she would continue to live on through the winter. After winter, spring would come, and they would be able to thrive once more. At least she had that to look forward to.
Wearing the title of Codebreaker still didn’t feel entirely right… didn’t feel comfortable. She could feel Anath’s disdain for her, in taking that title on. It was as if her own mother saw her as less than for taking a position that wasn’t one of violence. For doing something that wasn’t raising her fists to fight. Bane didn’t want the woman’s expectations to matter, she didn’t want to feel the pressure of living up to something she wasn’t but it was hard. The champagne woman had spent the day in the Falls trying to sort out her thoughts, but it was becoming time to return to the Peak.
At the base of the mountain, she could see Róisín. Warmly, she called out to greet the woman, remembering the message that Anath had asked her to pass on in their last conversation. Bane’s tail flicked at her haunches, though she didn’t move any faster as she approached. No, the paint mare would still be there when she got there. There was no reason to rush through the snow, especially with the risk of slipping on a hidden patch of ice ever looming and ever present.
“So it seems my mother and your mother met,” Bane’s smile was wry, reaching all the way up to her green eyes. “She told Anath emphatically to make sure that you know how much she loves you.” There, message delivered. There were two mothers who wouldn’t go disappointed. Tigerlilly’s message was delivered, and Anath could go on being only the normal amount of disappointed in her youngest daughter. “How’s the winter treating you?” Right, she supposed that she should make small talk. Carefully, Bane reached down to paw at the crust of ice that had formed over the long-dead autumn grass.
Anath x Thane