---

adonis wakes with blood on his tongue and frost stiff in his fur. he lies twisted on a slab of stone—jagged, slick, and wrong beneath his ribs. air thins in his chest as he lifts his head, the world tilting, spinning, roaring with white.

above him, the sky is ash-colored and vast. below, cliffs vanish into mist and death.

his legs shake beneath him as he rises. one step—raw pain lashes through his spine. his body’s intact, but bruised, battered. like he fell from the heavens and was not welcomed by them. he can do nothing but growl beneath his breath, and stagger onwards.

---

at some point, the forest around her changed.
kaedra had been following her own path through a similar white land. she'd lowered her crown to bear the onslaught of snow. and when her eyes gaze back up, the land had completely and utterly changed. turning back, her trail had been swallowed — either from the snow or a stranger reason.

kaedra wouldn't dwell on this mystery for long. the crunching of feet against snow in the distance steals her attention. her dry nose still reached outwards to catch the scent, her curiosity peaked when she just vaguely recognizes it. the crownore woman follows that trail with little hesitation.

her suspicions are confirmed when she catches the black figure. she could never escape the long shadows of her kin.

better judgement would've told her to keep away, but kaedra was desperate for another at this point — she needed no further convincing to trot up to the man.
why, if it isn't my favorite uncle. she coos, perched atop a rock to at least afford her some safe distance. family reunions never end well for a crownore.

---

the crownore patriarch stops, turning eyes of moon upon the girl. his breath frosted in the air between the two, the distance suffocating.

his thoughts are sharpened at the sight of her.

his narrowing stare heavy with frost and recognition. his niece is there, here, perched like a raven on stone, voice dipped in sweet mockery. her shape etched in black and pale snow. adonis stifles a sound of annoyance.

“kaedra," he exhales her name upon his lips.

blood calls to blood, even when it should be drowned.

---

a mischievous smile twists her lips, kaedra cocks her head to the side, sinking into the warmth of her mane.

aren't you happpy to see your favorite niece? i've grown much since your last visit. she snickers, descending down from her rock to greet adonis. the thick of the snow does not hinder her playful gait as she approaches. then, with no hesitation, she steals a lick to his cheek, twirling around him with her leering gaze unwavering in its hold over adonis. kaedra is the first to make distance between them again though, finding more warmth away from adonis than close. you look as if you've been trampled by a herd, uncle.

---

”and yet here i stand,” the titan mutters a dry, rasping edge.

his eyes trail her as she circles, unreadable but watchful. she is kin, and that is what makes her most dangerous of all. physically, she is no threat to him. but mentally?

she is just as uncouth as the demon who sired her. her uncle takes cautious steps, moving to follow the circling of her gaze with his own.

still, some part of him loosens. not trust—never that—but recognition. “you have grown into a pest,” he says, the faintest curl of amusement pulling at his muzzle. “and even worse, a bold one.”

he takes a breath that rattles faintly in his chest and sits, finally. as if accepting that for now, the mountain brings company. “tell your uncle,” the king pauses, “where he is.”

---

SKILL trickster 1/5

---

pests are clever and resourceful. kaedra's voice is firm, and clear, even through her playful sneer. they take as they please without remorse. they're bold by nature. i would rather be a pest than a coward. besides, are the crows of their namesake not pests? the way they pick from the leftovers of grander beasts?

but adonis finds more pressing matters in their reunion. i would tell you if i knew, uncle dearest. she eyes the short trail he'd left behind. the snow was quick to erase even the shortest of trails, already they'd become faint dents in the pristine white blanket. but we may venture together until we learn the name of this land.

---

for a long moment, he can only stare with cold, unfeeling eyes. draping his niece in a look that offers no warmth, no sort of love. that is impossible, when he looks to her and sees only corruption. the tainted blood of her father, of his brother.

traitor. but adonis thought it unfair, also, to punish her for the crimes of a forefather. so he is silent as he moves, feeling slow the return of conscious and true power into onyx limbs. rolling his shoulders, trying to alleviate the pressure and tension that rode thick upon them. "come." he can only mutter bitterly.

so, everything was gone. winterhelm, if even still standing, existed far away. as he stops and looks over this summit they stand upon now, he feels only an emptiness. it is creeping, and volatile, and terrible. he swallows his breath and exhales in a cold ghost, curling faint into the sky above.

had he angered dracul?

---

the weight of his gaze fell heavy atop her shoulders, yet she waited eagerly for the larger man's next move. adonis contemplated something, and she searched for a hint as to what it may be. the same hardened expression that her father always gazed at her with before he croaked. but adonis relinquishes, giving in to his demanding niece in a way her father never did — perhaps because he knew she would not take anything less than a yes or a bite to the neck. there were no compromises in kaedra's world.

winterhelm. had she known that adonis lingered on it, the girl would've laughed at him.
kaedra couldn't care less for her own loss of the blackmarch or that of her kin. they'd all lost whatever sentimentality she held for them the moment she was not appointed as heiress to the crown. there was no point giving those kingdoms a single glance if they could not be hers. there was no point in family if they did not bow to her and her alone.

she did not pass this land of pure white a glance either. there was nothing to be found here — she knew that just by the look she'd already gotten from it. but kaedra is a polite girl, she waits for her uncle to give any orders while he stirs his emotions, preferring to keep the giant controlled and behaved.
we will find something. she answers, her smile gentling. there must be opportunity here, away from family. or so kaedra hoped.

---

he does not trust gentle smiles. not from kaedra. not even his own children. his own wife.

blood remembers blood, but ambition remembers weakness, and he knows too well the sickness that grows when loyalty rots away.

the wind presses against his side, and he leans into it. he is stubborn, stubborn as he always had been; and he refuses to yield, not now. and perhaps not ever. the old king would remain just that: a king. so silver eyes cut down the mountain, through the endless sprawl of white that gives no promise, no favor. but he sees something; a glimmer of possibility.


his eyes are cast to his niece, cold.

"our family," he spits into the snow, "they are the first to gut you when your back is turned."

---

SKILL trickster [2/5]

---

adonis was not a stupid man, he knew what his kin was capable of — the blood that had woven kaedra, a toxic mix of her father and mother. and yet she smiles, almost mockingly. oh dearest uncle, do lighten up. if i wanted to gut you, i would've done it by now. pearly white teeth peek between the black of her lips. you're stumbling like a drunken soldier! her sneering laugh does not reach her eyes, nor does her laughter linger. it pitters off with a sigh, before dropping like a weight had fallen on her smile. kaedra sits with a sharpened glare at the old king with unclear intent. she sits firmly against the winds, only the willows of her fur giving in to its strength.
i kid, she assures, quietly, knowing it will land on deaf ears. i have nothing to gain from betraying you. though she knew she would never toss up the opportunity to do so. kaedra was sure he'd do the same. they share blood, afterall.
loyalty died in their bloodline a long time ago.