Bound By Desert Flowers

Features: Silver, Glory, Hare.

Preceded by: In The Safety Of A Desert

"I think I already made like, a couple promises during my whole spiel back there," Glory said. Her cheeks then turned a bit red. "God, I can't believe I said something so sappy."

Silver takes the rose, picking it up reverently. She looks at it, and then at Glory, and she exhales. "You really did," she agrees, before becoming more serious.

"I am Lyra Woods, who Wanders for my house. To you, Aubrey, I offer my guidance. If you are lost and unsure, I will give you my advice and direction, finding you the path that you might walk to safety, to home. I'll grant you comfort if you need it, the reassurance that you need.

"I offer you my protection. If clever words would seek your binding, I will try to prevent it. If someone would try to take you, then my claim is stronger. If someone would strike at you, then I will answer in turn, whether words or weapons. If darkness should come over you, then I'll be the helping hand, the words you can trust, a warmth that only wishes you the best.

"I offer you..." Silver hesitates here, swallowing. "I offer you my faith. I will seek not to betray you, and to offer fair restitution should I ever falter in this. I have chosen you over family, and history, and perhaps a bit of sense." Silver manages a trace of humour here, smiling, just slightly. "I will seek to be someone you can trust, who you can face on equal ground. I might manipulate you, but not for cruelty, and not to lead you astray, but only, where possible, to something better."

Glory also takes a rose into her hands, briefly sniffing it. "Okay, let's do this," she said, taking a deep breath.

"My name is Aubrey Schlotwitz, wanderer and traveler of wherever the hell I may end up."

"To you, Lyra Woods, I offer you protection, from dangers and forces that may do you harm. If anyone tries to claim or bind or take you away, I declare my claim stronger, and I will fight like hell to get you back. If anyone tries to harm you in any manner, I will protect you, and beat up any bastard's who try."

"To you, Lyra Woods, I offer you shelter, from the harshness and cruelties of the world and others. Should you ever find yourself in fear or in harm, you will always be welcomed by my side, and in my home. You'll find love ,and comfort, from a world and others who have little for you. For as long as the both of us still live, there will always be a place for you."

"To you, Lyra Woods," Glory says, louder than the last oaths. "I offer you my faith. You will always find a friend and an ally in me. I will never betray you, for as long as we both shall live. I will always choose you, no matter what."

Silver proffers the rose in offering, willingly given without duress - a choice of her very own to live, where once she would have broken herself to nothing just to have freedom (of a sort). "I, Lyra Woods, bind myself to my words and I swear to give what I have promised to give. I define myself in part as your Familiar, Aubrey Schlotwitz." Silver seems amused by the last name she just learned. "Please. Take this rose as a symbol of my affection, my devotion, and my promises."

Glory smiles, and offers her own rose as well. She be giving a lot to her from now on; she's going to need all of it, for what's going to be coming. "I, Aubrey Schlotwitz, bind myself to my words and swear to give what I have promised to give. I defined myself in part as your partner, Lyra Woods. Please. Take this rose as a symbol of my affection, my devotion, and my promises."

A light overwhelms the space between them, bright and warm, alighting the world in a brilliant glow. "And so I, the Alabaster of the Shining Desert," --

-- "And I, the Hare, practitioner and representative of the the Fort Worth spirits,"

"We stand as witness to the familiar bond of Lyra Woods and Aubrey Schlotwitz. In our absence, may they each serve as a Sanctuary for the other. Together, united, they stand as equal partners against those that might oppose them."

The light dissipates. If they were to look done, on the right hands, a tattoo of a desert rose blooms. Silver would feel something inside, a kernel of Aubrey, settle - an anchor for her Self to grow. Glory would feel a seed inside, a piece of Silver - a promise to stay.