When The Rains
Came

Having a Pack to look after made Tess spread herself a little thinner than she would have otherwise. If she would have been on her own, she wouldn't have worried about where she was getting all of the ingredients that she needed for the wolfsbane. She knew that Em, and the others were capable of taking care of themselves, but she also knew that she was going to have to learn to balance a little more than she had been lately. It wasn't as though it was impossible. It was just more difficult than she had anticipated, and tonight, she hadn't had anything to do with the Pack. Tonight had been a venture into her own life. One that she didn't take all that often. Not since her father had none to graciously slammed the door in her face. How long she had been here, she didn't know, at this point it seemed like she had been here for hours, waiting on her half sister to show up, and knowing that it was very likely that she wouldn't. Tess thought that of the dozens of times that she had scheduled to meet up with her sister over the years that she had been here, there had only been, two, maybe three times, that she hadn't bailed with a lame excuse, or three.

It was more typical of her not to show up, than to actually come through, and Tess didn't know how she was related to these people at all. In most cases, she thought that she wasn't. That man was her father. Biologically, he was the one that had given her her magic. He was the one that had helped bring her into this world, but Tess knew that he was not someone that she was going to be proud to know. She had been here nearly a decade now, and he had never once answered her. He had only thrown her out, and that wasn't something that she planned on holding on to for the rest of her life. She knew that she deserved better than that. Tess wasn't going to sell herself short, not now. Not when she had come here, and built a life, and a business, and a family for herself. Not when she had everything that she wanted. Not when she knew that she was doing really well. That was the best part, the part that she thought that no one understood. That she was happy. 

And her life wasn't traditional, or anything like that, but she was happy, and sometimes happiness could count for more than anything else. That was something that she was counting on. That it would weigh in as more than anything else. Standing up here on the top of the lighthouse she thought that it was one of the best views in the world. Tess liked being up high. She liked being on a broom, she liked being on a horse more, that was her preferred method of flying. But tonight was about standing here, and looking out at the water, and knowing that if she got on a boat, if she were to sail away on that sea, she could sail back to her mother. To her people. She could make her way back home. America would always be home. The Cherokee people would always be her people, no matter where it was that she found herself along the way. She had a home here, and a family, but there was more to all of this than that. There was more to this life, and she was proud of the life that she had built. The sound of someone opening the door behind her had Tess turning to look over her shoulder. 

She hadn't expected it to be her sister, but there was always the chance that it was. It wasn't. It was a girl that she didn't know. One that she had never seen before, and she didn't know if now was going to be the time to betray herself as the nosy American or not. She didn't now a lick of French, and she thought that this would be the moment, if any, that she was going to get called out for it. "Hello." She offered in as little of an American accent as she could manage. Even nearly a decade in Britain hadn't been able to curb that all too much. It was something that had just stuck with her, and it made her stick out the moment that she opened her mouth. Still, she smiled, and she thought that it was best to be friendly, even if she was likely to have already blown any hope she had of getting along with someone that was actually French.

@lyra - 794 - contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0

Days had turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into a year and Lyra was still in hiding, she still couldn’t go home to her parents and sister; to her friends. It was too dangerous, it had been risky enough to escape from London in the first place, going back would be like signing her death warrant and she couldn’t stomach that idea. She’d missed her sister’s birthday and she was scared, Aika was nine now and when she was eight she had started showing her magic, normally it wouldn’t be too bad. Just a little risky because child’s magic was uncontrollable but with how everyone had been towards Muggleborns, she was terrified at the thought of someone finding Aika and her blood status; normally she would reassure herself that she’s just a child, no one would hurt a child. But that was definitely not the case this time, Lyra was confident that someone would try to harm her younger sister if they saw her. All Lyra wanted to do was protect her, but it was impossible. She’d toyed with the idea of travelling to her home town of Whitby and finding her parents and Aika, then bringing Aika back to France with her, but that was far too risky, they could find Lyra and hurt her and then Aika would definitely be harmed or worse.

Lyra had decided to be brave and wander around France, she was so tired of seeing nothing but stone walls that she needed to get away before it drove her insane, she was glad that it was safe in France, it meant she could wander through the cities and for the past week that was what she’d been doing, with a backpack she’d manage to buy with one of her pay checks and some camping gear she’d also treated herself, she had her whole life, resting on her back right now. It was hard to think about that, before all of this she had a home, a job, she was in a relationship, she had her family and she had money and was even studying at university. Now she couldn’t even afford a cheap flat. She had nothing.

The blonde witch had found herself in Calais and there was some amazing views and it was somewhat… peaceful; she had set up at a nearby muggle campsite, it was the safest option and even though her tent wasn’t a normal muggle tent, it was one that you could only buy in the wizarding world, like a house in a bag, she’d been content living in this tent until she could afford a flat, after all it was safe, warm and comfortable. She had even contemplated staying here for a month or so but she couldn’t be certain yet, it all depended on how safe she felt (which nowadays was not at all) but there was something about Calais that provided her with comfort, she’d even planned on starting to write a letter home when she had chance, it wouldn’t be much it would be something.

Lyra strolled along the pier heading towards the lighthouse, pausing every now and then to look into the sea and try to spot some wildlife, it was as if nothing was wrong, it was like what she used to do back before everything happened. Smokey was prancing along behind her and Lyra had received a couple of funny looks at the fact she had a fully grown fox following behind her like a common domesticated pet, it was the only thing Lyra still had from her life before and she was never going to let go of her companion. He kept her sane. She slipped her now empty backpack off her shoulder and set it on the ground, watching with a smile as Smokey obediently hopped into it and nestled in it comfortably before she swung it back onto her. She felt Smokey’s chin rest on her shoulder and she smiled sideways at the fox as she reached the lighthouse and began to mount the stairs. She’d done this climb once already, the night she had arrived and then it had been deserted; Lyra had hoped that this time it would be quiet too but as she reached the top and pushed the door leading outside open she froze and stared warily at the woman who was already there. When she spoke, Lyra cowered away and started to back out of the door, a small squeak of fear passed her lips as she raised her hand in a sorry excuse for a wave, ”Hello.” Lyra replied, her voice not much louder than a whisper as she looked fearfully at the woman.

When The Rains

Came

Meeting her half-sister was always hit or miss. Rachel had a tendency not to show up anywhere that she was supposed to be, and if she did show, she was likely to have come only to see if Tess would give her money. She knew that she wouldn’t, she had done that, once, and she had never seen a knut of it back until she had gone and told her stepmother that she had loaned Rachel money. Savannah had warned her off of doing it again, but it didn’t stop Rachel from asking. Nothing would ever really stop Rachel from asking. Tess didn’t spend all that much time with her family though. They weren’t even really her family. Her family was the people that she had grown up with. The Cherokee tribe that had been her family from the very beginning. They had been the ones that had raised her, that had made sure that she learned, that she didn’t fear what she was. Her father was a mage, like she was. She didn’t know anything about him really, not much more than she had known when she had first come here all of those years ago. She had learned about Savannah, and Rachel, and Jacob. But that was it.

There was no love lost between herself and her father. He was just the man that had made it possible for her to be alive. She was not a Sutherland, and she didn’t want to be. She would have liked a relationship, of some kind. But she hadn’t gotten one, and she wasn’t going to be annoying about it. Her half-sister had latched on to her in a way that only an annoying little sister that always needed money could, but Tess was a protective person by nature. She wasn’t going to throw her out, just because she wasn’t around all of the time. She wasn’t going to push. Her family was magic here. This was where she had gotten her magic from. Ireland was where she had gotten her magic from. But she didn’t think all that much of it. Most of the time Tess didn’t even worry about the fact that she could do magic. Potions were the only things that she needed, and then it was just for the wolfsbane. Everything else that she did was very no-maj. That was just the way that she had been raised.

Her mother’s family didn’t have magic. They had the Great Spirits. And they had their stories. And they had everything that they had been raised for generations to believe, but they hadn’t had magic. Her father’s family had. He had had magic, and he had known that he had magic. His father had known that he had had magic when he had married his mother. But that was the difference in Tess’s story and her father’s. Her grandfather, she supposed, had made that mistake, and he had taken the girl to wife. Her father had not. He had abandoned them before he had even known that she existed, and when he had learned, he hadn’t come back. Tess was honestly just glad that he had known. She thought that she would have been more upset if her mother had never told him of her existence at all, and he would have wanted her. Somehow, this was easier. This had always been easier. But here she was waiting, just like she always did when Rachel called. She wouldn’t abandon her sister, even if they were only sisters part of the time. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t Rachel’s fault, entirely, that she was the way that she was.

Tess had left her pack to come here, she had come to France, of all places. What her sister was doing in France she didn’t know, and she didn’t ask. She could figure all of that out later. When she wasn’t so worried about trying to make sense of what she was actually doing here. Of why she had come. She didn’t think that she would give her what she knew that she wanted. Tess didn’t have that kind of money anyway, but she did have time, and energy, and she could help her. Somehow. If she showed. The footsteps that had come up the steps did not belong to Rachel though. Instead she found herself looking at a slight blonde girl that she didn’t really know. She seemed, frightened? Tess did a mental check of herself, made sure that she wasn’t throwing any scary, or mean vibes off of herself. “Were you coming up here to see the view?” She didn’t know the girl, and yet, she felt obliged to make conversation. To try and prove that she wasn’t frightening at all. “I’m Tess, by the way.” Maybe having her name would make her less frightening.

@ lyra - 804 - contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0