Sacred Grove come drag me down

we are not things

Perhaps she shouldn’t have played that card so soon, Capable thought with a mite of regret. Her ears rotated forward as Skoll’s expression changed. Had she ruined the fleeting moment? The attention was so foreign, she found herself wishing it would not end – but all at once, she scolded herself mentally. Since when had she needed anyone’s praise to do what she wanted to do? Maybe it was for the best she’d brought up Morganna and broken the spell the swarthy male was weaving over her – as long as she could see clearly, she was safer than she was a moment before.

“Ah, no. No trouble,” she was quick to assure him, wondering at once if this man treated Morganna the same way Arrow had tried to bridle her. “She was looking for ginger, to bring back home. I helped,” Capable explained after another moment, feeling that she owed the other woman at least that much. She had been friendly, if not informative, and had done nothing to deserve being thrown under the bus. “Not much of that, where I came from. Far north of here, in the mountains, there wasn’t a lot of variety. We made do with what we had.”

That, and she’d been charged with watching cubs, but Skoll did not need her entire life story. Realizing that the swarthy male still intended to show her the way for her home, she picked up a trot, jogging to his side and falling into stride, shoulder-to-shoulder. Tipping one ear, she studied the male from the side. “Hey, what is it like, in Willow Ridge? What do you…do there?”

What would I do?

I had a dream I was dying

Skoll could have rolled his eyes at the mention of his litter mate searching for those bloody plants. Angier had tried to teach him once about ginger, hellebore, and cowbane, but all that information had gone into one batty ear and out the other. At the time, the prince was more than convinced that he could get away with just knowing what the plant looked and smelled like... never mind what the plant did to a wolf if they ate it or not. It was probably better that his sister took up interest in plants instead of him, but just knowing of Morganna's feats made him envious of her.

"That's... nice of you," he offered in a nonchalant fashion as a final thought on the matter, listening as she fell into step. Inside, he cringed, wondering if she might do as Piety or Hecate did, touching him either by accident or by some sort of uninvited, mistaken cue. He willed his limbs to keep moving in a straightforward manner, neither veering away from her or trying to take some difficult way around as to discourage her from walking at his side.

"Willow Ridge is a marvelous place," he answered, distracting himself from her proximity and focusing instead on wanting to pull her in as he had with the Santoro woman. Here, he might have told her that they all served a matriarch, his mother, but upon realizing @Morganna's rise to power, he held back. "I was first in line after my older brother's leave some years ago, but then my sister snatched the title right from under me." His lips pursed and he looked everywhere else but Capable's face, "Now I'm trying to prove myself that I can pull my own weight just as she can."

He left the sentence at just that, wanting to let his red-furred companion's mind wonder about what he might do to show his worth and, well, capabilities. For the briefest of seconds, he cast his silver eyes to the side of her face, half-anticipating some sort of agreement to helping him secure his place as his mother's successor. If she wouldn't or expressed disinterest in the matter, he was easily of the mind to leave her at the edge of the River; there was no way he was going to jump through hoops again as he did with Piety, wasting all his energy just to mold her into what he wanted and expected of her.

we are not things

“Nice? I suppose. Fair trade, really,” she explained, moving no closer to Skoll than she already had. The male’s discomfort was not noticed, but she hadn’t exactly been watching his expression as she racked her mind. All worked out, however, for the young woman did not trust other wolves enough to get that close – much less touch a stranger. As they walked, she allowed the male to get a pace or so ahead. After all, he was the one who knew where they were going. Following at an even pace, she made no move to get any closer than she had before, simply trailing the male as he led the way towards Willow Ridge.

Ears keyed forward as she listened in, not at all surprised he had good things to say about his home. What was shocking, perhaps, was that Morganna was the alpha female there. Her brother did not speak of replacing her or overthrowing her, simply proving that he, too, could be just as capable a leader as she. Sienna eyes shown with interest and her tail gave a gentle wag behind her, studying Skoll as he spoke.

“Is that how it works in Willow Ridge, then? You and your sister will work together once you’re the alpha, too?” she asked, trying to make sense of such a novel idea. To think, siblings working as a team! Life would have been so different if Arrow sought to work with her, instead of crush her under his paw. “It wasn’t like that, at home. We were assigned our duty, and that was it. Didn’t matter how capable you were.”

After a moment, she hummed, a smile crossing her lips at the idea of a pack were strengths and weaknesses were considered. “What would you do, leading?”

What would you do with me if I followed you home?

I had a dream I was dying

Around a tree and past one that had fallen to lean up against another, he led Capable until the Swift River's soft babble met their ears. He hadn't recalled coming this far from the creek, but never the less, he continued to focus on the task at hand - leading his companion home (and, before the storm truly had descended upon them). In-between minding where his paws left tracks in the fallen snow and keeping track of his orientation, he turned her questions over in his head.

"Yes," he decided, surprising himself in how confident and assured that single word had come fluttering up from his lips. "Eventually. My step-father and uncle still hold authority over me, but they will answer me in time." This last sentiment came from him with more determination than he would have hoped for. She countered with something about how her lifestyle back from wherever she had come from was different. Having only known the workings of Willow Ridge in all of his life, Skoll made no comment of it. Perhaps he was made even more aware of his family's traditions, but it was merely how the pack worked; females generally held more power, from what he had observed, and Angier's mannerisms made that even more apparent. If Capable's pack had, say, been patriarchal or relied on the Old Gods - or something - he wouldn't besmirch or ridicule her. What she did say, though, made him smile. Just because she had mentioned something about assigned roles made something in his skull switch on.

With her thinking like that, he could probably make good use of her...

"What would you do, leading?" she asked. Some meters away from the creek, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her with an amiable smile. "I will restore my family to the way it used to be-" here, he lightly frowned, "-my step-father's needs to go. He doesn't even come close to being my mother's equal and yet he's made his mark. I'd like to correct that; and, like you mentioned, I'm going to make sure each individual has a role."

"Packs don't just need trust to function," he stated, shaking some snowflakes from his coat and drawing his gaze away for a moment before eyeing her over again. The sun would begin to rise soon, if they went on like this, and a part of him was suddenly excited to see her face in the light. "There needs to be something more. Structure. Resilience. Cohesiveness. We need to know that each wolf has a place if they are to bring Willow Ridge to its peak. It's no longer about just being able to pull one's own weight." He was about to go on and mention that he needed a place for his son to grow up strong, to have roots as stable as willows' own, but thought against it. "And, I want them to look at me and see me for me..." His frown became more apparent as he spotted the riverbank through a gap in the snow-covered trees, the moss accumulating a coat of frost as the moments went on. "I need someone who will show them that I am not a monster lurking about in the night."

we are not things

Capable drew to a halt behind the man, leaving a length or so of space between them. It was as much for respect towards others as it was her own personal worry, ears swiveling in all directions as she tried to take in both the surrounding area and whatever it was Skoll had to say. That he didn’t care much for his step-father meant little to her – she didn’t care for her father or brothers either, though she’d yet to try to recruit anyone to Moose’s Tooth to correct it. It was the mention of trust that caught her attention, angular ears pricking in the dark prince’s direction.

“Working together,” she murmured, more to herself than for the man’s benefit. “A role for everyone.”

It had never been that each wolf was responsible for a task that had concerned Isuni growing up with the wolves of Moose’s Tooth, it was that such roles were assigned based on whether or not a wolf had an extra piece of meat hanging between their legs (or the lack thereof). Talents and passions were not taken into consideration, nor were the topics of teamwork or structure – it was no wonder everything was as haphazard as it was. As much as the redhead liked children, and truly, she did find pups quite nice, it was that she knew she could accomplish so much more as a hunter, teacher, or even a guardian. There was so much more she wanted to do and to learn, things she’d never get to even know existed if she always remained at the whelping den with this year’s puppies and least year’s yearlings.

Tipping her head, Skoll’s final statements drew her from her thoughts. “You aren’t a monster,” she answered automatically, her sienna eyes blinking at the thought. “I’ve met a monster. You aren’t one,” she huffed, feeling a deep understanding for his plight. She’d never been accused of being anything so vile, of course, but she was judged simply as a woman, and nothing more. “You’re a wolf. With goals. And passion. That doesn’t make you a monster. Just as lacking a dick doesn’t make me any less a wolf than you,” she added on, feeling the potential of kinship spark between them.

“So will you take me there? Willow Ridge?”