Hearthwood River menacing figures

i am a dark red liver stretched out on the rocks

All the poison, I convert it and I turn it to love

I am not scared of you. How could she be? She did not want to call him soft but he seemed kind. He seemed better fitted to the rest of the Falls. Which was perhaps why she wondered most of all why he wanted to see her, follow her.

Why does impressing me matter, Toklo?

Perhaps she should have dropped it, just held the praise and be flattered. Instead she wanted to pick his brain and figure out what exactly he wanted. Isla had a long list of all of the things that she wanted. Maybe if she widened her view just a touch to examine others...well, she could make her wants seem more appealing to have others agree.

---

Toklo blushed at her remarks. Although he was very outspoken, he was never that good at conveying his feeling toward others before. "Today is going to be different!" He thought to himself.

He took a deep breath and said "Isla, I...I think I like you...That's why I was trying to impress you. You are such an amazing and powerful wolf, and I just wanted you to like me. I thought that if you could see me as someone strong and independent, you might like me more." He looked towards her, giving her that signature goofy toothy smile of his.

---

She gazed upon that goofy grin. Noticed the delicate softness of his features. There almost seemed kind of inherit goodness in him that she could not grasp. Isla had never needed to be liked. Respected, feared, listened to. Had she ever cared if someone liked her?

Yet here stood someone who wanted her to like them.

If you are strong and independent, then I do not need to like you. She licked her lips and for a moment her brows pinched with thoughtful concentration. You would be a challenger anyway. Her nostrils flared and her tail lashed behind her. A fanfare display of mock challenging. The humorous glint in her gaze was the only sign she meant nothing serious of this.

---

Toklo felt a pang of sadness at her remarks. He just blatantly told her that he liked her, and all that she could talk about is how she can one up him? He decided to just blow it off and make light of the situation like he always did.

"Well good for you!" Toklo pouted while laughing, "I'm glad that you think you are more powerful than me. You'll be surprised though when I beat you in the next hunt!"

A look of seriousness came over him then, contemplating how best to phrase this to her.

"Isla, I think I love you. You make me want to be a better wolf to the pack. Does that make sense?"

He was trying hard not to shake out his nervousness from the impromptu love speech.

---

She steadied herself. Something more serious and somber crossed her face. Mouth closed, lips thinned. Perhaps she should have been flattered. Instead it only contorted something ugly within her gut.

No. How could it make sense? She did not know him and he certainly did not know her. He had not a clue of her history, of her own loves and losses. Whatever warmth she may have gazed upon him before had been replaced by an icy exterior. She had dared to think he might be something akin to a friend and now he made declarations of love.

You don't know anything of me. You cannot love me.

As if she might demand his emotions out of existence.

Maybe if she ignored him they would sizzle out and vanish. So on a hard heel turn, she stalked off in the opposite direction. Love was not what she wanted.

(This post was last modified: Apr 15, 2024, 03:01 PM by Isla.)