Drooping Willows [TfT] Tourmaline Gem

Tit for Tat, This or That

Partially sticking out of the loose soil is a curious stone. It looks nearly translucent, maybe a little blue, but in the center there is a distinct pink area and maybe a streak or two of yellow. Fascinating! This must be the prettiest stone this side of the Swift River!

It had been a while since Sven had visited his natal den. While he had returned to it once old enough to choose where he slept, the lonely hole in the ground had been abandoned once more as the boy became determined to act as a better packmate to the others. This meant sleeping in the communal den, and there were several things he enjoyed about it as well as many that he hated. Yet this den here still had its purposes, and in anticipation of the twists and turns the future might have for him, Sven decided to give it some much needed attention.

His paws worked the earth, broadening the structure as well as stabilizing it. If @Hecate and @Attica were ever accepted back into the pack, it was likely that they would need a place to stay. As the boy reasoned, Piety had not been allowed to share a roof with the others, and so it very possibly would be the same for his outcasted friend acquaintance. Or would they be welcomed because there was not a competing litter this year? Sven had mixed feelings about the possibilities, but he would be prepared for either circumstance regardless.

As he dug, something fell loose from the den wall. A rock it felt like, but impeccably smooth. Curious, he lifted it into his mouth and took it outside to inspect in the sunlight. Immediately he was taken by the colors that shone throughout the stone, like nothing he had never seen before. It was like the beginning of a sunset inside, and immediately he thought of @Sahalie.

Her wondering was very little as it had been over the last year. Elettra still spent the lot of her time keeping to Angier's side until ether Ravenna or Niles assured her it would be okay to stretch her legs and see what was going on in her pack. She had gotten back on the horse with ease once Morganna had left, though even if no one questioned her placement, keeping up with it had been harder then last she had remembered. Though with Nicolo having every intention of bringing the pack back together, Elettra kept into the background of things, awaiting to see what might unfold now that her daughter and the lot of her followers were gone. Skoll had even been keeping to himself, the life in him sucked out as it ran for Morganna's trail. And the basterd son? He, despite the obvious hatred in his eyes he had held in his youth, was playing an act of peace keeper in a way with the gifts he left around for his pack-mates to find. This day, however, it was not one of his gifts of meat she found, but actually him in the flesh.

"What exactly are you doing?" She asks directly as she stood tall before his tail, only for a single ear to fall against her crown and her head to tilt in an obvious confusion at just what he was doing staring into the ground. From this distance, she saw nothing and so came padding up to him closer. Often, she approached the male with a weariness, slow and precise in her movements. Now, she doubted he had any intention of spatting at her granted how much effort he was giving in lightening up the place. What had gotten into him anyhow? Perhaps something had happen or maybe it was just that he had finally shed himself of his teenage, rebel phase.

eee, so glad you joined this <3

as fast as i run

The teen had been so transfixed by the treasure he'd found that he became oblivious to the world around him. As his grandmother approached, her scent pervaded his lungs but not his thoughts, and the steady sound of her paw steps fell upon deaf ears. It wasn't until she spoke that he became jarringly attune to what was outside of that glowing gem once more, and the fur along his spine leapt up along with his ears. His neck swiveled so that he might look over his shoulder, one paw lifted and poised to turn round his whole body should he need to fully face whoever it was that had managed to sneak up on him. Upon seeing @Elettra's dark features, he was only half placated.

Sven's mind retraced through the words, and had her tone been any harsher he might've been rendered lost for words. After all, that she might one day allow @Attica and the girl's mother to come home was but an unsubstantial hope of youth's. For all he knew, the newly re-crowned queen might be just as dead set against sheltering Hecate as her daughter had been, empty nest or no. With these thoughts alive within him, he did not wish to give a full explanation of 'what exactly' he'd been doing. Instead he focused merely on what was most immediately, and as he slowly turned to face his much-admired grandmother, his paw hooked round the tiny treasure that had been retrieved from the auriferous dirt and brought it between them so that she might see.

"I found this," he told her, pale eyes trained on its magnificence. "It's... pretty. I think, I'm gonna give it to Sahalie. She'd like it... don't you think?"

His gaze lifted to seek hers, wishing for the woman's approval. His interactions with the Archer empress had always been minimal, but with all of Skoll's high speaking of the queen, Sven had come to view her as some kind of paragon. He wanted his grandmother's love and endorsement, and perhaps that was why he never strived to be close to her. As big as his father had built Elettra to be, Sven did not want all of that to crumble, for her to become yet another adult who failed to meet expectations.

It was likely that the judgment was out of her reach regardless, however. Sven wasn't even sure she'd knew who @Sahalie was; her only opportunity to meet the girl would have been when Wraith had brought her to the Ridge randomly, and he didn't know if the two had run into each other at all. But, they were both girls. Girls liked pretty things, he'd gotten that much correct, right?

could you catch me for once?

oh why thank you! ;)

A very obvious, utter shock came upon him when she had spoken, giving the younger man a bit of a start as she twisted his body around to see who had interrupted whatever exactly it was that he was doing. Finally then, he turns and between his paws was a rock. A very colorful rock, she noticed and one that certainly could catch your eye for a moment or two. Elettra Archer herself had seen a number or two of pretty rocks, one or two of which she still harbored over the years from different trinkets or another she had collected or been given over time. Many times those who had come to her pack to join the ranks would offer her gifts, although most of them had been food or herbs. "It is quite the gem..." She starts, not exactly wanting to assume that this woman would like it (whom she did not in fact know) although not wanting to break Sven down ether. After all, Elettra would be much more impressed with a skinned pelt for her den site, a rare herb, or a pair of antlers instead. "Although I would imagine this woman would be even more impressed by the fact that you carried it so far just to give it to her. The action in itself..." She speaks, her pale eyes trained on the male to assess his reaction to her words before glancing down at the colorful stone once more. Although she did not know who this 'Sahalie' was, it was good to know that Sven had found others that he cared about even if there was a rift between him and so many of his own family. It had been hard, granted the fact that his mother was just another flighty woman that his whore father who wooed over the spring. If anything, one day Sven might grow up to understand the hard decision Elettra had to face and that despite that, he still remained. Her blood which was far more important then his mother, Hekate, or any other dame Skoll crossed was.