Iridescent Lagoon just another act

The secret impresses no one.

borden lyall

The trick you use it for is everything.

December 2nd; Afternoon; Cloudy; Light snow.

The last time Borden had been here, he had been a broken man, rebuilding himself piece by piece before Jaysyek, the only woman who dared to look him in the face and make him prove that he was, indeed, worthy of her... if only he just... started acting like it. The Lyall that stepped upon the frozen, frost-covered shore of the Lagoon was actually a far cry from the one who had last been there in the midst of February. At nearly 7 months old, the cubs were, well, no longer cubs. Renier, Ryvet, Taima and Calla, he somewhat refused to acknowledge, were old enough to be out on their own, without adult supervision as long as they kept to Grizzly Hollow territory a majority of the time. It was the fine detail of the thought - the idea that his four youngest children could actually stick to their mother's marked boundaries for once - that allowed him to stray from his usual patrol route and head through the Marsh.

A change of scenery was nice every now and then one had to admit and the Hollow leader had no qualms over the fact. To feel the wind and snow brush up against him underneath a gray, open sky felt very different from constantly sheltered by the Forest. He smiled slightly to himself as the crisp air brought to him scents of travelers that had recently passed through. The trace of a wandering rogue, which might have initially spurred the possessive side of him since another rogue had been recently encountered for trespassing, merely made him wish the fellow good tidings in the face of the incoming storm. In a region where he, as a leader, held no sway, there was no reason to get worked up. As long as the pack kept an ever-watchful eye on their youngest members as well as one another, he could rest assured that no harm would come to them in his absence.

Effortlessly, he meandered along the water's edge, where ice had taken over in the place of small waves lapping up the sandy, pebble-dotted beach. Drawing in a deep breath, he found a place to settle down beside a rather sizable boulder and reclined onto his stomach, stretching his paws out before him. Just a few moments, he silently told himself as he cast his gaze out toward the far side of the lake. Just a moment's peace before heading back.

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(This post was last modified: Dec 28, 2012, 05:53 AM by Borden.)

Well, what do you want from me?

ooc: Hope you don't mind if I join? Gonna say this is just before she messes her leg up big time

There was something about the land's transformation into winter that captivated Skana. She'd always loved how a change of the seasons would turn a landscape into something entirely different, while retaining throughout the essence of what the place was. Summer greens yielded to fall golds and then, as it was now, winter snow pushed in to blanket the lands. She remembered how the lake glistened blue during the midsummer, when she first set paw into the Lore. But today, coated in the grey sheen of forming ice and rimmed by fresh snow, it was just as lovely.

The cold gnawed at her aching paw, but she ignored it in favor of seeing the lands outside of the Willows, where she was spending much of her time lately. A small smile settled on her scarred maw as she edged around the lake, not only pleased by the beauty of the world but that she had moved on enough to actually see it again. The last winter she had struggled through utterly alone, and that struggle was now over. In a way she still felt alone, but the feeling was dulled by the reassuring presence of her new packmates and life. These things managed to partially fill the void, but it was her pack, her family that she missed most. No matter what had passed, however, things were looking better, and she could really take the time to appreciate the world and simply being alive.

With a deep breath of the frosty air, she noticed a fresher scent mingled among the traces of wolves recently passed through. She wasn't the type to go out of her way for anyone, either towards or away, but simply kept on her roundabout path along the lake's frozen shore. The old woman had a substantial enough frame and the confidence to not really be bothered by whether it would be a friendly stranger, malevolent rogue, or anything in between.

Her lanky stride brought her to the dark grey hunk of rock, the wolf nestled at it's side unnoticed in the half-haze of her vision. She could smell the male as if he were right beside her, and she flicked her dark brown head from side to side to look for him. Like one of those magic eye pictures that you stare at long enough that the hidden image appears, Skana suddenly noticed the wolf distinguished from the stone. She flinched, startled that he had been so close all along, but quickly smoothed out the expression and straightened up into a respectable stance. Now that she could, she got a good look at the man. An older wolf, filled out despite the season, seemingly a pack wolf by his appearance and scent. He probably thought she was either insane, or an idiot for stumbling upon him as such. "Why, hello," She started, worn on her grizzled jaw a small smile at her own expense. "I didn't see you there. These eyes don't work so well anymore."

(This post was last modified: Dec 28, 2012, 12:44 AM by Skana.)

The secret impresses no one.

borden lyall

The trick you use it for is everything.

Apparently requesting a moment's peace had been just a bit too much to ask for. Within minutes the scent of a newcomer curled in his leathery nostrils. Borden gave an idle snort, but did not even bother to look at the woman until she had started to invade his personal space. His brows drew together and he plainly scowled at her as he tried to work out why she had not seen him in the first place. Had he been a rattlesnake or some smaller sort of creature, he would have lashed out at her in warning.

It became clear in a matter of seconds why the stranger had evidently missed his stocky form sprawled out on the shore. The sight of her scarred maw and discolored - cloudy? - pupil melted his frown away. She flinched and, in turn, he immediately looked away as though he had accidentally seen something he shouldn't have set his eyes upon. Her voice made one of his rounded ears turn towards her but he kept his eyes trained slightly downward toward the frozen edge of the lagoon. She partially confirmed his assumption about her blindness and, slowly, he turned to fully look up into her face. He had been fortunate to have his most of his vision return to the eye a bobcat had nearly scratched out; but, just how lucky, he realized, had not even dawned on him until now. The sight of her smile on her muzzle made him stall.

"Hi," he sniffed. "Nnno, it's all right. I didn't particularly want to be found, but it's all right." He shook his head as if to relieve himself of the urge to be alone, but the attempt had been in vain. A deep breath and a thorough review of the information her pelt carried - where she had recently been, how old she was, the confirmation that verified she belonged to a pack - struck a chord that merely stroked him the wrong way. His welcoming grin, as quickly as it had been conjured, fell away. His lips pressed together in a hard line and he blinked twice as he thought of how to go about trying to remember who it was he had been prompted to recall. "You... remind me of someone," he began on a whim, his voice edging towards a more serious tone. The image in his mind flickered and warped, much like the image of a staticky television screen, but the portraits of Elvira, Kauda, and Elettra refused to match and align with the lady at his side. The fur at his shoulder blades bristled, standing upright and every other direction out of uncertainty. "Have I met you before?"

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(This post was last modified: Jan 02, 2013, 08:43 AM by Borden.)

Well, what do you want from me?

Now that she could see him clearly she kept her eyes on him, as if letting the wolf out of her sight might allow him to meld back into the scenery. She had retained her tall and proud posture, despite him quickly glancing away, hoping to erase any erroneous first impression she'd made. It didn't seem he wanted company, and she wondered if it would have been better if she had blindly sauntered past him. Making the mistake of walking right past someone hidden in plain sight wouldn't have sat well with her, however. She didn't need to be both blind and stupid.

She'd noticed a particular scrutiny in his eye, and he'd admitted she'd reminded him of someone. Her smile vanished, replaced by the straight line of her pulled lips. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, but let the gears in his head turn as he puzzled through it, "Have I met you before?" He finally asked.

Skana looked over the man for a moment, brows knitting as she thought. There wasn't anything too distinctive about him, but she had the feeling she didn't know him. She wouldn't rule out the possibility of having forgotten a face after all these years, but it seemed unlikely she would have met this wolf before."No, I don't think so. I haven't been here terribly long, and I come from far to the West." Her head canted slightly to the side, allowing her to fix him directly in the sight of her one good eye. "My name's Skana Coho, though. Who do I remind you of, might I ask?"

The secret impresses no one.

borden lyall

The trick you use it for is everything.

The fact that she didn't think she knew him had him reeling. His ears went back to mirroring one another atop his skull, relaxed and rotated forward just enough to show her that he was thoroughly interested in her company... maybe she wouldn't be such bad company after all. He dropped his guard after she revealed to him that she hailed from some faraway place. Borden momentarily glanced away before returning his pale eyes to her, nodding in response to hearing her name and her query about who she reminded him of.

"Borden Lyall," he extended, the softened edges of a smile faintly appearing at the corners of his mouth again. He shook his head as he realized how ridiculous it had been to even think that the woman beside him now was even similar to Elettra. The woman probably wouldn't have even said 'hello' or even bothered to breathe in his direction, regardless of whether or not she noticed he was there. "She, um," he dipped his muzzle downward, dropping his eyes to his paws. "Heh..." he let out a sheepish grin. "I don't... I don't want to really talk about it, but it was someone I knew from a long time ago. She's been gone a while though and we're... we're not talking. You kinda just took me by surprise." He looked back up to her with another attempted smile. "Things have changed," he admitted. "Especially between us. I went one way and she went the opposite direction. Some rifts are better left alone."

He curled his tail closer to his body and he turned his attention back to the Lagoon, taking in the shades of steel blue and gray that made up its still, glazed surface. "But, what brings you here, out in the snow?"

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Well, what do you want from me?

Borden... She knew that name. Not the flesh and blood man behind it, well, not until now, but she remembered Elettra warning against the wolf. Somehow, he had done something in the past to cross the matriarch of the Willows. Skana kept this realization clear from her face, offering a polite nod instead. Skana preferred to keep other's personal grudges clear out of her own, finding she had enough of her own festering in her heart to not have need to take on those of others. Here, on neutral territory, Skana would keep out of the rivalry and let her own opinion form.

"Fair enough," She agreed, not bothering to offer an apology for picking at old scabs. It wasn't her fault she apparently looked enough like someone from his past. She followed Borden's gaze out over the icy lake, ear twitching in his direction as he asked a question. "Oh, nothing in particular. Start feeling cooped up after a while, just wanted to stretch my legs a little outside the borders."A long sigh trailed by mist left her jaws before she spoke again, "I thought it'd remind me of home, but this little pond is nothing like the ocean. Look at it, all frozen over." Her head shook, disproving of the sizable lake, which was big in its own right but only a drop compared to the sea. As a girl, she had wondered if it was possible to walk around the ocean, or swim straight through it until you reached the other side... Surely an impossible feat to think of now.

"But, how about yourself?" She looked to him out of the corner of her eye, wondering what the infamous Borden's reason would be.

The secret impresses no one.

borden lyall

The trick you use it for is everything.

She replied that she was simply looking for a means to stretch her legs, disappear for a little while. She also mentioned about the ocean, a sight he had only seen once in his life while he was traveling, seeking a purpose to actually settle down for once. All those years ago, it had actually frightened him, the water churning and crashing as if it had a mind of its own. In comparison to this frozen over pool, he would take the sight before him any other day before even considering the amity of the sea and all its undiscovered treasures. He studied with her the Lagoon's still, frigid features, the scenery nearly devoid of life.

"But, how about yourself?" Her next question made him let out a small scoff. "Cubs," he revealed. "Four of 'em. No one told me that having them would be hard, so I'm just trying to get by." He smiled, gazing back at Skana quietly before crossing his forepaws in front of him and casting his gaze back to the gray scenery around them. "I could have sworn it was only yesterday they were new to the world, wanting nothing more than their mother's warmth, an ever-watchful guardian... Now all they want is out. I just don't know where all the time has gone."

"I'm thinking," he pondered for a moment. "Maybe things would have been different if I had gone another way or if I had actually stayed instead of wandering off." He grimaced as the thought surfaced and he had to wait a few seconds until he recovered, a more somber expression gracing the mask on his face. "I guess I kinda came out here to put everything in perspective. I don't know exactly how much I've missed something until I've reached a point that I realize it might no longer be within reach."

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Well, what do you want from me?

With his answer a wry smile turned the corner of her lips and she nodded knowingly. She remembered the times of exasperation with her own litters, when all she would want to do was stick her head right in the river and maybe never pull it out. Wanderlust did pull some of her children into the world at large, but they had been enough of a close knit family that it wasn't as if they were busting down the borders to escape. Her first born had even stuck around right until the very end. Skana blinked quickly to keep the moisture from entering her eyes. Was Polaris even still alive?

Her cubs had tested her patience in every way they could, but she loved each and every one of them, and could never imagine just leaving them. Borden's admission at his absence was where her fledgling sympathy for the man buckled and broke. She didn't know the details, but what sort of father left his cubs? It was no wonder his children wouldn't stay put, seeing what sort of precedence their father placed.

She wished to 'show him some perspective', the urge bubbling up to smack some sense into the man, but instead she simply grit her teeth. Maybe Elettra's grudge held some substance to it, and this man really was not meant to be trusted, if he was not even trustworthy to his own blood. "Well," She began, her unfocused gaze meeting his golden-sage eyes, "It can help to get out and clear your head, I suppose. But, if I may be so bold to say, I think your family might be benefit more from your presence." She said in a clipped manner.

(This post was last modified: Jan 28, 2013, 06:53 AM by Skana.)

The secret impresses no one.

borden lyall

The trick you use it for is everything.

All too suddenly the atmosphere changed. One of his ears twitched; he must have said something to embitter their conversation. Then it came, "But, if I may be so bold to say, I think your family might be benefit more from your presence." The Leader scowled. Who was she to say such a thing? He looked to her broodingly, realizing that she must have thought he had left just recently... just plucked up some nerve and abandoned them, not his eldest cubs who had actually suffered hardships in his absence.

Instead of succumbing to a fit of furious snarls and demands that she take back her words, Borden slowly stood up and briefly shook out his coarse winter pelt. The frown on his masked face might have softened, but the tone in his voice insinuated that he had probably heard something he did not want to hear. "I think," he slowly stated, his voice lingering on each sound. "You might be right. I never know if I'll have to pluck them from the fields or the Thickets in the north. 'Bout time I check in on them."

He stretched his left hind leg then took a staggered step towards the woods at his back. "Take care, Skana," he imparted with the best smile he could muster. "And, thank you; I've enjoyed your company. We'll have to do this again some time." Once his pale eyes left her, he strode towards the cedars, not even looking back once he passed through the tree line. He still could have sworn Skana reminded him of Elettra but a shake of his head further convinced him otherwise.

[Presto.]

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(This post was last modified: Mar 12, 2013, 10:53 PM by Borden.)

Well, what do you want from me?

Skana sensed she'd probably hit a delicate spot from the clipped response she'd received. It didn't bother her, after all, it wasn't her problem if he was a crummy father and if that offended him.

He offered her a strained smile, which she hardly returned with a generally neutral expression. She had the sense that his farewell was simply an empty platitude which she didn't care enough to reciprocate. She was unimpressed by the Cedarwood leader, and so had no intentions of impressing him herself. Quickly, Borden turned and left, departing through the trees. Only then did a smile cross Skana's face, and she stepped forth onto the thawed patch of ground beside the boulder before settling back onto her haunches. Just a moment of solitude and rest before taking the long walk back to the willows.