Stonewatch Timbers master of the house

for @Gent ~

It was an unusually balmy day - or, for a winter's day it was. It was no spring time sauna but the sun had cast away all of the morning's clouds and shed a very bright light across the roving hills. At noon's glory the star was held high just above the surface, causing the tallest trees to cast comically small shadows. Used to simple pleasures Frey took her time sprawled on a peak to bask in the golden light, and remember what warmth was like. She really could not wait for winter to end.

Simple pleasures could not contend with basic needs, however, and soon the emptiness of her belly was gnawing a pit that she could not ignore. Today's brief thaw would bring with it naive prey and an opportunity she was better off not refusing. From observation there was a settlement of wolves nearby. Frey was not close enough that the border stench invaded her senses with every breath, but enough that when winter inhaled deep and exhaled from the belly she got the notice that there was some claim coming from the highest hill in the Timbers. In her experience it was common practice for groups to settle down somewhere close to provisions. Where there was a pack, she could usually find a bite. Rolling to her belly she forced her four legs to wake up and be useful, rising into a lazy gait to begin the search.

Winter thin she was grateful for her lack of weight and how softly she could place her leathery pads upon the still-cold ground and hear no resistance. Sneaking around is much easier when your ribs stick out, she thought with a grimace. The ideation of hunger was pushed to the back of her mind. She was here in an attempt to placate the need and festering would not help her eat any sooner - especially not if the pack got the same idea she did. Nostrils twitching, she lowered her head toward the ground and began to inspect the roots and shrubs. All she needed was a hare, or a marten, and she could get back to sunbathing with a snack.

The day had been long for the shade king already, and yet only half of it was through. He was unsure whether the lengthening sunlight was a blessing or a hassle. It gave the illusion of more time, but what worth was that when each hour remained empty? No matter how far he was to satellite out from his domain, there was not a single trace to be found of what had become of them all. His pack mates, his subordinates, his children. Only a handful of them remained, stretched so thin their time primarily consisted of seeking food amongst the sweeping white. The borders lacked the attention they required, causing their reach to diminish slowly but surely with each pass of the sun. Even now his stomach ached, but his mind would not allow him the respite of seeking food.

He had to find someone, anyone. He couldn't have failed them all.

When the girl's scent passed through his lungs, his heart jumped into his throat with a fit of hope. Just as swiftly, as he realized that he recognized nothing of her, the muscle sunk lower than it had originally been. Whoever it was sheltering within the timbers, it was not one of his. The disappointment almost caused him to ignore the presence altogether, but his pride and his growing paranoia won out regardless. With a huff of ire he swiveled his direction to meet with the rival predator upon his threshold.

The closer he got, the more the wind informed him about her, and the more his concern diminished. Yet still he saw his approach through, steps refusing to slow until his pale eyes finally caught her slinking form betwixt the timbers. A beckoning woof escaped his jaws in an attempt to catch her attention and pull her toward him. Catch and release, perhaps?

For a moment she became comfortable traipsing through the trees with the sunlight warming her mottled pelt. Comfortable enough that she hardly noticed when the pack scent grew stronger, and when she did notice she did not much care. It was only when she was summoned with a low bark that she realized she should have been bothered. She came to a halt and straightened slightly, turning her head to seek the source with a pointed storm-colored stare.

What she found was like a shadow that had emerged from the very night itself, tall and large and coated in unblemished black. He certainly reeked of the pack that resided here - and though she knew not to be she still found herself stupidly surprised. She tried her best to assume nothing of it but couldn't quite force the idea from the forefront of her mind. He was here to send her away, probably, and she wouldn't stand a chance to say no. Even from the careful distance Frey retained she could tell he easily outsized her, on her best days and certainly on her worst.

After a moment Frey allowed her pale eyes to find meet his arctic ice stare, in an attempt to portray confidence. It lasted only a few seconds before she blinked and found somewhere else to look. To make up for it, she parted her jaws and summoned the ability to speak. "Yes?" Frey responded, her voice not quite as sharp as she had intended it to be. She angled her chin toward him and gave him her best, I am very important and I have things to do so make it quick look. Whether or not it would come across, she was not sure, but she did keep her body halfway hidden behind the trunks, just in case he decided he was not interested in her charade.

Distance was maintained between them, and he would prefer it no other away. His gaze swept over her multiple times, sizing her up and gleaning all the information that could be had from vision and scent alone. She was very young, and clearly a non-threat to him personally. However, they had chil-... no, wait. They didn't. A bitter taste pooled upon his tongue as he caught himself lapsing into a habit that was no longer viable. The kids were gone, and most of them had chosen to abandon the pack that raised them. If only he could stop reminding himself in such simple ways.

Her gaze raised to meet his, and the king bristled visibly, but the display was swiftly smoothed away when she broke the contact and the challenge was gone again. She was attempting to hide her vulnerabilities, and that was acceptable. Still, and edge would be met with edge, and he felt no need to coddle. Especially not with the mood the winter and its losses were placing him in.

"I want to know why you should be allowed to stay here." There was nothing nasty or demeaning about his tone, but he remained authoritative all the same. His domain may not encompass this piece of the timbers, but that did not mean anyone could pass through it; not under his watch. To secure his pack, he had to have a handle on who neared it at all. She wasn't a threat physically, but she was possibly one scrap of meat less for his wolves, as well as a tongue to spread information to others who could do some damage.

(This post was last modified: Feb 15, 2016, 11:34 PM by Gent.)

Frey had been a loner for so long that she had fine tuned the art of perception and picked up what the male put down nearly instantaneously. She felt the tension between them swell when he prickled at her eyes meeting his, and recede when she turned. She felt his pale eyes watching her when she looked away as though she'd been bathed in water as cold as his stare. She felt his solemn repudiation at her presence before he'd even breathed a word in her direction, proven when his voice, strong but fair, met her ears.

For a moment, nothing longer than the bat of her lashes as she blinked, the youth was hurt. His rejection bit just as fierce as every other one ever had and ever would. She was months away from adulthood and yet the childish hope that some day someone would find her and give her a place to belong persisted. But just as soon the moment passed and she twitched a dark-furred ear and turned the question around on him. "Why should you make me go?" Frey posed in genuine, following her brief argument with a limp shrug. "I'm no threat to you or yours." She wouldn't dance around the facts, that she was smaller and weaker and had no one in her corner, and that he had sized her up well enough to deduce these things.

In her experience it was not wise to remind stronger wolves that she was disposable without flipping the other side of the coin - practicality. So she played the only gambit she had. "Maybe I could even be of use to you. Everyone is, somehow." The question wasn't if he needed help - they all did - but how, and if he wanted hers. Her tail swung low by her heels, trying to prove her offer was friendly. And it honestly was - Frey was happy to help him out, provided he let her stick around long enough to maybe grab a bite.

She let her eyes trickle toward his toes, her ears pulling back to encourage a deal. The desaturated youth offered him logically, but really it was sentiment that she needed. Her pride tried to pretend that she abhorred and refused to be taken pity of, but it was pity that fueled her survival whenever she needed help. A quiet hope glimmered in the stormy depths of her gaze that this wolf had a soft spot for homeless rogues with gilded hearts... and perhaps more importantly, that he could spot them even when they were hidden in stone walls.

Sorry about the wait on this. I'll be quicker going forward.

The young girl's reply was simple and yet pleasing to the shade king, earning his interest. Honest without degrading herself unnecessarily, she was a far cry from the run of youth that were becoming a norm for him. She was not pathetic and did not threaten to incite his pity, nor did she attempt to fly above her station with an attitude that forgot her precarious position. All very good things in his pale eyes, and he was happy to premiate her for such.

"If only the world were so simple," he mused offhandedly in response to her claim of lacking daggers. He would not waste either of their time with explaining all that she could do without a turning a fang upon him herself, having at this point chosen to believe that she would not be of harm. The opportunity present outweighed the potential risk.

"I suppose you could," the confirmation then came, nose lifting to the air to sample what else might be found around them. She was thin and worn; it was an easy guess that the thing she needed most at the moment was a decent meal. Even if not presently starving, no intelligent rogue would pass up the opportunity for a guaranteed hunt.

"Give me a conversation, and I'll help you catch a bite or two to eat."

(This post was last modified: Feb 29, 2016, 02:58 AM by Gent.)