Drooping Willows On A New Horizon

The Lyall listened with attentive ears and watched the stranger with keen eyes. The man, who was much older than the yearlings and perhaps not too much younger than himself, bowed down and, as most lone wolves did in his and Elettra's presence, they apologized. His whiskered brow furrowed as his eyes narrowed briefly into slits. What made him change his mind at about this Lunas Axxya, aside from the fact that the prince at his side was neither growling nor apprehensive, was the fact that he offered himself as a Scout. This bit of information, he realized, was indeed valuable and, perhaps... perhaps, Lunas would be the key in taming the prince's penchant for disobeying and running off when he was well-missed or being someplace where he was absolutely not needed.

"We do need a Scout," Angier eventually said, very well aware of the look his step-son was giving him to the side of his face. "And yer gift will be appreciated by th' Lady Elettra, but to prove that yer worthy of such a title, I am going to challenge ya to bring me a set of herbs. We're runnin' low on the plants called goldenrod an' hellebore. Bring this to me an' you'll fin' yerself a guaranteed place with us." He bent down to pull the hare closer to him before looking to the prince, "Sköll, here, is my eyes an' ears an' I trus' his judgement if he is so eager to allow ya into our pack, but cross one line an' I will see you outta 'ere. Understand?" He bent down to collect the hare then and with a curt bark to the both of them, the Leader took his leave, marching back to where he had come from.

(Applause.)

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Lunas stood up after the Lyall left. It would've been illogical for him to hope for much better a chance than that. Plus, he knew, or knew of, both herbs that the man had named. Goldenrod had been abundant where Lunas grew up, so he knew its sight and scent extremely well. As for hellebore, he had only heard of it. His mother wasn't a healer, but had taught one of his sisters all she knew about it. Never before had he seen hellebore, but he knew it could be troubling to get because it attracted so many insects, stinging ones included. The only problem was where to find the plants he needed. He knew hellebore grew in wetter areas, and goldenrod in slightly more fieldy places, but because the copper man had been unable to explore much of Relic Lore, he had no clue as to where to find what he needed. However, he figured Sköll might have better knowledge of where he could go to find what he needed, so when he was certain the King was well out of earshot, he asked the Prince "Would you mind lending me a hand here? Goldenrod is a field-type plant, and I've been told hellebore likes water, but I have not seen either of these types of landscape yet. Could you point me in the direction of either of these?" With luck, depending on how close or far away those places were, he'd have a pack before the moon rose tonight.

251 words

Sköll didn't even dare to look as Angier moved away. Only when he thought that they were alone did he finally turn around before gazing back at Lunas. "I don't know why he doesn't even bother to introduce himself at all," he shrugged, "then he expects others to pay up the respect he deserves..." He scoffed, "But that's Angier Lyall... my step-father. The Queen's consort and my newborn brothers' father." The last bit of his sentence came out with a bit of sourness in tone, but his tail waved as it lowered into a more casual, natural curve at the back of his heels. "My mother's the pack's main medic and healer," he explained. "Angier... he pretty much expects everyone to have knowledge about plants so anyone can help her. But, um..."

His ears lowered slightly as he thought, his eyes drifting off to his right as though he were focusing on an invisible bug just hovering above him. Eventually he came to and, looking at Lunas, he smiled, "If you need help I can help you, but I know for a fact the hellebore 'round here grows abundantly in the Lagoon. The, uh, goldenrod, I think..." He grimaced, "You might be on your own for that one." His leathery black nose twitched and his silvery eyes, once so confident, glossed over with a bit of worry beneath his angled brows. "I... don't know where to find it. I thought I remembered seeing or hearing of someone bringing some back from the northern part of the Lore, but I don't know."

In a rare act of humility, Sköll briefly bowed his head, "Sorry. I can help you though... if... if you want?"

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

Lunas listened to the Prince. Sköll's bowed head shocked the man, but he allowed none of that to pass to his face. "Thank you for your offer Prince. I should be able to find everything I need, although an extra nose would be welcome around these parts in finding the hellebore. I haven't come across it before, but I assume you must at least have an idea of what it smells like, so I would be happy for your help. And don't worry about the goldenrod. When we find the hellebore, I'll head north to see what I can find. Do you know of any Ally packs up there that I might be able to seek help from?" Lunas asked, beginning to walk slowly around the area in which they stood, sniffing around for any trace of hellebore, or it's scent, which could have been carried on the wind toward where they were standing. At first, he found nothing but various other plants and the distinct fragrance of the watchful willows. But a sudden gust when the wind changed direction sent a flurry of scents to Lunas's eager nose. It took him several minutes to sift through what he had smelled and distinguish what was what. The squirrel he had smelled earlier was long gone, there were fish and water somewhere nearby, and several flowery scents came from a couple minute lope left of their current location, although he didn't know if any of the plants he could smell were what he needed to gain entrance to the pack. The look in his eyes asked the question his mouth did not when he turned back to the Archer boy: Did the Prince smell hellebore in the flowery scent on the breeze?

8D Thank you so much for this thread and welcome to RoW, again. <3 Somethin' short from me, but shall we wrap this up so you can meet some more members of Willow Ridge? If ya ever want a(nother) thread with Skoll or Angier, just feel free to tag me!

Upon being prompted to remember the pack's allies, Sköll hummed in thought. "Well, there's..." he took a second to orient himself, pointing with his nose towards where each one was, "Whisper Caverns to the west and then there's a pack to the north in the Thicket. They might be able to help." He took a step forward, his tail wagging amiably once more. "We should probably go though," he suggested, "If he comes back over and we're still here, he'll have a fit."

The prince bounded away from the borders, his smile still apparent on his face, "C'mon, I'll show you around a bit and see you off to Iridescent Lagoon." Then, without so much as a backward glance, the boy trotted along an unmarked path, weaving around some trees and ducking under others with a smirk on his face. At the back of his mind, he snickered and congratulated himself, with a mentor and confidant he was certain he would at last fully win Angier's favor and, hopefully, advance in ways that would show up his rival and brother, Asriel.

(Exit.)

(This post was last modified: May 12, 2014, 02:46 AM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

Lunas remembered all that had just happened as he followed the Archer prince to Iridescent Lagoon. At first, he had been scared and nervous of what he might find in this strange new land. Then, Sköll had appeared, a frightening, mysterious young stranger who clearly wanted something he was unable to get. Lunas had started off submissive, wary of the yearling's icy tone and uninterested demeanor. But, when Lunas mentioned he was a scout, he felt the prince's interest level rise. But, even if the youngster meant to use Lunas to advance himself, that was fine. Now that he knew the handsome yearling better, Lunas liked him, and personally thought that unless he had a brother who was a super-wolf in terms of character, the black yearling would make a good leader. He was attentive (appearing at the border so soon after Lunas called), smart (asking all the questions), but was still not of a position where he didn't have to beg his father for Lunas's entry. As for Angier, Lunas was unsure what to think. He was clearly a loyal and good leader, but Lunas didn't know him well enough to say he trusted him. Well, regardless, he had a job to do. There were herbs he needed to collect for Lady Elletra, the healer and expectant Queen of Willow Ridge. In Iridescent Lagoon, he would find and gather all the hellebore he could carry before heading north as Sköll had recommended to look for goldenrod. As they reached the border, Lunas turned to the Prince. "Thank you for all your help. I expect I will be back in a few days, depending on the weather, distance, and terrain." He said, and with a respectful nod, he whirled away, flying across the ground toward Iridescent Lagoon, without giving Sköll a chance to respond. The sun had risen above Lunas's new horizon: it was time to take control of the day and accomplish what he had left to do only a few weeks ago. It was time to secure his new beginning.

(This post was last modified: May 12, 2014, 03:18 AM by Lunas.)