Iridescent Lagoon Coming of Age

<blockquote>He had to hide a smirk that tickled his lips as the other wolf believed nakloV was the leaders bitch. Oh, that would be like gold dust. His sister, the whore, the bit on the side, not worthy of the title of leader, just the little slut. Oh, how he wished that were true... maybe it was, after all they did seem to value the scrap that she was. They kept her well protected, hidden within the walls of their pack... the coward that she was hid behind her pack, too afraid to face him like a real wolf. He was ashamed that they were related. However, he was not about to let on his feelings to this stranger. His face had remained as placid as always as he simply listened to the other talking. He didn’t know this wolf, or why he was tracking down nakloV. He wasn’t sure if this wolf was close with lleirT, but from what he had heard all the River wolves were like family- so why then didn’t he just ask the younger black wolf for his information. With what little he knew from this brief encounter, he didn’t have enough information to piece together to answer that question- he was going to have to dig deeper.

<b>”Know her? I used to.”</b> he said, there was no need to lie. Lies only caught up with you. sisyhR often tried to stick as close to the truth as he possibly could, that was he would never be caught out. <b>”I haven’t seen her for some time.”</b> he said with a brief roll of his tall shoulder in a shrug. He casually glanced away, trying to think up the best way to describe scum without giving away his actual feelings towards her. <b>”She used to be a good wolf. Strong. Fun. Caring... I think she has changed now though...”</b> he said, his gaze still upon a wave which drew closer to shore. It wasn’t large, just a ripple but it was a distraction enough to compose himself and continue to keep his feelings at bay. Every ounce of him on the outside was calm, cool, collected. <b>”Why does she interest you so much?”</b> he then asked, feeling it was only fair that he could also ask a question- it was a two way street after all and he wasn’t one for giving away information without something in return.

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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Used to? Well, that was still more useful than never having known. Ice digested the words slowly, but found no time to really interpret the information he was being fed. He was no good at reading nuances of speech or figuring out what went on in the heads of others, so for now he had to absorb what was said and dissect it later. Pale eyes fixed on Rhysis' dark form, drinking in the impressions, his casual shrug and his voice - what was it? Sadness? Did he lament this change, or was that just Ice's fancy taking flight again? "For the worse?" he probed gently in a quiet voice, needing to understand this. What were the opposites of strong, fun and caring? When had she changed? In the time since they last met, or since she left for the Copper Rock Creek? Did Triell know of these changes? He wrestled his thoughts to silence, somewhat surprised by his question. He had said he was unraveling a mystery, wasn't he? Wasn't that reason enough? Maybe this wolf was a dull-wit. "She means a lot to a friend of mine, a friend I care about," he slowly said, testing the waters. Why did it bother him so much to talk about it, to even mention Triell's existence in the presence of this wolf? Also, to give the reasons for why he was so curious felt... foolish. Not the giving, but the reasons. But, he'd plunged his head in, and now he had to reap the consequences of his curiosity. "I'm simply curious about who she is, and what about her that might've.. made such an impact on him." He quenched the thoughts remorselessly, stranding himself in an ocean of silence as he studied Rhysis' profile. Black, skinny, somehow lacking the healthy gleam of Triell, his nowhere near as brilliant and exuberant as Triell's. The contrast was simply too cold. Ice clenched his jaws, once again forcing his thoughts to a halt. He was supposed to think about Volkan right now! Angry with himself, he tore his gaze from the black loner and latched it onto the far shore again. He had to get away, soon, before he went mad, but... This wolf actually knew of her. Carefully, guarding his eyes, he returned his gaze to his company. "So, yeah. Just trying to build up some sort of impression of who she is." A casual shrug of his broad shoulders, a faint sigh. Relax. Calm. The pounding of his heart slowed, the rush of blood quieted, the anger cooled as if touched by a winter wind. He cast his companion a care to share something more? glance, then settled, stilling the restless twitching of his nerves and waiting.. summoning the patience of a hunter. He didn't need to go crazy now. He needed to wait, to see what he would be told, and then to puzzle it out. Damn, when had life become so complicated? .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<blockquote>Volkan and he had been good together. Her goodness kept him on the right path, whilst his darkness gave her an edge. They had balanced each other out as they grew up, took the weight that they carried equally as life threw itself at them. Now, they wanted to kill each other and not in the metaphoric sense. Rhysis wanted to see her hang and she was so very scared of him that she wanted him dead. How they had gotten to this point he still didn’t quite understand. Everything had been normal, fine. They were exiled from their pack for discovering a dark secret, that they were not the true heirs of the pack, that their mother was a lowly omega. Fearful they would let such news out, their father chased them from their homelands after they were but a year old. Together, the two travelled trying to find a place to call home.
Of course, the road was rough. Volkan had been scared, Rhysis too but he had kept it locked. Days grew to weeks, weeks to months. Hunger was a daily routine, they were too young to bring down something large, to inexperienced to hunt the bigger prey, so they stuck to small morsels here and there. It gave them little energy to do anything more then walk on, getting them as far away from their home as possible.
One day, Rhysis had been in a particularly bad mood. He was hungry, the weather was shoddy. Cold, tired and just frustrated, Volkan had pushed him over the edge. To this day he still wasn’t sure what it was she had said to him, all he knew was that one minute he was walking by her side, the next he was atop her, dominating her in a way his father had. Her fearful scream had brought him back to reality, wiped away the red he saw until his grey eyes landed on her terrified face. He took a step back and she ran- that was the last he saw of her to this day. Of course, he knew she was in the area but actually getting to her had proven harder than he had hoped.

Had she changed for the worse? Perhaps. She wanted him dead after all and she was so involved in that pack that they were blindly following her commands. It wasn’t as if she held a rank there, no, she simply had it tight with their leader and the spineless female that she was had no trouble hiding behind him. She might think herself a saint, but she was so like him. Selfish, saving her hide and putting other pack members in her way to save her skin. Pathetic.
<b>”I believe she might have, but others seem to fall for her damsel in distress routine.”</b> he replied with a shrug.

At the mention of a friend he pieced together the pieces. Triell. He was a River wolf, and the news that Volkan might not be as pure as he had first assumed had hit him hard. He’d only met the wolf once, but he could easily see the attachment to his sister there. Of course, he didn’t let on that he knew who this wolf was, there was no need to let on more then he needed to after all. Playing ignorance could often get you more information then directly asking for it after all. <b>”I think your friend, as good as his intentions might be, would be better to stay away. She had a bad habit of turning on those who care for her.”</b> he said, delicately as he could. He tried to show hurt in his words, that she had done him a great wrong and not that he was so angry with her he wanted her dead. <b>”Including her only brother.”</b>
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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. The answer Rhysis gave hardened something in his core, and Ice's eyes turned to flint. The phrasing, the voice, it all implied untruth, that this Volkan was deceiving others into.. doing something. If it was one thing the Aesir male loathed, it was untruth, and the suggestion that Volkan manipulated others with false scenarios nearly set his hackles on edge. He fought it off, and ground his teeth together one. The awful, grinding noise grated on his nerves but it was hard to counter habits you weren't conscious of. If what this stranger told was true, something he right now believed, Triell could be in big emotional trouble, his heart on the line for some witty sylph (somehow, he couldn't imagine Triell falling for someone who was ugly and graceless) who played with lives as men play with chess pieces. Casual, cold, calculating. The image his mind painted wasn't pretty. "Mmh," he grunted, half-acknowledging the warning. But surely his black Tainn friend was wiser than to fall for something like that..? Surely he knew to question things? Not everyone is as cold as you, Ice. (From an outside point of view, nor were they as hypocritical in their behavior.) He sighed, gaze dropping to the still surface of the lake. That, too, was deceiving, pretending to be a reflection of ground and sky and yet hiding so many things and fish. Every memory - every thought - seemed linked to Triell somehow, or able to link to his younger friend. It frustrated Ice as much as it made him wonder, but his ears twitched and he turned to Rhysis, curious. It was, clearly, time for some dumb moment to come to pass. He'd been smart for too long, so it was a return to the normal that he wasn't alert enough to actually understand what the stranger meant. "Who's her brother?" he asked, all innocence and curiosity, yet cautious, reserved. He tried to withhold judgment, but the hint of Volkan being .. deceitful .. had unintentionally put her in his bad books. He needed Triell to set him straight, but Triell wasn't here; he was alone at a lake with a lanky dark stranger, who planted dark seeds of corruption in his head with masterful paws that left no prints. Only shadows swirled, darkness engulfing the light, but should he come to understand... the searing heat of his fury would melt even the Dire Mountain's glaciers. Tread carefully, but for such a shady man as Rhysis, he should have no trouble at all keeping his balance even as he dances upon the blades of knives. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<blockquote> From the others reaction, he knew something he had said had been drilled in. Triell had tried to mask a similar expression when Rhysis told him the truth about the wolf he was so infatuated with. What he couldn’t understand is why the other wolves couldn’t see through it all. So far, he had come to this land and been nothing but honest, truthful and shunned. She had come here and lied about her entire existence and had been accepted with open arms. How was that fair? It only made him more pissed with her, her and her cowardly lies and behaviour. She wasn’t a wolf, she was just a waste of space. Death would be an easy way out for her, but he would savour every moment of it. If he could ever get close to her of course.

As the other had his “blonde moment” Rhysis cocked his head. He had seemed so virtuous, so on the ball that it had thrown him off guard completely. Obviously he had trouble putting the pieces together but Rhysis didn’t mind clearing that up for him. <b>”I am.”</b> he said very simply before he looked back to the water. It was a horrible feeling for him, not knowing something. He and his sister had been close, perhaps not the best of friends but they were always there for each other when things got tough. They grew up in barbaric situations and came out of it alive but now she wanted to see him bleed- of course the feeling was returned but well, she started it. With an outward sigh, he allowed his tall posture to slump a little, looking downhearted as he had felt when he first heard the gossip she wanted him dead. It had hurt, more then he would acknowledge to himself. Of course, he came here wanting her blood but as he had gotten so close to her, he found himself excited to see her again, he even considered a reconciliation with the lighter female but she refused to even see him, and instead sent her pack out after him. Wretched female.

He could have told this fellow about the bounty on his head, but he didn’t know him well enough to think he might not turn him in. He had to remain anonymous for now and so far, the other hadn’t been too interested in who he was, just what he had to offer. Rhysis once might have felt the same as he had tried to dig for dirt on his sister, now though any information he got about her was useless. He was never going to get close to her.
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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. D'uh. He could practically hear the bell being rung in his empty skull, echoing and bouncing off the bone walls that encompassed his useless lump of fat. "Of course," he muttered, mostly to himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was just as stupid as his notion that Copper Rock Creek would have two male leaders. The brief moment of irritation faded, and he heaved a heavy sigh. Gaze drifted back to the present, and with sympathies settled on Rhysis. "I'm sorry. What did she do to you?" It was a rather open question and he could answer it whichever way he liked, but his woeful tale of deception and turning upon your blood kin - something he'd been at the wrong end of several times - truly had the gullible River male hooked. It was all so perfect laid out this way, black and white, poor caring Rhysis abandoned by his false sister Volkan. But Triell... where did Triell fit in the puzzle? Nowhere. Talk of family inevitably brought his thoughts tramontane, to another time, another place - another life. Another Ice. Sometimes he missed his brothers, those three sturdy souls of warmth and belief despite their winter eyes, but they were better off without him. In some dark moments, he'd figured everyone was better off without him. Now, though... He'd pledged his life to Swift River. Would they be better off without him? He doubted it, and yet he could so clearly imagine the priests - even his father - scorning him and them and declaring it all a farce. The imagination struck a nerve, a spark that flashed across his mind; family injustice was a sensitive spot in the broad male, and it blinded him to reason. So easy it was to warp his mind to faulty conclusions and ideas, only because he so vehemently loathed untruth; and how he hated it each time he realized he'd been fed lies and believed them. He never learned, though. He was always too honest, too naive. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<blockquote> He had to hide his smirk as he saw the light bulb switch on in the others mind; realisation of his silly mistake smacked him full in the face. What he had been waiting for followed shortly after- empathy for his situation. Oh how perfect, weave a tale of misery and deceit and you have them hooked. It worked with Triell and now it was working with this fellow- honestly, how easy were these River wolves to manipulate?! It was like taking candy from a baby. He would keep to the truth, he rarely told lies after all.

<b>”We were exiled from out pack together. We’re the product of an omega and the leader. We found out and <i>Daddy</i> didn’t like it.”</b> he said, added a snort to his words at the distaste of what had happened. Daddy was dead to him now. Alongside Volkan. <b>”So we were chased out when were just over a year old.”</b> he then shrugged, acting as if it was just one of those things, a hardship they were dealt with during an innocent time. Though of course, he left out the fact they were able to care for themselves due to their horrific, forceful upbringing. <b>”We travelled around together for a while, but we had a falling out.”</b> Again, the truth but just a few details missed out, such as how he had attacked her during an uncontrollable rage. Details. Who needed them, aye? <b>”She ran away and came here. Wormed her way into a pack, told them her family were dead and she was a loner. I mean, I get that, wanting to start fresh and all.”</b> he said with a casual glance to the other male, but the calmness in his eyes vanished and was replaced with a more pleading look. <b>”Next thing I know, she’s asked for her pack to kill me on sight.”</b> he sighed, glanced to his paws and sunk a little in his height. He looked utterly broken by it all. <b>”So I went to her pack, asked for her to meet me. She could bring friends, guards, I didn’t care. I just wanted to see her. To talk to her, just make sure she was alright and maybe ask why she wanted me dead so badly.”</b> he continued on, pushing the pain in his tone. <b>”She refused to see me. So I tried to join the pack and was refused entry... they wouldn’t even listen to my side of things. Next thing I hear is to stay away else I’ll be killed.”</b> he then sighed for the last time as he glanced up towards the other male once more. Everything he said had been the truth, of course bits were edited or missed out, but the gist of it was there.

What a story teller he was indeed. With his A class acting, his sob story was simply Oscar worthy. <b>"Gosh. Listen to me rambling on. I'm sorry... maybe she's changed. Maybe your friend will see a better side of her. I hope he does."</b> he then rose to his paws, ready to take his exit and leave the other wolf with a tale to spread.
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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. He listened, enraptured by his story and... his performance, though Ice did not believe it such. All he heard was a tragic tale of family wrongs, told by a weary brother looking for his lost - changed - sister. Ice knew what it was like to have bad fathers, and at the mention of it, he slight growl echoed like distant thunder in his chest. His own father had, urged by the priests, tried to make the pack kick him out or drop him down a glacier crack or something equally nasty, but his mother had held him back. Often, he'd blessed the stars for allowing his mother to be his guardian angel, but really... Why kick him out because of a bunch of superstitious old goats told you to do so? Everyone with at least half a brain that wasn't frozen would be able to puzzle out that once Ice got old enough, he'd leave of his own free will - which he had, even though leaving his brothers and mother had been hard. But still, the flawed logic the priests had used irked him. They'd talked as if he was some stupid demon that would haunt them forever and ruin their herds and poison the rivers. As if. He forced his own past aside, and allowed himself to be drawn in by Rhysis' story. At the talk of killing, his eyes widened. That was... harsh. Even the priests, that were so eager to get rid of Ice, hadn't openly talked of spilling his warm blood on the cold glaciers to "appease the gods" or whatever they believed in. What if Volkan decided she grew tired of Triell as well? Would Ruiko really kill his younger brother? She's one of his favorites... Maybe she would. It felt like a very real threat, but he pushed that aside. As long as Triell was looking for her, and being happy with her, he wasn't in any trouble... right? "Harsh, to threaten with such extreme measures," he said in a soft voice, mostly to himself, as the lanky youth heaved himself to his paws. He gave a crooked grin. "And look at me, ruining your birthday with this sad talk. But, before I let you be on your way... I'm Ice. What's your name?" The River male remained seated, but fixed his gaze on Rhysis; this was to be farewell, and once the black youth had responded and moved on, Ice would remain here, by the water's edge.. Pondering. Picking apart what he'd been told. Occasionally glancing at his reflection in the smooth waters, but never for too long - didn't want to lose his soul. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<3

<blockquote> <b>”My life has been nothing but harsh. I am used to the feeling.”</b> he said. The seeds of doubt had been planted. It was obvious the wolf believed Rhysis to be the victim he portrayed himself as. Who wouldn’t feel sorry for the young male who had lost everything, such a sob story he told that were he not such a strong character, he might have been a wreck from the entire ordeal he had lived through. Fortunately for Rhysis, he wasn’t tied to emotions and feelings, life was life, you dealt with what came at you and moved on. Never one to dwell on the past, well, he tried not to, he had already moved forward.

<b>”Oh no. It’s been nice having someone to listen. No one wants to listen to me.”</b> he offered with a sad smile in Ice’s direction. With his head still lowered, he slowly brought it up to sit at his full, towering height. His ears flicked, pushing forwards to catch the others name and lock it away. You never know when it would come in handy again to know this wolf. It appeared their little talk was over, but as the other made no moves to leave, it appeared he would leave himself. Maybe he could throw in a “i’m so alone in the world” exit just for good measure.

He turned to leave, but glanced over his shoulder once more. <b>”Rhysis.”</b> he stated simply, before he turned, head and ears lowered, tail hanging limply behind him. He looked half the wolf he could have been, defeated and sad and he kept that up, right until he vanished into the shadows of the trees. Then, he ran, with a big smirk on his face.

<i>exit</i>
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