Umbra Copse where the shivering dog rests

omg make it stop

what if this storm ends

• DATURA AQUILA •

and i don't see you as you are now
ever again

He broke.

She was waking away from him.

Datura always got his way. Always. They all just rolled over and played dead for him so often that he had figured that was how the world worked. But there had been one time when he hadn't gotten his way, hadn't there? Back then it had been him that had walked away and it had been his sister who had chosen the Lake, chosen to stay, but beyond the superficial differences the heart of it remained the same. She was going to leave him. Leave him in the same way that his sister had left him, and his mother and brother had left him once. They always let him get his way when it was something inconsequential... but when it mattered, when it really mattered they left. They abandoned him. He was always going to be alone when he needed them the most.

A mournful sound, crawled out of his throat and reached out after her in a way that the boy could not. This sound had been brooding in his chest for quite some time, months maybe, his whole life even, but he had refused to let it out until now. It was weakness that he was singing now, the weakness in him that was disgusting, vile, wrong. You're hurting me, Taima, was what he longed to say but would not let himself. He wanted to beg her to stop it, wanted to beg them all to stop it. Why he would allow this stupid, spiteful heiress to see this side of him, he didn't know. And for a moment he hated her for it. For doing this to him, for forcing this darkness in him out into the open.

When his song died out he had only a few more words left to say, "Please stay. I'll do anything." He paused, noticing suddenly that there was a wetness in the corners of his eyes. He fought them back with a gulp. "I need you."

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AWWWWWWSCREAMINGCRYING. HALPICAN'T. Gawd, Taima, I'm gonna make you apologize to that boy. Your Father raised you better than that.

Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow.

miss taima lyall

Fear cuts deeper than swords.

Starting to stomp away in a huff, she grumbled under her breath. She had had it with this boy! Even if they had only exchanged a few heated sentiments, daring one another to see the other's sense. If Datura was to be considered any different than the men of Taima's family, the least he could have done to cast himself in a different light was to be patient with her, wait until she shed her foolhardy opinions and saw the logic she had very easily overlooked.

The heiress had managed to bring herself a good eighteen paces away from Datura when the most disheartening of sounds pierced her ears. Again, her jaw dropped and she had to abruptly stop in her tracks. Only when his song had quieted did she fully turn around to face him, her wide pale eyes staring back at him in sheer astonishment. Sure, Borden and Jaysyek had howled and sung and cried and called out to her, but never had it ever occurred to her that someone - particularly the heir she had left on the shore at her back - could do the same... but, actually make her stop... make her think and truly reconsider just exactly what she was doing.

"Please st--" his voice came to her from a distance. She assumed the last word was stop and by the time she entirely opened up her ears, she could only surmise that the sentences he was mouthing were various petitions to make her return to him. Restless as she was, she merely stared, waiting for him to make his move, to join her, and come to her instead.

Taima's head tilted to the right in an exasperated fashion, one of her large ears swiveling to one side as her brows rose. The moment they lifted, however, they came back down and she loudly barked back at him with a narrowed gaze, "NO! YOU COME HERE, DATURA! Or I'm really leaving without you!"

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LOL never though datura would be the one to cave...
and yet here he is

what if this storm ends

• DATURA AQUILA •

and i don't see you as you are now
ever again

"NO! YOU COME HERE, DATURA! Or I'm really leaving without you!"

There wasn't anything left in him anymore, he found himself realizing numbly that his pride was no match for that of this girl's. He was watching himself unravel in front of her and all he could think was that he was losing, that she was stronger than him. Datura had been so wrong to count her out before, to think that because she was female and because she had cried and been frightened by a monster — something that had never happened to him — that she was less, that she would be just like Bella... just a replacement for his dead sister. He was sick with all of these thoughts as he stared helplessly back at Borden's daughter, an heiress truly, someone much stronger than himself.

He felt humiliated.

And yet he was in awe of her, he was in awe because that was all he ever wanted: to find someone strong. When she had told him about her dreams of usurping the throne of cedars he had been struck by her bravery, her courage. He had wondered if they could share the same dream. And now he knew, he knew for certain that they could.But only if he was strong enough

"I...Before we..." His words were having a hard time making it out of his mouth, blocked by his bared teeth that didn't want to let them out. He lowered his ears, his tail hugged his body. "Can I name the lake after you?"

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Taima is so proud of it too. /scolds. :c

Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow.

miss taima lyall

Fear cuts deeper than swords.

"I...Before we..." To the girl's ears he was mumbling again and she grudgingly strode back over to him, the next string of words coming to her a bit clearer than before. "Can I name the lake after you?" She had to take a moment to consider what he had just said, to look past her temper and wholeheartedly think about what the words he had uttered meant.

"What?"

Her bristled tail twitched at her heels, her face overcome with a thoughtful expression. Regardless of however kind and flattering his question and tone of voice was, she still inwardly held tight to the fury she had procured. "Um..." her voice had grown soft, quieter than it was normally. "Sure?" The word drew upward in tone, uncertainty and mere surprise shaping it. Then, almost too suddenly, her voice was snagged by a wave of disappointment. "But, stand up straight," she instructed, nearly outright barking at him again. "And, stop it."

"The only dipstick who looks at me like that is my brother @Ryvet," she frowned. "You're not Ryvet; and, I don't need another like him." Just like he had done before her, she brandished what gloom she had mustered then whisked it away from her face only moments after appeared. The girl looked at him and held her fidgety limbs still with every strand of patience she had left. She expected him to do as he was told - if and whenever he felt ready to - but in the meantime she asked, "So, what name did you have in mind?"

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-tries and fails to come up with a lake name-

what if this storm ends

• DATURA AQUILA •

and i don't see you as you are now
ever again

She was walking back towards him now and his fur bristled with the tension, not sure what to expect from her anymore. He did not dare underestimate her. Maybe a lake would not be enough to sate her anger... but he had to try, he had to do something. Because if she wasn't going to apologize then the lot could only fall to him. It was only the tiniest consolation to the broken Aquila boy that his manners were still more refined than his companions.

"What?"

It took everything he had not to flinch from her biting question. Did she not understand? His golden eyes peered back at her from under inverted, worried eyebrows. But gradually her fury seemed to wane... or at the very least she was making an attempt to hold it back. Her presence was beginning to shrink back to normal, acceptable size as she said yes, her voice hushed, and he found himself tensing. This was the eye of the storm, and he braced himself for what she said next.

Taima criticized him up and down, likening to some brother of hers that she had mentioned moments before when they had both still been having a good time. From what she said, he guessed that Ryvet was a coward. And though he hated to just submit to her demands so easily, he was done with arguing. The golden boy straightened himself, pushing his ears upwards and prying his tail away from his body. But for all his compliance there was a dirty look on his face.

"So, what name did you have in mind?"

Right. The Lake.

Somehow he managed to coax a grin onto his face. "Taima," his voice was weak but growing every stronger, "I want this lake to be yours. I want it to go down in all the tales that this is your lake, and that I gave it to you even if I wanted..." He paused, though whether or not the pause was for dramatic effect, because he choked, or because he was buying for time was hard to say. "If I wanted to give you much more instead. I can give you more...some day..." And as he spoke these words he felt his ego crawl out of the wreckage of his soul and begin to pick up the pieces, repair the damage. He would be alright.

"I want to call it Heiress Loch"

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Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow.

miss taima lyall

Fear cuts deeper than swords.

The sound of her name was quick to garner and keep her interest. Go on, a simple nod gestured to him. At least the golden boy readily composed himself as she saw fit before he went on to suggest a name and tack on a bit of spiel before it. "Hmm," she mused, debating whether or not she was actually satisfied by the name he proffered even though she was already keen on the idea.

He wanted this lake to be hers. Hers alone (after all, Taima knew little about if Datura actually bothered with entertaining other heiresses apart from her). The pause was taken as intended and she was swept off her feet, persuaded for the time being to keep her touchiness in check. Or as long as he kept a hold on his posture. It was nice to have him, a prince and heir, grovel at her feet, but this boy was just not a prince and heir... This boy was Datura, a future lord of crags and peaks and valleys, as well as her hero. She expected him to be that man and then some...

Her heart could have skipped a beat once she figured just exactly what he meant, but instead it skipped on two separate occasions. Her tail lilted to one side and then the other. "Really?" she asked, the walls she had built up crumbling back down as she tested to name on her lips but not yet allowing her vocal chords to sound it out. "I like it," she approved, her eyes lighting up at last. On the inside she was griping and moping against the sides of her skull. She just couldn't be mad at him... especially not after what he had just proposed. If I wanted to give you much more instead. I can give you more...some day... he had said and she was determined now to stick around to find out what these future gifts he had in mind.

Finally tearing her eyes away from him, she cast her gaze out to the lake and, though she still fought with the feeling of being discovered here upon its shores, she allowed herself to admire its beauty. "I think it fits..." When she turned back to him, she genuinely smiled. "You ready to go?" she tried again to pull him from the loch, putting forward her best attempt at coaxing him this time around instead of outright demanding him to attend to her need to find shelter.

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-moves on to dragonfly fennnn-

what if this storm ends

• DATURA AQUILA •

and i don't see you as you are now
ever again

The gilded boy waited with baited breath as she mulled over the name in her thoughts and on her tongue, although she did not say it aloud. He knew that @Adonis probably would have thought of a better name, and he half wished he were here now so that he could be consulted. Plus, he had no idea of what would appeal to the girl, he didn't really know what she liked besides "being accommodated," kissing, and getting her way. And of course himself. But did she like flowery statements? Did she like pretty things? Because if she did she was going to be shit out of luck and there was little he could do to rectify that. The only pretty things he had was his etiquette.

"Really?" she asked?

"Really," he responded solemnly.

"I like it." He watched with cautious joy as she turned to survey her new present, proud of his ability to repair the relationship with them. He would have given her the whole world if he could, but that would be too hard. Instead, he would give it to her in pieces. It would take him years, but he decided it was a worthwhile venture. "I think it fits..." He just hoped that at the end of it he would still have names for all the things he would show to her.

"You ready to go?"

"After you, my Lady." he said with a small smile, though he could not help turning back to look at the lake once more to mourn the loss of the sun. It would be cold back in the forest and he was not sure when he would get the chance to warm himself again.

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