August 6th; Late afternoon; Overcast; 72° F/22° C
I'm jus' gonna play o'er here, Sköll had promised both @Skana and @Guiness when they had come by to make sure he and his brother and sister were sticking to the confines of their rendezvous site. I'm practicing my tracking an' pouncing. An innocent grin seemed to have won them over but as the young prince sauntered over to one of the stately willow trees, he slipped between the leafy curtain then continued to leisurely walk right on through the veil on the other side. Once certain that he would not be followed by @Asriel or @Morganna, he quickly made haste to where that silvery woman, @Narimé, had appeared on the borders. By now, he knew quite a bit about the territory lines @Elettra kept, and he knew very well that if no one was looking, he could easily walk right over them into the vast wilderness that he had yet to discover.
Pausing just beside a distinct landmark - a dead willow whose branches no longer bore the fresh, verdant leaves of summertime - he checked over both of his shoulders before taking off with his ivory chin held up and his tail waving about behind him like black banner. After about 15 lengthy meters or so, he stopped as though to make sure that he could still see the willows at his back. The vibrant light green canopies and the barren branches of the dead willow were still there, and it was with a smug nod that he continued onward, confident in the feat he was about to undertake. Since that visitor had come to Willow Ridge with the gift of a freshly caught baby deer, he was going to seek her out and find out just how and where she had found such a delectable treat.
Now... If only he could figure out where Narimé lived.
His pair of sharp, bright gray eyes scanned the rising landscape in front of him, picking out the few trees the signaled the edge of the Drooping Willows. A fallen log that could have been struck by lightning and knocked down by rotting over time and pulled to the earth by gravity served as a rather obvious answer. If he could live anywhere, he would want to live by such a sight. He would use it as a sort of post, a favorite lookout spot. By the look of its darkened bark, Sköll was also sure that if he laid down next to it, he would camouflage quite easily and unsuspecting travelers would be in for quite a surprise when trespassing on his domain.
Two hefty sable paws thumped against the log and he playfully jumped up on his two hind legs to try and climb it. When he couldn't, he ran around it twice before attempting to climb back onto it. He managed to drape his skinny frame over it but then unexpectedly proceeded to fall down onto the other side after being unable to find his feet beneath him. Tumbling into a heap of black and silvery fur, he righted himself with a shake of his coat, but when he turned to look over his shoulder, he found that he could not see the tops of the willows from where he stood!
Panic! his brain cried out. He inhaled a deep breath of air but failed to release it as his heart started thumping about in his small rib cage. As if by instinct alone, he pressed his nose to the ground. His mouse! Where was his mouse! He needed it! He needed it NOW! Whimpers began to come up in waves from his throat. Where was his toy mouse? The poor dilapidated corpse that reeked of decay had to be around here somewhere unless...
Oh... no... no-no-no-no-NO.
Sköll remembered putting it down to tell his superiors that he was just going to play underneath the willow tree just outside the den clearing. Nasally whines were starting to accompany and override the pitiful sounds that were coming from him now that he did not have his mouse. His dark ears folded back no matter how hard he tried to keep them up, to keep them straight and proud like he ought to as a Prince of Willow Ridge. There was no fighting it though, Sköll believed himself to be lost...
He let out a few yelps, ones that suggested that he was being tackled by his brother again. In the end, it turned out to be a sad attempt in trying to summon Angier, the tawny giant who often tried to coach him whenever Asriel had proven to be the winner in yet another one of their playful scuffles. Pressing himself to the dark log, he looked to the sky and observed the clouds; with his luck he would hopefully be home by dinner time, or whenever someone came to the den with a belly full of foodstuff to share. In thought, he pressed his thin tongue over each eyetooth on either side of his upper jaw. He could try to catch another mouse, he realized, but he was not going to risk leaving this particular spot if there was a chance for someone to find him.
Think, he commanded himself in his head. Sköll, think... He brought his head up to peer over the log again, staring at the wall of tall grass that seemed to have come up from nowhere and the rolling meadow that laid well beyond it if he stood on the very tips of his toes. Hmm. His stomach grumbled and he tried to focus on the woman from Whisper Caverns again and the fawn she had brought them. Pressing his black-lined lips together so hard that they disappeared between the ivory fur that lined his chin, he exhaled stubbornly as he sat back down, idly leaning his shoulder into the cracked bark to his left. Maybe if he had had his mouse he could have carried on with his task but, for now, Sköll Archer was rather stuck in deciding whether or not it was well worth it trying to find his way back home on his own .