candles and clockwork

Overcast — Current Temperature: 72° F/22° C (Evening)

Far from the densite, Merlin stared into the water of the stream that meandered through Oak Tree Bend's territory. The man had yet to do much for his new home, but entertain its youth, and he longed for trust, for freedom. Once something of a prince, Merlin felt crushed. His respect for Ice still remained, and his desire to assist him somehow as well. But he'd been given no chance to redeem himself yet, pull himself from the bog that he'd been thrown into. Well, the bog that he'd thrown himself into. He was strong, capable, conniving...He had so much potential, and with every passing day, it was being drowned. The moonlight hit the water as a light wind brew tree branches out of place, and for a moment Merlin caught his reflection.

His nose wrinkled, lips pulled back, and he struck out at it, displeased by his own face. The water rippled, and when it stilled, the water was dark again. He heaved a breath out and rose to his paws just to turn himself away from the stream. His ears twisted as his large paws thumped against the earth, and he could catch the sounds from the den site. Socializing and merriment, he supposed. He longed to feel the happiness, the pleasure, that they felt. The man was so tempted to slip away from the borders, find someone to sink his teeth into, just to free himself of this awful, unnamed feeling. But he feared Ice as much as he respected him; Merlin would not leave his scent upon the borders. But he could only hope that his anger could be stifled before it was unintentionally brought out upon a packmate...A superior. <b style="color:#a59f32">

Gone Tomorrow

Corinna was peacefully settled, one paw tucked underneath her chest, her green eyes keen and alert as the pale forms of her sons bounced and played in front of her. They were growing, rapidly growing into their large paws and ears. Their balance was improving as well, and with it, the tenacity of their playful spars. Their loud yips and cries of glee filled the night, but despite her alertness, Corinna was not particularly worried for their safety. She had seen nor smelled bear or cougar in the area, and the pack's presence could not be mistaken. There were others gathered about, lounging as she was, watching Sceral and Serach pounce on one another and try and wrestle each other to the ground.

Splash. The distinct sound of the disturbance caught the leader's attention, and in a moment, she had risen to her feet. Her ears were perked up, and her nostrils flared as she sought out the scent. There was not a strong wind that evening, barely a breeze, but nothing seemed amiss. Still...sparing a moment to ensure that the others had their eyes on her sons. Satisfied, the she-wolf trotted off in the direction of the stream.

Planning had set the pack den some distance from the water source; close enough it was accessible, but far enough away that bad rains could not flood the den like they had done in Swift River. The trees were scarce here and the gray female did little to hide her oncoming approach. She had no need, really; she knew who the shadowy figure standing by the creek was. His name and position, and not much else. Ice had not confided in her why Merlin had been pushed to the bottom of the hierarchy; Ice had confided very little in her since they had received the news of Marsh's death. But it had definitely been noticed. "Were you fishing? I didn't think the water was deep enough here for them," she commented dryly, as way of announcing herself, if he hadn't heard or seen her already. Standing a few yards off, she merely looked on at him, waiting to see his reaction.

He wondered if, perhaps he found somewhere distant, nondescript, he could dig a hole. A decent sized hole. The man quietly pondered ways to rid himself of feelings that were not wise to feel around others. At least others that had command over you. Merlin wasn't a knight, he wasn't some weak-willed warrior that would cower to every order thrown at him. But he understood respect and was smarter than he ought to have been. His respect for Ice had landed him here, at the bottom of the barrel. And now his intelligence was damning him. There was probably no particularly reason he was the way he was. His upbringing had been mostly normal, other than the strange ways of his pack. He hadn't been abused as a child, but instead, abused others. Whatever the reason, there wasn't much to do about it other than ponder a solution to a smaller problem until one for the bigger issue, his rank, presented itself.

At least he hadn't yet been used as a punching bag. No bruises or scrapes marred his skin, nor hid beneath his ruddy fur. Merlin wondered if it would have helped. As his rank commanded, he was around to be abused, but that didn't mean he couldn't growl, or perhaps if he were lucky, the wolf right above him in the hierarchy would try his luck, and Merlin would take the stupid brute down...Whoever it was. But right now, he thought digging a hole was a damn good idea, and made a mental note to do this tomorrow. <b style="color:#a59f32">"Un crocodil' s'en allant à la guerre disait au r'voir à ses petits enfants, traînant la queue, la queue dans la poussière. Il s'en allait combattr' les éléphants." He sang quietly to himself as these thoughts wandered through his mind. As he finished, he sighed, and his blue eyes blinked slowly.

His head turned carefully as the sound of pawsteps were approaching. Or...Had approached. He'd been quite deep in thought and at this point, the woman was already there. Blinking a few times, he turned around, and lowered himself to the ground with a twinge of frustration. If he was right, and Merling thought himself hardly wrong, this was Corinna. He'd met one of her children, he'd heard her name in passing, caught her scent upon the borders as he caught it now. From his earthbound position, Merlin let his head lift slightly. At least he was still beneath her. Giving it a small shake, he answered, <b style="color:#a59f32">"Oh, non, non, madame. Je..ehh...I thought I saw something, but it must've been a trick of the moonlight." He clenched his jaw, regretting his outlash at the water. <b style="color:#a59f32">

Gone Tomorrow

Ears twitching atop her head, Corinna waited for Merlin to notice her. She heard the soft words, but they meant nothing to her - either he spoke too quietly for her to hear or the words themselves were unfamiliar; she wasn't honestly sure which was the case. But the almost sing-song quality to it had made her head tilt to the side in her customary pose of confusion, only to right herself as Merlin turned and became aware of her presence. She saw recognition in his eyes, and it was mimicked by his posture. He went down into submission, and her own body stiffened in response. Her tail came up from her hocks and curled over her back, and her lips curled back to display her teeth. But after a moment, she relaxed, and her yellowed teeth were hidden once more and her tail swung easily behind her. It was Ice that Merlin had so grievously offended, not her, and murmured words she couldn't understand were not a cause for punishment.

Merlin responded to her question, causing her brows to furrow and a small frown to form on her face. Not from his response-she honestly didn't give a damn if he was trying to fish or not-but because of the words. Some of them were just a bit...off to her ears. "The moonlight can do that, sometimes. Serach and Sceral frequently tell me that they see all sorts of things in the night." Mention of her sons brought a smile to Corinna's face, and a light wag of her tail. "Tell me, Merlin. What was it you were saying earlier? It sounded like a song, but I didn't quite catch the words." He reminded her of someone, though looking at him now, all she could think about was Marsh - who most certainly did not stand around singing songs to himself.

And again, Merlin was put in his place. Not that the man felt even the slightest bit of surprise. His own jowls stayed tight over his own teeth, his eyes averted the moment he caught sight of hers. The air felt tense, but only for a moment. The auburn man might as well have been a waif, abused, alone. Perhaps he had shelter, but it was of a rough sort. Strong-willed and determined, Merlin had not yet felt swayed...There was a chance of redemption yet. The air around them softened, and Merlin allowed his eyes to rise, though his body did not. The sight of her lowered tail caused his own to thump once, twice against the earth, and he exhaled heavily, but quietly, through his nose. Perhaps it was all a matter of formality, her momentary display of aggression. For certain she did not greet her packmates, those that shared her name and her den, with such teeth. Or perhaps she did, and then perhaps Merlin owed her as much respect as he owed Ice. But if that was not the case, the man would likely find some way to give this woman her own. He was Ice's mate, for certain, which was reason enough to respect her, but for the man's own reasons, he would need to find his own reason, not one that instinct dictated.

His ears tipped back as he caught the frown upon her face. Had he done something wrong? Had his words caused her displeasure? And he then realized when he realized before her child. Merlin didn't quite sound like they did. His words were spoken in accented tones, and the occasional word slipped out in French. He had enough sense to know that it was unlikely anyone here spoke the language that he did, truly, and so would only let the words "accent" his phrases. But clearly these accents and "accents" had caused his leader to frown, and Merlin was a bit lost. Her words caused a nervous chuckle from him and another two thumps of his tail. <b style="color:#a59f32">"You have ah...Very nice children, ma'am." Merlin said in an absent sort of way, hoping not to bring attention to the fact that he'd actually been in very close company with one of the boys. For all she knew, perhaps he'd just seen them from afar, from his little damp mess of a den. Of course, it hadn't rained in a few days, so his own body heat had sucked the moisture right out of the earth after a good few days of resting upon it.

<b style="color:#a59f32">"Oh," His ears lifted slightly, somewhat glad that she'd asked. An effort to understand was all Merlin desired, before he was cast out as some madman who claimed to see faces in the moonlight and who muttered songs in other tongues to himself. <b style="color:#a59f32">"A little song my mother used to sing to me when I was naught but a child." He chuckled a little at his pleasant memories of Mother, before he decided she was foolish and insane. <b style="color:#a59f32">"A crocodile is going to war bidding his little children farewell. Dragging his tail, his tail in the dust, he's going to fight the elephants." He recited the poem for her, without the sing-song tone from before. <b style="color:#a59f32">"I cannot tell you what it means, but I find the little tunes hard to forget." <b style="color:#a59f32">

Gone Tomorrow

The leader watched him carefully, not in a suspicious way, but with genuine curiosity. Many lone wolves had come and gone from their borders, although less so now that they had relocated and changed their pack's identity. Tali had been the latest of those, and although she had at least seen fit to leave the leader with a reason, it was still a betrayal of some sorts. So it had become a habit, to quietly judge either from afar or up close, the newest members to their pack, gauging them for their loyalty. So far, Merlin was handling it well. His laughter and wag of her tail wasn't as confident as her's had been, and she tilted her head a bit to the side. She couldn't recall having seen Merlin with either of her boys, but it wasn't all that surprising - they were curiosity driven beasts and anyone who ventured close to the pack's den was sure to have seen them. "Nice?" she chuckled at Merlin. "Sleep-depriving monsters who can't seem to sit still for more than a second would be a more accurate description. At least there's only the two of them this time. But yes, despite their boundless energy, they're good kids." Flashing a smile at the Lowest, Corinna's tail brushed against the ground in a wag as she reclined down to her haunches.

Her green eyes widened in surprise as Merlin answered her question about the words he had been murmuring earlier. She was pleased to know that it was in fact a song, taught to him by his mother, but the words he said to her now were almost as foreign as the original words and the accent that accompanied his speech. The tilt of her head returned, and so she sat looking at him, eyes wide and her head obviously cocked to the side in confusion. "What the hell is a crocodile? And an elephant? They sound like something Sceral would make up to tease his brother." It was true, her youngest son had the most active imagination of the pair. Shaking her head, Cori righted herself. "You're not the first to speak differently in this pack. There was another, a few months ago. He was gone within a week or two, though." Gaze darkening, the leader's lips parted again and her teeth bared and a growl rumbled in her throat at the thought. Belun had been his name - Fenru's adoption who had left without a word, in either the common tongue or his own.

Merlin let himself relax a bit as Corinna made an effort to joke. He smiled a bit, letting a little chuckle loose. The minor time he'd spent with Sceral had been pleasant enough, but of course, Merlin did not frequent the pack den, so he did not know of the childrens' sleeping schedule, and while he'd been dubbed their "babysitter" and "chewtoy" he felt that those titles were merely a means of demeaning him, rather than something he was actually supposed to do. Certainly if he'd made a large deal about genuinely being alone with the children, it wouldn't be taken too well. And so he wasn't truly aware of their energy level or curiosity. Ah well. He was making an effort with their mother now, so perhaps his titles may one day be true, rather than something to be used against him.

He quietly eyed her shadow as she came down to her haunches. It would eventually be consumed by the dissipating sun. And then her shadow would disappear and she'd go back to her den with her loving family and her warm den and he'd be stuck out here, quietly hoping it wouldn't rain, even though the gray clouds that blocked out the sun almost daily now threatened it. Steel blue eyes snapped upwards, at attention again. His smile widened in amusement at her bewildered expression. <b style="color:#a59f32">"I cannot say, madame Corinna. It's no more than a song to lull children to sleep, or to calm the anxious mind." His explanation was absent in tone, and he shrugged from his lying position. In an instant, his smile was gone as his leader growled again. If he'd been sitting or standing, he would have backed up, though he might've fallen into the stream. <b style="color:#a59f32">"W-well, I assure you madame, I don't intend to add to this ehh, habit of abandonment." Ice had seemed frustrated about the same thing, and Merlin had little intention of adding to their frustrations.<b style="color:#a59f32">

Gone Tomorrow

Her bewildered expression was a cause for laughter, even Corinna had to admit. She was hardly bothered by Merlin's chuckle at her expense, and her lips turned upwards in a smile. In truth, the mother felt a little bit like her two sons, who were currently trying to learn anything and everything about the world. They expected her to know everything because she was their mom. Oh! They would have been besides themselves with shock if they had been here - to learn that there were some things (animals? plants? she really wasn't sure) that were beyond even her scope of knowledge. So when Merlin explained that he too, did not know, she mimicked his shrug with her shoulders. "I see. Should you ever choose to sing it to them, expect to be asked the same question - you might have to come up with an answer," she returned.

Corinna's sudden switch in attitude must have come as a surprise, and even as she growled to herself, she could see the smile disappear from his face faster than a rabbit down its hole. His response was almost a stammer, and though he had given no reason for her to doubt him, his words of assurances were hardly the first she had ever heard. Every newcomer to Oak Tree Bend received the same warning, and yet...But the rumble in her chest subsided, and the fur that had risen up along her neck and back in agitation fell flat once more. Shaking her head to rid her mind of the image of Belun and eager looking Fenru beside him, Corinna remained silent, trying to sort through the coherent thoughts and the rage that accompanied this bitter subject.

Closing her eyes to mentally prepare herself, she took a deep breath in, her chest rising and then slowly falling as she exhaled - seeking control. The silenced continued for another minute, but when the leader opened her eyes, she fixed Merlin with a sharp stare. "The previous male leader of this pack, and my previous mate, left and returned to this pack three different times. The final time, he took my sons Torrel and Rihael with him. Torrel was still a pup and Rihael, Fenru's and Kisla's brother, barely a yearling." Her voice was lacking in tone, but it made up for it in intensity. She wanted, no needed Merlin to understand. Perhaps if these newcomers knew, then maybe they would understand and not be so carefree with their assurances of loyalty. "If he ever came back, Ice would kill him - if I didn't first. Our experiences have made us wary of strangers, Merlin. I don't know what happened on the borders that made Ice push you down so low, but few lone wolves are allowed past our borders and marked as one of our own." The Lowest seemed intelligent enough, surely he would be able to understand what it was she was trying to convey to him. It was not an easy feat to become a wolf of Oak Tree Bend, and despite his rank, he had been allowed in - and allowed close enough that he was able to meet her sons. It was far more than most loners ever accomplished when they came to the pack's borders.

549 words! *runs off to claim ribbon*

<b style="color:#a59f32">"I'm quite good at being creative," The man nodded, a smirk on his face. For a moment, he pondered this. What was an crocodile? It sounded like something big, maybe pointy. It obviously had a tail. At the same time, an elephant sounded rather large too. Two huge creatures fighting each other. It made for an exciting story. He supposed if it ever came to explaining it to the children, he'd come up with something more in-depth on the fly. His ears twitched as the woman calmed down again. Though he still felt quite on edge. Merlin might've been a liar, a cheater, abusive, cruel...Any number of terrible words, but he never would think himself a betrayer. He'd left home to find Arlette, the pack perfectly aware that finding her might take time, he might not ever return. But they knew. He did not sneak away in the dead of night. He might've been horrible, but he was not dirt. His own reaction to betrayal would not be any different from her own.

Shifting uncomfortably in the silence, Merlin was relieved when the woman spoke up again. His eyes widened slightly as she conveyed this terrible information to him. Just as Ice had spoken to him at the borders, as Corinna was speaking to him now, Merlin could only wonder if this was information for him to hear. He was no more than a punching bag for them, for their children, and yet they seemed to speak to him as though he were family. It made the man uncomfortable, but in the same instance, drove him further into this feeling of respect for Ice and for his family. He was no fool and while he could be cruel, this family had been through so much...He could not betray them. Arlette would have to make her home here.

He exhaled a cautious breath, blue eyes averted. Some part of him wanted to offer some words of consolation, but none came forth. She'd been honest with him, perhaps it was his turn. <b style="color:#a59f32">"I was honest with your mate, ma'am, which is why you find me so low." His eyes lifted, desiring to see her, should her reaction be the same as Ice's had been. <b style="color:#a59f32">"I told him that I was not a trustworthy soul, as I respected him enough to believe it was right to be up-front. I tried to reassure him that I had no intention of lying to him, to you, to anyone in your ranks, ma'am. But clearly I should have kept my jaws tightly shut." He sighed, his gaze falling once more. He thought it had been right, at the time. But now he wondered that, if he had no intention of lying to Ice or his family or those within his ranks, then why was there any need to tell him that he was not to be trusted? The so-intelligent Merlin had made a grave mistake that day, and perhaps he had just made another, but, again, just as Ice had spoken to him that day, Merlin thought it only right to be truthful with the woman before him. <b style="color:#a59f32">

Gone Tomorrow

The tension that had disappeared earlier at the mention of silly rhymes and fantasy animals was back with a vengeance. Corinna knew it would be; there was no such thing as an easy and laid back atmosphere when discussing betrayal and kidnappings. Merlin's eyes had been averted, pointedly looking anywhere but at her, and only contributed to the tension in the air. Finished speaking, the leader wasn't entirely sure what kind of response she was looking for from him. She half expected him to just nod in understanding and then slink off into the darkness. So when he finally looked back at her and opened her mouth, her eyes widened in surprised, only to narrow in suspicion after the first sentence. Ice had punished him for being honest?

Watching him, she couldn't quite believe what he was telling her. Her posture remained frozen, ears erect and alert, leaning slightly forward, soaking up every word he said to her. Why he had seen to admitting to being dishonest when seeking acceptance didn't make any sense to her, especially since he had no intention of actually lying to them. "Why..Why did you..." Lost for words in her confusion, Cori shook her head from side to side a few times, trying to physically clear her head. Breathing in once she had settled and her thoughts had organized, she looked at Merlin's face again. "Why would you call yourself dishonest if you had no intention of lying in the first place? A truly dishonest creature would have lied, no?" She posed the question to him, still grasping for understanding. She did understand why Ice would punish him for that particular personality trait, but why Merlin claimed to be dishonest, she had no idea and that's what was confusing.