Willow Ridge Out of my way

This thread is dated a day after this --> http://relic-lore.net/showthread.php?tid=6995

His aunts scent journeyed far over this new land which in turn had many scents of wolves within it. The dark child's initial surprise at the number of old and new wolf scents drifting across the landscape had died by the the time he had made it to the mountains. Now all Tor hoped was for his aunt to stop moving. He was achingly hungry but after being barked at by Sorya to stay away, Xetor wasn't exactly sure how he was going to feed himself. If it had been Sorya and he then maybe they could have hunted together or something. As things were, all the young Archer could do was follow his aunties trail and hope to run across a pack or something.

Yeah but I could starve myself following her. She might not even be looking for a group to join right now. The shadow paused under the dark of a trees shadow. His thoughts swirled as he turned to look at the willows bark. The scent of willows calmed the young man as he realized that he would have to at some point find a small group or maybe even a pack to join with soon. He had been in the middle of his training when Tor had left Torbine. He knew some herbs, a few hunting styles, and only one battle move, but had not mastered anything in particular. Walk forward Xetor, don't look to the past...Find your future. Tor told himself as he looked back towards the landscape.

Padding forward Tor noted the goldenrod plants scattered throughout other unknown plants. The taller golden flowered weeds had not started flowering quite yet. Their buds were swollen waiting for that perfectly warm day to open. Tor would have to remember where those plants were in case he ever needed them.

Minutes passed as the dark Archer continued to follow Sorya's scent. It wasn't until he ran upon the mixed scents of many wolves that the young male stopped. His fur stiffened as he stepped back a few paces to smell the marker. His aunts scent was among the many wolf smells. Flattening his fur Xetor realized that Sorya too must have thought about joining a pack. Does she regret leaving Torbine? Maybe she joined a pack thinking that they would replace the family we left behind... He let a snarl appear on his muzzle as Tor knew that he too would have to join this pack. Though he knew that they would never be his family from Torbine. They would only be pack mates, comrades in a sense.

and I have to join this one... it's not like I know of any other packs in this strange land. He thought quietly while looked up to gaze into this unknown packs territory. With Sorya there I'll have a better chance of joining too. Weighing the positives with the negatives gave Tor the courage to raise his muzzle and howl.

"The loner wishes to join" Was the song that fell from his blackened lips. Lowering his head and cocking it to the side to listen for an answer, Xetor waited for the pack to come to him. He waited for his future.

Since meeting his Aunt Sorya, the young prince's confidence had been restored. In the shadows and behind the umbrella-like canopies of the willows, he found he was safe, hidden away from harm. He had been content with lazing about, waiting for a time when Angier might come his way so that he'd have a chance to give him quite a fright, when a call from along the borderlines came to his senses. The boy's fur bristled and with determination in his step, he raced to the edges of his homelands, only to lay eyes on a rather impressively built male. Like Silver and Sorya, the past two loners who had come to the boundaries of Willow Ridge, he, too, had dark fur. He made a face that clearly expressed his disgust in the idea that he quite possibly was not as physically unique as he thought he was. Perhaps Relic Lore - or, even, the world in its entirety - was full of wolves who also had nearly unmarked, solid black fur.

He prowled forward, his gray eyes focusing on other young man as he growled to announce his arrival. He stopped just within earshot then drew closer by a couple of meters, suddenly unsure of himself when he fully realized that the other "boy" was actually much larger than he had anticipated. It brought back the memory of what had happened when he had encountered the Pitch Pine Trail wretch and he did well to heed Angier's words.

"What makes you think you'd be worthy of joining?" he challenged the other brute, his stance only somewhat assertive as he kept his distance. The more the prince stared, the more he readied himself to run. Physically, if he had the misfortune at finding himself at the mercy of this look-alike beast, he might be at a loss. Words were his forte, and he had to remind himself of the fact as he stared at the stranger's bulkier figure and fuller coat.

"You can't just express your well-wishes and expect us to let you in..."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Short but I just had to throw Auntie Sorya in

Sorya had been making herself useful in the mere day she had been in Willow ridge, memorizing the very borders at least, only to find herself patrolling with the scent of two nephews filling her nose. Oh dear lord. She said as she ran to the scene, a small dip of her head when she heard the words that Skoll presented. "Skoll. Xetor." She said in greeting to them both as she stood on her side of the borders. "Skoll, this is your cousin Xetor Archer, son of your mother's littermate." She had no time to explain everything in detail but she had said enough for them both to get the point. Basic introduction as she sat at the borders. They would have to wait for Angier or Elettra herself, though with just having her pups, Sorya expected Elettra to be a little caught up at that point and for Angier to show himself first.

Sorya thought about asking Skoll to leave because of Angier's warning to her. She would let the boy makes his own decisions however for he was a yearling and the boy needed to learn when and when not to be at a place, it was all experience. She had learned that much. Sorya wondered how they were both going to react to the knowledge that the two wolves at the border when she arrived were indeed Archer children. "Xetor, your aunt Elettra runs this pack with her mate Angier." She gave him brief information as she awaited something, anyone, anything to happen.

His call was almost immediately answered, but not by another howl. Instead he was answered with a shadowy form moving swiftly through the willows. The dark form greeted Xetor's dull amber eyes as he narrowed them in anticipation. At first as the shadow moved itself into the light he thought he was seeing his aunt Sorya. Confusion lit the males eyes for a moment before his moist twitching black nose keyed out the fact that the wolf before him was male, and young...younger than he was.

A yearling birthed the previous spring? He thought quietly while taking in the sight of a form so very familiar to him. If Tor hadn't known any better he would have thought he was being greeted by family from Torbine again.

The Sorya look alike spoke roughly while asserting himself physically in Xetors presence. Tor had to stop himself from laughing happily as he stepped forward eyeing the younger male mischievously.

"I will explain myself once I meet the leaders of this pack and not a pup who thinks himself a guardian." Tor stiffened after the words slipped past his mouth. He readied himself for the younger guys anger or annoyance while another scent buffeted his nose.

"Oi Auntie Ria how nice of you to come!" He let his tail wag and turned his silver amber gaze to his aunt as she joined them at the border. Slapping the ground with his fore paws in a playful gesture, Tor watched as she came forward and gave his name away to the younger male. When he heard the word cousin his tail immediately stopped and Xetor brought himself back up to a standing position.

"Cousin, Sorya?" He asked doing a double take of the younger male. There definitely was great family resemblance between the three of them. Particularly between Sorya and this Skoll as they stood parted by a few feet of earth. His aunt then quickly spoke of another that he had only barely known the name of. A name his father had mentioned a few times.

"Aunt Elettra lives here? " He grumbled incredulously. Even after leaving Torbine Xetor would still be dogged by his family. Perhaps this is a good thing... Maybe. He quietly looked to Skoll. He held his tail neutrally now while lowering his head and narrowing his gaze onto the younger Archer.

"Well it's nice to meet you, cousin." He smiled slyly wondering how the dark yearling named Skoll would take the news.

The rogue retorted with an answer that only made the Archer prince's face distort with disgust and contempt. "You can't talk to me like that!" he barked. "Do you not know who I am? I'm--"

"Skoll," Sorya's voice seemed to answer for him as she introduced to the stranger who he was then acknowledged him in turn, "Xetor..." The prince's eyes narrowed to mirror that of his current adversary. To suddenly discover that Aunt Sorya had known who the rogue was made him lose his footing and, rather dumbly, he stood without even another word to say as they addressed one another and pulled him into their conversation. Metaphorically, the boy might very well have fallen off his throne, his silvery crown toppling from his head in the process...

Xetor seemed to have dismissed him altogether, his eyes immediately going to the woman at Sköll's side, "Oi Auntie Ria how nice of you to come!"
Sorya expounded further, "Skoll, this is your cousin Xetor Archer, son of your mother's littermate."
"Cousin, Sorya?"
"Xetor, your aunt Elettra runs this pack with her mate Angier."
"Aunt Elettra lives here?"

Sköll felt as though he had been thrown into a well of information, where the words swelled and swirled around him, threatening to drown him in the process where he should have had enough wit to navigate and process it all before he was seen as utterly stupid. As if to emphasize that Elettra lived within this part of Relic Lore, the young royal nodded, to which Xetor smiled slyly and stated how nice it was to meet him. A rather arrogant snort from his nose stated otherwise. As far as Sköll could tell, maybe Asriel would not be the bulk of his problems after all. Now he had this prat of a cousin to deal with.

"Likewise," he simply stated, though the tone in his voice didn't match his sentiment. Xetor's head and tail might have lowered but the prince remained as he was with his head level and his tail aloft. He hoped it was clear that it didn't matter if they were almost the same age or related by blood or even cousins, here on his mother's lands he, his mother's son, held precedence. He was about to quip back that his cousin had not formally answered his question but he stilled his tongue. Someone was coming... and he was not going to be reprimanded again, especially in front of Xetor and Sorya, if Angier had already managed to find his way.

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2014, 03:50 AM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Usually when it came to confronting lone wolves at the borders, Angier found that, for the most part, they were often spaced out and generally pleasant to deal with on a week-to-week or, even better, monthlybasis. For a call to sound out the day after the Lady Sorya had joined Willow Ridge, it really must have been sheer coincidence... Unless this was the boy that Sorya had spoken about, her nephew... What was his name again?

What Angier stumbled upon was a small group of black-pelted wolves, one of which was - surprise, surprise - Sköll. He marched towards them, his stance and gait now typical to that of a reigning Leader. If Sorya had not been there, Angier might have outright scolded the boy just for showing up on the borders yet again, but as it stood, he gave a low woof to the both of them before looking to the pale-eyed yearling. "Yer mother needs something to eat," he rumbled in his ears, "Leave us."

His eyes bore into the side of Sköll's face until the youth decided to, for once, obey and make his leave. Regardless of his feeling as though the prince might have opted to linger nearby and listening, Angier nodded approvingly at Sorya before stepping forward just enough so that he wouldn't have to bark or yell at the kid. "You must be Xetor," he said, scrutinizing the other Archer now with a slight wag of his tail. "Come here, let us have a look at you."

Are you watching closely?
Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

She was about to go off about how they should respect each other when the voice came through and she turned to see that the alpha was there at the borders with the yearling, the subordinate and the loner. "Yer mother needs something to eat," he rumbled in his ears, "Leave us."

Sorya was careful to step back from the borders as soon as the alpha had arrived, her tail tucking out of instinct and respect for the man. She watched as he examined his relative with care as he tried to determine what Sorya's nephew was worth. Sorya caught the scent of deer on the wind and her tail wagged. It was the perfect way for Sorya and Xetor to both prove themselves to the man. She wanted to suggest it but she feared he would not want to be interrupted.

She just waited and watched, giving Xetor a stern yet kind look. She still would have preferred him to stay in Torbine where they both technically belonged but if he were with her, which he was, than she would do everything in her power to get him into a pack with little trouble. She held a look of wanting to speak but would not until told she could do so. She made small and subtle signals as well as she stood there, including her tail wavering in a wag slightly as it had frozen after a few wags the first time. Her ears were perked up as she tried to located where the scent came from. It was from within the territory which means that Xetor would have to enter the territory if it were to succeed.

She just waited.

Xetor was amused at Skoll's obvious annoyance but he did not move to place his tail above that of the yearling. Technically speaking he was a sad little loner who had no sway even before a pup as long as they were a pack wolf. Tor knew this, and kept himself lowered as yet another wolf appeared.

This wolf was tall, lithe, and intimidating as he strode forward with the unmistakable air of an alpha. Xetor narrowed his gaze while stealing a glance towards the older male. He watched the male slip by Skoll after addressing the yearling. Then as the gray wolf approached Tor averted his gaze before bowing his head and bringing his rust and black tail between his legs.

"Yes sir my name is Xetor Archer formally of Torbine." He spoke quickly addressing the males comment. Careful to keep himself submissive and calm Xetor smiled. "...but you can call me Tor sir." He stole another short glance towards the ground where the gray man's paws stand firmly upon the earth.

"Come here, let us have a look at you." Hearing this and seeing the males tail slowly wag gave Xetor the courage to stand himself upright in the leads presence, if only to let the male see his body structure more easily. Tor raised his head and tail to show off the body his blood line had graciously given him. Even though he had been the smallest of his litter he had grown larger while everyone else was not watching. "You are the one in charge sir, take no offense to my standing. It is only for you to clearly see me." He offered the explanation while continuing to avert his gaze so that the male may look upon his figure.

Maybe he'll actually think to teach me battle moves if he see's me fit enough for it. Unlike the rest of the empire's guard who cast me away thinking I was too weak for the training. Tor was excited and that excitement showed plainly in his twitching tail and bright eyes. If only he could be accepted.

Once he was sure the male was no longer observing his physical strength Xetor carefully lowered himself once more. His tail returned to the crook of his belly while his head neared to the earth.

Tell him about your knowledge! Tor barked quietly to himself within the confines of his mind.

"I know about a number of herbs, where to find them and how to use them to heal sick or injured wolves. Though my training is far from complete sir." He humbly spoke offering the knowledge that Torbine had drilled into him since he was very young. "...and thanks to Sorya and a few of the other hunters of our old pack I do know a little about hunting." He finished while looking towards Sorya and spotting her movements. It seemed like she smelled something interesting.

He took that moment to once more copy her example and begin sniffing the air. The scent filtered through his nose was unmistakable. Deer were nearby. Tor wondered if he might be able to show off some of his skills to the male. Though obviously a single wolf could not take down a full grown deer. He would have to work with someone.

"Sir... If I may ask...Can I show you my ability to hunt? There are deer nearby we can go after. " He offered the chance to work together with the male and get food for this pack. How perfect of those deer to come around now... If he let's me work with him. Xetor thought quietly while awaiting the older males answer.

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2014, 01:55 AM by Xetor.)

As per usual, there he was... Angier Lyall in all his glory, flaunting his high-and-mighty attitude as if he were actual royalty. So tall and proud... like the position of Leader had been his at the very start. With a sour sort of look at Xetor, Sköll was glad he was dismissed, granted the task of serving his mother one of the several meals she required throughout the day. If not for the innate respect that Skana had instilled within him for his superiors, the prince might have outright audibly scoffed at Angier and offered him the parting gift of his usual insult. Something along the lines of, 'Maybe if you had had your wits about you, you might have showed up in a timely manner instead of letting Sorya and I do all the work you ought to be doing... My mother does not need you. So do your job...'.

A swish of his black tail and the prince was gone without even a farewell or note of appreciation. All while he traveled back to the den he growled to himself, huffing and puffing as he thought back to the expressions on his cousin Xetor's face. Smug bastard, he muttered in his head. If Angier had his head in the right place, for the sake of his step-sons, both Asriel and Sköll, he would send the other youth away. The only Archer men worthy of belonging Willow Ridge, as far as the trickster was concerned, were Elettra's own flesh and blood.

(Exit.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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