Drooping Willows Swan Dive Down

Partly Cloudy — 17° F/-8° C | Late Aftertoon/Early Evening For @Skoll and or Angier<3

The weather today was much nicer than the previous days. Although the land was still cluttered with snow, and she almost blended in had she not had such dirty eyes, the day seemed particular brighter and sunnier. Of course the clouds still hung thick and low in the sky she appreciated the sun that did manage to get through the cloud's thick layer.

Shuffling around the snowy lands with her long, lissome limbs the Pious woman found herself navigating rather well. The area around her had quickly turned into a willow tree forest. Bouncing through she took note of the smell of borders not to far and kept to herself, staying a good distance away (perhaps 20 feet at the least). Moving her nose the ground she would roll the snow piling it up in front of her before blowing out heavily with her nose. Sending snow everywhere.

Her light childish voice rung out through the willow trees with laughter. The Santoro's tail moved briskly behind her in a friendly manner. So excited she couldn't stop herself from breaking out into a song. "Little children, can you tell, do you know the story well? Every girl and every boy, why the angels sing for joy!" Her song was carried into the cold evening light with her powerful vocal cords. Hopefully whoever was living in these willow trees wouldn't mind her little song. Maybe she could even find a wolf who she could share her song with! The pale yearling kept moving on with a rather bouncy motion in her step.

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Having been occupied with skulking about in the east, Skoll Archer had decided that it was time to come home. Upon first impression, everything was as it had been, except for the fact that his mother's scent was not a prominent along the borders as he would have expected. Regardless, at least his step-father and his aunt Sorya were still around; and, he supposed that was better than no one at all or the other subordinates per se. The wolves of Willow Ridge required loyal and intimidating members to make up their ranks, if Skoll was not one of them, at least his superiors were there.

The prince had just managed to ease himself across the borders by following Angier's most recent trail when a youthful voice fluttered up into the air. He scowled to himself, ridges forming all up and down the bridge of his muzzle. If the sun had not been such a nuisance already on this partly clear wintry afternoon, then adding some sort of high-spirited stranger on top of it all was just downright irritating. Skoll had no tolerance for it. Besides, if she kept up such a stupid song, his little brothers - the two that remained, anyway, along with the annoying red-headed kid - would hear her and be drawn out to the borders. Something had to be done...

His tongue stuck out and dragged itself down the front of his nose. On four spindly limbs, the young royal sped off back over the territory lines to meet this stranger and figure out what business she had in floundering about near his mother's part of Relic Lore.

It wasn't hard following her; all the Archer had to do was to listen for her frolicking footsteps until he found her trail. From there, he swiftly stalked after her with his head held low and his tail held out behind him until he finally caught sight of her. Not too tall or unique, appearance-wise, but not unattractive either. In fact, she reminded him very much of the "mouse queen" he had encountered when he was a cub. His brows rose and his gait slowed as his head came up. Even his ears, which had both been pressed against the back of his neck, came forward enough to convey his piqued interest.

As not to seem rude, when she came to what might have been a gap in her song, he loudly cleared his throat in hopes of catching her attention.

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Somewhere in between her bouncing and singing she heard a rather sudden beckoning for her attention. Pale legs moved clumsily beneath her to allow The Saint to face her beckon-er. Wagging her tail behind her she let her dirt toned eyes graze his body. His eyes were like melted pools of mercury and his body a hodgepodge of black, white, and grey. While the man, oh no, the boy wasn't the most handsome of creatures he was certainly appealing to the eye.

A broad and childish grin made way to her inky lips. "Hello, I hope you didn't mind my singing!" A light bird-song like laughter was emitted from her. Keeping her tail in neutral position she noted that he smelt of the pack not too far from here, somewhere deeper in the willow trees. While she didn't say anything about it she thought it might be a topic to be brought up later in their little meeting.

Once again she found her eyes wondering over his large, nimble, handsome form. NO! She mentally snapped at herself. That wasn't right. She shouldn't be eyeing him like that. It was disgustingly lustful and she would not submerge to such levels. Making herself look away, down at her own paws to be exact, one would catch her mumbling under her own breath. "Forgive me, for I should not have let my eyes wander..." Trying to regain herself mannerly she lifted her eyes once again. This time only looking at him with friendliness and absolutely nothing else.

"What brought ya out here? Was it me?" She grinned and wiggled a bit showing off her careless nature. While the Pious woman wanted to seem presentable and respectful her true nature would always come nipping at her. That careless childish spirit constantly straddling her. Not that was exactly a bad thing though, but nor was it always a good thing.

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Much like one of those busy-tailed squirrels, she jounced about on her own merry way until he managed to catch her attention. His whiskered brows came down now into a more neutral expression as she greeted him with a chirp-like "Hello, I hope you didn't mind my singing!" The prince could have frowned; females like her were definitely not the norm in his corner of the world. His mother, his Nonna Skana, his sister Morganna, his aunt Sorya, his cousin Taima and the other women that made up Elettra's hierarchy were absolutely nothing like this little, cheerful thing. Perhaps that was a good thing...

"Not at all," he said slowly, the forgiving words rolling off his tongue as though it were something he had practiced pronouncing syllable by syllable. Skoll kept still, holding his ground as he, too, eyed her. He watched as her eyes roamed over his legs, up and over the features of his face. It was gratifying, really, no one other than his mother ever really looked at him in such a way; but, where Elettra typically did it as to be certain of his well-being, this young lady was definitely sizing him up, trying to glean from his scent who he was and who he might have belonged to..

"Forgive me," she apologized, "for I should not have let my eyes wander..." The prince blinked, silent for a moment. For, she had said. No one ever used the word that way. So proper and refined. But then came the "What brought ya out here? Was it me?"

Ya.. What brought ya...

Skoll couldn't hold back the beginnings of a contemptuous smile, the traces of a sneer that threatened to mar his possibly handsome looks. Angier - and Morganna - were the only ones who replaced their "you's" with "ya's" and their "your's" with "yer's". It seemed an opportunity was at hand and it got the gears in his head turning at full speed.

"To be honest, yes," he answered her, watching as she wiggled with what was probably excitement over meeting another kindred spirit. He took  a somewhat casual step towards her then remained where he stood, wondering if she would also draw closer. "I don't hear singing all that often. My family doesn't really do that; but, your voice is lovely." Sympathy, flattery... and pure cajolery.

"My name is Skoll Archer," he offered to her, his chest puffing out just enough to show that he held quite an amount of pride in his name and title, "Prince of Willow Ridge." His tail came up in a genial wag. "With whom do I owe this pleasure?"

(This post was last modified: Jan 28, 2015, 08:49 PM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

(Short post but wanted something up<3 @Skoll )

"yes,"

The words were falling off his lips and the pale coated woman was greedily licking them up with her ears. Then he stepped forward. Something that she would take as a welcoming sign. The Saint took a step forward too filling up the extra space with her body. "Oh, uh, why thank you." She wasn't use to such flattery and if she did get compliment it was usually in the form of "your fur looks well today" or "way to recite your verses". Usually something that came in the form of just a nice statement. Piety had never had someone complimented something specific like her voice complimented.

"The pleasure is mine Prince Skoll." The skin underneath her fur heated up rather quickly. It might have been shown had her fur not been so thick and full. "I'm Piety Santoro, I previously lived in Minister's Meadow." Her tail wagged behind her as her lips pulled to expose a broad smile exposing ivory teeth.

Looking at his silver eyes for a moment she let them roll away as to not seem rude. "This Willow Ridge place of your's...is there any room for someone like me?" Chuckling she hoped he would say yes but also wouldn't be surprised if a no came out. If anything the pack might already be tight and full from this winter's hoards. Who knew? She had no idea about how the packs worked. Piety figured that maybe since she was walking to the prince she had a shot of slipping in.

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Shivers rushed up along his shoulders and spine at the sound of his name after the title of a prince. It had to be the way she had enunciated it all that sold him about her, eradicating at once all his want and desire to keep her away from his lands. "Piety," he tested her name on his tongue as if he could actually taste it. "Pretty." She had drawn closer to him now, just close enough for him to see what kind of brown her eyes were ("dried riverbank mud," he had decided) and if the majority of the whiskers on her muzzle were black or white (black, it seemed). If he couldn't scent her before, he could definitely get a whiff of where she had recently been and confirm for a fact that she was roughly the same age as him. The discovery prompted a butterfly to take wing in the confines of his chest.

Again she averted her gaze and the Archer seized the chance to look her over once more as she asked about his place and if there was space for someone like her. Had Skoll already been Leader, all the women - save for his mother and maybe his aunt Sorya, since he might have thought to "marry" Morganna off to some other neighboring pack for the sake of getting her out of his way and forging an alliance for Willow Ridge - would be gone from their ranks; and, this beautiful thing, this lush-furred Miss Santoro could have her own special place in the hierarchy.

His eyes narrowed though upon counting the number of females beneath his mother. There were eight of them; four Archers, Quil and her sister (whom he had been wanting to meet but kept shrugging the idea away), Taima (his supposed cousin on Angier's side of the family), and then that Enoki-lady whom he had only heard about in passing. His ears stood up straight as a malicious idea came to mind; he would attempt to pick one of them off... but which one?

Quil and her sister, he knew, were valuable to his mother and him, if he could still convince one of them to be his. That bout with Quil, however, told him that he barely had a chance now; and, if Cinder was anything like her sister, he would have just as tough a time wooing her. Enoki, being far up in rank, and much older and experienced, he figured might not be as gullible, but Taima... if he could just get to her boy, that red-headed kid, or somehow actually make sure that she was never going to come back, what with her constant desire to wander away from the Ridge... maybe then Piety would have a spot.

"Yes," he said again, his voice conveying his excitement and eagerness of the newfound idea. "I think we can squeeze you in somewhere, and I'm pretty sure we could benefit from having someone as delightful and lovely as you around." His tail waved slowly from side to side and he took a few steps as to angle himself in an invitation to start walking her towards his domain. "If we start walking there, we can probably catch my mother during one of her rounds."

He made to take the first step of what would be a short journey to the borders of the Ridge, but stopped to look at her face, to behold what light and wonder might lie in wait for him there in her eyes and smile. "But, first, I have to ask... do you trust me, Piety?" This would be the first in a long list of questions but the most crucial; many who came upon the Prince and Heir of Willow Ridge did not find him trustworthy upon fist impression.

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

Her name was like a symphony that danced from his lips. It made her smile softly. He seemed so nice and polite. Just the man she needed to come across. Her thick tail flicking behind her with joy. This was certainly a pleasant meeting.

The dark male paused after her question. Piety assumed that he was thinking things over. Perhaps how many mouths they had to feed, how many helping paws they may already have, etc. Waiting to hear his charming voice again it didn't take more than a moment for it to be heard by her velvet ears.

"That's wonderful, @Skoll ...thank you." Her smile this time was not obnoxiously huge but it was noticeable. The type of smile you might see come from a bashful young child. Piety certainly was stuck in that young child stage anyways. At least she was about ninety percent of the time. "Oh yes, I would love to meet her." Certainly the mother would be as wonderful as the boy, right?

His invitation was quickly taking by greedy white paws that stepped forward. Her shorter form ready and willing to follow after his larger form. Yet before they could even get a few steps his face turned to her's. Offering a smile and joyous glint in her eyes he waited for him with a quick "hmm?" to question what he may say.

"do you trust me, Piety?"

Piety's ears quickly shot back against her head before they raised back up. Chuckling softly her tail wagged behind her. "Of course I do! I don't see why I shouldn't." Her lips curled to expose those pretty but deadly ivory teeth of her's. Taking a step forward she offered a light bark. "Any more questions, Skoll?" If they could get everything out of the way before they started the trip it might make things easier. Questions now instead of later.

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I feel like this post was a mess because I definitely have never really explored this side of Skoll. Apologies if it's... well... weird and a little out of character. XD This is Grey trying to give Skoll, a villain-at-heart, likable traits. Oi vey.

This was certainly not the Skoll anyone knew. No one, except for Skana, had ever taken the time to see this side of him; and, it was strange... to feel as though that she trusted him wholeheartedly, to pull from her words a genuine lightheartedness? Whatever it was, he couldn't place a paw or nail on it. It was something he had never experienced before with someone his age. A camaraderie that pulled from him a number of things that he thought had been stolen from his childhood - laughter, playfulness, and the sort of uplifting type of feeling that had only come from being praised. And, those things were offered to him without rancor or strings attached.

Morganna and Quil had spat in his face; Asriel had done nothing but put him down and used him for his own selfish deeds; Titan and Yuka had teased and taunted and pestered him. But, Piety... just by first impressions, alone, Piety was nothing like them.

She didn't question him or eye him in a way that suggested that she knew he was up to something. She was drawn to him in a rather different way, or so it seemed; and, when he had taken that first step forward, she did too. In any other encounter, the party in question usually took his move as a cue to put up their guard. Miss Santoro had done the opposite and she appreciated his compliments in addition to expressing her interest in his pack.

Furthermore, she verbally confirmed that she trusted him right from the very start and, this time, Skoll had wished nothing but the opposite of ill will and trickery upon her. She was different; and, he was going to show her what a life with him could be because he felt she deserved it. With the way everything had unfolded, he suddenly felt the desire to protect her, to shelter her, to ensure that this delicate, nymph-like spirit of hers persevered. Untainted, unsullied, and inculpable.

She asked him if he had anymore questions and as he began to lead her towards the place where he had initially exited Willow Ridge, he mused with a toothy smile of his own, "Hmm... Well, I suppose I ought to ask, is there something you've always wanted to do when you grow up?"

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

This all seemed so...so..right. Him being here with her and taking her home just seemed natural. Was this what she had been waiting for her whole life? Someone her age who showed enough compassion and was willing to take her home? Was he the saint that saved her weary soul, like she had always heard in stories? That was impossible though. Or was it?

Following after him she left her shoulder brush against him for the briefest moment. Her breath caught in her lungs and her eyes closed momentarily. Piety knew she would be safe here in these willow trees. There was something about this place and that boy that made her feel protected.

Listening to him shoot away another question she let the silence settle between them. The Saint had a few things in mind but nothing set in stone. Although she trusted @Skoll enough to throw all her bones on the ground. "Well I was thinking about Teaching the young pups or those who need guidance..but I was also thinking about being perhaps a scout. I like to travel around and see what the land has to offer." Looking at his face she smiled and let her tail wag briefly behind her. It was nice to have talk like this. It made her feel like she did back in Minister's Meadow. Cared for and wanted. Funny how a complete stranger, well not really a stranger anymore, made her feel so whole again.

"I could ask you the same thing though. That is-" She paused to try and steal a glance at those silver eyes. "if you don't mind me asking." Piety figured that if he got to ask questions she should be able to ask one. It only seemed fair and right. Alas Piety knew that even if Skoll did reject the idea of her trying to figure out a few things she wouldn't mind. In fact the idea of him being mysterious seemed almost inciting. The yearling never really thought about the mysterious things in her life. Usually Piety had everything laid out for her, but she wanted something knew. Skoll was it. Skoll would be her new thing. He would mark a new chapter in her life.

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