Sacred Grove i never was allowed to shine

"Nice to meet you Mojave." His lips offered a small toothy grin to go with his smooth words. It was a strange name but the ex-prince liked to think he had heard weirder names back in Willow Ridge. Her question that came next hit him a bit in the heart. She was right once a prince always a prince. Yet it seemed the Ridge was filled with so many princes Deacon didn't stand a chance. Especially now that he was gone from his home.

Flicking his tail a bit nervous on how to say it Deacon decided he needed to say something. Even if something stupid. "I left them." That was it. That was the first thing his young and reckless brain had decided on saying to Mojave. The Archer-Lyall knew he would be beating himself up over this for months to come. "What about you? Are you some sort of princess runaway?" He smirked before leaning down to take another, this time smaller, bite of the deer. Its coldness really only recognizing with Deacon now but he assumed cold food was better than no food. Especially cold food with company. He assumed Mojave's awkward company allowed him to not be so concerned about the decency of the meal.

"Actually wait, lemme ask this." Licking the taste of deer off of his lips he found an even better question to ask. "Where are you from? Certainly not the mountain because I've already met the princess of the mountain." His mind drifted to think of Celandine and her beautiful form quickly before snapping back to the honey woman next to him.

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It only took a moment for him to explain why he didn't think himself a prince any more. So, he had left them. Well, they had that much in common. Though truth be told, her leaving her own family had less to do with just wanting to leave and more with having been run out. And naturally because she had inquired after him, he had to do the same to her and surprisingly she did not find herself faltering in response.

"I'm no princess," she said with a small laugh. "I'm not even from the mountain, though I've been hanging out there the past few days I guess. I'm from nowhere, I'm travellin' around. I didn't even have to run away either." She didn't care about any princess of the mountain either, because in a way she didn't really believe in princes or princesses. It was her own way of trying to put space in between the fact that she was still very much just a kid too, yet she didn't want to be.

This thought also occurred to her, because in a way she still wanted to believe in that prince and princess thing; Mojave turned her attention back to the deer for just a moment. "Hey, you wonder if there's any of the good parts left in this? It doesn't seem like whatever brought it down spent too much time tearing it up." It seemed like an appropriate subject change, though she wasn't outright trying to avoid the subject of herself. A frozen heart was still a good heart, and seeing how they didn't have to be giving it up to any higher up... her temptation to seize it was well alive.

Her answer of being no princess caused him to frown slightly. Of course her seemingly bright voice caused him to smile again. "Well you certainly look like a princess to me, Mojave." It seemed the young prince was learning the basics of flirting. Perhaps he had picked it up after many conversations with the Princess Celandine of the mountain. Adding in a wolfish grin and wink for affect he chuckled lightly before nosing at the deer's body.

There had to be something good leftover. Perhaps liver, stomach, something. "Well I'm sure there is a lot of good stuff just hiding in this deer. Maybe I can find something to take with me." He nosed around where the stomach should be before taking a good bite of it. While it was certainly good that didn't change the fact that the prince was hungry and this was a free meal. A free meal with free company. He liked that he didn't have to try and keep Mojave around. Beg her to stay or to talk. It almost made him wish they could be better friends. Something like best friends!

"Uh, Mojave?" The dark furred boy paused before looking at her. "If you like you can travel with me. I'm looking for a place to stay and it'd be nice to travel with such fun company." Wagging his tail his lip lifted in a friendly way to expose partially blood stained teeth. "Or we can split up for a few days before meeting again?" Hopefully Mojave would take up his offer on traveling. He was still so fresh and new to this world it would help to have a friend around.

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She smiled wanly as Deacon called her a princess again. Maybe she could have been in a past life, but she was far too modest to consider herself one in the present. Still, she stored that good feeling away as she dug back into the deer, this time tearing away over its rib cage to try and expose the heart that she hoped still lied within. Yet this was stopped short as her beamish partner in feasting paused again, this time punctuating their verbal silence with a question. She spit the piece of hide out that she had stripped away and turned her back to him once more, a tentative ear listening carefully.

Oh. He was making a declaration of some sort, she realized as his tone seemingly borrowed from more serious tomes. She was silent for a few moments, debating his proposition over, thoughtfully looking skyward as though it was really that big of a decision. In her life, at her age, nothing was that big of a decision any more. The biggest decision she had ever made up until that point was to pack it all up and head off into the unknown.

"You know what, why not. Sure, Deacon, I'll travel with you," she decided with a grin. "Might do me some good to hang around with someone who knows the place better than I do. Where were you thinking of going?" It wasn't so much a destination in mind that she was thinking of, but rather a direction. If anything else, if he headed the way that she had come, maybe she'd be more use than just someone to talk to and hang around with.

His tail started to swish around behind him when the lovely lady accepted his offer. Of course her question of where he was going caused his excitement to disappear and form into furrowed brows. "Well, I think there is a few packs not too far from my old home. Although I also know the princess on the mountain who might allow us to go to her place." His voice trailed off as the ex-prince's young mind wandered to thoughts of Celandine's pristine beauty. She was so nice and soft with him Deacon thought it might be rude to show up with company. Especially the company of another female.

"We can set off towards the meadow by the Drooping Willows where my previous home lays. Or we can also jump back to my previous plan of meeting up in a few days? The two of us can scope out information if possible and then decide on a journey." A immense grin smiled was painted onto his features. No more furrowed brows or confused looks. The Archer-Lyall was all grins and wags. Given the situation he was in, just leaving home officially for the first time, he would count himself as lucky. Finding someone who didn't want to eat his face off was a superb thing too.

All of this silent praise to himself given by himself made him feel as if he was ten feet tall. Was this what his father and mother felt like all the time? High and mighty leading the Ridge pack with an iron paw. Perhaps he could do it like he told his father he would, Deacon would be successful in his trials.

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