Willow Ridge She keeps no secrets from you

Morg is having an existential crisis. Her alignment has recently shifted from Lawful Evil to Lawful Neutral and she needs to talk some stuff out with a "proper adult". @Angier or @Elettra only please.

What had she done?

She had pushed the encounter from her mind, too preoccupied with her mothers injury and the responsibilities that came with such a shift in power. Now, as she hid on the edge of the heights, somewhere above the medicine den carved out by her own fathers paws, she stared down her own little cache of precious things stashed away where Skoll would never find them. Masked with the scent of drying herbs that wafted from the lower lying store her eyes fell out of focus when they drifted across the pale scrap that had once been Piety’s ear. That god awful screeching still made her ears ring.

Her curved foreleg pulled earth back over the stash, a mid-sized stone replaced just so. Her mind had been whirring all night. Usually it was Skoll she sought out when her soul was troubled but this was a bit beyond his scope she was sure. It was times like this she needed guidance from someone more experienced and so she rose without a backwards glance, hoping to track down her mother Elettra or Angier. They should be informed of her indiscretion regardless (after all her actions could impact the pack negatively - not that it would matter with the way things currently stood with Grizzly Hollow and if Piety declared the attack had been anything more than personal she was sure it would all come out in the wash).

The Cedar wolves were not her friends, and she owed them nothing, but her parents? She owed them everything and she would not keep them in the dark about this.

if your mother was my sun, then you were my star

The cold fronts were rolling in now and the pains in his shoulders and back were getting worse. As Angier saw it as a reminder of his age, he also took it as a sign that he was starting to become stagnant and lethargic. Moving about seemed to be the only thing that kept his mind off of it all, but even his eyesight had begun to become a bother. What once was crisp shapes - that little bit of fur that stood up where it shouldn't have, the droplet of dew at the end of Ravenna's nose, or the sighting of a fluffy white rabbit tail between the willows - had now blurred into mere silhouettes that were just barely discernible from the backdrop of willows and other trees that were native to Southern Eden.

He had just slipped past a certain tree when he heard it - that distinct rustle of dried grass and scattered willow leaves beneath a heavy paw. His head rose and he blinked as his nose twitched, sorting out from the potpourri of scents the distinct perfume that gave his adopted daughter away. Near-clumsy paws stumbled a little as he walked right through a veil of skeleton-like branches and he closed his eyes to shield them from the knotted vines. His right ear swiveled to one side as he stopped in his tracks.

"Morganna?" he tried, looking to and fro, wondering when an unmistakable "shadow" might emerge from the fog of muted browns and faded greens. His brows touched one another in concern and his eyes narrowed; he thought he could sense something in the air that lingered in her wake. "Is everything all right?"

(This post was last modified: Oct 22, 2015, 07:38 AM by Angier.)

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

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

She heard @Angier before she saw him, a low affectionate growl offered in response to her name, no silently thought to herself as his question was heard, “Yes…maybe.” voiced as she closed the distance between them and gently pressed her nose into his cheek, noticing for the first time just how clouded his eyes had become, worry crossing her own face for just a moment. She had said the words herself, Yer old and what a bitter taste they left in her mouth at this moment in time.

Forcing a smile she pulled back and gave the old wolf his room. “I’m surprised mother isn’t ‘ere forcin’ scrub pine down yer throat an’ shakin’ yellow rattle over yer head.” she teased gently with none of the malice she could only imagine her brother wielding. The easy smile slipped from her face as she remembered the reason she had come looking for one of her parents in the first place. Her brow wrinkled as she thought over the events of that day and she finally opened her mouth, light teasing replaced with a far more serious, even somewhat grave tone. “I found @Piety.” She wasn’t sure where to start. She hadn’t quite figured out how to process the events herself yet.

if your mother was my sun, then you were my star

A growl came to him in reply and Angier waited for her to come closer. If he had not been so used to her answering him in such a manner, he might have jumped in fear of having accidentally disturbed her. Both of his ears came forward to regard her as she gave him what seemed to be a less-than-confident answer. He grimaced, but only for a few seconds; her touch (that familiar prod of her nose to his silvered cheek) easily swept it away. His eyes seemed to hone in on her but all he could really see of her face was an abstract bit of black with two circular, warm-hued rings that were meant to be her irises. He felt her withdraw from him, the cool air rushing against the places where she had just been only moments before.

A crooked smile was given as she mentioned her mother and all her preferred methods of healing. "Well, I was able to git away today. I might be subject to the yellow rattle tomorrow." The jest in his tone complimented hers and his high spirits were apparent with a wag of his pale bottle-brush tail. He missed the absence of her smile, though, and so he remained, grinning back at her; the expression only fell away when she told him that she had found her brother's mate.

The Lyall's muscles visibly tensed; judging by the way she had opened up this conversation and opted not to provide any more information before allowing him to react, he could only assume that there was something else she was still mulling over. Half-lidded eyes roamed over her medium frame for a while, staring specifically at the place where her ruff met her shoulder.

"And?" he goaded her on. "What about Piety? What happened to her?"

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

Her teeth ground together momentarily at the memory. It was all a blur of black and white and red. She had been hungry and tired, exhausted and almost home. She wasn’t herself. She had laughed as she was running her down. It wasn’t a feeling she knew how to process after the event and it was even harder to put into words now. “She was in th’ Cedarwood with all o’ them.” Whether or not she remained after the river was still a mystery to Morganna, she didn’t stop to think how her use of the word was might be mistaken to mean something more.

Why had she even gone that way? It would have been so much quicker to cross the fields of fruit and follow the heartless creek home. She could see the woman now, on her back, throat exposed. “She went belly up straight away. She begged me ter kill her.” She felt ill just remembering the look on her face, the tone of her voice. They had searched and searched, surely she had only remained gone because that was what she wanted? Unless the Cedar wolves had been keeping her prisoner but she had seemed to be well enough physically. At some point she had bought herself to a seat, her ears had folded back against her skull and she chose to focus on a small crack in the earth by @Angier’s left paw.

Had she done the right thing in letting her opponent live?

if your mother was my sun, then you were my star

“She was in th’ Cedarwood with all o’ them,” Morganna supplied and Angier looked as though he were trying to draw a conclusion from just that sentence alone. He heard the grasses flatten beneath her as she sat and comprehended in full the sentence that changed the picture he was envisioning in his head. Piety had taken refuge within the Cedarwood - with Borden's pack - and, when Morganna had come upon her at last, Piety had surrendered and asked for death.

Dread seized his stomach and looked now to his daughter's face. As was habitual for him, he assumed the worst. Perhaps it was clear now that she and Skoll were truly two of a kind... His ears began to ring; if he dared to think of how Elettra might take such a revelation, he thought he might have a heart attack or suffer an aneurysm occurring at the back of his skull. "Please tell me you didn't," he almost pleaded, stepping to her side and slowly taking a seat beside her with a slight groan. He brushed the tip of his nose along her shoulder blade in some form of comfort to her before righting himself. It was clear now to the Leader that his time to offer advice to Morganna had finally come; and, just like he had done with Deacon several months ago, he was ready to impart upon the princess his insights and assurance.

"Morganna," he whispered, not wanting to lose her to the thoughts that were undeniably swirling about in her head. "Why?" The question in itself was vague (by the sound of it, he could have been asking her why she had killed Piety when she hadn't...) "Out with it. What else are ya not tellin' me? Ya know yeh can tell me anythin'. It... It can only jus' be between us if that makes it easier."

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

No the word stuck in her throat, and when he went on to question why her heart sunk just a little thinking she had indeed done the wrong thing in letting the white wolf live after all she had done to this pack. “No.” she finally forced from her mouth, “Mother’ll need ter know, just in case.” She was making it sound worse than it was, and she hurried to fill the silence. “Her throat was right there. I went fer her ear expectin’ her ter pull away, or get up…” She had intended to pull the other wolf’s ear off but not in her wildest dreams did she think she would actually be successful. “I couldn’t kill ‘er. I should have but not like tha’.”

The noise, she could hear the screaming again. “After…” she wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t going to throw up, and perhaps if she had eaten anything today she would have. “After I …” Why was it so hard to put into words? It took three shaky breaths for her to finally say it out loud. “I ripped her ear off. An’ she jus’ rolled over screechin’ an’ pawed at ‘er face and kept laying there beggin’ me ter kill her. I told ‘er ter get up an’ fight. If she wanted ter die, she had ter get on ‘er feet.” She still couldn’t comprehend why it had even gone that far. “She got up an’ ran. I chased ‘er fer a bit but I wasn’t jumpin’ in a river after her.” she finished a little bitterly. What if there were lagoon monsters in there too? That would have been the perfect end to her journey, trying to fight off a fish while she attempted to drown her brother’s ex.

if your mother was my sun, then you were my star

The instant she had told him "no" was the moment in which Angier exhaled in relief. "That would be wise," he told her next, interjecting for only a second in order for her to continue. From the corner of his eye, he watched the tip of her nose, his eyes roving to her eyes as she went on to tell him why she was so flustered. Piety had laid out before her, ready to accept her fate. Morganna had lunged, hoping the ivory girl would have flinched away after finding herself unprepared to let herself bleed.

The princess paused and the Leader merely waited, wanting to give her all the time in the world. His graying ear kept in its place, cupped to the side in her direction as to not miss a single word she uttered. It had taken three tries but eventually more came out. Morganna's accidental feat only motivated Piety to egg her on and, instead of dealing her a swift death, Morganna offered a full-fledged fight... which Piety fled from.

Angier scowled and his skull straightened so that he faced forward. He recalled Piety's face when he had first met her, remembered when he saw her and Skoll together... saw just how much impact she had on the dark prince's entire being. It was almost too easy to imagine her - with her bloodied ear - crawling into the space beneath Borden's belly, seeking protection and security. Having been exposed to many a powerful woman (Elettra, of course, with Skana and Sorya, Morganna, Enoki and even Hecate...), he thought of Piety as disgusting... pitiful. It dawned on him now just what kind of spell she had woven on his step-son. She was one of those creatures, a perceived weakling who sought the protection of a powerful individual of the opposite sex. Really, the tawny Lyall could have classified himself as such a thing, but he was glad enough to know that he had become so much more than that.

The question now was why Piety had transferred from Willow Ridge at all. Hadn't Skoll kept her happy enough? Every time Angier had checked up on Sven during his routinely passes along the borders, the little hideaway was well-kept. Skoll never lashed out or complained after the meeting and Piety never caused anymore trouble either...

"Does yer brother know?" he asked, pulling himself from his thoughts at last. "Ya might wanna tell 'im too. Ya know how he is with... loose ends." He thought back to that unfortunate Leader in the north, the one that Skoll had murdered without distinct orders to do so. There was a gap of silence in which he gathered the rest of what he wanted to tell her. "I'm proud o' ya, Morganna, fer doin' what ya did. It might've been an accident but, it was all 'er fault fer not takin' yer warnin' seriously. Think of it this way..." Despite his poor eyesight he still looked at her. He was still able to see traces of her face, though, it would take a bit of guessing to figure out her expressions. "Skoll could've found 'er, an' if he had been in yer place, she would've been done. Dead."

"What yer fam'ly's past has done or laid out 'fore ya does not define you, princess. It's what ya do, that does." He gave her an assuring nudge to her shoulder before pulling away to smile at her, "Ya understand? 'Cause of you she can live anoth'r day an' she 'as a reminder to be thankful fer it. At the very least, I'm glad ya chased after 'er even after th'fact. She never truly belonged with us, I'm sure y'know."

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

I'm not a choice, I'm a natural selection

The silence that stretched out after she had finished relaying the events of her encounter with Piety was not uncomfortable. Quite to the contrary it gave her a chance to breathe and adjust to the new found lightness on her back. She hadn't even realised how much the encounter had been weighing her down.

When Angier finally did speak, it wasn't the words she had been expecting to hear. He was proud of her and that in itself was enough to set her tail to thumping against the earth in a rhythmic wag of relief. He reaffirmed what she had been trying to convince herself all along, it was all Piety's fault. Morganna allowed her actions to speak for her and for the deserter to expect any ounce of a merciful, quick or painless delivery to the afterlife at her jaws only spoke to the others unsoundness of mind.

When he suggested she should mention it to Skoll she nodded to let him know her brother was aware. She leaned into his nudge for just a moment, allowing him to pull away and she let her smile match his own when he said she never truly belonged with us. It was reassuring to know she wasn't the only one to feel that way.

She allowed the silence to stretch on comfortably between them for a few moments more before she spoke again. "Thank you." she finally said with a smile, rising to brush her muzzle along his cheek. "I suppose I better go break the news ter mother..." she sighed, expecting to find @Elettra worrying over the current stocks in the medicinal den or attempting a pass at the borders with Ravenna hounding her to take it easy. "Would yer like ter walk back with me?" she offered innocently, not wanting to let on that she was worried he might struggle to navigate back on his own. She was sure her mothers obvious worry was enough for him to deal with without making her own so obvious as to make him feel she was trying to coddle him.