Round Stone Crest the more i like to let it go

For @Marianna only. @Draven & @Kino for reference, first paragraph.
Dated 10/29 - Clear skies & sunny, noon.

The children perhaps would never know how precious Gent's persistence was. The man was not likely to dole out second chances even when such a thing could benefit him, as the possibility of wasting his time was too much of a threat. Minka's passing especially had given him a taste of his own mortality, a first for the shadow king, making his time all the more precious and risks all the less savory. Yet the children remained an exception to it all. Despite their best efforts to avoid and deny him, Gent refused to give up. There was plenty to this, deeply rooted in emotion, a territory he abhorred exploring, and so he did his best not to contemplate it. He merely acted, weaving them into his routine regardless of whether they accepted his advances or not. Each day he tried, and each day he allowed them their choice without argument, holding out hope that one day it wouldn't be so difficult.

Most of all, he missed the special moments spent with his only princess, his personal little shadow. No longer did she look at him with adoration, something else lingering within her eyes. Sometimes he knew it as fear, other times as confusion or tumultuous indecision. Most often he couldn't place it at all, and it unnerved him. Yet if he could choose only one of them to save, it would be her, and so he tried his damnedest to ignore the unease that consumed him when she was around, trying to act normal as though nothing bad had ever happened to them. So far, this hadn't worked, yet he didn't know what else to try. He had learned swiftly that she didn't want to talk about what had happened, that exposed emotions chased her away faster than anything, and part of him was thankful for this. Gent didn't want to have heart-to-hearts, didn't want to dwell on Minka's memory and the ravenous grief that had taken her place within the pack's heart.

With all this as his motivation, Gent had been tracking her scent for some minutes, a vivid red stone resting upon his tongue. He had discovered it while fishing for an early lunch at the base of the mountain, and was reminded instantly of his little girl's fondness for rocks of all shapes and sizes. Shedding his hunting efforts he had immediately snatched the prize up and set out to find the princess, hoping the gift would entice her to share some of her time with him.

As the king neared her location, he let out a bark, the sound warped as it split around the stone, but its message clear all the same. I have a surprise for you, heart.

(This post was last modified: Oct 30, 2015, 01:49 AM by Gent.)

Ever since Kino had left, the girl had fallen all the more in on herself. It wasn’t as if she blamed her brother, except, on some level, she did. It was just as obvious to her that @Raela had jumped in to take her mother’s place. Once, the woman had been a friendly playmate, but her unholy anger remained etched in the child’s mind from the night her dam had passed on. There had been no last rites or epicedrum sung by her father (the wolf she really only knew by his falling stars and woodland hymns), but only the erupting chaos in the pack. Lines had been drawn in the sand.

It was Kino and Marianna versus everybody, it seemed, for Draven had played the correct card. Until that moment, the girl had no idea there was even anything that might be inappropriate to begin with.

All the same, a die had been cast. It became two against the pack.

Shortly thereafter, it became one. She didn’t blame her littermate, except that he left to deal with everyone else. Marianna was no expert at relationships, even before Minka’s death, and found herself falling in on herself all the more. She left the grounds less often, but instead found places to hide. It was getting more and more difficult, now that she was no longer a roly poly ball of fluff and fat, but a wolf of almost proper size. All the same, she’d find an abandoned burrow or downed tree to stuff herself into, often only appearing when hunger got the best of her, or if someone specifically called to her.

These days, it was only Kova who’d do as much – to hear Gent summon her was a bit of a surprise. It took the pup several moments to untangle herself from the stump she’d settled in, pulling and pushing until she got free. Once she did, she only jogged to the site, unable to mask any of her emotions. The child’s face was gaunt and her expression wary, sides thinner than they once were as she slithered into the shadow’s view, bobbing her head once as she came forward. “Yeah?”

 

A wild dissertation appears!

Her ragged state was unfortunately familiar to Gent by now, and he almost couldn't recall the looks of her, curled up with Kino in the den as Minka's epicedium rang through the forest. Everything had changed so swiftly, not just in due process of the queen's death but also as was natural for time. Marianna and Draven both had grown in leaps and bounds this past month, and it tugged at the great beast's heart to know that such augmentations were being made under such a dark shadow, and yet it was still some form of normalcy, their rapid growth at least one thing that was expected. No, it was the lingering fear within her eyes that he could not move past, that caution with which she treated him, as though he'd ever done her harm. The king was unable to connect Kino's well-earned punishment with this new facet of his favorite child, and the possibility had not been communicated to him by any party. Instead, he wondered if she shared the accusation that Kova had expressed that night. Did she blame him too?

"Look," he directed with a soft smile after tossing the vibrant stone into the grass between them. "I found it in the stream, and knew I had to give it to you."

He hoped dearly that she would not only accept it, but that the token would bring her some ray of mirth, even if it was thin and faint. Moreover, he wanted to regain the goodwill that had existed between them, but he wasn't sure what that would take. Certainly a rock wouldn't fix what had been broken, as much as dreamed for the answer to be so simple, but the king could not imagine what more could be done on top of all that he already attempted routinely, consistently trying to involve the girl. After all, he couldn't force her to participate in anything she didn't want to do. It had come to the point where he was made to accept that he did not have full control, and oh how the mammoth beast hated losing control.

(This post was last modified: Oct 30, 2015, 09:50 PM by Gent.)

Ears flipped forward when something shiny was tossed from Gent’s mouth, the bright flash of red catching the child’s eye. Though she’d grown in leaps and bounds in the past months and now presented much more like a full-grown wolf, she did not have the maturity most of her packmates shared. Tail waving behind her back, the girl surged forward to investigate the stone, her nose pressed to the dead grass until she found her prize. Immediately, it was put in her mouth, though she was no longer exploring the world with taste, and she held it there for several moments before deciding it was acceptable. Dropping the rock, Marianna sat, framing her new treasure with her front paws as if it were a gem, and not simply fished out from the local creek.

“Thanks,” she hummed, glancing back up to meet Gent’s face with a smile. This Gent, she knew well, and her tail rustled behind her in dried stalks as she watched the older wolf.

Unfortunately, the silence soon fell back between them, and the girl found herself shuffling awkwardly as she reached for something to say. Working her jaw, stormy eyes eventually fell back to her feet as she huffed, tail wrapping back around her haunches tightly, like a security blanket. “…you…want something else?” she asked, wiggling her coriaceous nose. “Or just the rock?”

 

A wild dissertation appears!

Her smile acted as sunrays, lighting up his features in response with a warm, glowing smile that reached his glacial eyes. His own tail whipped back and forth, brushing the tallest blades of grass which his coriaceous paw pads rested within. Yet it didn't last, and when she began to sink upon herself, he stilled once more with tension. The smile pressed on, refusing to fall despite the reactions he might continue to receive from her. He was determined to keep them both afloat regardless of any awkward doubts that might attempt to thwart them.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go exploring with me? Just the two of us?" It was obvious that nowadays, Marianna preferred to be outside of the territory, and he only sought to hinder this out of concern for her safety. Despite her novel size, there was so much harm that could befall him, especially if she traveled far enough out of his range. Then there was the newest of his fears, that if she tasted too much freedom, she might decide to leave them behind as Kino had. It didn't occur to the blue black beast that refusing her that same freedom might lead to such dire actions faster.

"We can wherever you wanna go, heart. Just point the way."

(This post was last modified: Nov 05, 2015, 02:13 AM by Gent.)

Exploring was the magic word.  No sooner had it fallen from the shadow king’s mouth than was the girl on her feet, eyes glimmering like little drops of smoky quartz.  It was obvious she would like nothing more – that it was an invitation to go on an adventure somewhere made it feel less like adult supervision than the expeditions the pair had prior to the collapse of everything that was Marianna’s world.   “Yes!”  She bobbed her head eagerly, taking two steps forward before realizing her shiny red stone had been between both her paws.

Doubling back for rock, she picked it up in her mouth gingerly before trotting to Gent’s side.   “Gotta pu’ ‘is ‘way,” she garbled around the stone, and then the large female was off again, trotting with purpose towards her favorite stump.  This was the tree she’d been napping inside when he’d first called for the former princess, and it did not occur to her that in doing this, she was leading the man to one of her hiding places.  Once arrived, she tucked the rock into a nook with several others, though none quite as red as the gift she’d received.  Only when she was satisfied did the girl pull back and face the alpha, her tail still swinging behind her.

“Can we leave?  Go outside, I mean?  I want to see things!  New things.”

(This post was last modified: Nov 06, 2015, 12:36 AM by Marianna.)

 

A wild dissertation appears!

He couldn't help the grin that worked its way easily over his features as she responded to his offering jubilantly. As she snatched up her gifted treasure and informed him of her responsibility to it, he watched with great interest where exactly she decided to store it. He followed her at a casual pace, and as it was realized that she indeed had a private space in which to hide the stone, he feigned allowing her some privacy, averting his eyes. Yet she seemed oblivious to such a thing, and a mental note was made all the same. Shameful, how little he now knew of his daughter, but with her excitement he felt that perhaps he really would be able to fix it all.

His lips pulled back once more with a fond smile as she whirled round once more to face him and further express her desires.

"Of course!" he replied, taking a few high-stepped strides forward as if to lead the way and swiftly start this adventure. "Hey, you ever been inside a cave before?" he then asked her, expecting the answer to be no. Actually, hoping the answer to be no; it would give him quite the scare to know that she had been somewhere with such high potential to be dangerous without him, and certainly trusted few other adults to have protected her adequately. Very much he wanted this to be novel to the girl, and thus he could take Marianna to the wonder that he and @Draven had discovered. Hopefully, it would be enough adventure for her for a day.

Of course, he said, and for the briefest of moments, it gave the girl pause. Remember that time she didn’t need someone to accompany her outside of Round Stone Crest’s territory? Remember when she and @Kino would have the most fabulous adventures? The once-princess spared a thought for her missing brother, a sigh echoing from her as she wondered where he was, and what the blue-eyed boy was doing. Wherever he was, she doubted he needed any permission to do anything, and her heart panged with a longing to live such a life of freedom.

Maybe she should have gone with him.

Returning to the present, she shook her head at the question. “Nope,” Marianna replied, arching one brow. “Not allowed, remember?” He had made that rule himself, for everyone in the pack to follow. And perhaps that should have made her bitter, but the ruddy girl was overwhelmed by curiosity to see a ‘cave’ and whatever wonder it might hold inside. “That where we’re going to go? Do you think it has nice rocks?”

Because one new rock for the day clearly wasn’t enough – a cave rock would be perfect for her growing collection. The pup danced in place, eager to begin on their quest.

 

A wild dissertation appears!

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

You're totally welcome to PP them having traveled to the cave if you want. :3 I'm horrible at transitioning so yeah, sorry. xD;

Her response struck him as odd, a single ear flicking upward quizzically as she spoke it. The decree had not been in effect for so long that the children had never been allowed outside of the territory, and anyways there were other means for her to have encountered such a thing. He could not fathom that perhaps to a child her age it felt as though such restrictions had been in place forever, but still he chose to chalk it up to an oddity of her youth rather than pursue it or, worse, take it as a strike against him. Marianna had not shown anger toward him thus far as Kino had and Draven both had in differing degrees, and he wanted to dearly to take this as a sign that she was the only one of them not to blame him in some capacity for the fateful events that had torn the blended family asunder.

"If that's what you want," he responded, maintaining his smile in hopes that Marianna would feel some kind of freedom in leading this venture. Part of him felt sympathetic about what she must be feeling regarding the restrictions, but felt as a whole that they were for the monthlings' own good.

"Oh, its got tons of nice rocks. You're gonna love it. C'mon, I'll show you the way."