Riddle Heights The moon is high

For @Skoll <3

I feel vicious and sly, and the moon is high

The curtailing of the fires raging beneath her skin had been a lengthier process than she might have otherwise anticipated. Even now she barely resisted the urge to rub against boulders like some mangy cat, the final traces of her heat still stinking up the air around her as she moved across the moonlit heights.

Oh how easy it would be to sneak back to the secondary medicinal den and sleep for days. She wasn't even hungry enough to stop by a cache on the way. Thoughts of all that could have gone wrong in her short absence swirled in her head. Would Nicolo still lead when she returned or had someone sufficiently fuelled by testosterone knocked him from his perch? It was all too much for her to consider, an emotionally exhausted shake of her head bringing her back to the present. She needed to watch her step.

The scent of Willows drifted to her first, though she couldn't quite place whether it was carried on an updraft or if one of her pack mates lingered nearby. She was uncharacteristically off guard. she should have known better than that.

Skoll had been spying on a murder of crows in the distance, listening to their quieter dialect of softer chirps and trills as they gossiped amongst themselves rather than the forest around them, when a lumbering figure had caught his attention much further away than his intended targets. It swayed and staggered along, or so it seemed; a pair of squinted eyes couldn't exactly be sure. He would need to have a closer look. Match her gait, sync up with the rhythm of her footfalls, breathe in shallower and quieter breaths to avoid the possibility of detection... The stink in the air readily gave her away. Morganna was tottering back home again after one of her day trips beyond the Ridge.

He remembered how he had found her last, sometime before the middle of winter had struck the Lore, when she had stunk of Craw and Renier and whoever else she had managed to ensnare into her social circle. It was suffocating to just think about it; one moment he could be fine in believing that he was the only one she trusted, but then the thought of her being surrounded by other men who were not Archers made him sick to his stomach. He had wanted to be the only one.

Two moon-like eyes watched as she shook her head and there came an opportune moment to catch her off her guard. Obviously something was up because usually it was her who came to him.

"GODS, MORGANNA!" he practically yowled through the silhouettes of the trees just two wolf lengths away from her somewhere to her left. He had really meant to startle her. "I can smell you from all the way across the territory." There was a sort of bitterness in his voice that curled in his throat and laced his words with venom that meant to sting. Hackles raised and teeth bared, he rounded on her, his movements a telltale sign that this was the hour in which he was wide awake and most observant. "Where were you?!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 16, 2016, 06:44 PM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Dark head snapped in the direction of the yowl, surprised for the first time in what felt like an age. Given the way Morganna's own scent had so sufficiently stunk up the place she might have assumed she was doing him a favour. Her growl was low and lacking its usual affection. She had warned him something like this would happen. If she did have children there would be no telling just who may have fathered them. The potential fathers would be protected from @Nicolò, and the children would be hers and hers alone. "Doin' my job!" she spat back with just as much venom as she could muster. The whole sordid affair left a bad taste in her mouth but what had been done was done, and it was necessary.

When he asked where she had been, the only acceptable response was "Everywhere." for she had indeed been reacquainting herself with the lands that lay beyond their borders. What did it matter anyway. "Yer couldn't fix this problem for me." There was obvious bitterness in her voice, convinced simply by the length of her cycle alone that she must have been unsuccessful. Had she been less exhausted and hormonal she might have moved to him and buried her face in the thick fur around his throat, closed her eyes as taken a moment. But she was hormonal, and she was exhausted. Eyes narrowed instead as she turned his own question back on him, suspicion  ringing clear in each syllable. "Where were you?"

It seemed to him that she had been expecting his appearance. At the very least, she seemed surprised and intrigued rather than shocked or startled. Anything apart from smugness was well appreciated, even if things felt topsy-turvy with the change of the seasons. Her reaction and her response fueled him further, her own brand of spite becoming emotional gasoline. Two sides of the same coin, indeed...

"Closer to home than you've been I'm certain," he practically spat back. The aggressiveness on his face softened into something more like an expression that meant to begrudge her. Not too long ago he had been able to try his luck with courting a number of women beneath his sister's reign, but since he had struck a 'deal' with Hecate, he had long since been bound to her. As much as their union was wanted and desired, he already felt smothered and was beginning to wistfully looked forward to his nightly walks on a daily basis.

His tone of voice had relinquished the bite it had previously wielded and the more he stared at her, the more he began to wonder just what his only litter mate had been up to in the dead of night, "You know I'd have fixed that problem if I could and you know that I can't..." The scowl on his face was now only made up of his furrowed brows and downturned mouth, "Where are you coming from?"

(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2016, 07:12 AM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

As @Skoll countered her question so sharply, Morganna's shoulders dropped, a singular lash of her tail betraying her frustration. Heavy steps brought her closer to his side but not as near as she might have otherwise come. A heaving sigh left her dark lips in a billowing cloud with a barely whispered "I know." With a swing of her head she looked back the way she had come from, "I was up by the lake fer a bit, I climbed up the Falls." It wasn't the first time she had done so, finding herself quite partial to the grotto at their peak (surely sturgeon couldn't swim up waterfalls... Although salmon did...).

Peach eyes turned back on her brother, her expression softening, finally giving voice to a question that would no doubt give her headaches for weeks to come. "So did yer make it official with Hecate then?" Her jaws clamped shut as the final word left her lips, eyes leaving her brothers face to stare at the tops of the willows below. Snow still coated much of the land below and it was a difficult call to make whether the stars glistened more beautifully or the snow below it. Silently she willed herself the self control to count to 10, no matter what his answer may be. One. Two. Three.

"Hmm," he sounded upon learning of her whereabouts. To her next question, his trademark smirk found its way onto his dark face, "If you must know... yes, I did." He steeled himself, for once, unable to read the expression or emotion in her eyes. He might have been aware of speaking to his sister, but he was also very conscious of the fact that he was also speaking to his Queen. The subtle lift of his head and crown allowed him to swallow down the lump that was ascending into his throat.

"I trust her," he admitted, his tone suddenly hushed on his tongue. Even in an instance like this, he would never use the "L" word; though, as much as he would have liked to use the sentiment of saying that he "loved" someone, he found that it was not 'deep' enough to express his feelings for @Hecate. There was a lengthy pause on his behalf and his devilish ears tipped back for a moment. Then, an act of true submission, he sat down at first before bowing his head and sprawling out on his stomach. His willowy forelimbs stretched out before him and he let loose a soft whine as is eyes fell to her paws. "Would... Would you still keep me?"

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Another deep breath in, and then one out. Morganna turned her head to see @Skoll laying down, her brows drawing down at his question. "Why wouldn't I?" she countered softly. Obviously her Uncle was incapable of keeping any of the adult males in line, she could very well be carrying the evidence of it within her right now, but his actions wouldn't be entirely without consequences. "@Hecate on th' other hand..." her voice trailed off with an exasperated sigh. "I can't make an exception just 'cos yer my brother..." If she did, she would be expected to make an exception for her uncle too and then what point was there in retaining the law at all? Isolde's frozen corpse was still too fresh in her mind. Her mothers words etched clearly on her heart. Pups tend to die when you allow those not your own to live...

She did not move to sit or lay down at his side as she usually might, instead turning on the spot to pace back and forth, once, twice, three times. It was obvious the cogs in her head were turning over. She did love @Sven dearly. It would be a shame to miss out on meeting whatever of her brothers gets this one pushed out. Finally she sighed, "Perhaps if yer were leader, I might be able ter make an exception..." No guarantees. Perhaps it would be easier to claim the children as her own and run his woman out... "But if I catch a whiff o' her an' yer aren't..." she allowed her eyes to bore into his, giving her unspoken words a chance to settle in. She couldn't afford to be as lenient as their mother had.

(This post was last modified: Mar 18, 2016, 01:06 AM by Morganna.)

Morganna seemed to know what to say with her ever-thoughtful "Why wouldn't I?" Skoll's tail wagged against the ground and he leaned back as to fully roll onto his side. At this point, he was not above the idea of actively giving her a show; all he had to do was roll completely onto his back to bare his vulnerable underside to her. In all truth, she was probably the only one who had ever seen him do such a thing on his own accord and without coercion. His beloved's name was the next topic of interest to leave her lips and the prince cringed at his sister's feet. He looked up at her with such scrutiny and concern that the whites of his eyes framed his pale silver irises.

It was only fair, he decided, as she came to let him know that she could not overlook his rank for Hecate's sake. She made it quite clear: if he did not challenge their uncle, he was going to risk losing Hecate and their unborn child. At first, he assumed the worst: imagining Morganna openly attacking Hecate just as she had done with Piety. Gods, they had been lucky that the stress had not been enough to end their litter... that little Sven alone had survived. Then, with a more wilder imagination, he entertained the idea of Morganna removing the children from Hecate's side and caring for the tiny souls as though they had been her own - just as she practically had with her nephew when Piety had gone.

"I'll do it," he vowed to her, "I will challenge @Nicolò." Desperation tainted his voice as his jaw quivered. He had one lost love; he was sure by now that he could not lose another. Not his @Hecate. Mother Nature and the Old Gods had made it clear that he and Morganna were not meant to be, no matter how much Skoll had dared to contemplate its disastrous effects. At the end of it all, their familial bond was enough for the both of them. It was not fair for her to cast out his mate; if it was his love she had wanted, she should have known by now that she would always have it. No matter what.

"Just give me the word, my Queen, and I'll do it," he countered her trailing thought, tilting his head up to meet her eyes with the same exact fire as he propped himself back up on his elbows. "I will end him."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

A strange stillness had overcome her, her eyes drifting over the lands below in silent contemplation. In this moment that could have stretched into eternity, a few things dawned on her. The first being that perhaps the end was in sight. The second being that she couldn't possibly allow @Hecate to hang around regardless of the suggestion she had just made to her brother. The words she had spoken to both her uncle and mother rang far truer to the outcome than any perhaps. The third was that she had no interest in the title of queen. She had shed the title of princess long ago, she had worked so hard to get to where she was, but she would always defer to @Elettra. She didn't need to seek advise on this one. She already knew the answer.

"I am not yer queen, I am yer sister." her smile was a soft one betraying none of the thoughts that had just passed through her mind. Morganna stepped close to her brother then, pressing her nose with care into his cheek, the bridge of her muzzle along his temple before nudging him to indicate he should get up. "Yer better move fast..." her voice was still gentle, convinced that finally some pieces were falling into place. "These things have a habit o' makin' themselves apparent rather quickly."

She would pay Hecate a visit in a few days. Perhaps she would break the news to Elettra too. She was sure her mother would very much like to get better acquainted with this one.