Verdant Mosses marmalade

Despite being painfully aware of how differently he spoke the shadow never acknowledged it. Not once did he ever wish he spoke propetly or want to perfect his speech. If anything, he would much rather prefer not to speak at all, but Greer knew he couldn’t get away with being mute. Not while being an Archer. His sister and mother were understanding of his broken speech, but the prince could never be fully mute. The selective mutism and hobbled speech would work just fine.

Sometimes it was a little frustrating, especially whenever he wanted to convey his thoughts properly. Luckily he had yet to encounter a wolf to comment on his broken syllables and fragmented sentences. Typically the shadow prince was a little more careful when it came to younger wolves, who were far bolder with their prying questions. He had been lucky with the golden-eyed girl; her questions remained subdued despite her burning curiosity. For that, he was thankful.

After a long silence from the oak princess she announced that Greer would also be fond of their pack before going on to describe the Bend wolves. He liked the idea of a connected but disconnected pack, where the members respected the privacy of others yet continued to work together. Willow Ridge was fuelled mainly on it's loyalty and strong blood ties, which meant that — for the most part — everyone knew each other’s business. Which meant the shadow prince was aware of what Skoll’s intentions were with the green-eyed ghost that Greer had once been fond of. Since their last meeting, where the shadow announced his plans to leave the Ridge in the spring, the yearling had distanced himself completely from the ghost and allowed her to only be a glimmer of a memory.

“Greer like that,” he responded softly, his mercury gaze narrowing softly as he focused on the ground between them. “Greer like quiet. Always look for quiet.” His voice was low as he prodded the dirt absently with a forepaw, his bottom lip quivering slightly. He liked the idea of being able to hang out with both Sahalie and Kyna; however, Greer was thinking more permanently instead of just a “once in a while”.

Suddenly, he looked up, his expression serious: “Halie keep secret?”

u_u sorry for the wait. completely buried in threads rn @_____@ @Greer

However few words Greer spoke, Sahalie seemed to more or less confirm by subtle change of expression and intent stare that Greer was more of a thinker, probably more elegant in mental representations. Her ears perked at how easily the shadow agreed with her, expecting the average wolf to take a little more convincing than that. But perhaps she really had him pegged. Greer reaffirmed her suspicions of a man who looked for quiet, his own sultry voice hushed and vaguely mysterious. There was still a quality in it that she could not quite figure out, but it seemed alluring somehow.

Honestly, though, it was strange for her to be selling her pack to someone by advertising the aspects of her pack that did not mesh with her own personality. She loved her family, respected their space, but found herself always longing to improve the situation. Shouldn't she, perhaps, be attempting to fill her world and Oak Tree Bend with outgoing, warm hearts like her own? Inwardly, this felt wrong. That wasn't what a pack was to the girl. Perhaps it had a lot to do with the collection of broken souls that was her up bringing, but a pack felt more like a place to heal to the girl, a safe place. And she would invite anyone into her family seeking such a haven. This was the most important thing.

Flopping her ears about, she quirked one eyebrow, barely containing her excitement. "I am like the best secret keeper." Not that she had ever really been entrusted with any. But she knew a lot about secrets, having had them kept from her all her life. She knew how to behave and what to do with them. She felt worthy. And, more than anything, the girl just wanted to be someone to trust. "What is it?" Carefully, her golden eyes roamed over his face. Gone were the smiles and winks. This secret, whatever it was, seemed like a Very Big Deal. Her heart thumped.  

She wondered if at last her first secret had come.

While the Bend was his first choice for his pending relocation, the shadow was also uncertain. There was still so much of Relic Lore he had not seen and he waned to see as much as he could before deciding to settle down somewhere else. Or, perhaps, he would give an elaborate story to his sister about some self-discovery mission and leave the willows behind for a few weeks — or months — before returning to his birthplace. His home would always be among the willows, regardless of wherever he ended up next, and his loyalty would always remain with the Archers.

It was Kyna — and now Sahalie — that had Greer’s attention fixated on Oak Tree Bend, but what if it did not work out for the long-legged shadow? What if it was not as appealing as the golden-eyed girl made it seem?

A frown creased his lips briefly as the girl’s voice tore him away from his thoughts once more. Her visible excitement caused the corners of his lips to lift, his velvet ears falling back as the frown was quickly removed. There was no going back now. His lips tightened instinctively, his tongue pushing against the back of his teeth as he mulled over his words. She spoke a second time with encouragement, her features soft as she observed him. Greer knew that she was someone he could trust, even though he truly did not trust anyone outside of his family.

“Greer leave Willows. Not yet — soon. Greer no want be there.” He paused, his brows furrowed. “Not good things happen.” Another pause. This time his mercury gaze fell to his paws as his toes curled into the ground. “Greer go to Oak. Maybe. Greer unsure.”

(This post was last modified: Mar 29, 2016, 05:25 PM by Greer.)

@Greer :C sorry for the wait and the shortness. and the massive burden on greer to somehow explain the shit-show that is WR xD

Every sentence made perfect sense, and yet it made no sense at all. What was wrong with the willows? Everything had seemed so good and happy when she had visited there with Sven. Sven had seemed happy, Wraith was very gentlemanly, and the leader woman had been very polite and nice. Her spritely face creased with concern as she thought of her friends and if they were alright. It was something bad enough that made Greer want to leave, but she knew so little of Greer that his motivations were completely obscure. "But... but why would you want to leave?" If Greer had time to weigh his options, though, then surely it was nothing catastrophic like an illness or death.

The thought of another friend joining her on this side of the mountain in her loose, broken family was tempting but it had to happen for the right reasons. Greer was Sven's uncle, he had a family over in Willow Ridge—a big one, if Sven could be believed—and Sahalie was not in the business of tearing any families apart. If Willow Ridge erupted in chaos from Greer's absence, Sahalie did not want any share of the blame that she would surely feel. And how could she learn of "not good things" happening to people she knew and enjoyed and just sit back, convince Greer to come away and do nothing? That she was young and an outsider meant nothing to the foolish, brave child. She hadn't yet known an issue that was too big for her to tackle. She could not know that the eastern side drama was small fish compared to the political intricacies of the empires on the other side of the sunset, but until she knew she could not openly welcome Greer into her home.

As expected the chocolate girl was confused by his decision to leave Willow Ridge. She was unaware of the drama and turmoil going on within the willows. His birthplace no longer felt like a home; instead, it felt more like a place he was merely visiting, or passing through. It did not help that the shadow spent most of his time outside pack borders, exploring the neighbouring territories and attempting to learn as much as he could about the packs he was interested in. Truthfully, Greer would have preferred to live on his own, forever exploring the endless lands of Relic Lore, but he knew he could not survive without a pack behind him. Perhaps when he was a little older, but not now.

For the second time in their conversation, Sahalie drew serious, her expression subdued as her voice broke through the silence. He inhaled slowly, the gears in his mind struggling to turn as he tried to figure out who to explain it all to the golden eyed girl without saying too much. “Family problem,” he started with an unamused grunt, his mouth folding into a frown as he glanced at his paws. “Ma and Pa step down, Morg-sis step up. Morg crazy, but good crazy. Skoll-brother also step up, then step down. Uncle step up in place. Uncle real bad crazy. Not good. Not trust him. Plan bad things, Greer think.” He paused, hoping his broken speech would piece together a picture for the Oak princess. His frown only deepened as he glanced up at his companion, mercury gaze soft as he studied her stoic expression. “Not trust brother either. Stole… something from Greer. Worry about Ridge.” He stopped, this time permanently, as he allowed the rest of his words to sink in. Talking made his mouth dry and his head hurt; he did not like listening to his own voice. 

@Greer omg I am so sorry at how long this has taken. we can...probably start wrapping it up in the next few posts.

"Family problems" were something that Sahalie had imagined herself to be quite familiar with: she, after all, had no mother and her brother had run away and the names of the dead stacked up in her heart. There was always a small tension among their modest number, a grey cloud that she could never quite understand. Her teeth folded over her dark lip as she held herself back from telling him that family problems were everywhere and he could never escape these things, only deal with them.

Only, she was soon schooled on some "family problems" she had never even heard of. Her own father had stepped down, and when Drestig had taken his place she had been upset—but her frustrations were, in no way, because of any fault of Drestig. Her father's replacement was a good man. Definitely not crazy. What did it even mean to be good crazy or bad crazy? Morganna, the older woman she had met at the borders, had seemed perfectly friendly: normal. Sahalie was genuinely unfamiliar with "crazy," couldn't think of what it looked like besides her brother rolling senselessly in another mud puddle. Was this the sort of thing that Morganna did behind closed doors? The sort of thing that the uncle did publicly? Truly, it sounded much worse than that. Mud puddles would be a silly thing for defecting. But most of the subtlties were lost on the girl, not understanding if Morganna and the uncle were together planning bad things or if it was just the uncle.

Clearly, whatever the situation actually was, it had shaken Greer's faith in his homeland. The picture he had painted for her was one rife with chaos. Wolves were stealing and doing bad things willy-nilly. She opened her mouth for a moment, wanting to say "Well then let's fix it," before she suddenly felt a lurch in her belly the same way a fisherman might feel a disturbing tug on his line: this fish was too big to reel in. Her shoulders slumped. Every bone in her body told her that giving up was wrong. But when was trying worth anyone's safety? If Greer did not want to risk his life for a family that he no longer believed in, Sahalie could not fault him for that. That was too much to ask of one wolf. Sacrifice could not be instilled by another, only the self.

"Will Sven be okay?" she asked, her voice low with worry now. "I think if you're unsure about leaving...you need to think really good and hard about it. These wolves are your family.... Either that means something to you or it doesn't, but. But you owe it to them to think about it, at least. To see some of it through. Maybe it will all get resolved without any problems. Maybe your crazy uncle will step down or someone will challenge him. Idunno."

"If it doesn't work out for you, there's always the Bend, though."

(This post was last modified: Apr 20, 2016, 09:35 PM by Sahalie.)

yes! <3 sounds good to meeeee 

Once the words had dripped off his tongue the shadow immediately regretted them, his lips tightening over his teeth as he lowered his gaze. He mentally scolded himself for sharing so much with the golden eyed stranger — while she had promised to keep his secret(s) Greer did not know if the Oak princess was trustworthy. She spoke with the honesty of a young pup, her words unclouded by judgement, but what if it was all a ruse? An ear flopped to the side as he studied her silently, his tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth as he waited for the younger girl to digest his words. Had he been wrong in telling Sahalie about the predicament that consumed Willow Ridge? What if she returned to her home and told her leaders all about the weak, troubled Ridge wolves?

Her question caused his brows to furrow. Truthfully, he had been neglectful of his nephew — most of his focus had been on his younger brother, Niles, and comforting him after Isolde’s death. The realization caused a lump to form in his throat; how could he have been so careless of his own kin? However, he knew that Sven was not fully against Hecate like Greer and Morganna were; he was unsure of where his nephew stood. The shadow made a mental note to seek out the pale Archer and see how he was handling the clusterf— that was Willow Ridge.

Nodding softly in response, the boy focused his silver gaze on his companion. “Yes, Sven ok.” The white smudge was no longer a child; he was capable of handling himself even with everything that was going on. He listened patiently to the girl’s words, worry evident as her voice spilled into the space between them. Either that means something to you or it doesn’t… His lip twitched at the comment but he remained quiet, his expression hardening as she mentioned that perhaps things would get resolved without any problems occurring. He doubted it, but Greer admired her optimism. Clearly she did not know the Archer wolves very well, even with the vague picture the shadow had painted for her.

“Greer rather be alone,” he snorted in response, his upper lip curled as his shoulders rolled to show his indifference. “Family good. Want best for them. But, not for Greer.” Another shrug. He did not know how else to explain it to the golden eyed girl. While his home would always be tied to the willows and his family, Greer was restless. Right now it was not where he belonged, but the shadow wasn’t really sure where he belonged. 

@Greer ugh sorry for the crap. feel free to fade with your post.

Sahalie tried to search for something she knew, something of herself in Greer, but found an impassible hardness on his face as she spoke to him. She knew this hardness well: it was all over the Bend. It was probably all over the world with how little she knew of it. But even though Greer was night and she was day, there was a lot in his speech to sympathize with. Sometimes the things that people needed just did not line up. "Yeah, I understand that," she said softly, her eyes roaming over his carved silhouette, "And we all deserve what's best for us, I think, whatever it is." Sahalie had made her life so far out of giving others what they thought was the best for them. Sometimes this was a home, but most of the time it was space—space to breath, space to think—while she went out into the world looking for what was best for her: companionship, excitement, knowledge, whatever. 

Silence fell between them. Sahalie was at a loss for what else to say, but realized that this probably did not bother Greer as much as it did her. He probably appreciated it, and so she allowed it to stretch as her mind wandered over their topics. 

"You're a good wolf, Greer..." she said finally, "And I think you'll get what you want out of life with some work." Her tail waved behind her slowly as she brought herself to her feet. "And more than anything I'm glad Kyna's got such a good friend to look after her. I worry about her a lot." She had always known @Kyna to be quiet, but lately that quiet seemed to speak of much more than shyness. Sahalie felt guilty that she did not know how to deal with it or what to say, but if Kyna had Greer then it mattered less. Sahalie cared only that the girl had someone, it did not need to be her. "So thank you."

"We're east of here if you ever need to find us."

(This post was last modified: May 10, 2016, 03:29 AM by Sahalie.)

Composing himself, the shadow adopted a sullen expression as he observed the younger wolf, his brows knitted together as he listened to her voice. Sahalie had stated that she understood him but Greer wasn’t so sure. The two couldn’t be more opposite from each other — she was certainly more social than he was — yet, oddly enough, he did not completely despise her. She was as intriguing as she was annoying. She was unlike other wolves he had encountered, where their presence had disturbed him and left him in a frenzy to flee almost immediately. With Sahalie, that desire was muted until he felt that he had spent enough time engaging in unwanted conversation.

When the chocolate wolf spoke once more his frown deepened in confusion. Good wolf? As his lip curled in disdain he looked away, almost as if he was looking for a way out among the trees. The shadow wasn't in the market of figuring out what he wanted from life just yet. He wanted to be Greer and do what Greer would want to do; he had little concern for the rest of the wolves in his life (aside from immediate family, of course). Kyna had been a surprise exception to his indifference, which he did not completely hate. At the mention of the former moon princess, Greer dipped his head to show that he appreciated her words, his mercury gaze fixated on the golden-eyed girl.

With her final comment shadow turned with a flick of his tail in response before throwing himself into a forehead gait. He was not quite ready to return to the willows just yet, so he would take the long way home. Meeting Sahalie had been an unexpected surprise, like Kyna, and he was not sure how he felt about the spunky creature just yet.