Willow Ridge home sweet hell

If she had been thinking, it was not at all clearly. When she had left it was a mere act on instinct, a spur of the moment decision. When she had woken and spent the day looking for her mother, only to never succeed it had been in her interest to find Niles or father. Niles was empty handed, to which he had been doing a lot of the caring for their father now that he had been loosing his sight. It was odd, this litter, which grew so quickly to their parents care only to soon have to role reverse and care for them. Still though her parents were aging, Ravenna had no resentment. She had plenty of time to play and romp with her siblings, but took much interest in the words and training her mother had for her now that she had much more time without holding the leading position. She was nothing less of Queen in Ravenna's eyes. The one who had created it all, had made all this happen, the Mother of Willow Ridge.

Ravenna had not a choice at this point but to follow her parents whom, without a doubt, had likely been searching for Isolde. Being so young and yet still knowing her boundaries, Ravenna had not gone far. She had started west in the marsh lands, then arced down to the meadows, then the rise, making sure to take her time as she checked for both parents and sister. When she had gotten back around to the heights, a slow pace was offered so to not make the same mistake she had made before. Last time she had nearly stumbled from the heights, mother had been there to take the blow. This time, however, she was alone - young, cold, hungry, in the dead of winter. Like said, this was not the best idea she had ever had. Once the lower ends of the heights were checked, she went north, romping through the grove and following up along the heartleaf creek until hungry and worn paws forced her to turn around and head back home.

Ravenna Lyall was exhausted. She had managed to scavenge, catch a few hares, though nothing compared to what remained in the caches back home, caught by the jaws of Enoki and her Aunt Adele. A soft whine echoes through the cold of the early morning as she approaches the borders of her home, each step slow and heavy. If luck had her, she would be greeted by her parents, by her sister Isolde who had been gone. In truth, she could only wonder who might have taken her father's place, and what over cluster of wolves had joined the ranks among those she did not already know. Defeated, she flops along the inner skirts of their home land, pawing at one of the caches rested by a drooping willow.

(This post was last modified: Dec 19, 2015, 04:41 PM by Ravenna.)

Perhaps this was the karma that he had been told of, God swaying the fates to justify those who had been wronged and punish those who had thought only of themselves. Sven liked that thought, held it close to his heart as he watched the empire's rusting crown crumble in on itself so that a new, pristine monarchy could arise. Now, he was the one on top, true prince and heir to the kingdom. Now, Niles and his sisters were the ones placed to the wayside, close enough to taste such privilege but not quite near to taking a bite. His bitter thoughts turned back toward his only true interaction with them, how quick they had been to dismiss him and leave him despite his best efforts to be friendly, and it made him find glee in the misfortunes that had befallen his family. Family, pah. He could barely think of them as such; Angier, Niles and Ravenna. Perhaps at one point the ties between them could have been validated, but they had chosen to turn their backs on him, and Sven Archer would not forgive.

Isolde's disappearance was the most recent tragedy to befall the pack, and Sven sincerely hoped they found the girl's body. One less contestant for inheritance, should they all still think themselves worthy. He did not join the searches, in fact would turn away in his explorations if he so much as thought he'd found a trace of the butterfly. Yet when he came across Ravenna, re-entering the Willows with ragged body and exhausted eyes, it was an effortless guess to place where she had been. They cared so much for the child's vanishment, expended so much even in the dead of winter to find her and bring her home again. It doused the flames within him with gasoline, burned him alive from spine to rib cage. When his saintly mother had gone, they hadn't so much as noticed. She hadn't deserved their abandonment. They should've searched high and low for her, too. If they had, perhaps they would have found her sooner, before the Hollow wolves could catch their claws within her mind.

Sven stepped forward, the smoke of his inner rage seeping from his nostrils in white clouds as his hot breath hit the winter air. Ghostly grey eyes darkened dangerously as they fell upon his age-mate, pathetically attempting to make her way through the frozen earth. Hungry, was she? The ghost prince loomed over her, toying with the many options provided to him. He could help her, he supposed. Or he could toy with her, take advantage of her weak state. She'd thought he'd bitten her hard before? The thought of showing her what his jaws could truly do made a shiver run down his spine. It was what he wanted, was to punish her. His eyes darted about the surrounding area, determining that no one was around. Perhaps he could do it. Certainly his father wouldn't mind, though Morganna might.

Decisively his paws struck forth, assaulting the ground to help and churn it. His energy was still at its peak, and his strengthening forelimbs were able to better pull about the clods of dirt despite the ice. Mercy. For now.

He was a poison. Despite his light, brilliant shining coat which only looked more so in the snows around them. She remembered her mother telling her tales of Torbine, both lovely and cruel. They had thought those with the lighter coats were pure, whilst the dark ones reflected their dark nature. For Sven, it seemed the exact opposite. She could see him there from the cover of her gaze, staring at her, glaring at her. In truth, Ravenna had never at all cared for the son of Skoll. She had only one true interaction with him before and he had not been all that kind. However, Ravenna Lyall understood that he was blood, he was family. She would never wish him dead, never wish him to fall from grace... Not at all in the manner which Sven secretly felt towards his family - to his grandparents, his nephew, his nieces... If Ravenna had known any better, she would come to realize he held the same sour blood as Skoll, if not worse. A blood which made his capable of destroying his own kin.

Ravenna ignored him for the time being, deciding that if he wished to stand there and stare at her - so be it. She would not be shaken, not intimidating, not even in this state. She continues digging and, as practiced time and time before, does not give Sven the light of day. That is, not until he finally decides to approach. He speaks not, but works hard. There is not doubt that at this point in time he is far stronger then her and he digs much more quickly, revealing the cold meat resting under the earth. "Thank you." It is but a small response, but she was not a rude woman. Her mind swirled with question of why he might help when he had not so much as blinked an eye at Isolde having gone missing (when Isolde had for a fact never been unkind to anyone or anything) though outwardly she remained at ease.

(This post was last modified: Jan 13, 2016, 02:06 AM by Ravenna.)

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

Thank you. The words were soft and short within his ears, and while her gaze did not raise to meet his face, he anticipated that he would not see any gratitude within them. It was mutual, this distrust, and that was not news to either of them. Yet he did not feel the air thicken with tension, nor even crackle with the electricity of simmering anger. Instead, it seemed to merely get colder. Bitterly so; how fitting.

With the meal she had been after uncovered, Sven took a single step back from the unearthed cache of meat before reclining upon the frozen ground. His spectral gaze remained glued upon her silver crown, watching each and every movement that she made. His own dial was an impeccable mask of indifference, well practiced from all the time he had spent alone out here on the edge of the world. For a moment, the silence pressed in around them and took control. Then he finally spoke.

"Find anything out there?"

Anyone that did not know him well would have thought him genuinely, while not enthusiastically, interested. There were no notes of taunting, however, as those who did know him might have expected. In fact, there was little inflection in his voice at all.

After most of the effort on Sven's part and much less so on Ravenna's as she pawed slowly and mindlessly at the edges of the cache, it was fully revealed. The cold, hard and deep red meat laying within. It smelt better then any mouse or dead hare. Tasted better too, for in the moment Sven backed away and settled within the snow, Ravenna began working at the food, her stomach growling in impatience. It was kind of odd having him sitting there, staring down at her in silence. Had he been someone she was close to, she could see it as him watching over her, protecting her while she paid the lot of her attention to her food. But he was not. Her muscles did everything they could to loosen as she tried to remain calm before the other male though she knew her best bet would have not been to fight back if he tried anything, but to run towards home and call for him. Sure figured, however, if he had any intentions of harming her, he might have done so by now.

Licking her lips, her head lifts and her dark ears perk as he questioned her just as she finished up what was in the hole. For the first time sense their interaction, she turns up to him to gauge his features. She shakes her head slowly, a huff coming over her before speaking. "Nothing but snow and death." Her words were bitter as her lips formed into a tight line, an obvious pain in her eyes she could not fight, causing her to turn away quickly and back out to the lands beyond their borders. Truth was, Ravenna loved the snow. Had fallen for it the first moment she had seen it in her youth. It was beautiful to look at and even more so fun to play in. However, it killed the land in many ways - took out the herbs, caused the herds to move away, chilled aches to the bone. It was both beautiful and cruel.

His vision had wandered, but when he felt those equally-pale eyes upon him, they returned to boldly meet her gaze. He lingered even after she tore away, having drunk up the pain that had reflected within her deep pools and now searching for more within her features. How does it feel, he wanted to ask her. Do you understand now? He knew what she was experiencing, had braved the harsh winter on his own in search for a wolf that no one else cared about but who was the world to him. Even coming back empty pawed, Ravenna did not understand how good she really had it. At least she was coming back to others who shared her plight, who had also searched, who would curl up with her and validate her pain and strive to ease it. Sven had no one, and she was a piece of many who had made that his reality.

"I hate snow," he chuffed conversationally, finally lifting his heavy gaze from her to take in their surroundings once more. It was bleak, at times blinding, obnoxious and suffocating and thieving. The boy supposed many of those things could be said about death as well, but the ultimate ending resonated as something different within him. Death did not repulse him as snow did.

"What will you do now?"

She did not bother to respond to his first comment about the snow. Him hating the snow and her thinking that it was quite beautiful and fun to play in, was just another thing that would make them different from one another. Already they were so far apart, after all. She had a mother who loved her and would never lead her behind. He had a mother who up and abandoned him in the middle of the night. She had siblings to love, a father who had not shamed the pack, sitters who taught her everything she needed to know about being a great wolf.... he did not. Having a different opinion on the snow was not another thing they needed to counter one another on. "Rest, likely..." Ravenna then began on his question on her plans. "Check in with mom and dad and then start all over again." She had no intention of giving up on her sister, of course. No, not until she found out what she was looking for. Had he ever planned on giving up on his mother? Had he already?