Willow Ridge All That Glitters...

@Sven

The cold weather had arrived leaving Leotie more grateful that Sven had found her and brought her to the Ridge. She knew she wouldn't have made it through the winter in the condition she'd been in when he'd found her. It had taken a lot of time for her to recover but finally she felt much better. She'd even started doing small patrols and some hunting, she was starting slowly. She had chosen to take the morning to herself to sit under the willows next to the stream that ran through the territory.

It had quickly become her favorite place where she'd spent countless hours during her recovery. Having come in the summer she couldn't wait to see what it looked like in the spring. How changed her life had become since the previous winter when she'd traveled from Oak Tree bend. She'd been so angry before and while she still had reservations and fears after what had happened in the draw she didn't want to stay angry.

The water bubbled in front of her as she let her paws dangle over it. When she looked into the water she saw the girl she'd been before her time on her own.

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the devil is & always will

Sven was looking just for her. There was something he wanted, perhaps needed, to do before he could fully settle back into this life. He could do it alone; Sven in no particular way incessantly craved the company of other wolves. A scouting sabbatical was certainly not beyond his abilities to handle. It was Leotie that he didn't want to leave alone. Perhaps that wasn't the right word, as even though the Ridge was small these days it was still far from desolate. He didn't want her to be without him, was really the thing.

And so he wanted her to come with him.

He found her at the river, and was reminded again how far she had come since the day he had rediscovered her in the woods. His casual pace brought him to her side, muzzle dipping to grace her nape and crown with his touch.

"How's your day going?"

be a gentleman.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

She was content to stay under that tree for the rest of the day but she knew that she couldn’t. The better she felt more she felt the need to get up and do something. In the draw and Oak Tree Bend she had constantly been working, hunting and patrolling always doing her part. While the time she’d had to rest and get better had been nice she knew that it couldn’t last forever, to much time to get lost in her thoughts.

There was one thing or rather one wolf that was always on her mind since he had found her and brought her back to the Ridge. She knew that he’d saved her life but she wondered if he knew that he had. It was almost as if her thoughts called him to her as his pale form came into view and joined her under the tree. His touch bringing a smile to her face as she looked up to him.

“It’s a good day,” she told him, “Better that you’re here.” Her good days had been getting more and more frequent and she knew soon she would be back to her full strength and able to hold up the promise she made to Nicolo. “Is your day going just as well?”

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the devil is & always will

Sven settled in beside her, stretching his pale belly over the bank and dipping his forepaws into the frigid water. The icy current felt good between his toes. He watched the glimmer on the surface of the ever-moving river, and the sluggish fish settled at the bottom of it.

His tail thumped a few happy times behind him at Leotie's answer.

"Fine as it can be," he answered her. Anymore, he felt as though there were so much to do. It was difficult to accept that it all had to wait, and that was why he was becoming anxious to start this venture he had planned.

"I've an idea, and I wanted to know if you'd be up for it. To come with me. I need to go North, past the mountain range to find my aunt's pack. I'd like to find Sahalie's, as well. It'll be a long trip, and we'd only have each other. If your strength isn't back..."

He didn't want her agreeing simply to please him.

be a gentleman.

It was a nice surprise that morning to have Sven's company and she welcomed him settling beside her. Like her he let his paws dangle in the water and she leaned against him seeking his warmth in the cold morning. She was no longer the thin fragile thing he had brought back but had finally filled out so the cold didn't bother her as much as it had only weeks before.

She turned her blue gaze one him as he answered her question, “Then we must find something to make it better,” she stated bumping his muzzle with her nose.

It seemed the pale Archer had something in his mind as he spoke about a trip that would take time and take them far. Most importantly he wanted her to go, she didn't have to think about it. “I know it will be hard especially with winter coming. It won't be the first time I have traveled in the winter and my strength is returning every day “ She paused looking out over the water for a moment taking in a breath and then she turned her head to look at him once more. “I think it will be good for me, help me to regain my strength even more. I want to go with you.” If she didn't she knew she would just worry about him everyday that he was gone and she didn't know if she could stay in the ridge without him.

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the devil is & always will

That she agreed helped him breathe easier when he hadn't even realized there'd been difficulty. If she was with him, he could ensure she was safe, and anyways, it was simply comforting to have Leotie around. There might come some instances when he might even need it... the realization of which hit him with a bout of nerves. He hadn't quite thought about that until now, the fact that she might very well see him at his worst, a side which was quite different from the one she'd been shown this whole time. She knew Sven to be calm, protective and caring. She didn't know that he was also turbulent, angry and dark; even violent, at times.

"There will be some... unpleasant, moments," he tentatively went on to inform her. He couldn't, wouldn't, rescind the offer now. Sven still very much wanted her to be there, but would be sure to be on his very best behavior. Maybe that would be good for him as well, something to reel him back to shore when the tempest of his wrath threatened to pull him under as the Monadnock still represented everything he resented about Morgana.

"We'll be meeting my mother, if she's still around, and I don't quite get along with Morgana anymore. Still, I need to know how they are. Have a civil, normal interaction with them for once, if I can."

be a gentleman.

The last time that they had seen Sahalie she and Sven had ended up at odds, she remembered and she hoped that wouldn't happen again. She understood there was no way to tell what would happen in this trip but they were also going to find his aunt which Leotie wasn't nervous about at all. She agreed to go because she didn't want to stay in the ridge wondering like she had in the draw. The agouti woman also knew she needed this trip for her recovery, to grow stronger and to face the hardships.

She didn't take her blue gaze from him as he spoke about unpleasant moments. Leotie didn't answer right away so that she could put her words in order. “You've seen me at my worst Sven. We have known each other some time and whatever happens isn't going to make me care for you any less.” That she was sure of, he had always been there for him and if and when he needed her she would be there for him. Leotie pressed her head against his neck, “I'm here as long as you want me to be.”

He then went on giving her more details about meeting his mother and Morgana. “I understand and will be with you every step of the way. You don't have to worry Sven, I am up for this trip and whatever comes with it. I hope that you can have that civil moment and find out how they are, you deserve that.”

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the devil is & always will

She didn't rush to reassure him, but there was a measured weight behind her words that caused him to feel her sincerity. It warmed his bones, and leaned into her comfort. His unblemished chin rested upon her crown as he felt greatly more relaxed. Of course, many who had assured him they would never turn against him had broken that promise before, but none of them had been quite like Leotie. There had been other signs that he'd either been too young or too willfully ignorant to see. Her innocence and meaning was utterly unclouded.

Anyways, he doubted he'd ever quite give up on trying to trust others. You couldn't have a pack, be a family, without such intent, and thus the moment Sven decided to quit believing in select others would be the moment he might as well lay down and die. For a wolf, solitude could not satisfy for life.

"If that was your worst, you've got to know you're pretty much perfect," he informed her with a slight smile. Sure she had been at her whits end, emaciated and covered in filth, but she'd still been reachable, she'd still been Leotie. Kind, earnest, hardworking. Sven had honestly yet to find a flaw in the girl. They must be there, but he was more than willing to leave them undiscovered rather than catalog them.

"It's settled then. I'll inform @Ravenna and @Nicolò; perhaps we can set off as early as next week." He doubted greatly that they would deny him this request, especially if intended to return before the harshest months of winter.

be a gentleman.

Leotie had spent months waiting for Sven to return, it was the only reason she could come up with that she'd stayed so close to the draw for so long. Somewhere in her muddled mind she had known that she feared he wouldn't be able to find her when he returned. Now that he was back she felt safe again and part of her was afraid of what would happen to her if he left for so long, what would happen to him. The warning he gave her didn't scare her, to learn more about the man that has become so important to her was needed. Besides it wasn't fair he had gotten to see yet at her worst and she. Her lip twitched a little at that thought.

She felt this trip would be good for the both of them, they would have to rely on each other more than they would in the ridge. Was she nervous for this trip? Maybe a little, she didn't know what to expect and though she felt strong enough to make the journey was she really? These were things she would have to wait to find out. She was also excited to be doing something useful again, to be a part of something like she had been in the draw and in the bend.

“You're very sweet Sven. I would say that being out of my mind is probably my worst,” she said laughing a little. Things had been very bad for her then and often she felt like she had lost a lot along the way. Now that she was getting better she felt like this things were starting to come back but how she felt about Sven had never gone away.

“Next week will be good, I am getting stronger everyday. You don't think Nicolo and Ravenna will have a problem with me going to do you?” She asked worried that since she was so new to the pack and they didn't know her well it might cause them to be hesitant.

(This post was last modified: Nov 10, 2017, 09:22 PM by Leotie.)

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