Dead Empress Backwater The Storm We're Caught In

some fairy tales are more than true

Set for well into the night, hours pass her thread with Meadowlark

The wolf tossed and turned uncomfortably, switching her positions as often as her mind switched scenarios in her head. She found herself sighing often as the racing thoughts kept her awake. It would be wrong of her to visit him this late, wouldn't it? All she wanted right now was him. For him to say that it would all work out and be okay, that he'd still be there for her regardless of the outcome. Sage couldn't know his feelings towards what was to come. She simply just kept putting it off. Kept thinking of how to bring it up, and how to go about the challenge, she didn't want to fight @Oleander. She didn't want to cause him any sort of pain in the slightest way. Her plans to wait until after challenging Trya was gone with the woman's leave.

Sage grumbled to herself, opening her eyes. She needed him. She couldn't explain it, she just needed him. The young wolf rose to her paws, rather quietly for someone who'd been making a ruckus, and slipped out of the pack den. She headed down the familiar winding trails throughout the territory. The moon lit her way as steady snow fell from the sky to clump onto her pelt. The female took her sweet time getting to his den. Every step felt like a crushing weight upon her heart. When at last the tree came into view her ears flattened with a whimper.

She didn't know whether or not he was awake, and didn't want to bother him, but...Sage sighed and looked down at the ground. It felt like she could drown in the pit of her emotions. Slowly she made her way to the entrance and without peering in or so much as a word she lay down on the cold ground. Her body shivered as she tucked herself into a tight ball and waited for either morning or his voice. She longed for the latter of the two.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Oleander had been fast asleep when Sage came upon the old gnarled tree. Curled up within his nest of old empress tree leaves, he slumbered. The black behind his lids was dreamless, his first REM cycle having come and gone early in the night. His breath was steady and, for a time, he seemed dead to the world. The Lore had a different plan in mind as the sudden drop in temperature made the branches above crack and creak. Had it not been for the steady snowfall, Sage might have had to wait for the morning.

A pointy white ear stirred and with another crack of a branch, the Valle awoke. Bleary-eyed, he stretched and rolled over, coming face to face with his crush.

He forced himself to blink several times, nose twitching if only to confirm that she was really there. "Hello there." His voice was soft and quiet as if he had been the one who had awoken her. "Everything... all right?"

         

OLEANDER |

Nobody gets me like you do I'm not the same, not after you

some fairy tales are more than true

It would seem she would have to wait till morning, as the night carried on. A thin layer of snow threatened to conceal her body as she trembled against the ground. Too stubborn in the moment to leave and try again when daylight broke. The temperature continued to plummet, the female bracing herself against the tree as if it'd give off the slightest bit of heat. The branches above creaked and groaned, but she paid them no mind. Her teeth started to chatter, and she merely shuffled a bit to tighten around herself.

Unexpectedly yellow eyes met her gaze as the large male rolled over. She was left speechless, staring back at him with a mixture of endearment and pain. Her mouth felt dry as she desperately tried to find words for him. Was she being creepy, again? Sage reassured herself with how last time he didn't seem to notice her fault. A sad-sounding giggle broke the silence as he twitched his nose at her, blinking rapidly. He greeted her and her tail began to thump at the sound of his tender voice. She scooched a little closer so that their noses were barely touching. Then, with his question, pulled back and broke eye contact. "Not really..." She whispered hoarsely.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

As she pulled away from him after being so close, he crept closer to her in something of an army crawl. She said one thing, but her tone and body language, he believed, betrayed her. He couldn't put his paw on it. Whatever this was.

Oleander cleared his throat, warding off the sleep from his vocal cords. Now that he knew that she had come to see him, here, in the middle of the night, he was trying hard to kick his senses into drive. Given the timing and weather, it was all almost too surreal.

"Sage," he breathed, heat prickling down his spine as his ears drew back. A part of him within braced himself. Maybe she had news... even if he did not want to think up whatever terrible scenario had happened while he slept. Maybe she wanted to tell him something secret. His heart gave a leap in his chest. Or, maybe, she just wanted to talk. He could only hope.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." If the assurance wasn't enough, he wasn't sure yet how to approach her in this state. A weak smile, "I'm good for it... I can keep it between us."

         

OLEANDER |

Nobody gets me like you do I'm not the same, not after you

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage could feel him draw closer, though she dared not to look his way. She whined softly at him, her ears flattened against her head in a submissive way. Catching herself she tried to force them back up, but she didn't want to be dominant around Oleander. She wanted to be vulnerable . Something she did not understand, along with the way he made her feel.

Her ear flickered as he cleared his throat, the woman closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. What would he say? Could he have somehow known why she was upset? Had @Eros beaten her to the punchline and filled him in? The majority of her hoped not, but part of her wondered if that would make it easier. Soften the blow.

He called out her name and at last she angled her head to look at him. She wanted to draw closer but simply met his gaze as uncertainty filled her. His words caused her to wince. Gosh, she hated this so much. She let out another whimper, followed by a defeated sigh. "It's...about us." She whispered, trying to find the words to explain, unable to meet his gaze. Her heart picked up in pace, and suddenly she wasn't so darn cold anymore, "Oleander Valle, I like you." She blurted it out and shut her eyes quickly. " but...I need your rank." Her words were spoken in a pained tone and her brows pinched together tightly causing her face to scrunch.

"I'm not a Valle...I...I can't risk not climbing the ranks." She didn't know if he'd understand her or if he even could. She was an outsider with no familial ties and while Eros said she belonged...she feared the coming months. If there were too many mouths to feed the children would come first, then those with blood ties. Only those of importance would remain nonrelative-wise. She couldn't lose the Bakwater, this was her home, and she refused to let that go.

She braced herself for his reaction, whether that be anger or something else. He didn't seem the type to yell. Regardless she feared anything unhappy coming from the male. Their relationship was so fragile, and it felt as if the glass walls that established it would shatter.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

The utterance of her next words caught him off-guard, "It's...about us."

Several unfinished thoughts sprung up at the forefront of his mind. Like fireworks gone off by accident, they shone brightly in a display of sparks before fizzling out. Us? Him and Sage? Were they together? Had they been together? Since when? Had he been too forward? Had he put the idea in her head about them being a couple? Was that too-

"Oleander Valle," the pronunciation of his name seemed to stop time itself. "I like you."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued.

"But...I need your rank."

His brow furrowed and he opened his mouth again.

"I'm not a Valle...I...I can't risk not climbing the ranks."

Black-lined lips remained parted as he comprehended all that she had said. At first, his brows furrowed in a grimace that wrinkled the bridge of his nose. It wasn't like she was going to use him, right? His nostrils flared as he breathed, the realization dawning on him as he recounted what it meant to be a Valle. To belong no matter what. To have that sense of deep loyalty and love as a sort of safety net. To remember where he came from and who he was...

Sage had a point. To be a Valle wolf is to be true and dutiful to family and family alone. To shed the surname is to be cast out; and, to be an outsider is to be just that... not a Valle. This wasn't to say that other wolves were dispensable. Though, Oleander had understood from a very young age that he was expected to be proud and grateful. He had been born into the family and that alone meant that he was valued more than any other.

From where he stood, he saw this as a way for her to stay with him...

His maw sealed shut as he pieced together his train of thought, golden eyes darting elsewhere as he sat up. "Alright," he finally found his voice. "What do you suggest we do then?" His gaze was back on her as he continued to just breathe. While he did not want to flat-out fight her, he did not want to willingly go belly up to her either. His mother and father taught him better than that. And, if it had been anyone else, he would have been ready in a heartbeat with a flash and snap of his teeth.

         

OLEANDER |

Nobody gets me like you do I'm not the same, not after you

some fairy tales are more than true

She lay there feeling helpless, eyes focused on the hazy horizon. It felt like an eternity from her last word as she watched the snow falling around them. She couldn't bear to meet his gaze, the concoction of opposing emotions too much for her to handle with a straight face. Her eyes were glassy, but she held back any tears for the sake of embarrassment. She liked Oleander, but she didn't want to cry in front of him, or anyone, for that matter. No matter how vulnerable she could be with him that was simply off the table so long as she could keep the tears from pouring over. She inhaled shakily. The silence had stretched rather far now, she wanted to look at him, to see if he were angry or hurt. She tried to will herself to do such but remained with her gaze stuck on the landscape.

"Alright"

The silence was now broken, but she could not comprehend what had left his mouth. Alright? What did that mean in this context? Finally, she looked at him, eyes trailing up as he lifted himself. Sage pulled herself up with a shiver, teeth momentarily chattering, as she shook her pelt. The snow flew off her pelt in all directions and she gave him an apologetic look. "What do you suggest we do then?" She hadn't thought that through, had she? The girl sat up, although not to her full height, and gave him a once-over. He was much bigger than her, and if he wanted would have no problem using such to his advantage. She wasn't scared though, instead, she felt a longing to seek comfort from him, rather than the request that would part her jaws, "How about some sort of competition?" There were numerous reasons she wished not to fight him.

Sage hadn't expected the conversation to go like this, where was the anger? Where was the moment he rejected her and sent her off brokenhearted? She had not imagined a scenario where he simply asked her what they would do to settle the matter. She searched his eyes for emotion, hoping to read him. She couldn't help but wonder how he felt about her, and if this, whatever the result, would change that.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

At this point, Oleander was ready to expect the unexpected. Whether she truly wished to fight him for his pack position, playfully spar, or otherwise... he couldn't truly predict. He didn't know her as well as he would have liked. Yet. Though, now was as good of a time as any to see for himself another facet of Sage's personality.

"How about some sort of competition?"

His lips pulled to one side in thought. For a fleeting moment, his gaze focused somewhere beyond her before returning to her face. There was an air of acceptance in the way he nodded as his initial response. His tone of voice seemed less enthused. A competition could have meant anything. All that meant to him was that there was scoring involved. Best of three rounds, or so he continued to assume.

Ever the Mediator-type, he weighed her words in his mind again. "Okay," the word seemed to stick to his tongue. Already he was beginning to gauge how badly she needed to ascend in rank. He could be her stepping stone if it meant that he could keep her close. For a price. "What kind of competition?"

         

OLEANDER |

Nobody gets me like you do I'm not the same, not after you

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage continued to peer into his golden hues but couldn't sort out the Rubix cube of a wolf in front of her. His mouth moved, wordlessly shifting expression. All the while she studied him. Then the air seemed to lighten as he nodded at her. Her ears lifted off her cranium into a forward-facing position. Her eyes were now dry, the jumble of emotions seeming to work themselves out of a knot.

His tone would bring confusion to her. He didn't sound as eager as he looked. She bit back a frustrated sigh. They were through the worst of it now. He knew what she'd been keeping on her chest and the conversation had gone as well as it could. There was no need for the continued tension that ran like a taunt line connecting the pair. She gave a shake of her pelt, this time to release some of the anxiety that prickled up beneath her skin, as opposed to riding herself of snow.

An idea flipped a lightbulb on in her brain and she looked up to him playfully, "Well...it's childish..." Sage rose to her paws while back peddling with a smirk, "But how about a game of tag?" She gave a wag of her tail, front legs sliding down into an initiating bow, "If you catch me, you win, but if I can sneak around and grab your tail I win." She laid out the rules and didn't wait for him to answer her. The excitement of burning off the nervous energy and potentially channeling it into a source of fun had her blood pumping. She twisted about, partially leaping, as she bounded off for the nearest tree. Then she took a sharp turn followed by a couple of zig-zags.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

Whatever uncertainty and whatever teasing he held thus far fell away as they settled it all. A smirk appeared on her face and his head tilted in response. Tag. "If you catch me, you win, but if I can sneak around and grab your tail I win." Seemed simple enough...

Oleander's crown righted and tipped to the other side. Hubris reared its rather ugly head and he leered at her with a smug look of his own. Childish or not, he was always down for a good romp.

His tail rose in a wave of confidence but before 'Best of three?' could even tumble from his lips, she was off. Oh ho ho... Two could play this kind of game. He followed after her, zig-zagging and vaulting over roots, tail high and catching up to her with ease. Tracing her path, he skidded past where she had taken a sharp turn, knowing all too well he had made a mistake. His tail was out in the open ready for the taking.

         

OLEANDER |

Nobody gets me like you do I'm not the same, not after you