Umbra Copse Coulda made it if we just took the time

For @Skoll

'Cause no one's ever gonna need somebody more than I need you
And no one's ever gonna hurt somebody more than I hurt you
Killing you - Ivy Levan (feat. Sting)

Oh, oh well, I hope it's warm in hell

Morganna Archer

Morganna had been busy tending to Castel when the familiar call of Celandine rang at the borders. She had heaved a heavy sigh of relief as it registered. Things would only get easier from here. It wasn't until she made a quick round picking up on the scent that had worked its way into the pale wolf's coat and no words had been needed. She wasn't sure if she could have managed words if she wanted to. A quick glance at the sky showing her a gradually darkening sky. Not that the dark had ever hindered her finding him before.

Nose to the ground she struck out, just beyond the borders. A familiar feeling filled the air as his scent grew stronger - the same, but different without its willowy undertones, just as she was sure her own would be different again. The Archer slowed her steps, turning once, and then twice before her eyes finally fell on a spot, darker than the fading light around them. A whine filled her chest as she bounded to close the distance between them. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" She had no intention of slowing down until she collided with his familiar form, risk of teeth be damned.

(This post was last modified: Nov 30, 2017, 06:02 AM by Morganna.)

The path into Quaking Vale had been easy for the most part; and, Skoll was grateful for it, since he had had a couple rough nights since he had come back to Relic Lore. As Celandine and the rest of the group had been ushered in, Skoll figured that Niles must have forgotten about him, much too wrapped up in the health of his mate. That was fine for all he cared. All he wanted in this very instant was to rest. No food, no more walking, no more aching, no more wondering how long it would take to get to their destination. They had arrived and he was all too ready to make himself comfortable. At the base of a sky-high aspen tree, he folded into a form that was basically a pile of unkempt fur.

He let loose a deep sigh and closed his tired grey eyes. Bliss, at last... His ear twitched; he would deal with Morganna in the morning.

Nope. Skoll Archer had no chance in hell for anything when it came to his sister. The moment he had grown still, the footsteps came thundering across the forest floor. Then, when the realization that the newcomer was not going to slow down, the dread seized the whole of his body, his white-ringed pupils desperately searching the darkness from where his newfound company was coming from. His heart thumped in his chest.

It was Morganna, "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

Then, in reply, "Aah! Fu--! Morganna, ssssssss..." She was stepping all over him, putting her face and snout and nose and limbs wherever she could manage to place them so long as the distance between them was eliminated. It felt as if she were trying to melt into him, wear him as a coat, meld into him so they could be one wolf... Either way, he did not wholly appreciate her sudden show of affection; he would, surely, but right now he could do without her trying to climb all over him.

"Get-" he let out a sharp whine, all yelp without the growl. He was hurting. "Get off of me!" His tail had curled up between his legs, the whole of his body on the ground, belly up as he laid still. Maybe if he quit moving, she would stop moving too.

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Oh, oh well, I hope it's warm in hell

Morganna Archer

Morganna didn't think it was possible to hurt Skoll physically, the difference in their size had always made her brother a towering presence so when he yelped she lept back, an anxious sound at the back of her throat while her paws continued to thump against the ground in barely contained excitement. His words may as well have been physical blows up to that point but when he yelped, well maybe it wasn't that he wasn't forgiving her but that he was nursing some unseen injury.

She had expected to need to go and find him, not that he would turn up with Celandine at the borders of their brother's pack.

Morganna let her own stomach hit the ground beside Skoll, neck reaching out to check him over far more gently that her initial greeting. Worry was clear on her face, how long had it been since they had seen each other at all? She didn't even think that Odin and Kara were born at that point which would put them at almost two years. Gods of old, how much had happened in that time? "I'm sorry..." but she'd already said that more in the last two minutes than she had in her entire life, "I jus' missed yer, I guess." She was more gentle in her attempt to press her nose into his temple, it was hard to allow any distance between them after so long.

Even though his eyes were mere slits, he could hear her move about. Then, once she had settled down, she began to look him over, her touch barely coming in contact with his guard hairs. He knew she was looking for what was wrong. He flashed his teeth at her in silent warning that he would potentially snap if she tried to pull that over-enthusiastic shit again. He hurt all over and he wanted her to know that without having to even tell her. Hell, he had just traveled over a mountain to see her. Of course, he was bound to be sore.

"I'm sorry..." the apology came again. "I jus' missed yer, I guess."

He felt her nose graze along his crown and he slowly relaxed and rolled onto his side, the paws that were clutched to his chest fell slack and his tail gradually returned to a limp curve behind his heels on the ground. At first he could only breathe, just process what was hurting, what had happened, what he needed to tell her and ask her. He laid there by her side, glad for the time being that she was here with him at last.

"I couldn't tell," he half-smiled with his eyes half-closed. He inhaled deep before releasing a heavy sigh. Now that she had calmed down and thought again about how she ought to address him in his current state, he could breathe. His voice was tired, his words strained, "I missed you more." He closed his eyes, the only indication that he was awake at all being the tall angle at which his skyward ear stood. "If it weren't for Celandine, I don't think I could have found you again."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Oh, oh well, I hope it's warm in hell

Morganna Archer

"I could do it again if yer need more proof." Her eyes flashed a challenge with a happy grin but she stayed settled where she was. Now that they were back together, like they were always meant to be, well there'd be plenty of time for rough and tumble later. She tried to not let her breath catch in her chest when he said he missed her more, although she wouldn't challenge him on it. As to never finding him again, well, wasn't she putting measures in place to make sure he could all along? "I dunno about that, if yer'd made it ter th' north lookin' fer me, Piety would 'ave sent yer back ter Greer and I've been keepin' 'im aware o' where I am. I wasn' sure yer'd want ter find me, but I was lookin' fer you." But it was true that Celandine cut many miles out of the journey for them both. "She's a good one though, don' have ter spell anythin' out fer her." And she supposed she'd owe her one, which would make the white woman endlessly pleased she was sure.

"What happened?" It was open ended after all the last she had seen her brother she had told him if he wanted to join her he'd have to talk to Craw. She had her own filling in to do, about the north, about Torbine, about her children. She wondered if life had been so full of twists and turns as her own?

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

He gave a tired hum in acknowledgement. The only movement he made was the twitch of his nose at the sound of Piety's name. He had dreamt about her a lot down in Devilsbite Dell, thought mostly about how sweet and innocent she had been when his three sirens had turned against him. But, oh, to hear her sing again... He probably missed that the most...

"What happened?" Morganna's question pulled him out of the sudden reverie that encumbered his mind.

"I found the loves of my life," he rasped. "Or, I thought I did." Those first few days and weeks in the Dell had been intoxicating, perhaps to a point where it was, perhaps, too good to be true. He had been blinded to it all, their charms too powerful and the waves of want and desire too many. He had been poisoned inside and out. "Something wasn't-" he had to take a breath, "wasn't right. Instinct told me I had to leave. When Sven turned up beaten on the borders, they healed him, but I... I got worse."

An itch creeping up along his shoulder made him shift slightly but he had no energy left to scratch it. His eyes opened enough so that he could peer at her through the dark, "I was supposed to see Mother, see Willow Ridge, for help but I was swept here instead. You know better than I do what plants will take this all away."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Oh, oh well, I hope it's warm in hell

Morganna Archer

She managed a smirk, recognising similarities with her own tale but knowing there was so much more to hers than that. When he mentioned their mother though, she looked away, the whites of her eyes glinting guiltily as she looked at her brother side on. "Skoll..." It might have been easier to start at the start but now that she had started, well, it'd be maddening to not just get to the point. "Ravenna came ter th' Monadnock towards th' end o' th' winter... They're gone Skoll. Mother an' Angier both. Everythin' was fallin' down around my ears up there, Craw's wives came down from th' north and 'e blew me off so I took th' news ter Torbine. I jus' assumed yer were still around an' already knew." Otherwise, well her journey may have been a very different one. She reached out to embrace him being mindful of his aches when the smell hit her nose. That wasn't right.

(This post was last modified: Nov 30, 2017, 08:30 AM by Morganna.)

"Skoll..."

"Hmm?" as long as he was laying still, everything seemed all right in the world. With Morganna simply being there beside him, he felt as though everything was going to be fine. Fine and dandy... At least, that's how it was until his sister fell quiet for a moment too long. From the corner of his eye, he looked her over. His brow furrowed as she looked away. "What is it?" To say that he was scared was an exaggeration but he might as well have been. So much had happened and he wondered if he ought to have expected to hear something terrible...

She went on to tell him that Ravenna had come to the Monadnock - Skoll assumed this was where his sister had set up camp, having never seen an actual rock formation that tall or intimidating before in his life - and relayed news that their mother and step-father had gone. Skoll's throat tightened. It was his turn to look away. He had to process it then and there, even while Morganna sputtered on to tell him that her time as the Queen of her domain was crumbling, that Craw's own mates had descended upon the lands and pushed his sister out, that she had gone to Torbine... that she thought he had known...

Frankly, he hadn't thought of Elettra as old. Ever. He actually thought that she might have lived forever, that when he had finally grown into his paws and settled down into a proper life he would have the chance to see her again one last time. He didn't even flinch when Morganna leaned in to embrace him, the lump in his throat proving difficult to swallow. A part of him had wished he had known before coming to Relic Lore, before he had left to follow Celandine into the east, but the more he thought of it, the more he realized that it wouldn't have changed anything. His immediate and most innate reaction was to deny it all and run.

Foolishly, he thought to push himself up into a sitting position, thinking it might set fire to his hind legs and set him on a path back to Willow Ridge, to prove Morganna wrong and see with his own eyes that Elettra Archer and Angier Lyall still lived and breathed. Instead, he found the world unsteady and as quickly as he had somewhat gotten up, he fell back to the earth. He ground his molars together, unsure of what to say next. He had come to his sister to heal his wounds, not create new ones. With his head between his paws and his legs stretched out behind him beneath his tail, he laid still with his ears against his neck; everything hurt too much now to even move.

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

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

Oh, oh well, I hope it's warm in hell

Morganna Archer

Morganna watched with bated breath as Skoll pushed up and then collapsed again. A worried growl grew in the back of her throat, "Yer don' need plants, yer need a bath, an' food that isn' laced with shit ter keep yer weak an rest. B'sides, without knowin' what yer were given I'd probably come closer ter killin' yer by tryin' ter make it right." It was really a stab in the dark, but it wasn't presenting like any illness she was familiar with and the scent of hellebore hung in the air around him like it was part of him. "We'll go back ter th' west, but we've gotta be here fer Niles fer now." The way he had suddenly collapsed though, it had her worried.

"Anythin' else unusual goin' on? Lightheadedness, throwin' up?" Sure sometimes her brother drove her crazy, but she'd never thought the solution would be to poison him. His loves must have been madder than Hecate. She inched closer to offer her warmth, content to stay right where she was for the whole night if he'd let her stay, (but hey, it didn't look like he could chase her off if he wanted to). "We sure know how ter pick 'em don't we?" The last was offered softly with a sigh, more to herself than to Skoll. He was clearly exhausted and she wasn't even sure if he would catch the words she uttered.