Wild Cherry Orchard they've got the kingdom locked up

@Adelard -- set right after the hunt

Rhae knew the pros and the cons. She knew that travelling in a larger band was more ideal for survival, and more ideal for her health in the winter months but she just couldn’t shake a feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had never been meant to follow. She had been raised to lead, and while they were all a band of loners on near equal footing, it felt like she was almost expected to follow. Still, she tried not to dwell on it. If need be, she could simply assert herself, or even just walk away. She had sworn no oath of fealty.

At least, not in any kind of traditional sense. Agreeing to travel with the dark agouti meant she felt some sense of loyalty to him, and by extension the others. His sister had been amongst the band; they were spitting images of each other, and she had questions for him. Her nose twitched, falling in step alongside of him with a curious expression on her features. She wouldn’t be her if she didn’t try to pry just a little. “You didn’t seem terribly pleased to see your sister.” She made the observation based on how she had interpreted the situation. She had to admit, it was difficult for her to wrap her head around. She would have been elated to see Raelle or Drogaen… but then, to each their own and she knew not every family was a happy one.

Still, she liked stories, and she had a feeling there was one. “Do you want to talk about it?” Baby steps, dipping a toe into the water before she got too nosy.

(This post was last modified: Jan 20, 2021, 02:03 AM by Vayko.)

Adelard - now that his belly was full and his mind could think of other things besides the ever-present worries about if or when he was going to eat again - had decided to take a walk. Now that his littermate was back in his life, there were so many possible outcomes for the plans he had not taken into accord. His initial agenda had been simple: leave Coquelicot Coppice and find his own fate (while leaving the one that had been fashioned for him to the cub next in line for Leadership: his sister). Aubine had thrown him and his hopes all off-guard.

He didn't stray far from the nomadic band he voluntarily decided to align with. He just needed some space (especially away from her). When Rhaegara trotted over, his pace slowed. His ears relaxed, falling to the sides of his skull; his tail fell in a gentle curve behind his hocks.

“You didn’t seem terribly pleased to see your sister.”

His black-lined lips tightened into a straight line. He did not look at her. At least, not yet. She prompted him further, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adelard let out a sigh, his breath leaving him solely through his nose in a wispy cloud. His steps became slower still as if it took a lot more for him to speak and walk at the same time. "Only if you want to hear about the grudge I'm harboring." A bit of snark and maybe some bite, but not wholly bellicose as to try to throw Rhaegara off the subject. This was simply Adelard being his true, control-hungry, first-born self at best.

heat stroke, bring the fire
ADELARD GERAU
black smoke, I take it higher

Perhaps she was too curious for her own good. Was it any of her business? She thought it might be, given they were travelling together, but ultimately, no wolf owed her their story, and there was a part of her that could recognize that at the very least. Still, what harm came in asking about it when it seemed to have gotten under his skin like a particularly nasty flea?

She noted his pace slow, allowing her to catch up and settle into a steady rhythm beside him as she began her prying. It seemed like the wrong time to make a joke, so she held her tongue from offering some retort about having an escort keeping a secret sister from her. It was ill-timed and she liked to think she’d been raised to read situations right. She heard his breath, a soft hint of sympathy in her eyes though he didn’t look to see it. The words were snarky, and her ears perked just a little more with interest over what the situation had to bring.

She hummed softly as she considered it. “I think you’ll find I’m a good listener with a few grudges of my own to hold.” She offered back simply, giving him the option of leaving it at that if he truly did not wish to divulge the situation at hand. “It just seemed tense, and awkward.” She observed again, recalling the situation clearly and how Huddy had reacted, causing her to react in turn. It had added a layer of intrigue that was for sure, but she couldn’t say whether or not she enjoyed such things.

Rhaegara's reply plucked at something within him. Something kindred, maybe. "Hmm," he hummed back when she mentioned holding grudges of her own. Upon hearing that she found the siblings' interaction "tense" and "awkward," he frowned and stopped. He looked at her square in the face, wanting to see for himself the emotion there in her brows and muzzle, in her stance, in her eyes. He wasn't about to blab about his personal life to someone who didn't want to hear it.

"I just didn't expect her to be this far from home," he lightly explained in the plainest way possible. "Her being here surprised me to say the least."

An inner part of him began to nag. He could have handled it all differently, most especially since he didn't exactly let Aubine in on his plan to leave to begin with. He was the reason why she had left in the first place.

(This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2021, 11:11 PM by Adelard.)

heat stroke, bring the fire
ADELARD GERAU
black smoke, I take it higher

You smell the remains of an elk nearby. Enjoy your feast! +10 Health

As he halted, she did as well, wondering if it was something she said. No, perhaps she knew it was something that she said. She kept her emotions in her eyes, not the type to completely whisk them away unless a diplomatic situation arose that called for locking her thoughts and feelings away. His explanation left her with more questions, and in that moment she considered perhaps she was too nosy for her own good. She did not want to drive a wedge between them by prying too far into his personal life.

Needless to say, she trusted him a lot more than she trusted the rest of their companions, his sister included. “Home far from here?” She asked curiously, an inquisitive nature that could never quite be sated showing now more than ever. “My home’s far too… maybe something happened. Maybe she’s out here for a reason, maybe one even beyond her own control?” Rhaegara knew what that was like personally, and she couldn’t help but wonder if his twin had befallen a similar fate. It would certainly explain the surprise.

He could feel the tension between them, the strain that threatened to pull and tug at them on his account. Instinctively, and most characteristically, he exhaled through his nose and gave his winter coat a few shakes. No harm done, nothing lost in simply asking... Upon registering the inquisitiveness that appeared on her face and in the tone of her next question and personal tidbits, he maintained a neutral front. Little by little, Rhaegara was seemingly asking him to crumble further; and, she seemed to want to hear it all.

"Maybe," he speculated along with her. "But, to know Aubine is to know my own shadow." The was a shake of his head that he couldn't help, "I will say that, now that we're older, she could very well just want to make sure I'm not getting into trouble." He scowled then directed his gaze elsewhere other than her face, "She is the one who usually causes all the trouble though. If she gets too out of line, I can get her back under control; just let me know..."

His lips sealed tightly again before his breath hissed though his teeth, "My intention was to leave my parents' legacy to her. At home. Her being here has left our younger siblings in charge in the distant future. When I left they weren't even ready to shoulder that responsibility. Just yearlings." There was a tone of disappointment at the end, a sort of grumble that came with being exasperated with adolescents.

heat stroke, bring the fire
ADELARD GERAU
black smoke, I take it higher

Rhaegara would never force someone to bare their soul. She’d never ask for their deepest and darkest secrets, not unless they were coming to cause harm to her… but this was not the case. This was the matter of a twin whom he wished would have stayed at home, and she simply wanted to know why. She could not begin to feign what his circumstance were, nor would she dream of comparing them to her own. It was like comparing rabbits to mice. They were both meat, both stories, but vastly different in terms of everything else.

She listened as he offered the details he was comfortable sharing, listening to his own hypothesis. Her head tilted curiously to the side, wondering. She considered making a retort along the lines of ‘get into trouble often, do you’ but the scowl on his face and the way he wouldn’t meet her gaze advised against it. There was no point in trying to stir up trouble. She made no comment, just a soft frown on her maw when he mentioned keeping his sister in line. He seemed to be her keeper, and Rhaegara could respect that. She had never asked about his past before, just as he had never asked about hers.

Then he explained the rest of it, and she found herself humming softly. “Everybody starts somewhere.” His siblings might not have been ready for a crown on their head, but that didn’t mean they weren’t ready now. “Did she want your parents’ legacy?” She asked curiously, wondering if he had made this decision for her, or if it had been her ambition. “That kind of pressure can weigh a wolf down, the pressure of leading or being an heir, and it can make them want nothing more than to be free.”