Sacred Grove i never was allowed to shine

For @Deacon!

Daybreak had brought the continuation of heavy clouds and by the time Mojave had delved back into the grove, snow had begun to lightly fall once more. It was warmer today, though she scarcely recognized it. The chill of winter had hung around for what had seemed like forever that she had grown accustomed to it. But then again she would have reasoned it was expected of her; she couldn't have recalled the last time she had slept within a den. It was always out beneath a canopy of stars or clouds, perhaps beneath the confines of a comfortable tree.

And this time on her venture into the forest, she had rested and in turn, felt calmer. This time she took her time in exploring the vast wood, as though she could suss out what it was that drew her in. Its enchantment or lack thereof -- in reality, her budding penchant for wandering and curiosity -- summoned her deep in, further than she had dared to venture.

It was through a particularly dense pocket of woodland that she had happened upon the warren of hares and seized a skinny, sickly little morsel to have all for herself. She had missed the plump ones completely, though it was better to suggest they had never been there at all. She merely thought she had, as Mojave was far from quiet in her trek inward. She settled abruptly over the top of that warren with her quarry, and hastily dug in.

Where she anticipated tenderness, she found little. The rabbit was tough and bloody, and its bones snapped with ease.

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2015, 04:27 AM by Mojave.)

Off the young male went again. He was wandering freely here and there. While after leaving the Ridge (thread in progress) Deacon found it rather weird not having to return home he also found it settling. No one tying him down or hunting him for lessons. In fact as much as he had loved Willow Ridge the boy dared to say he was better off without it. His large form was now almost filled out fully and he could well enough provide for himself. The skills he had learned from his family had allowed him to keep his healthy form and belly full most of the time.

The lost prince had found himself in the woods. This time rather lost completely and no sense of direction. How many times had he passed that log? Or stepped over that pile of sticks? So the change in scent was unexpected. A female..maybe around his age? It was hard for the boy to pin-point it exactly. Flicking his tail he allowed his large form to shuffle around for a brief moment. "Hello? Is any around?" Deacon's voice had grown a bit deeper in tones with his age going on. While it wasn't manly deep, as it still held his boyish tones, it was enough to give away that he was a young male. "I promise not to hurt you! I'm just looking for a bit of help and company is all." Moving forward his eyes fell upon a rather beautiful woman.

Honey tones, gold eyes, and somewhat travel worn. Overall she was like aged meat...in a good way of course! Smiling wide his tail wagged behind him. "Hello miss." A respectful nod was given with a quick flick of the ears. "It's a pleasure to meet someone as yourself in these peaceful woods."

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A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Irony, Mojave eats a sad excuse for a hare and meanwhile some lynx leaves behind scraps.  Legit laughing about this.

Halfway through her meal, someone came creeping up through the dense wood.  Instinctively, she tensed and her feasting ceased; Mojave's gold eyes scanned through the wintry wood to seek out who was coming.  And she found him easily -- his dark pelt stood out against the bright surroundings like a black hole.  In a way, the way he captured her attention may as well have made him a temporary black hole, as the hare remained locked beneath her feet.  She was a terrible judge when it came to the basis of age, either wolves very young or old, and most fell into that indiscernible area of 'dunno'.

He called out and she crunched noisely; he hadn't quite found her yet.  But when he did, his demeanor lit up as though she was the best thing since sliced bread, which for all intensive purposes would have gone along with the thought of meat he was having.  Mojave couldn't help but be flattered slightly, though she also did not let up on the tension that had built beneath her shoulder blades.  Should his personality be no more than a ruse, she was ready to pack up and bolt from the scene with her lame hare in tow.

Instead she swallowed the bone piece she had been crunching up and offered him a waning smile.  "You know, if things were different, I'd just have likely assumed you'd be here to take my food," she said, opting to believe -- no, forcing -- that he wasn't there to take away what she had worked to get.  He looked better fed, anyway, not all mangy and scruffy and roguish like her.  This Ostrega was quite the vagabond.

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2015, 04:56 AM by Mojave. Edit Reason: ku can't html to save her life )

Her words came out a bit jutting but he chose to laugh it off. Offering a small chuckle he looked at her little scrap of food. "I wouldn't take that. Besides, if that's all ya can manage to get your paws on then you probably need more food than me." Wagging his tail he shrugged his shoulders lightly taking in the scent all around them. Then something hit him. Food!

"Hey! I think I smell something way better than those bones yer chewing on!" Moving a bit off to the right he followed the scent of lynx and deer. The Archer-Lyall had never been one to take in the chances that the Lynx might still be hanging around. Of course Deacon also liked to think he could fight anything and everything off. Lucky for him and his companion, this strange stunning lady, there was no lynx at the scene. Looking at the deer left over it was fairly large chunk. Perhaps even over half of this.

Turning his head to look at the honey hued woman Deacon barked out lightly. "Ladies first." It was a well sort of manner he had learned from Willow Ridge. Although he had also learned as a prince he usually got dibs on things it was also respectful to let the elders and woman of the pack go first. That and he was also trying to find anyway to earn some trust from this mystery lady. It would be nice to have more friends outside of his home pack. Especially sense he wanted to be on his own it would be important to learn how to make friends for good uses and just pure company.

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And as if she hadn't been aiming to make an ass out of herself, something else did the job for her.  What she thought she had originally sussed out as being a rabbit warren was far from it -- apparently something else had left a present somewhere too.  Something that her dark-haired counterpart picked up far easier than she had.  She had been thinking of a clever and playful retort to his comment when he set off with such a nonchalant remark.  It took a few moments before she realized he expected her to follow; Mojave almost balked on it.  She had her hare and was quite content, but what if there really was something better?

Inevitably, her curiosity got the better of her in a matter of seconds.  She gathered up her hare and trailed behind him, only to come to the realization that the thing she had picked up all along was no more than several yards off from where she had been.  A deer carcass, though picked through.  Mojave did not readily approach it, instead she gave their surroundings a survey.

"Are you sure this is safe to eat?  It looks like something left it here for later," and that was probably because it had.  She stepped forward and set to investigating the snowy ground beneath them, but the tracks weren't familiar.  Too small to be cougar, which she had seen before.  Definitely not a wolf or some other canine variety.  "What kind of tracks are these?"  She had seen them before, she thought, but couldn't place a name to them.  And already she was quick to jump on the assumption that her companion was more native to the area than she was.

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2015, 05:16 AM by Mojave. Edit Reason: still can't html right gdi )

Deacon was glad when she followed after but it seemed she had more than a pawful of questions to ask. "Of course it's safe to it. If it wasn't whatever had it before wouldn't have ate it." Stupid he chimed at himself mentally. What type of question was that? Meat was meat so why didn't she just close her trap and eat it? Chuckling softly Deacon leaned his head down and nosed at one of the legs of the leftover deer. This had to be safe to eat. The dark Archer-Lyall boy knew it had to be safe. It smelt like the meat Enoki would occasionally bring home. That meant clear and open safety for them.

"I'm not sure, probably some feline but if I can some properly it left a while ago." Looking around he saw no obvious sign of the stupid wild feline being close enough to cause a threat. Maybe it wasn't really all the far but unless Deacon could see the creature he assumed it to be no real thread to him and his new found company. "I say we eat what we can and want before whatever it that left this shows up angry that we're eating it." Looking over to the golden eyed woman he let a handsome smirk grace his lips. "Sound good?" Leaning down he took a bite out of the hindquarters. This certainly wasn't the best meat ever but it was something to fill him up before leaving again. Wagging his tail behind him at a rather furious pace Deacon spoke rather sudden with a mouth full of blood stained teeth. "Yup! This is certainly safe to eat."

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For the record, my posts are usually not this offbeat but hey, I'm gonna roll with it haha. You've caught me in a weird mood and I am enjoying this thread!

Mentally, she could have facepalmed when he stated that it was safe of eat. Mojave hadn't thought that she queried about whether or not the meat was any good. She certainly didn't anticipate her words coming out that way, or at least being misconstrued in such a streak. Still, he seemed overly interested in the prey and couldn't offer up any suggestions as to what made the tracks. Instead, he appealed the daredevil sense, suggesting that they make haste and start chowing down before some angry feline came back to tear their hides in half.

She huffed to herself, surprised as he went right on ahead to make good on what he said. No room for recourse or rejoinder, just boom, breakfast's ready and it's already halfway cold. Mojave dropped the hare to the ground then, only recalling that hey stupid, maybe that's why he didn't know what you were talking about. "You're a brazen prince charming," she said then with a spark of amusement. "Don't I get your name before you take me out to dinner?" Typical man, too busy shoveling food into his mouth to get the name of the woman he just picked up for speed dating one-oh-one.

And then in a show that she possibly didn't care either, Mojave joined him in the leftover theft.

OoC: It's okay! I'm loving this c:

Somewhere in his eating and trying to make sure no feline showed up Deacon caught another one of her sly comments. "Oh, uh, yeah." Swallowing the last bit of meat in his mouth he looked at her with amber hued eyes. "My name is Deacon, former prince to the Ridge." Holding his chest out he offered a big grin showing off his joy to even be previously associated with Willow Ridge and especially sense he was of royal blood. "And what is the name of my lovely dinner date?" The skin underneath his fur started to heat up and it may had been noticeable had his thick dark fur not been covering it well.

Taking a seat he wondered if she was okay with his own little comment. Calling her lovely and making a guess that this little shared meal was a date of sorts. It was weird how she acted. Deacon had shared many moments with females and not even Celandine had acted this way. He kind of liked it though. This mysterious woman wasn't acting like some princess regal or harsh woman like ninety percent of the females Deacon had interacted with in his life. He liked the way she so easily decided to poke fun at him or any little things she could. Or the way her mouth seemed to ask endless questions. It kept him on his toes and left him wanting more. While the Archer-Lyall also liked the woman who were well put together with their lives and minds, it felt good to have something unexpected. In fact he wasn't just liking it. No no no. He was loving it.

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She tore easily into the carcass, having already forgotten about the meager supplications of the hare she had picked around at. The meat was more than just half cold, it was cold. But nowhere near as tough as she had found the hare, and it did not take more than a scrap of that meat in her mouth to ignite the fact that she had been scraping by with nothing more than morsels for a while. It was of no wonder why she was so ragged and worn; her tank had probably been running on empty for a handful of days up until that point. No wonder she had been fine with settling for a hare, right?

As he paused to introduce himself, she only caught the glimmer in his boast from the corner of her eye. She didn't want to pause to acknowledge it, though there was a particular note of interest buried in his words. He prompted her and she found that she had to pause, if only for a moment, because fair was fair. She had wanted to know who he was and in turn, he deserved to know who she was. A modicum of thanks and all. "I'm Mojave," she said, licking at her chops for a moment. "So why are you a former prince? Isn't a prince always a prince?" She thought he had been joking about the prince thing and boy, how wrong could she be.

The note about the Ridge he spoke of would have to come in a moment; she wasn't about to overload him while he regaled her with a tale of how he lost his princedom.