So far Claire had done been an excellent --or lousy-- prisoner, depends on how you'd see. While the whole drama in the ruling family broke out: the fights between spouses, and the whole deal with the found child , Claire had managed to steer clear off anyone's way. She felt safer slinking in the shadows. The limelight was not for her.
She still made sure to obey every order she was given, she feared the vikings punishment more than anything. Today she had taken the liberty to wander a little further from the place she had been assigned to. Still she made sure to stay as further as possible from the borders, she wouldn't like her little curiosity to be mistaken as an attempt to escape.
A few days had passed since Atreyu had been accepted into the pack and, with it, the opportunity to finally properly rest and fill his belly. He revelled in the fact that he was living by the shore again, spending most of his time wandering along the beach and frolicking in the waters (however, he would quickly deny that he was one to frolic if anyone had caught him doing so). He had already found suitable spots to sleep (close enough to hear the ocean, naturally) and was quickly committing to memory the various rock pools and general landscape of the area so he would be able to more efficiently navigate his way around the pack's territory.
This day saw the boy mapping out the inner forests of the Bay, following the winding freshwater stream that led inwards, deeper and deeper into the trees. He wandered along the bank with puppy-like curiosity, eyes alight with interest, his right ear swivelling around and listening to every sound the forest locals made. So entranced by the area, Atreyu failed to even realise he was sharing this part of the forest with another member of the Bay - a captive -, wandering right past her just a few paw lengths away, nose to the ground as he furiously sorted through the forest scents.
She walked quickly, wanting to ccover as much ground as possible before one of her guardians came to scold her. She knew she'd be scolded -- she expected nothing less from the mighty Vikings that had swept away her right to freedom.
She wondered suddenly on what the punishment might be. They were capable of anything weren't they, at least that was what she had understood from Ragnar's and Thistle's warnings.She cringed at the though of being tortured and for a second an overwhelming sense of fear filled her chest.
Beric would be her salvation. If she found him before any guards found her she might avoid the pain. That was it. She turned to go back to her designated den --which happened to be Beric's-- but a flash of white made her stop dead in her tracks. She swinged her head to see where the ghost had gone but she couldn't see him.
"Hello?" she called into the emptiness, hoping the blurry white silhouette wasn't Ragnar's
Hello. A soft voice caused Atreyu to pause in his wanderings, right ear pricking as he wondered if he had actually heard a voice or if it was just his mind playing tricks. The forest was rather quiet, though, and the sound had come from close by. Nose wiggling, the boy quickly found the source - a female pack mate. At least, he assumed she was part of the pack, the unmistakable scent of the sea water was there mixed with other scents despite them currently being within the forest.
Slowly lowering himself the ground, Atreyu snuck up behind a tree just large enough to shield his body from view. He hadn't a chance to mess with another wolf for a while now, being so focused on actually surviving out in the wilds without a pack. Grinning, he poked his muzzle out from behind the tree, hoping the girl didn't have keen eyes - his creamy coat stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the brown and green hues of the forest. He quickly spotted her, a skinny thing with pale fur. She looked frightened. Perfect. Withdrawing, the boy took in a deep breath and let out an eerie, rumbling growl.
Ghost stories were as real as any other tale.
Claire, being a quirky girl believed not only in the demons that lurked in the shadows of the forest, she was certain that there were also maleficent entities that roamed in the atmosphere and instead of haunting the forests they preferred to reside in the heart of the most lonesome beings. Her being a prime example.
She was sure many demons and monsters lived inside her entrails, they were the ones that lurred her mind to the pessimistic side of the scale and that blinded her eyes of the beauty and blessings she possessed.
The beating of her heart increased as an eerie feeling of being watched flooded over her. For once she understood how the prey felt when being stalked. There she was standing still like a deer blinded by the headlights, waiting for the tiger to lunge at her back. She felt the urge to call out again but she decided against it, whoever was out there would've already come to her at her first call...
Then came the howl. Piercing through her vertebrae as well as the thick air. She jerked her head brusquely and searched frantically for the upcoming monster. But the hell-sent creature never came --which was worse in her opinion. She would prefer to be devoured with one swift bite than tortured.
An uncontrollable twitch took hold of her bony knees and a silent curse fell from her tongue.
When no answer came, Atreyu had to stifle a delighted giggle. He wasn't actually sure if his scary noise would have worked — a more cynical wolf would have called him out on it. But it seemed this girl was easily tricked. Lowering his head to the ground, the boy snuck around the edge of the tree, peeking out from behind it again to ensure she hadn't actually run of; he wasn't done toying with her yet, not by a long shot! Having a better view of the girl, Atreyu was astounded by how thin she was. Like a lost puppy, she stood, quivering slightly. Instead of taking pity on the poor creature, he cackled in his head, amazed he was able to instil such fear.
Taking in another breath, the boy crept back around the tree, this time facing in an opposite direction. "What are you doing in my foressssst...?" he rumbled, trying to deepen his voice as much as he could and hoping it wouldn't randomly break as it had been prone to do lately.
She was trembling now, her porcelain joint ached as she shivered, she would've liked to let herself fall to the floor and accept her fate as the monster's snack but a little flame of life that still glimmered inside her heart refusued to give up.
With her ears pinned to the back of her skull and her tail neatly tucked between her thighs she looked around --she even brought herself to sniff up the eerie air around her, which told her that her companion was a male; but that wasn't all, another good whiff of the blinding fog revealed that it also wore the Vikings cologne. So in other words, it was from the pack too..
She wondered if it was only a cruel joke from Ragnar, who technically ruled these forests as the ghost seemed to claim --but then the thought of the voice actually belogning to a supernatural being returned. What if what she was hearing was no one but a Viking ghost who still haunted the lands that he used to inhabit?"The forest is Ragnar's" she barked with a wavering voice, that answer would anger a potential spirit but she figured it would please the savage Viking if it was really him behind the curtain.
A rather courageous reply was shouted back to him, albeit in a voice that quivered with fear. Atreyu admired her tenacity but it would not please the fearsome creature that he had constructed in his mind. A noble, territorial beast he had become (mentally, at least), a warden of his part of the forest the girl had unknowingly stumbled upon. Snickering quietly, the boy took a few moments to compose himself before continuing in a low growl. "Ragnarrrr..." he drawled. "Ahh, I remember the naaame."
He let the last of his words sink into the silence of the area and hopefully frighten the girl some more who seemed to be falling for his prank rather nicely. He just hoped she wouldn't start looking for the source of the sound — he was painfully visible behind the cover of the tree. "He stole this forest from me," Atreyu continued, letting his voice darken as if the fictional creature was recounting some terrible memory. He quickly glanced over his shoulder then to make sure the Jarl wasn't lurking nearby. Who knew what Ragnar would think of Atreyu's story. He didn't think he would approve of either it or the fact that he was terrorising one of his captives.
She felt caught in the middle of a bad joke, as if a camera was zooming on her face everytime she cringed with fear and that at any second someone would jump out throwing little paper bits at her face and say, 'pranked!'.
She also felt like a puppet, flailing and shivering at the command of the cruel pupper master that hid siomewhere in those woods, simply toying with her emotions as the poor captive feared for her life. The voice began to rumble again, speaking foul things of Ragnar. That placed him out of the game right? Why would he diss himself to pester a simple prisoner? She wondered if perhaps the mysterious entity was a jealous member of the Bay that had no trouble venting his emotions at the forest.
His words lingered in the air for a second, and were then carried away by the wind. She whipped her head to look behind her, as she felt the cold fingers of the breeze caress the nape of her neck, the boy contibued to be hidden from her eyes and she was beginning to get more and more anxious about the situation. "So what do you want with me if this forest isn't yours anymore?" she barked, while trying hard not to let her voice break half-way through the sentence. Go bother him instead of me, she thought quietly as she felt the haris on her tail puff out.
Her question to the fictional creature made him pause for a second, wondering how to respond. He was making the entire story up on the fly and, to be honest, he wasn't the most creative story-teller around. He was simply recounting a story his father had told him when he was younger, about a dastardly monster who hid in forests and kidnapped puppies who strayed too far from their families. Of course, Atreyu had tested the legitimacy of the story, wandering off into the forest that lined the coast many times before coming to the conclusion that the monster was either shy or fictional.
Although it seemed this girl didn't seem to share Atreyu's scepticism. Creeping out from behind the tree and using the bushes as cover, the boy quickly loped towards another tree, out of the way of the breeze. She most likely would have smelt him by now but he couldn't have her finding the source of the smell. "Whyyy..." he rumbled with the faintest of laughs. "I want you t—AH!" The juvenile's prank was suddenly cut short as he tripped on one of the tree's roots that stuck up from the ground. With a whumph he fell heavily to the ground, tumbling out from behind his cover in a flurry of leaves and dirt, right into the view of the frightened girl.
He had put up a hell of an act, the girl had even questioned her fate when the voice first called out to her. He had been lucky she believed in supernatural beings and ghosts, if she hadn't perhaps his cover would've been blown a lot faster. But damn it had been a cruel joke for the unsuspecting captive.
When the boy spoke again, trying to keep up his charade the skinny female's ears swiveled around her head while her golden orbs traced the outlines of a rather monstruous tree. Then without much warning a pale bag of fluff slipped from behind the jagged trunk, falling to the ground with a thud. She backed up with a jolt, thinking that whatever creature had been lurking there was coming for her but was quick to see that the terrorizing monster was nothing but a young wolf.
The girl's forehead and muzzle wrinkled into a frown, she was ashamed she had allowed the foolish boy to mess with her. She gave a low growl until she remembered she was the Viking's possetion, with a bitter taste in her mouth she swallowed a million curse words she would've liked to yell. Instead Claire simply huffed air from her nostrils like a bull while piercing his skin with her gold eyes. "You truly are a monster aren't you?" she barked non-chalantly, feeling a little prickling in her paws that told her to simply walk away.
Sorry for the wait! Do you want to wrap this up soon? :D
Atreyu silently cursed as he reoriented himself and spat the dust out of his mouth, glancing up and around with both a confused and annoyed gaze. It took him a moment to realise what had happened. Slowly the gears in his head turned and he glanced back at the tree who had ruined his charade for a moment, scowling. And it was just when he was getting to the good part! Turning then, to the equally as startled girl and noting her flaring golden eyes, he offered a sheepish grin. He felt like he should apologise for scaring her so — she looked appropriately angry with him — however, he didn't feel an ounce of guilt. Why should he apologise for some light-hearted fun?
"The most fearsome there is," he responded to her bark with a pleased nod though somewhat disappointed by her less than impressed tone. He thought he had done a pretty swell job at being a scary monster.
exit Claire thanks for the funsies, haha though Claire wasn't very amused
the kind of tired sleep can't fix
Claire's sharp features had twisted into a cold grimace, that looked more intense due to the prominent cheekbones that poked out her face's sides. She hadn't enjoyed the prank as the boy had, and though he was practically just a child a strong feeling of loathing broiled in her empty belly. She kept her feelings bottled either way, she knew that snapping at one of the legitimate members of a pack wouldn't help her case --or reduce her time as a captive. .
Her brows furrowed as the boy gave a lame excuse to his behaviour, it was the fact that he shrugged it off so easily and offered a smile to make things better what annoyed her the most. She was growing tired of being toyed with by the Bay members. Though her tasks as a captive had been easy until now, she didn't enjoy being pushed around by the youngest members as well.
"Or most deplorable.. go hide under someone else's bed" she barked through gritted teeth, then after flicking her tail miserably under her thighs one last time she spun around and began trotting off to a less terrorizing place.
