Requiem had found a long switch of some variety upon the ground. It stuck up from a pile of other wooden debris, and besides being tinder-dry there was nothing remarkable about it.
He grabbed for its highest point first which arched over his head; he could not reach it, yet spent several minutes leaping and lunging, trying to elongate himself and snap at it. It didn't take long for the boy to tire of this, and he paced beneath the stick with his mouth wide and tongue drooping.
He sank to his bum against the pine needles of the earth, feeling too warm, and peered around the rendezvous for signs of anyone else up to more interesting exploits (anything beyond potential stick murder as he was failing valiantly at this himself).
The princess was bored.
Fed, warm, recovering, but bored. Her little body was too frail still for her to be able to bounce about or play or entertain herself, but that didn't mean that she just slept all the time. This place was boring. She sat and watched the orange leaves fall for like...TEN MINUTES. And that was all that there had been for her to see. Prophet could not entertain her for every minute of the day.
So she groaned. She huffed. She rolled over onto her other side, and let out a yip when something uncomfortable jabbed her in her ribs. She wanted a more comfortable bed, and she wanted something to pass the time. She sighed. She grumbled. She yelped, just to hear her voice disappear through the trees. That wasn't a bad trick. She did it again. And again. And again. Varying the pitch each time, but it was neat to see how long her voice lasted on the air before it disappeared, until that too became boring.
She rolled over again, and kicked the little stick that'd jabbed her out of the way with one foot. Dramatically, she groaned, and flopped over on her back, tilting her head back until she could only see the ground when she opened her eyes.
She was alive, but she was bored to death.
Something moved within the underbelly of the forest. Requiem couldn't be certain of it, as the sound came and went so sporadically; but he thought something was moving through the fallen leaves. It was a crunchy sound which rasped, stopped, and rasped again; and he listened intently. His panting stopped as he held his breath, and his ears held their forward position (but, he did slowly turn his head as if that would help). When the sound came a final time he had some bearing as to where but not what.
Slurping his tongue back in to his head, the boy was on his feet and bounding in search of the thing. He didn't need to go far - just beyond the pile of sticks was a pile of puppy, all skin and bones, and he almost missed her for how frail and surreal she appeared. She could've been fashioned from the very sticks of the midden, for all he knew!
His path moved to bypass her sorry shape, as Requiem only glanced at her, and he did not recognize her as anything more than debris for that instant.
With nothing to look at, all she could do was listen. And when she heard something bounding in her direction, she held her position- not out of fear, but simply because she thought that whoever found her might pity her and make a fuss over her. The sound of bounding paws over crunchy leaves slowed and paused...And then slowly continued, as though she hadn't been spotted at all.
She snapped her head to the side, and caught sight of a young man- he was maybe younger than her, but it was hard to tell. She was too skinny for her age, and hadn't seen anyone else her age since she'd gotten lost. She hastily, awkwardly, rolled back over onto her belly. "You!" She blurted. "Who you?" She demanded. He'd come into her realm, and now she needed an explanation!
The pile of skin and bones, or sticks and mud (he still wasn't sure) lifted a too-large head and shouted at him. Requiem's tail went up like a startled cat's might, puffing out, and his legs went outwards as if in a play-bow, his shoulders then together, and his head suddenly dropping; all signs of surprise and defensive posturing which he had no control over. As he lifted his head up again from its place protecting his neck, he blinked and stared.
Who you?
The stranger squawked at him. By now he'd realized it was a girl around his own age - probably another of the children he had smelled on his adventures yet not had the priviledge to meet yet. She looked terribly scrawny - her voice was probably the strongest thing about her.
R-rrr-eki!
He blurts. It isn't his full name, but its been a while since he'd heard anyone speak it; his family wasn't here to tell him what it was in full, and the others of the rise did not often speak at all. He remembered at least part of it.
With a little more confidence now, he reiterates: Reki. Hhuh, who ah you?
She was amused by his catlike reaction, and giggled slightly. Seeing him startled like that lightened her mood, which was likely going to be for Reki’s benefit. Lilia was a monster to those who did not earn her favour.
He introduced himself, though she felt slightly disappointed knowing he had a name she’d have a hard time pronouncing. She knew which sounds she struggled with. But he’d stuttered it- so maybe he was just as nervous about some words as she was.
”Wecki,” She said, and nodded slightly as if in approval. She smiled then and lifted her chin a bit. ”I’m Lee-Lee-A! I’m a pintheth.” She said, though her bravado faltered. The last time she’d seen her own reflection, it had devastated her. ”You got famwee heaw owa you gid lost like me?”
She introduced herself as Leelee the Pint-something, which didn't make much sense to Reki. It was a very long name. Maybe she was playing pretend? He couldn't be sure and decided to run with it, accepting the title.
When she asked about family he pouted without hesitation.
I flew here,
he stated as an answer. It sounded utterly unbelievable yet the sorrowful look that plagued his little face was proof enough of how awful and real it had been. Reki couldn't remember much of the event now, only that he was somewhere else.
Quietly he meant to distract from the bad feelings which arose, thinking of the big bird. — um, whassa pin-septs?
"You fwew heaw?" She asked incredulously. Most often, Lilia was a skeptical pup, but for whatever reason, the boy's sincerity caught her by surprise. He wasn't gloating...In fact, he looked like he regretted the ordeal entirely. She wanted to ask him how he'd done it- not to infer that he was bluffing- but he asked her about herself, and that was typically her favourite thing to talk about.
"A pintheth ith vewy impowatant. My Mama an' Paba woth the leadewth of our pack, an' I'm the favowite. Tho thomeday, I'm gonna be..." Her voice trailed off. Those guarantees were all gone, now that her pack and her entire family had disappeared. Her features fell. The realization hadn't exactly hit her yet that without a kingdom to inherit, she was nothing more than any other wolf. A commoner. She remembered seeing her reflection in the water, and seeing how ugly she looked, and she wondered if Reki thought she looked ugly too. "I'm thtill a pintheth. I jutht...Hafta..." She shrugged, and slumped a little. She hadn't realized how easy her life had been until now. Now, she would have to climb her way up through the ranks from the very bottom.
She was in awe, or maybe she was mocking him. Reki wasn't astute enough to know the expression upon her face, but he felt keenly embarrassed for the fuss being made. If she believed him or not he couldn't say; but he had been truthful. He looked to his toes again and shifted uncomfortably. . . until she began to explain herself.
Lilia had a funny way of talking. It was a little bit hard to track at first. The more she talked (and she talked a lot) the easier it became to translate the slurring of her sounds, but she didn't elaborate much on what exactly a pinsept was.
He was expressive in his own way: a wide oh mouth, a mirroring of her surprised wide-eyed look from before. Tha's cool.
I don' think I'm anyone's favorite.
He admitted next. I has -- I haved, brothers an' a sisser, but. . .
Reki was crestfallen swiftly enough as he remembered them, and how distant he had felt when they'd played games, as he was often an outsider looking in. Too afraid to participate, too over-stimulated by the noise and the chaos of it.
This meeting was quickly dissolving in to a pity-party.
He admired her; she enjoyed having others look at her in awe. She gave him a little smile, cheeks warming. It had been so long since she'd seen someone else her own age, and the last kids she'd seen had been her siblings, her competition. This one...She seemed supple, willing to stay in the shadow....And not just in any shadow, but her shadow. She liked this about him.
He pined for his family. She pined for her status. They'd both lost something very important to them. So when he moped, she moved a little closer, to reach out and pat his shoulder with her paw- which was practically an honour, she thought. "It'th okay, Wecki. You can be my favowite." She said. She felt like that should at least help make up for the loss of siblings.
Lilia swiftly deemed Reki her favorite, which was the pinnacle of achievements. It was certainly the greatest thing he'd ever earned for himself, and it hadn't taken much at all! He was floored, immediately. The favorite of a princess?! He almost felt like crying, but that wasn't very Big Kid of him, so he stowed that feeling as best he could and only let his lip tremble a little.'
Th-thank you!
He blurted next, as that seemed appropriate. What could he say or do to make Lilia understand how important this moment was? How kind she was, to look upon his pathetic little self, and think he was worthy?
Do ya wanna go -- um, play?
Maybe she'd say no, or maybe she was too tired (she seemed particularly small, now that he was looking at her properly), or maybe this wasn't the right way to thank someone for being put on their friend's roster; but Reki had no idea what else to do, except offer.
She gave him a simple nod of acknowledgement, but wouldn't make a fuss over him. She could tell that he felt touched- and she pitied him. He looked up to her already, but had no idea that she really had no cause to be so glorified in his eyes. She was a gangly, skinny new kid who had no real family and no other friends. His competition wasn't steep- but she wouldn't tell him that. She'd meet more wolves, to be sure, but Reki's loyalty seemed to have been won. It was enough to keep him in her entourage for now.
Play...It had been a long time since she'd played. Her sister had slapped at her, bullied her. That had been their version of play, and it made her frown slightly. She didn't want to get beat up, and she figured Reki'd beat her in any sort of tussle. She didn't want to lose, and didn't even want to try when she knew she was this feeble. "What do you wanna pway?" She asked gingerly.