+- Wolf RPG (https://wolf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: In Character: Roleplaying (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Archives (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11)
+--- Thread: Ouroboros Spine Under billowing sky (/showthread.php?tid=47505)
Under billowing sky - Adrastus - May 29, 2021
By the lake's edge he had stalked for three nights, having found the prints of wet, webbed feet in the mud. Where a stream leaked away from the lake a beaver had chosen to build his dam, but not so far away another water-dwelling mammal had begun to frequent, making its home in a burrow dug into the muddy bank. Roots kept the den's entrance from collapsing under the rain, but could not protect the otter and its family from the wolf that stalked in the darkness, watching its habits to anticipate its movements. Routine would prove to be the otter's weakness and when it poked its nose out of the small, dark mouth of its den, the pale wolf was waiting.
It took him some time to cleanse himself following the brief but loud struggle. The otter wasn't strong enough to pose much of a threat, but the footing had been slippery and the creature had thrashed just enough to send them both toppling into the murky water. He wanted to preserve the pelt as much as possible, but drowning the otter wasn't an option- it would be able to hold its breath longer than he would, he figured. It didn't take long for the creature's struggles to bring about its exhaustion and death, but by the time it went limp Adrastus was soaked and muddy. Hardly how he wanted to appear to his betrothed at all.
By the time he'd gutted the otter, cleaned himself up and had fetched the lynx pelt from Kukutux, the sun had begun to set. With his ulaq as prepared as he thought he could get it, he placed the otter's pelt on the ground, and called out for his intended bride.
RE: Under billowing sky - Lótë - June 01, 2021
The painter had been wracking her mind since their last conversation, trying to come up with something she could ask Adrastus for -- something suitable for this vague notion that Kukutux had described as 'bride price'. She supposed she just felt wrong asking something of the pale icehunter, knowing that she likely wouldn't be allowed to give him anything in return in this custom. Or maybe it was that she was just used to being self-sufficient, having taken care of herself since her mother's death, and had never allowed herself to want something from another -- let alone a man.
But the traditions were not so different from the land of Elms. Things just went unspoken. When a man wanted to take a woman for his own, he built a hearth for her to bring children to. If she found the male, and his home, desirable, then the girl moved her things from her parents' dwelling to her husband's. Relatives might bring small gifts but for the most part, it was simple and understated -- lacking in ceremony. Village Moonglow's culture was not exactly complex but there was more emphasis on such occasions as marriage and conception, symbolic rites to follow that the herd-watcher must follow.
So the dove tried to adapt, as she had done so many times before. And she tried to think of what she might ask him for.
When the spiritbear's howl echoed for her through the trees, the two-year wondered if she was ready. With the thoughts she'd so carefully assembled clutched close, and a deep inhale to steady her sudden nerves, the botanist set off through the ulax -- peridots flickering to the various encampments, wondering silently if the inhabitants could sense the importance of the occasion from her hurried trot or if they just saw the usual Lótë going about her business as she always did.
The tundrian smelt of lakewater when she came upon him, waiting for the herbalist on his threshold -- mossy and fresh like the air that surrounded the pool of water in the lower reaches of the Spine -- with the fur of some creature laid at his broad paws, an otter or weasel perhaps. It was not an unpleasant aroma, rather it helped to calm her as she slowed to a halt a few paces before him, breath somewhat short as if she had run the entire way.
"Adrastus," the dove demurred by way of greeting, feeling it was too formal and too casual all at once. It was all that she could find to say, words failing her now that they were face to face.
But the traditions were not so different from the land of Elms. Things just went unspoken. When a man wanted to take a woman for his own, he built a hearth for her to bring children to. If she found the male, and his home, desirable, then the girl moved her things from her parents' dwelling to her husband's. Relatives might bring small gifts but for the most part, it was simple and understated -- lacking in ceremony. Village Moonglow's culture was not exactly complex but there was more emphasis on such occasions as marriage and conception, symbolic rites to follow that the herd-watcher must follow.
So the dove tried to adapt, as she had done so many times before. And she tried to think of what she might ask him for.
When the spiritbear's howl echoed for her through the trees, the two-year wondered if she was ready. With the thoughts she'd so carefully assembled clutched close, and a deep inhale to steady her sudden nerves, the botanist set off through the ulax -- peridots flickering to the various encampments, wondering silently if the inhabitants could sense the importance of the occasion from her hurried trot or if they just saw the usual Lótë going about her business as she always did.
The tundrian smelt of lakewater when she came upon him, waiting for the herbalist on his threshold -- mossy and fresh like the air that surrounded the pool of water in the lower reaches of the Spine -- with the fur of some creature laid at his broad paws, an otter or weasel perhaps. It was not an unpleasant aroma, rather it helped to calm her as she slowed to a halt a few paces before him, breath somewhat short as if she had run the entire way.
"Adrastus," the dove demurred by way of greeting, feeling it was too formal and too casual all at once. It was all that she could find to say, words failing her now that they were face to face.
RE: Under billowing sky - Adrastus - June 04, 2021
When she came to meet with him, it was with a cheerful but expectant gaze. He greeted her with a soft smile and a low, rumbling growl; perhaps more affectionately than he might have expected himself to sound, but considering the occasion, and the warmth in his heart that he felt for her, it had happened naturally.
There was a question in her gaze, but he could sense that there was some anticipation as well. They had already discussed the potential for them to be joined together, and for all intents and purposes he had considered himself engaged, even before he'd received Kukutux's blessing. Now, though, he had gone about this engagement the proper way, and all that was left was to make things official.
Lótë," He began, answering her with a congenial rumble. It felt so odd to be so formal about something- but he also felt that he should respect her boundaries, where familiarity was concerned, at least until they were wed. "I have spoken to Kukutux and she gives us her blessing; I have prepared this otter skin for you, and my ulaq. as well. I would offer it to you, as I would offer you my heart and my name." He said.
RE: Under billowing sky - Lótë - June 04, 2021
Her jadestone gaze trailed down to the slow curve of his lips, finding her own soon to follow suit -- unable to repress the way her features softened in response to Sivullik's warmth nor the anticipating wag of her tail. It seemed silly to have been apprehensive now, unable as the greenpaw was to find any sign of expectation in the icebear's honeyed gaze.
She felt practically giddy as she waited for the words to escape his pallid maw, feeling a tremble sweep along the length of her thin frame at the rumble of his low tones. No longer the reserved and skittish old soul Adrastus had come to know, the two-year felt her layers had been stripped away beneath the canopy of the pines -- leaving the gangly girl who had never even been kissed by a man before, let alone courted or married, to stand before the first hunter.
"I accept you," the mouse lilted, the words as soft as featherdown caught in the wind, unable to completely conceal the accent that afflicted them. She felt a lump rise in her throat, swallowing against the memories of another land -- never imagining she might need the ceremonial words of her former tribe's marriage rite.
The agouti went to him then, wondering if her gait reflected the way her joints seemed to shake as if they had come unhinged. There was only a brief hesitance as she reached for the Baptiste, muzzle moving to sweep tendlerly up along the spiritbear's throat and cheek to nuzzle at the corner of his dark lips. She had not touched or been touched since..
She shoved the memories away. They had no place in such a joyous occasion.
Thinking of her worries, she allowed a grin to curl along her lips -- pulling back enough that he might be able to catch her rueful expression before the dove dipped her diadem of deerskin. In the end, she hadn't had to worry about what might be an appropriate bride price but still, the herd-watcher felt the need to share her thoughts with her husband -- the words giving her a little thrill as she thought them.
"When Kukutux said I should ask a bride price of you before we married, I confess, I had no idea what to ask you for," the herbalist chuckled, allowing her temple to brush against his alabaster shoulder again -- simply because she could.
"In my homeland, when a man wishes to take a wife, he builds a home like this one," the sparrow drifted just a pace or two beyond him, admiring the ulaq he had once offered to let her paint. "A place she might fill with the laughter of their children."
She had planned to ask him to let her help him in turning his dwelling into a real home for the both of them, for their family, but he had given her that -- he and Kukutux both. Her home was Moonglow, no matter where her head rested, and they were the main reason the cloudberry had begun to emerge from her shell.
"I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I have something to ask and something to give.." She mused aloud, knowing she was keeping him in suspense but needing to keep her thoughts in order -- lest she make a fool of herself by stammering and stumbling over the words as she so often did when nervous.
"Kukutux has offered that I share motherhood with her this season," she revealed, in the ways that she had learned women spoke of such things in their village. Peridots flickered back to Adrastus over her shoulder, hoping to gauge his reaction with a pounding heart.
She felt practically giddy as she waited for the words to escape his pallid maw, feeling a tremble sweep along the length of her thin frame at the rumble of his low tones. No longer the reserved and skittish old soul Adrastus had come to know, the two-year felt her layers had been stripped away beneath the canopy of the pines -- leaving the gangly girl who had never even been kissed by a man before, let alone courted or married, to stand before the first hunter.
"I accept you," the mouse lilted, the words as soft as featherdown caught in the wind, unable to completely conceal the accent that afflicted them. She felt a lump rise in her throat, swallowing against the memories of another land -- never imagining she might need the ceremonial words of her former tribe's marriage rite.
The agouti went to him then, wondering if her gait reflected the way her joints seemed to shake as if they had come unhinged. There was only a brief hesitance as she reached for the Baptiste, muzzle moving to sweep tendlerly up along the spiritbear's throat and cheek to nuzzle at the corner of his dark lips. She had not touched or been touched since..
She shoved the memories away. They had no place in such a joyous occasion.
Thinking of her worries, she allowed a grin to curl along her lips -- pulling back enough that he might be able to catch her rueful expression before the dove dipped her diadem of deerskin. In the end, she hadn't had to worry about what might be an appropriate bride price but still, the herd-watcher felt the need to share her thoughts with her husband -- the words giving her a little thrill as she thought them.
"When Kukutux said I should ask a bride price of you before we married, I confess, I had no idea what to ask you for," the herbalist chuckled, allowing her temple to brush against his alabaster shoulder again -- simply because she could.
"In my homeland, when a man wishes to take a wife, he builds a home like this one," the sparrow drifted just a pace or two beyond him, admiring the ulaq he had once offered to let her paint. "A place she might fill with the laughter of their children."
She had planned to ask him to let her help him in turning his dwelling into a real home for the both of them, for their family, but he had given her that -- he and Kukutux both. Her home was Moonglow, no matter where her head rested, and they were the main reason the cloudberry had begun to emerge from her shell.
"I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I have something to ask and something to give.." She mused aloud, knowing she was keeping him in suspense but needing to keep her thoughts in order -- lest she make a fool of herself by stammering and stumbling over the words as she so often did when nervous.
"Kukutux has offered that I share motherhood with her this season," she revealed, in the ways that she had learned women spoke of such things in their village. Peridots flickered back to Adrastus over her shoulder, hoping to gauge his reaction with a pounding heart.
RE: Under billowing sky - Adrastus - June 28, 2021
When she mentioned that Kukutux had informed her to ask something from him, he remembered the conversation he'd had with their leader, during which she had tried to test him to see how he truly felt about his intended. A rabbit with a coat of white would be impossible to find- and he had had the wisdom to know this as truth. He wondered, then, if Lótë might seek to test him too- but for some reason, he didn't think she would.
She'd told him before that she'd had the expectation that a potential mate would create a place for them to live, and this was something he had done with her in mind. While he hoped still to fill it with furs and make the earth richly stored with food in the vicinity, he could only do so much while still having hopes of building a family this season. He knew how the cycles of women worked, and having assumed that Lótë was of the right age, he'd assumed that she might come into season some time before the Fall. If she would have him- and she said that she would- then there was nothing to stop them, he thought.
So it was with very little surprise that he responded, nodding, when she mentioned becoming a mother. He stepped forward, then, to close the space between them. "If you will take my name, and be true to only me, then I will give you children," He said, reaching out to touch his nose to her cheek, hoping she might draw nearer, so he could be sure that his proposal had been accepted.
RE: Under billowing sky - Lótë - July 14, 2021
A grin spread across her lips, a strange mixture of relief, happiness, and humor. "Of course," she reassured him readily. She had spoken to @Kukutux once, long ago, of them both wedding the brumal Sivullik that seemed to share a special corner in each of their hearts -- becoming sisters in marriage as well as love. Aiwë had not been bothered by the fact that the Moon's customs would dictate that she was second to the duck. She adored Kukutux. Her only worry had been that her children would grow jealous of the Ostrega's own in time, that conflict would brew in the Spine between the hypothetical half-siblings. But it was the Alpha's societal role as wisewoman that had swayed her from the notion, respecting the woman's choice to refrain from marrying again.
"There is no one else," she murmured in promise against his pale pelt as she embraced him again -- stepping forward to nuzzle against his ivory chest. Part of her fretted over whether she was smothering him with all the affection, even if her touches were small and fleeting, but the doe felt emaciated. Starved of any kind of positive touch, at least of a romantic and intimate variety from a male. She couldn't seem to stop herself.
It was the truth. Though some portion of her heart would always belong to the matchmaker, the love one had for a woman was different than the love for a he-wolf. There had never been anyone she had ever clicked with so suddenly or rightly as she had Adrastus, no one who managed to draw the reclusive mouse's attention or attraction. She had felt before that one could fly in the Spine but the icehunter was steady, solid as the mountains themselves -- tethering the neurotic dove better than any kind of gravity could.
"I did not mean to negotiate," the cloudberry wisp explained softly. "I only meant to ask. I would not force you to have children with me if it is not something you want as well." A subtle out, if he wanted it. "I have no name and would gladly take yours...I would like for our children to have your name as well..if you still wanted to have them."
"There is no one else," she murmured in promise against his pale pelt as she embraced him again -- stepping forward to nuzzle against his ivory chest. Part of her fretted over whether she was smothering him with all the affection, even if her touches were small and fleeting, but the doe felt emaciated. Starved of any kind of positive touch, at least of a romantic and intimate variety from a male. She couldn't seem to stop herself.
It was the truth. Though some portion of her heart would always belong to the matchmaker, the love one had for a woman was different than the love for a he-wolf. There had never been anyone she had ever clicked with so suddenly or rightly as she had Adrastus, no one who managed to draw the reclusive mouse's attention or attraction. She had felt before that one could fly in the Spine but the icehunter was steady, solid as the mountains themselves -- tethering the neurotic dove better than any kind of gravity could.
"I did not mean to negotiate," the cloudberry wisp explained softly. "I only meant to ask. I would not force you to have children with me if it is not something you want as well." A subtle out, if he wanted it. "I have no name and would gladly take yours...I would like for our children to have your name as well..if you still wanted to have them."