Fox's Glade Cause we both need it to forget this fear

AW maybe @Sorin ?

The fae had been most surprised to wake and discover that the dark man had not been a dream born of loneliness. He was not a figment of her imagination but astoundingly real - an individual with a name. He was Sorin. 

In the light of day, she could not pretend he was Kavik, not any more than she could have pretended Siqsa was - who had joined the duo only days ago. 

With the sun's rays to cast illuminance on the true features of his composition, Sorin was shorter than her previous mate but broader of shoulder and thicker of limb, more stocky and muscular. The healer had not thought it possible to meet a wolf who made her feel smaller than the Tonrar had but the ebony titan managed, despite the difference in height. His features were shorter, squarer - his eyes a darker shade of green, that of ivy and moss climbing across the trunks of ancient trees. Liri could not guess his age - he seemed youthful on the rare occasions when he lowered his guard yet wise as the tribe's elders when composed. 

It was night when she again sought after the raven's company - unable to sleep. Perhaps Sorin would be awake as well, he too seemed to be plagued by nightmares. 

It had been colder of late, if that was possible. Ice crusted the grass, shards breaking softly underfoot as the northron padded to Sorin's sleeping spot - a dozen tiny ghostly Liris reflected in the icicles hanging from the tree limbs. 

The healer's breath hung in thick white plumes as it escaped into the dark of the night, her breath caught for a moment. 

Did she dare? 

"Sorin, " the fae chuffed softly, the word thick with the girl's native tongue. Her voice was soft, it would not wake him if he were dozing but a wolf lying awake in the dark might hear the nymph's whispered call. 

Sorin had made good on his promise, following Liri as they traveled from the open plain. Winter had descended ever further, and the days had grown progressively colder over the last week or so. Thus, he was glad for the comforting companionship against the bitterness of the season.

He had studied her that morning after they had met, finding her to be a creature of both beauty and hardship. He could still see evidence of a women who had once been an unblemished beauty, an soul as unmarred as his had once been. Like him, she seemed to have been treated kindly by life at one point or another. And like him, the evidence of life's vices lay clearly upon her body, scars and a deformed leg showed a life of incredible hardship. Yet, such difficulty had not broken her, or so it seemed. For that, she had his respect.

Currently, he lay beneath the trees once again, his third time in this forest. He was somewhat put out that no foxes had crossed his path, as he could have used the antics of the little predators to lift his spirits. Still, he knew such things would not help for long. Nothing could mend him completely, he had resigned to that belief long ago. It was sad fate that he had thrown himself to, and yet Sorin was firm in his acceptance of it. Nothing could rid him of the vices of his past, nor could he ever escape. Not with how deep her betrayal had run.

His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of the ivory women, the icy grass breaking under her paws. Sorin lifted his head at her greeting, his expression once again a careful neutrality, although more welcoming than it had been in a long time. He nodded in return to her call, gesturing to the place at his side if she should so choose to lay beside him. "What has you up so late?" he whispered. He had a guess, but it would not do to voice it and be wrong. Better to listen than presume, as Viggo had taught him.

A flicker of movement amongst the shadows - his broad head raising. Such a small movement and yet it set her heart to pounding. Suddenly it seemed improper to seek him out in the dead of the night, silly or childish even - like a pup crawling to its mother after a bad dream. 

Heat spread across her cheeks and the fae nearly fled, certain she was disturbing him when his own whispers reached her flickering auds. 

"Demons, " she answered in a matter-of-fact murmur, a knowing glint twinkling in her mahogany optics. 

Liri didn't care to look too deeply into the bond forming between them - afraid that if she held it up to the sunlight, examined and inspected it, that it would shatter like the other glass fixtures of her life that lay scattered in shards at her paws. Sorin was what the elders had called a soul mate, a spirit match. There was an understanding between them, a fragile kinship that evolved between misfits and broken things. 

This didn't mean he would stay. If she looked too closely maybe she'd fuck up and get attached to him, then where would she be when he left? 

The far shifted on her paws, finally surrendering to the comfort of joining Sorin beneath the trees. 

"What steals your sleep?" She asks, feeling she already knows the answer though the identity of his tormentor remains a secret still.

Sorin watched her intently, seeing the struggle on her face. She seemed to be debating whether to run or not. Ultimately though, she decided to stay, for which he was glad He nodded solemnly to her answer, knowing all too well what she probably meant by the phrase. He couldn't be certain, but he had seen a hint of betrayed love in her expression when he first met her. And he saw it again, ever so briefly, as she answered.

He wasn't sure what she was looking for, in coming to him like this. Nor was he exactly sure what he wanted. He hoped, perhaps, that they could help each other heal, but it wasn't his decision alone to make, and he would respect whatever she wanted. But he did have hope, a hope that burned fiercely though he rarely allowed it to show. He did not want to pressure her, and he did not want to fully admit it to himself, lest it all come crashing down. He had wisened up to living on hope alone.

"Demons" he responded in kind, a wry grin full of bitterness playing at his lips. It seemed that they had far more in common than even he first suspected, and a flame of hope finally flickered in his solemn gaze. She was probably one of the few who might be able to fully understand what he had been through. But even though he had hope, he wasn't going to simply throw his life story at her paws. Hope had to be tempered with caution, he had discovered that lesson the hard way.

"Who are the elders you spoke of?" he asked, curious to learn more about her. From what she had alluded to, they seemed to have been a major influence on her life.

The chuckle, the grin - they are all hints. 

Some story waits behind his sorrowful eyes, this she knows, as certain as the story painted across her flesh for him to read. 

Liri's head turned of its own accord, her dark eyes searching him for some answer. 

Who hurt you so badly?

It wasn't her place to ask. No matter what emotions might be stirring on account of Sorin, no matter how familiar he seemed. 

The question distracts her, and she shifts slightly as if coming back to awareness. Her eyes dart away as if caught doing something she hadn't any right to be up to in the first place. 

"They were the oldest members of the tribe that took me in as a child. My mother passed birthing us and the Chieftain's litter hadn't survived the winter."

There's no harm in telling him. Lonely as her childhood was, as much as an outcast as she was, Liri was happy. There were no secrets in this tale. 

"The packs here are different. Elders were almost like Alphas there, their word was law. They commune with the spirits; they guide the people. They were very esteemed no matter what tribe you visited." 

"Nagka was...well, she was a bit eccentric, " Liri laughed softly, careful not to wake Siqsa. The sound seemed alien, the play of her muscles across her face foreign after her features had been held in solemnity for so long. 

"She took care of me, " her voice was soft now, the older woman had been the closest thing Liri had ever known as a mother. "Taught me the healing arts, taught me how to hunt."

"She stood up for me. Vouched for me. She fought for my right to be a member of the tribe, to be trained as a healer. She staked her status on it - defied people that had been her kin for life." 

"She was brave." 

There was something like longing in Liri's tones as the words spilled free, unable as she was to hinder their flow. How she wished she could be half as strong, half as brave as Nagka. If the wizened old healer could see her now. 

"What of Viggo? How did you meet him?" Her tones are more hesitant now, remembering his reaction to the last time she had asked about his past. The last thing she wanted was to make him shut down again, not when it seemed like she might get to glimpse what lay beneath the mask he had so carefully constructed. 

Sorin listens with an attentive ear, hoping to gather what he can from her. A flash of sorrow pierces his soul as she describes losing her mother, and he remembers how his own family fell, how his pack was destroyed. The pain does not remain for long though, he is to busy listening as she continues, telling him who the elders were and who Nagka was. He smiles as she laughs, enjoying the pure sound free of the grief that had gripped her tones until then. He can pick up on the longing, but makes no mention of it. He isn't sure what she is wanting for, and it is not his place to ask. Still, he smiles inwardly from the fondness in her recounting.

He sighed inwardly at her question. He knew it was coming, and he figured that he owed her. She had answered his question after all. It didn't mean he liked it. But perhaps it was time he confided in another, that he told someone the legacy of the man who had been his mentor, guide, and leader.

"I met Viggo a few months after my natal pack was broken. We were attacked by rivals, and my parents were killed. As far as my siblings, I don't know what happened to them." his gaze falls as he remembered the attack, just after the family's last successful hunt. He sighs before continuing. "Viggo found me wandering near his borders. He challenged me, but I refused to back down. We had a brief altercation, and he promptly kicked my ass." A brief smile came across Sorin's face as he remembered the episode. He was young and reckless then, he had never stood a chance against the wise old warrior. "Then he let me join, said he liked my spirit."

"He taught me a lot. How to hunt, how to fight, and how to live life. He taught me about war, he had too because relations between rival packs were quite volatile. But he was just man; always fought for a honorable cause, and never made his enemies suffer. He was a warrior, a general, but he knew where to draw the line."  His voice was full of youthful admiration as he told her about his mentor.

"He always did his best to make time for me, despite having to lead the pack, and care for his mate. I still can't fully understand why he put so much effort into me." A shadow crossed Sorin's face, for he still felt like he had failed Viggo in not holding the old alphas pack after ousting Bane. But leadership had never really appealed to him, and there had been too much bitterness over the whole ordeal for Sorin to want to fill the role of leader. Still, the guilt persisted.

Liri leans forward subconsciously, pale ears pricked attentively. Sorin does not seem like the type to speak of himself often and Liri wants to glean what information she can from this glimpse into his origins. 

Empathy coursed through the healer at the brief mention of the raven's family - memories of the tribe falling apart on account of the disease that killed so many of its members, her father included, flashing through her head. She had lost her people, her siblings but she could not imagine the horror of losing them in a massacre as Sorin had. 

Despite herself, the fae can't help the amused grin that breaks across her face at the next segment - it's a little hard to picture the stoic bear as a smart-mouthed youth. 

Her smile turns to one of admiration, sensing that Viggo is something of a hero to Sorin. The warrior sounds worthy of such respect, at least from the way Sorin speaks of him. 

As the tale nears its conclusion, Liri's ears pin briefly in confusion. 

Does he not see himself as worth time? 

Her heart leapt into her throat. The words were there on her tongue if she could just spit them out. Adrenaline raced in her veins as if she were about to face some foe and not just speak aloud a thought. 

Why was it so difficult? Sorin was something like a friend, he had been kind to her. Kind enough to keep a lonely stranger company, to sit awake with her at night and speak of everything and anything - so long as they both tactfully agreed to not bring up anything too painful. Why should it be so hard to return the favor, to say something kind to him? 

Because it doesn't completely feel like just saying something nice to a friend. And you know it. 

"I think, " she finally said, soft tones wavering with nerves, "that he saw in you what I see in you. I don't know you very well yet but you seem like a good person."

"You're kind though people haven't often returned that favor to you, " she ventured hesitantly. "Kind enough to travel with a stranger." 

"You've seen pain but I think Viggo would agree with me that you deserve peace." 

Liri risked a glance at his face then, praying to the ancestors that she hadn't offended him or overstepped, and waited for a reaction. 

Sorin sighs inwardly as his mind wanders to the desperate months spent as a rebel in his own land. Viggo would have been deeply saddened by how terribly things had turned out, by how much Sorin and the others had to struggle through. And because he had been the de facto leader, Sorin put a lot of the blame for those struggles on himself. I wasn't strong enough to save him, and I couldn't take down Bane then and there. Not when she revealed just how much of a lie it had all been. Instead, we had to live through hell for six months. Although he did not put any voice to his turmoil, the pain shadowed his expression.

He chuckled bitterly when Liri spoke, telling him he was kind. Kind, good, ha. Oh sure, he had some kindness, had some semblance of purity, but it wasn't enough to atone for all the terrible things he had done. All the blood he'd spilt during those six months. All the fights, and the members he had been forced let Bane punish harshly, in order to cast Bane down. He could still see their faces, begging for help that he simply could not give, or else the grand plan would come crashing down and the tyranny would continue.  

"No he wouldn't" Sorin spat harshly, more at himself than at her. "He would be furious with me, for getting so many hurt." He knew that he was probably saying far too much, that he was making himself terribly open, but he didn't care at the moment. Everything that had been bottled up for so long was bubbling right below the surface, threatening to spill out.

At least you know how worthless you are, how dangerous, how weak she whispered slyly, and the dam shattered. He threw his head back, eyes screwed shut in pain as he struggled inside to throw her out. "At least I didn't betray him, like you did to both of us!" he snarled, totally lost in the fight and not even registering the presence or the words Liri said anymore. He was trapped in the struggle that had held him captive since the day she had turned against him.

Oh, but you did. You let Bane punish usurpers without lifting a paw, even though you lead them. You couldn't fight him, and you cant fight me she ​whispered.

She's left waiting in silence, trying to determine what it means as it stretches between them. Seconds, minutes, hours pass in that silence, endless and deafening as it presses forcibly on her eardrums like the calm before a bomb goes off. 

A bitter chuckle was Sorin's answer. Her ears dipped cautiously as oak optics clouded, her guard and her walls simultaneously rising. 

Liri had lifted the glass in her metaphorical hands, had forgotten that the shadow was as broken as she was. In holding it up to the light, she had cut herself on his jagged edges. 

Warily, the girl's snowy head ducked as if subconsciously protecting her throat. The fae began to edge away, feeling something dark manifest at her side - it seemed to crackle through the air like static preluding a lightning strike. 

His head twisted as he shouted and the ghost was gone. 

She darted from his side, gasping in fright at the boom of noise behind her, as fast as three legs could take her and as well as her disease-wracked body would allow her. 

Vaguely, as the sylph found the treeline, some part of her recognized that it wasn't to Liri Sorin had spoken. It was that hidden part of him - the part that Liri knew was haunted. 

But the northron had demons of her own. 

The sight of the bear twisting towards her, the harsh snarl of his voice as it ripped free of his throat conjured memories of the past. 

Russet fur and sickly green eyes danced in her mind's eye, a tiny voice whispering, "You deserve this."

Liri shook her head as if to physically rid herself of the ghoul. Panic gave way to rationality. 

She'd come to stop some several feet away, back curled against the icy foliage at the edge of the forest. She watched Sorin from this perch with unreadable eyes, peeking at him hesitantly to see if the episode had passed as her heart stopped pounding. 

After a moment, when her ears had lifted and her trembling had stopped - her compassion won out. 

"Are you alright?" Even the whisper seemed sinfully loud as the words carried across the space between them. 

Even in his state of internal war, Sorin felt Liri leave his side. He whimpered immediately as she left, fear creeping in and only adding to the mix of tumultuous emotions coursing through his scarred heart. He did not intend to drive her away, he feared driving her away, for he knew, deep down, that she was special in some way. That she could see the good in him, little as he might believe there to be. The fear of her leaving him broke the worst of the spell.

He breathed deeply, trying to regain control as he looked for where she had fled. He caught sight of her within the trees, and guilt and shame burned like fire through him, as he saw how he had driven her off. His expression morphed from remorse to anger to pain quick as lightning, but most of all his expression simply conveyed a deep pain. A pain that stalked his mind and haunted his dreams for days upon end.

"No I'm not" he said softly, his voice broken with emotion. "I haven't been for a long time. Not since...since she betrayed me." He was too broken right now to care about holding his walls and guarding his heart. If she made him regret it later, so be it. He simply needed comfort now. His eyes reached out, a silent plea deep within them. He probably didn't deserve her comfort, but he hoped for it nonetheless.

"Don't, Don't go, please."

Understanding dawned in her dark gaze. 

She knew quite a bit about betrayal. 

It hadn't occurred to her that her actions might seem cowardly - he was vastly larger than she and his ways were mysterious to her still. Just because he was calm and kind on the surface didn't mean he was incapable of lashing out. Liri had known patient men who were prone to fits of anger; it was only instinct to get out of harm's way. 

She could see that her flight had upset him - a notion that brings her unsteadily onto three paws. There no longer seemed to be any danger. There was only Sorin with his sad eyes and he needed her. 

The fae returned slowly to his side like a truant shadow. The healer settled on her pale haunches, freckled crown hung as her gaze roved over the ivory-patched forest floor. 

There were no apologies or reassurances, no words that could make him feel better. Liri leaned against him hesitantly, waiting to see if it bothered him before she settled fully against his broad side.

"I founded a pack on the other side of those mountains, " Liri broke the silence, at last, lifting her chin in the direction of the Sunspear range looming like dark sentinels against the night sky. "Just last summer. We lived there for several months. I led alongside Kavik..my mate."

Liri could not look at him. Her eyes remained on the distant peaks, her soft voice collected. 

"We had a few issues towards autumn - a conflict with our Beta, the loss of a few members, a bear attack, animals raiding our caches. But we didn't struggle - not unduly. We were happy."

I thought I would spend my life on that Plateau. My children would play amongst the pines and learn to hunt in the open field by the stream.  Ruenna's children would likely have been their playmates or maybe Elixir's. Someday it would have belonged to them, to all of the pack's children. 

"But my friend fell ill with greencough and after I treated her, I contracted the disease myself. For two months I wasted away while the pack fell apart. A group of coyotes raided the caches and my family fled. 

I was lost in the caves, delirious with fever." 

"When I was finally well enough to seek the members of my former pack out, I found they had scattered to the wind. After I crossed the mountains, I stumbled upon the borders of the Swiftcurrent Creek pack and smelled the scent of Kavik there."

Her lip twitched slightly in an attempt at a wry grin. "It was faint but I would have known it anywhere."

"I called for him, almost certain he wouldn't come. But he did."

Her shoulders curled the tiniest amount, as if bracing against a physical pain. 

"And he revealed that he had gotten another subordinate pregnant. She came into heat and he just happened to be there. He told me he would be staying to take care of her and the children."

She doesn't want to look at him. She knows Sorin will see the ocean of grief that threatens to drown her if she dares stop swimming.

Someday she may reach the shore, but it feels distant yet. If she can just keep kicking her feet, maybe someday the northron would get to experience dry land. 

In the end, her gaze lifts to his - soft but pained. They aren't so different. 

"This "she", she is your Kavik?" Liri asks softly, hoping it doesn't trigger him into another rage. She feels she can understand his reaction better, how the pain of such a thing can unhinge you.

Sorin watched her with eyes full of grief, his walls shattered by all of the pain that have surfaced in such a short time. He had been running from it for so long, and to have everything come to him all at once nearly destroyed him. But he had enough strength to plead for comfort, and thankfully, Liri obliged. She walked back, leaning against him, and he leaned against her in desperation.

She told him of creating a pack, and of losing her grip on her home. Of being abandoned and betrayed by her love. He listened, silent through her story as he mulled over all she had told him. He remained silent for a long while, his mind slowly forming his own story. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Shortly after I joined Viggo's pack, I met a women, Livia. She was beautiful, and she seemed to care, to like me. I was young, foolish, believed that love and hope did not need to be guarded against. I fell for her, and I thought she fell for me." He sighed deeply, thinking back on such naiveness.

"Six months after I joined, our beta, Bane, killed Viggo. And Livida...helped him. They killed Viggo and his mate, and took over the pack. She left me, for the allure of power at Bane's side. It was then that I realized everything had been a lie, that she only cared for power." He raised his head, seeking some small measure of comfort from Viggo's spirit, strength enough to continue.

"For the next few months, I helped form and lead a rebellion against them both. I had to make...tough decisions. I had to let Bane punish some of us, because we were not strong enough to face him and his thugs in a straight fight. I had to stand by, and let those who supported me be hurt, for the greater good. And all the while, she taunted me, mocked and broke me. There was nothing I could do, because Bane protected her."

"Finally, we made our move. I killed Bane, and I could have killed her too. But I...couldn't. I'll never understand why I couldn't. Maybe, deep down, she was still in my heart. But I couldn't kill her, and so she gave me this," he gestured to the scar on his chest. "I don't know what became of her."

"The pack fell apart afterwards. I didn't even try to hold it together, there was simply to much bitterness for the whole ordeal. Since then I've been wandering, broken, with her haunting my every step."

The shadow sighed deeply as he finished his tale. They really were similar in some ways. He glanced at her, wondering what her reaction might be.

Liri listens carefully to the tale of sorrow that Sorin weaves with his words - the last chunk of the story revealing the truth of the pain that lingered in his summer eyes. 

Her pale head tipped silently in acknowledgment once the crow had finished speaking, empathy coursing through her veins. This Livia was indeed Sorin's Kavik but of a worse nature than the wayward Tonrar, she had obliviated his family, murdered the hero who saved him. 

"That is atrocious, " Liri murmured with thinly veiled venom. The woman was of an ilk with Kelina - a monstress, a destroyer of life. "I'm so sorry about Viggo. About everything." 

Liri brushed her peppered temple against Sorin's inky shoulder comfortingly. 

After a beat, when the silence had swelled between them and thoughts of family had flitted through her mind restlessly, Liri lifted her head to meet his emerald gaze. 

"I'll be honest with you, " the healer began with a soft sigh, feeling lost. "I don't know where we're going - Siqsa and I. He was a member of that pack I lost; he's like the last piece of family I have left. He doesn't want to join a pack and I don't blame him after what happened to our last one. And I mean, come on, " she finished with a meek shrug. Her dark eyes fell to the ground. "What would be the point?"

"Even if we did show up on some stranger's threshold, beg them for admittance in the middle of winter - he wouldn't want to be there and they'd take one look at me and have a good laugh, " Liri murmured, gaze on the distant mountains that had once been her home. 

"I think we'll return to the wilderness, try to survive this winter, " the tracker stated, both weary and determined to stay alive. 

"Wherever we go, you'd be welcome to come with us, Sorin, " Liri ventured hesitantly, unsure how he might take the invitation. "We're not that familiar yet but in time, maybe you'd feel like part of our family too, " Liri whispered, glancing at him to gauge a reaction. 

Sorin kept his head down as he finished his tale, unable to meet Liri's eyes. Everything, or at least almost everything, was out on the table now. He knew, deep down, that is was the right decision, that had needed to confide in someone for quite a while. But there was still reservation about making himself so vulnerable.

He nodded in silent thanks to her support. There were no words he could use, and even if there were, they would not matter. He did feel a twinge of surprise at the hatred in her voice, but made no comment on such emotion either. After all, she had dealt with betrayal as well.

"I'm sorry too, sorry to hear how you lost so much." he whispered, leaning into her as she offered comfort. He laid there, emotion still coursing through him, but strangely, she was not at the front of his mind. Instead, the women at his side was, as he evaluated everything he knew about her.

"They wouldn't laugh long, not if I was there," Sorin muttered under his breath. A surge of anger at the idea of anyone laughing at Liri's plight ran through him. She was so much stronger than most, if what he had seen was anything to judge by. No one who had such strength should be laughed at so cruelly.

"I'll come with you," he said softly, for once not hesitating in his answer. He knew it was a risk, to expose himself to others again. But she had helped more than any other in recent months, and he wasn't going to let an opportunity to heal slip away. "We may both be damaged, but in time, perhaps we can help each other heal." He glanced at her, wondering what she would say. He was not sure where all this was going, he certainly didn't want to get his hopes too high, but he did have faint hope that they could help each other become whole again.

The fae brushed her temple against his shoulder, curling against him comfortably. Sorin did not seem to mind her proximity and the night was cold. The healer was grateful both for the raven's warmth and for the comfort he had offered. 

They had both lost much and it seemed Liri was forever cursed to lose everything she came to love. She thought the legacy built with Kavik had put an end to her grief but that had only been a cruel deception. Liri would always be haunted by their last encounter, her flesh still burned with her former mate's final embrace - but perhaps that did not mean the northron couldn't find new happiness. A ray of hope shined through; for the events had brought Sorin into her life. 

A jolt of surprise runs through the healer at the shadow's words, touched that he would stand up for her. "Thank you, " she murmurs though the words feel inadequate. 

"I'm glad, " she admits honestly at his answer. A smile plays at the edges of her lips. The sylph has enjoyed his company; she would be sorry to see him go. 

"I think we could heal each other, " comes her following words, soft as a first kiss. She glances up at him, shining a warm smile. 

Sorin sighs contentedly as Liri presses into him. For once, he had not a care in the world about being so close to someone. But then, Liri was not just anyone. She had had been forged through adversity, much like himself. Somehow, they had both come out alive, and had found each other. He was glad beyond measure with how fate had brought them to meet.
He nodded to her thanks, silently pledging that he would allow no one to treat her with such cruelty if he was around. She didn't deserve anyhting but admiration and respect for still living after all she had suffered.

As she smiles at him, he cannot help but smile back, a real genuine smile that displays the remnants of his youth, which had been long buried by pain and sorrow, but were dredged up by the admittance of his past. Although he had aged early, Sorin still had some youthful dispositions about him, though they had rarely been on display as of late. With her though, he could drop the guard he had carried for so long.

"If we're going to move out soon, we should probably go hunt tomorrow," he said, knowing the band will need some form of sustinece before beginning any sort of long trek. "I might have an idea of where we can find something. A couple months ago, I came across big group of pheasants in the meadow to the west." He eyes turn as he speaks, his gaze seeming to seek out the meadow where he had hunted. "We might be able to find a few, if we look hard enough." He glances at Liri, smiling fondly as he remembers the hunting lessons with Viggo. "I might get the chance to show you just what the old man taught me." he chuckles.

Liri feels her own smile stretch into a grin at the sight of Sorin's happiness. It's rare to see him so vulnerable, so unguarded. Liri finds the sight to be one of the best things she's seen of late and vows to see the solemn dark man smile more often. 

A small nod acknowledges his words, accompanied by a wrinkle of concern forming between her dark optics. Game would be more difficult to find in winter but they would manage. 

"Indeed, " she agreed. She would default to Sorin on this, he already had a destination in mind where he knew food to be. The healer had subsided on the deer of the plateau too long to be familiar with the inhabitants of the nearby neutral territories. "I'd like that, " she laughs lightly, eager to see the bear in action. 

"I don't know much about prey in the mountains. Aside from the usual small prey, mountain goats dwell there and in some places antelope." Liri admitted, gaze finding the Sunspear range that would become their future place of dwelling. 

Sorin smiled, content with the plan that had been settled on. Truthfully, he was eager to show her his skills, to show her his worth. He only hoped the hunt would be successful. In winter, nothing was certain, especially when hunting pheasant. But there had birds in the meadow before, and he was sure there would still he a least a few now.

"We'll figure that out when we get there," he said, his own eyes turning towards the mountains. He was sure there would be enough prey, especially in the high mountain valleys. In the winter, such valleys were often full of life that had refused to leave the shelter of higher elevations.

"We should sleep, best to conserve our strength for tomorrow," he said. Sorin curled against Liri, drawing comfort from her form. He rested his head on his paws, a contentful smile directed her way. "We'll make it work Liri. We'll survive."

Yet even as he spoke, the back of his mind still contained doubt. Was he simply setting himself up for more pain, for more tragedy. He truly believed that the decision to join her was right, and he trusted her, but he wasn't entirely sure he trusted himself. Could he be trusted, could he turn away from all the pain and walk a path of righteousness and hope again. He wasn't so sure yet, but he was willing to give it his best shot. Viggo, give me the strength I need, for I fear I do not yet have it.

She nods in agreement - they will need all the sleep they can get with the trip they have coming up. Liri's still not functioning at one hundred percent after her bout with whitecough and the whole ordeal with the lightning. The healer is weaker, tires more easily and feels moments away from blacking out whenever she pushes herself too hard. Not to mention the fact that they're all a bit underweight and ragged with the harsh life of a rogue to follow. 

Sorin easily curls himself around her, how they found themselves on the ground she has no idea for she's far too tired to notice. Part of her notices this and is inwardly pleased. It's nice to know the raven feels comfortable enough to sleep in her presence. The healer tucks her head into the curve of his shoulder, tail swishing gently along the ground at his words. 

They could really do it, the three of them. They could at least try. 

As her eyes slid shut, anxiety reared its ugly head. 

Perhaps it didn't work out. Perhaps Sorin left anyways. Did she really think things would be different this time? That investing herself into a pack, growing attached to the family she made there would end in anything other than pain? 

Things will be different, an optimistic voice whispered sleepily from the depths of her mind. 

They have to be. 

Liri curled closer against the shadow, light against dark. As his warmth and the dark, masculine scent of him lulled her to sleep Liri tried not to pay any mind to the warmth radiating from her chest.