Fox's Glade entomb

if u have time <3

snow, and in it merrick's visible trail. here a bush; here he hiked his leg, and then again and again, and when he could carry that on no more, he ripped bark from trees, rubbed his shoulders high upon their trunks.
the scent of ursus began to wreath fierce and bearmusk through the glade.
and the king of bears meant to threaten those who would try to gather here;
he lifted his head now, calling for the man @Illidan to join him here, so merrick might measure him.

Always have time for you <33

 

out of the valley and into the wilds, the gunslinger sought peace from the bustling that existed in his mind. he journeyed for quite some time before pausing to quell his hunger with a rabbit. he lifted his gaze to the wooded area around him and breathed in the scent of fox that hung on the air. he wondered what the quick tricksters were up, what kind of trouble they had caused for passersby.
 
prowling forward, illidan caught a distinctly familiar scent on the air and redirected his course toward it. the warmth of the sun had long since faded in that part of the wilds; winter was upon them. as he shouldered his way through a thick patch of brush, the ghost caught sight of a figure he had never laid eyes on. the back of the beast was handsome and strong, and he carried the fragrance of ursus upon him.
 
when the summons came, it was surprising to the dark-hooded voyager. he stepped through the brush, keeping his head low and his hawkish gaze trained on the figure he had never met. a low chuff was issued to announce his presence, hoping to draw the attention of the unfamiliar beast. illidan hoped that his quick response would grant him a modicum of favor.

<33

avicus was gone. the fat stone son of revui was gone. merrick had only searched for one of them; his familial sense of duty did not extend to the children he had once thought to keep as slaves for his own brood. brown knotted terribly in anger, he whirled at the tread of the other, scarred lips rearing back and back and —
he knew this face. the scent was his own. redcream hackles slowly died from their post upon his shoulders. merrick licked the corner of his mouth with a dried tongue. "you've been around a while," he said gently, pondering the young strength of the bear-man.

had it really been a while?
 
illidan’s features creased at the young man’s words, unsure if he had really been around long enough to have proven himself to this – the man he assumed was the one who led them all. still, he was not inclined to argue with merrick over the semantics of his membership. it had been a stroke of luck that had carried the dark-hooded ghost through the path of the bear and toward the valley pack. good fortune had met him in the shape of the dark witch, who had granted him passage into her home.
 
“mmm, just long enough to have assisted the dark lady in her fight with your neighbor pack,” illidan answered him in a voice that was gruff with weariness, but humble. he had wondered about this figure, having scented his presence on the edges of the pack but never having met the man. he wondered what the bear leader was like underneath that frightening face.

1000th for uuuu

the dark lady. merrick liked the sound of that at once; his smile shone bright and brazen. "she's the queen," he declared happily, tipping illidan the last of his grin before it faded. "our daughter is gone." the word our felt distinctively foreign to say, and his tonguetip touched the roof of his mouth before lashing his torn lips.
"anyway," shoulders bladed and then flattening, "there may come a time i go and look for her. and i need to know what sort of wolves i would be leaving behind to look after ursus."
pointed now, the bite of his gaze.

’the queen…’
 
illidan turned his gaze away from the bear lord immediately, surprised at the force of the shame that had washed through his belly. he felt that he was not worthy of listening to what this fierce beast had to say. he was nothing more than a passerby who had found himself indebted to the dark- to the queen. he did not know how long it would take to repay her kindness, and the more he stood beneath the gaze of the fierce bear lord… the more he worried that he would come to owe them much more.
 
the hawkish yellow of his eyes returned to the features of the male after a moment. the gaze was pointed and illidan felt his stomach churn. was he intended to answer the statement that had been offered? merrick wished to know what kind of wolves he left to protect his home and yet illidan did not know what this meant to the youthful man.
 
“what do you need of me?”
 
his voice was haggard and humble, and it was gruff in nature, but it did not come out with pride. he was willing to do whatever was asked of him.

"be ready to kill," merrick said with a low laugh. he thought with great love of avicus and aventus, of their keenheart mother and how she had christened them in blood over and again. how blood had bathed ursus. how it had washed away the sins of the past and brought them revelry in a crimson present.
illidan would learn such things, merrick decided, if he did not know already.
"do you have ambition?" he asked, words semi-swallowed by the rush of a sudden cold wind that knifed at the expanse between he and the somber man. merrick searched him with the single probe of his sharp yellow eye, feigning knowingness even though illidan largely remained a closed tome.