Felltree Marsh i broke time to save my knight in shining armor

he had not yet mustered up the courage to go the borders of @Lilia's place. which was why he waffled around out here. where the marsh met the rise, knowing that he likely looked more suspicious that way. yet he felt better out here somehow.

as if the embarrassment of being caught by njord still lived in the back of his mind too when he thought of her.

so he decided he would hunt first, so that he might actually have something to show when he did muster up the courage to go see her outright. only...he had not a single clue what to hunt away from the coast.

he groaned a bit, stamping a paw into snowy muck.

tag = invitation <3  >:D

Time had passed quickly for Lilia, whose focus had been driven toward training and hunting. She was lightly shocked by the recent murder at the borders of the Rise, but it did not make her fearful of the neutral lands beyond her borders. If nothing else, she craved the excitement. She thirsted for revenge, and it made her a sharper hunter and tracker. Each successful hunt nurtured her prey drive, and made her long to kill again. 

The scent of any unfamiliar wolf made her bristle, and she roved through the marsh with her senses on high alert. Any of those wolves could be attached to the one who had killed her packmate and the potential danger thrilled her. But when she caught a familiar scent above the smell of earth and moss, she stiffened for a moment. This wasn't a packmate- but it instantly triggered a voice in her brain that registered as ally.

Not only was it the scent of the ocean which belonged to the pack nearby that had been marked as safe, but it belonged to the russet-furred boy who had lingered in her thoughts since their meeting. She kept that memory private, but visited it often, and had found herself reliving the experience in her dreams. She spent a moment combing her teeth through her fur, smoothing out the ridge along her spine where the fur had been standing, and picking out a few stray strands of dried grass she'd somehow managed to pick up. Being focused on training had distracted her from her vanity. The princess had begun to hone her claws. 

She sought him out, following her nose, hoping to find him there while also trying to look as though she was perhaps busy doing something else- so he might not get the impression he was being hunted. It was by mere coincidence that they'd been in the same area to begin with- though she was perfectly content with trying to convince herself that he was actually on his way to see her.

>:] <3

for a moment, he had been too busy in his own indecision on what to do that he hadn't noticed her. not a single clue that she had been close enough — despite knowing that he was close to her home.

so why was he so gobsmacked to see her here!?

suddenly he felt the need to puff up his chest some, a little bit of peacocking before her truthfully. a bit of a swagger in his step as he opted to close whatever distance was between them. he was not oblivious to the physical improvement in her form. how she seemed a bit more...lean? athletic?

he was wise to snap his eyes back to her face.

leelee-uh! he called out, finding a bit of confidence in himself now. whatcha be doin' out 'ere?

He put on a show when he noticed he'd been seen, but Lilia too had her facade; she kept him in the corner of her eye, making sure to suck her breath in, and flex the muscles of her shoulders to accentuate the shape of her body. She could see the way he'd picked up his gait, swaggering with his chin up. It was charming that he put a bounce in his step like that, all for her. First, she flicked an ear in his direction, before she turned her head suddenly to see him, a look of surprise on her face. One paw dangled elegantly in mid-step, and she appraised him for just a moment before her features warmed, bringing sparkling sunlight to her eyes as she swept toward him. 

"Quennell!" She murmured endearingly, moving forward to brazenly nuzzle his cheek. She assumed that nothing had changed- that no others had drawn his eye, and that their companionship had not faded in her absence. She emitted an airy laugh as she combed her teeth through the salt-curled fur of his shoulder, though it was too wavy for her teeth to tame. "I've been out hunting. The winter hath been hawd on the pack. We-ruh you on your way to thee me?" She asked, wriggling her shoulders and looking up at him with a kittenish grin.

oh, he forgot how pretty she was closer! where he could admire the gold kissed lines of her fur. but she was nuzzling him, tussling with the waves of his fur. he could not keep himself contained!

so he leaned back into her. teeth smoothed over her well-tended-to golden mane.

he could have listened to her talk about hunting or her pack forever if she wanted. anything to keep her affections high and going.

oh! you caught me. he confessed with a hearty laugh. and i be hopin' to bring a gift, alas! they had ran into each other before he could have found one for her or her home.

His words affirmed what she'd been hoping to hear, but his laugh sounded guilty. She pulled back slightly, looking him up and down, mild distrust on her features mixed with light disappointment. "Oh, it would have been nithe if you had bwought thomething; our pack ith having t-uh-rubble finding food," She said. She had no problems guilting him with her sad words. It would have been proper for him to bring her a gift- necessary, almost. Coming to see her empty-handed was much less than what she deserved. She frowned. 

"Juth-t the other day, too, we weuh attacked," She said, hoping to stir up some empathy for that event as well. "It wath awful. One of my packmates wath killed, by an intwudah," She moaned, her painfully squinted eyes watching for his reaction.

quen knew when he had goofed.

now seemed like that time and his ears splayed gently. he had never really been to other packs! nor had he...felt like he did with lilia! he did not know that he might have given her such a grand disappointment to be empty handed. it stung much like the salty sea.

his features only drooped even further as she told him there had been a death of one of her packmates. killed by an intruder!

sapphique was so well guarded that he could not even imagine such an event upon the shores.

oh, leelee... his voice soft and hushed. he wanted to pull her closer again, if she did not protest against it. i'm so sorry. he had felt this kind of sadness once before. when they had accidently killed the bird of suzu's. how the guilt had eaten him up for days.

tell me what i be doin' to help.

She was stiff at first, to his consolation, as though struck by the trauma she'd experienced, but she gradually warmed to his touch, and softened her edges so that she could lean into him. She hadn't known the wolf that had been killed- hadn't cared about him. She hadn't taken time to process that while this time it had been a stranger, that the next time it could be someone like Prophet or Ancelin, someone she actually cared about. The whole incident hadn't really bothered her, it had excited her. But for this situation...it just seemed like she'd get more attention from Quennell if he felt sorry for her. 

"Oh, Quennell," She breathed, leaning her temple into his shoulder. "I don't know. I'm fuh-wightened that they'll come back, but we have to hunt, too, tho I can't juth-t th-tay at home," She said. She liked the idea of being caught between fear and starvation. She trembled lightly. "I....I do think the-uh be thomething you could do, but....Oh, I couldn't athk." She said, burying her face into his fur.

he struggled. knowing that maybe he should have some fear for himself, for sapphique. yet he also knew that he should be strong, right? that he should do all he could for leelee.

especially as she seemed to shiver against him. his heart became full of pity in that moment. saddened that she was in such a state.

then she was buried in his fur, unwilling to ask something of him. he had offered, though!

what be it? come on, tell quen.

he encouraged as he nosed softly at the top of her head.

She'd hesitate a bit, even after being coaxed. The question she wanted to ask was difficult, she wanted it to have space to resonate, and for her request to be received as being important. Then he might not turn her down. 

She could be a siren, for the pack. Draw him in. They needed numbers, they needed strength. Surely, they could borrow such a thing from Sapphique, a pack which had whales literally pitching themselves on the shore to feed the pack over and over again. She'd be lauded for helping make the pack stronger, by finding a potential recruit...Plus, then she'd have Quennell here. 

"Come to uh-Redtail uu-Rise." She said. "Pease, Quennell? We need sthtuh-rong wolves to help defend uth. They'uh making me tuh-rain to be a fightuh but it'th tho hawd," She said, choking back a sob. Princesses weren't meant to fight. Truth be told, she loved it- but for now, she needed to be the damsel in distress, in order to attract another knight.

nothing could have prepared him for that.

he had thought she may have asked for some of the whale, maybe they might patrol the land together. but come to redtail rise? it was not a decision he could make by himself.

suddenly he feared he would disappoint her further and that then he would never see leelee again.

i...i would be havin' goodbyes to be sayin' first, y'know...

his voice teetered somehow in the more submissive category, wishing to do anything but disappoint her.

quen had thought he had been ready to see more of the world, to be pirating. yet he already knew redtail rise was not a place of pirates for leelee had not known them. perhaps that was why he hesitated in some ways.

She didn't expect him to launch himself at the opportunity immediately, and was charitable in giving him some time to think before he gave her an answer. Read: a couple moments. If he'd taken any longer, she would have put up a fuss and pushed him away. There were other ways she knew that she could reel him in- but she'd save those as backup. 

And while he said there were things he'd have to take care of first, it implied that coming to the Rise would be next. She'd take that as a yes. 

She rewarded him immediately. She emitted a little yip of surprise, and nuzzled and licked at his chin, before she tucked her skull beneath his, and nuzzled against his jawline. "Oh, Quennell! Of co-wath, thay yowa goodbyth fiwtht," Excitement made her forget the tricks she'd learned to fix her lisp. She cleared her throat. "Thank you, thank you!" She said, heaving a relieved sigh. "You gonna love the u-rithe. Oh, an' when you come live with uth, I won't hafta puh-ractith fighting with Anthuhlin anymowa," She said. It was time to drop that name-bomb. Insurance. Pause for effect.

his gut clenched and bubbled. uncertain of himself suddenly. what if he wasn't very good at all in fighting like a pirate should be? what if leelee got bored of seeing him every day? what if the leaders didn't want him there at all?

then he considered all the what-ifs with sapphique. maybe his mamans would be upset with him. what about his siblings and other family? the friends he had within too?

he should have been enjoying this moment with leelee, the way she seemed to suddenly burst with joy as if he was somehow a cure for the bad things that had happened. he blinked, a bit owlish as his brain finally caught up with all her words.

with who?

maybe it was a sibling.

Hook taken. Now she just needed to feed him the line. 

"Anthuhlin." She repeated. "He'th the leada'th nephew. They paiwed me up with him for th-parring." She articulated carefully. "But I don't think it'th fai-r, becauth he'th kinda tht-uh-rong." The sinker was in there too, now; she hoped he'd be a good little fish and go catch them all.

that only served as more fear for reasons he had still yet to full decode.

maybe knowing that they matched each other for sparring, that the leader's family was apparently strong. his face morphed into obvious confusion as he tried to fit all the pieces in his mind.

just what exactly had he agreed to? would he have to be sparring this boy too?

do you...i mean, he shifted his weight some, shoulders holding a bit of tension. i be piratin', y'know. do redtail be wantin' dat kinda t'ing?

his dreams had only just started!

Telling him how strong Ancelin was wasn't really making him jealous. Maybe he'd figure that out later, but for right now, he seemed more interested in making sure his future as a pirate wasn't in jeopardy. What pirating even mean, again? He'd given her a definition, but it'd been fairly vague. 

"Of co-ruhth!" She said. Sure if he could be a pirate in Sapphique, then he could be a pirate in Redtail Rise. "Puh-robably even mowa, tho long ath you-ruh loyal to the pack. An' to me," She said with a little smirk, giving him a peck on the cheek. "You wanna thee mowa of me, uh-right?" She teased.

even more?

his gut did that thing again. not the good thing either. which perplexed him because of course her touch prompted the good feelings back into action.

oh. yeah. o'course.

only he felt suddenly solemn and a bit grim.

what...even do they be doin' in redtail?

"Ith theeeecret, Quennell," She teased. His energy had dropped, and she feared he might pull away. He hadn't become jealous of Ancelin, which had been the trick she'd kept up her sleeve. She just might have to reword that next time, or drop his name again and see what Quennell made of it then. For now, she had to convince him that a life in Redtail Rise would give him what he wants- being a pirate. 

"But...I think I can tell you," She said. She lifted her chin so she could whisper in her ear s she pressed her chest to his. "Uh-right now, I think We awuh puhrepawing for an advanturuh. I theen Avicuth go off the othuh day. Anothuh packmate ith tracking aweady. We'll be uh-rovin' the wildth, thearchin' for the white wolf that killed our packmate. We need buh-rave huntuhs, to help find the tuhrail tho that our wau-rriawth can go an' get juth-tith." She eyed him. "You could help. Be a thcout, a uh-ranger, an ethcourt..." She could promise him adventure and excitement, that much was for sure. But would he partake in a plot that ended with revenge?

hot he had become suddenly. she was so close and he thought of the tunnel.

even as she spoke of really important things. something about adventuring, hunters. justice. it didn't sound so scary, did it? he also figured that maybe she just wanted him to come help with this and then maybe he would be a full fledged pirate after.

right?

o-okay. a hum in the back of his throat. yeah. okay. he poorly attempted to hype himself up and retrain his brain to focus on words. instead of her and the closeness they maintained.

you be trustin' me to do dis?

Wanna fade here? We can pick up another one post-bear attack maybe :)

It would look excellent if she could rally another wolf to join them for the hunt. She didn't consider how it might set the two packs at odds if Sapphique found out that a youth of Redtail Rise was trying to recruit one of their sons to go to a war they had not agreed or volunteered to join, but those were all future things to worry about. Lilia was very much Scarlett O'Hara when it came to worrying about things. I won't worry about that today. I'll worry about that tomorrow.

"Of cowath," She soothed him, lifting her head to lick his cheek, and give the fur below his ear a bit of a nibble. "Come with me. Let-th go fin' uth thomethin' to eat, hmm?" She asked.