Blackfoot Forest We'll try to exorcise this place

Minna had discovered a rather sketchy part of Blackfoot. It was a small tangle of trees, gnarled and twisted. They were thin and the breeze stirred thier branches. Eerie whistles were created as wind passed through the branches, and some parts of the small are were completely impenetrable, due to the thick clump if intwining branches. The branches tore at her pelt as she passed through them, and and the place gave a rather unsettling feeling of unease. 

Naturally, the place needed to be investigated further.

Minna moved slowly through the tangle, excited with this new finding. She poked and prodded at various tangles of bracches, investigating and memorizing everything she could about the place.

@Leto perhaps? I was hoping to work on her trades :)

After a failed hunt, Leto had returned to the forest a bit frustrated but he felt better when he smelt his closest friend. Following the scent with the hopes of spending time with Minna, Leto soon found himself in a dark corner of the forest. 

The tangled forest made him wary but he pushed on with the thought that Minna might be in danger in this dark place. The pale man soon found her squeezing and pushing her way through the brambles. "Minna, what are you doing?" 

Minna spun as a voice startled her out of her investigations. She had discovered an unusual branch with an odd, flowing line wiggling through it, and had been trying to reach it when she had been interupted. She recognized Leto, and greeted him with a smile. "Hey charming." She gestured to the trees around her. "Look what I found! Creepy, huh?"

Minna had the personality of someone who was first killed in horror movies, always investigating the creepy cellar, attic, of dark forest. Were this one of those movies, a masked figure would probably jump out of the tangle of branches and stab her through the eye, or something gory like that. Fortunatley, this was not a slasher movie.

Leto prided himself on being a manly guy, not one to shy away from a challenge or one to be squeamish. And yet, he had no desire to stay in this place. "Yeah, creepy alright."

"And what exactly drove you to come this far into it?" Leto's question came out huffed, squeezing his way through the brambles to stand at Minna's side.

Soon Let stood by her side. Minna had a sudden idea, one that made her hide a grin. Would it work? One way to test it out. She looked up at the treetops. "Well, I was talking to Amara a few hours ago. And she said that a few weeks ago, the old Delta, a wolf called Vader, vanished one day. She assumed that he had simply left, but that night, she said that she and Aaron heard a screaming howl from the south end of the the territory. So naturally, I decided to-"

She screamed, her highest scream possible, and jump sideways into Leto. Her eyes were huge in mock fear, and, in her mind at least, she looked very convincing.

Leto had spent the longer portion at his second pack, training to become a warrior. It had been a long two years filled with days of tactics, training, and fighting battles. His guard dropped around Minna, she was good at making him forget to keep his senses sharp.

When she screamed leaping for him, his heart seemed to leap into his throat. The pale man, snarled in challenge as his body rammed forward with the intent of knocking his opponent to the ground. Whether or not he hit her in his panic was unnoticeable. 

Shaking his head hard enough to rattle his brains, Leto snapped himself free of his mind. "Don't do that! I could have hurt you." His words were angered though his anger was aimed at himself. Shame colored his features, his body lowering almost submissively.

To her surprise, he rammed into her, and she fell back with a startled "Oomph". Her shoulder collided painfully with the earth, but not as bad as to injure her. Minna was confused to see him yell in anger, then lower himself seemingly submissively, shame colouring his features. Her heart leaped in her throat for a moment, and she felt shame. She didn't mean to make him feel like this. 

She approached him unhurriedly, closing the distance between them with a few steps. Her body felt sore, but she paid no attention to that. She dipped her head and touched her muzzle to his neck. "You'd never hurt me, Leto." she said softly. "I'm sorry"

In her eyes, Leto was simply too good and they too close for him to hurt her. She wouldn't let him, anyways, or so she thought.

Leto curled his head around her neck, a sort of hug. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..I thought you were..sometimes I forget." Leto sighed, giving up on his fumbled sentence as he tried to explain his actions. Sometimes he forgot he was no longer fighting battles, that he didn't need to fight anymore.

"Did I hurt you?" Leto remembered nothing of what had happened, couldn't recall if he had lain a hand on her. The pale man moved back, still keeping close, sniffing her over and noting the way she held her shoulder though it was subtle. He licked it gently, hoping he hadn't bruised her.

He fumbled an apology, curling his head arounf her neck. She stood still and close to him, in the 'haunted' grove of twisted trees. "Don't apologize, Leto. You didn't mean it, and I know that" she said in a firm tone. She would not have him apolagize for something that he did not mean to do. She had frightened him, which probably was not the bast idea. He turned his attention to her shoulder, the one that had slammed aghainst the tree. Even as she spoke, the pain was fading, and she was sure that she would have nothing more than a bruise or some soreness for a day or so. "It's okay, Leto. I'm fine"
 In truth, she was a little shocked at his quick reaction. She thought something had happened to him, in his past, to cause him to react so violently. But the past was the past, and she would not dwelve into it. Still, she worried for her friend. She returned his hug, draping her head over his neck lightly.

Leto huffed softly in content, happy to just hug her. They seemed to do that a lot-turning to each other with physical touch for comfort. "Was that story real?" The arctic wolf's voice was light with curiosity, wondering if there had been any truth to Minna's words.

Minna smiled "Well, my mother told me that story, when I was a pup. I think it was to stop me from wandering- I tended to do that when I was young. Didn't work very well, though" she said with a chuckle. Yep, she was definitely the kind to die first in horror movies. She remebered with fondness the red-furred form of her mother, and gave a small, happy sigh.

Leto smiled fondly, he seemed to be smiling more rather than smirking these days, though she couldn't see him. "Didn't seem to work, beautiful." He wasn't sure when he moved on from calling her pretty to calling her beautiful.

"I can't believe you came here willingly." Leto shuddered. "This place scares the shit out of me, no offense." He found himself hoping they headed back soon. "You'll protect me, right?" Leto joked, laughing quietly.

Minna smiled at his words, laughing lightly when he admitted his fear. She withdrew from him to stand upon a small rock, balancing precariously on the smooth surface and putting on a brave expression. "Of course I shall protect thee, mighty knight."

Before she could continue speaking, she lost her grip on the rock and slipped off the surface. She plopped ungainly to the ground, smiling at Leto.

He smiled, looking up at her from her perch when she slipped. Leto lurched forward with the intention of catching her but Minna had already thumped lightly to the ground. She smiled at him and the pale man was relieved she wasn't hurt.

"I guess I'll have to protect you from yourself." Leto teased as he padded over to her, pushing his head under her shoulder and pushing to help Minna to her feet.

Minna laughed as he helped her up. She stood with help from him, playfully bumping against his shoulder. But she stopped, glancing at the ground, suddenly serious. She felt like she needed to admit something to the Arctic male.

"Leto." She begun simply, just his name in an even tone. "I-I want to ask you something. I guess it's a bit of a question, but also something else. I mean, I-" she paused, not sure quite how to proceed.

Leto sat, looking to her with an expectant but concerned expression. "What is it, Minna? You can tell me." His mind whirled with possiblities but none of them seemed correct. Pushing the ideas from his mind, Leto waited for the truth.

"IthinkIlikeyouLeto"

It came out as a sudden rush, like she had exhaled the words all as one. She glanced at the ground, then a tree, then a worm slowly crawling up said tree. Then, she looked at Leto. "I know it isn't right, but I like you...like a friend. But, not a thread. Sort of a...more-friend?" Minna, who was usually good with words and expressing herself, had no idea what to do here. Her feelings for the arctic male had grown over the past couple of weeks, and she didn't know what to call it. It wasn't love, not yet. Perhaps close, but Minna was not one to throw all her love at something so suddenly. She looked down at a pebble, it did look rather interesting. Weren't pebbles interesting today? Pebbless were so smooth. What were pebbles? How did they become so tiny? This one had tiny spots on it, she noticed.

Leto froze, the rushed words wiping any expression from his face. Minna liked him? As more than a friend? But wasn't that against the rules?

"I like you too." Fuck the rules. His expression was uncharacteristically shy, staring down at her with golden eyes. He sscooted closer and placed his head over hers, snuggling into her as he usually did for comfort.

Had Minna known Leto's thought and his blatent disregard for rules, she potentially would have become even more attracted to him. But his simple statement was enough to quell her fears, and her trepidation, and she looked at him in a different way as he came closer and placed his head over her own. She made a small happy noise, something like a little humm, in the back of her throat, and scooted closer to Leto. For a moment, she simply enjoyed his embrace, feeling the heat of his fur against hers.

Most wolves, she understood, would begin courting one another, but this was different. This was Rosings, and the alpha decided who loved who. They would keep their relationship secret, and hope to be paired in a couple weeks time. "We can't tell them, Leto. I don't know what they would do if they found out. I really like you, and I don't know what Aaron would think of that." Amara, she thought, might be more understanding, but she did not know how the male would react should he hear about the lovers.

plotsplotsplots

Leto nodded against her head, careful not to jostle her too much. Perhaps if they had been in a normal pack, Leto and Minna could have begun a sort of relationship but not here. Here, Leto could only hope to marry Minna in a month or resign himself to being her best friend and loving her from afar. His only other options were Aveline and Emily, who were nice enough in their own ways, but they weren't Minna.

The thought of another male mating with Minna made him feel sick but he didn't mention it. For now he held onto his hope. "I won't tell anyone Minna. They would probably seperate us and I don't want that." He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head gently, hating the thought as soon as he spoke it.

Minna, in a way, echoed Leto's thoughts. The only other male in the pack was McTavish, the extremely handsome wolf she had seen at the borders but not seen since. Sure, the male had been handsome, but he wasn't Leto. Leto was handsome, he was caring, he was more. She did not think that the new male would be matched for a while, which meant that if Leto was matched with another female, she would have to endure a month alone before being paired with another male who she stood a chance of disliking, as well as watching Leto and whoever he was matched with together, for a month. The thought of Leto with another made her feel jealous, and she was surprised at the strength of the emotion. 

He reassured her, however, and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. Minna leaned against him, at ease, trying to put her worries at rest. She would focus only on the here, and the now. If she were given only a certain amount of time with Leto, she hoped to enjoy every moment of it. "No. I would hate it, being apart. For now, yes, let us keep it between us." she thought of Liri, the ffiend to her and sister to Leto. Could she tell her? Did Leto trust her completely, and were they on good terms? She would wait to ask him about it, she reasoned.

Leto received no response, the two in silence once more. It was a content silence, both lost in their thoughts as they leaned against each other. They always seemed to turn to each other with touch for comfort. 

The pale man made no move to head back to the central territory, nor did he speak. Leto only leaned against his best friend in the quiet, fear forgotten.

wanna fade here?

Sure, I'll archive after this!

And so the pale wolf and the marbled one leaned against each other in the haunted grove, in a forest barren of life. Even as others starved and thin creatures prowled the once lush wilds, new buds pushed up from the ashes of what once was. Worry and fear was suppressed by Minna's enjoyment in the now, in this moment with Leto. She squeezed her eyes shut tight as she stomached the last of her out-of-place emotions, and simply offered Leto her silent support and companionship. For the next few days, they could only hope.

Post #100! Yay!