Wapun Meadow what does fury want me to do, swallow it?

b is grumpy.  snippy characters welcome >_> or anyone!

A Southern search she had promised and a Southern search she'd set out on.  Banner left Marauder's keep a day or so after speaking with her brother about the missing Pippin.  As far as she knew, no one had experienced any luck finding the boy.  Those damn storms rolling through the valley didn't help.  It seemed like every other day the dark female was soaked to the bone with rain and forced to keep indoors.  The willow trees at the base of the mountain only did so much to keep the pack residents dry - those thin curtains of small leaves weren't meant to serve as long-term shelter from the elements.  Sure, they had the cavernous Crook to hunker down in, but the pack's dwindling numbers were deressing the hell out of her and once again, she just had to roam.

This time her wanderings had a purpose, which made her absence from the Keep somewhat legitimate.  Still, if she couldn't find Pippin during her trip, Banner's return home would leave a sour taste in her mouth.  She'd so desperately wanted to help Stark, especially during this time where almost no one else was around to pitch in.  She grunted, a foul look twisting her dark features into an unseemly and agitated mask.  She felt incredibly out of place here among the bright wildflowers.  The lady Marauder was sure she stuck out like a dark brown, sore thumb, her very presence an unwelcome black mark on the colorful canvas these flowers provided.  The day was getting late but there were still a few hours left of fading sunlight.

She'd head back up North by nightfall.  Traveling in the dark wasn't the wisest choice, but she was small and quck enough to get away with almost anything.  Besides, it would be best to ride out her awful mood beofre hitting the road.  Maybe she could scream until her voice died?  At least she'd have a couple days to recover in silence.

Purpose. Something he used to have; something he'd now lost. Or maybe it was something he'd never really had. Icarus shook his head, as if by doing so, he could shake away the troubling thoughts that plagued his mind. A trained killer he might be, but he was not a dumb one. If anything, the brutal training he'd been put through had sharpened his mind. If Ica had been taught the right things when he grew up, there would be no doubt he would excell in any chosen field requiring the brain. But he hadn't; he knew next to nothing about pack life, so in a way, he was much more stupid than the other wolves who roamed these wilds.

A pale ear twitched as a scent blew by his nose and in the distance, a grunt was heard. The ghost turned around, head cocked, and his legs brought him closer to the stranger. She was swarthy, draped in a pelt of dark browns and blacks with short, stocky legs. He watched, head tilted in curiousity as her face twisted and unknowingly, he imitated her, unsure of what the expression meant, or why she was doing it. The wraith was silent, but he knew that by now, she would've caught sight of him. He didn't care. There was nothing he really cared about anymore.

A most unpleasant feeling quickly tingled all the way down her spine and her dark brown fur stood on end in response.  Banner stiffened and cupped her ears forward.  She couldn't see anyone or anything in her peripheral vision, but she knew the feeling of being watched.  Ugh, she could almost feel the eyes on her!  Keeping a low profile had always been important to her and that meant that she enjoyed not being the center of attention, not having any eyes on her at any time.  Ever.

Okay, that wasn't really possible, especially with a brother like Stark.  But she just.. didn't like being watched!

"I'm getting really fucking sick of brooding males in the distance," she ground out in her low voice just loud enough for her new male companion to hear.  Under normal circumstances she'd be more concerned about how awfully rude she'd been, but the foul mood had apparently set up shop and wasn't vacating her person any time soon.  Banner didn't seem to particularly care at the moment.

The swarthy female spoke, insinuating that she did not like being stared at, especially by 'broody males'. Icarus cocked an eyebrow at that and ventured forward a few steps, blood red eyes staring cooly at her, but holding a hint of confusion. "You've got the wrong guy," he rumbled out with a cant of his head. "Not broody," he began and smiled humourlessly, "broken." His facial expression indicated that this was a joke, but his tone and the set of his jaw told of the seriousness he was trying to express.

Ica took another few steps forward, his face a mask of curiousity. "You're from a pack," he stated, but the way he said it made one think it was more of a question than anything else. "Bad?"

Her ears twitched when he spoke and she finally swung her head around to pierce him with her bright green eyes.  The scowl on her face had smoothed to something a bit less hostile, but her brows were still furrowed and her look overall serious.  Banner couldn't shake this agitation within and it made her feel like a moody teenager moaning about the utter unfairness of it all.  And hell, life was unfair!  But bitching around wasn't going to change that.

She held her tonge when the white male described himself as broken.  Well, join the goddamned club, buddy.  The unspoken words bounced off the walls insde her head and the echo (however imaginary) made her stomp one paw down in the meadow, crushing an unsuspecting flower.  "My pack is not bad," she huffed out as her eyes narrowed.  Passive aggressive, maybe, but not bad.  "Not that it's any of your business," she added with a lash of her dark brown tail.

He watched her, head tilted in curiousity, brilliant crimson eyes fixed evenly on the stranger's own as he advanced in careful, slow steps, his movements one of purpose. Icarus had no intention of scaring the girl, nor angering her. No, the assassin's purpose was not hostile at the slightest; he simply wished to know why she had all those strange expressions and why he felt that she was annoyed; not at him perhaps, but at something. Ica wanted to know why, even if he appeared strange while attempting to do so by analysing her more closely.

All of a sudden, she stomped a paw, crushing a flower as she did so. The wraith raised an eyebrow in confusion and opened his maw, "What did the flower do to you?" Under other circumstances, his words may have came off as sarcastic, but with his brows furrowed in confusion, and his red eyes wide, he was as serious as it ever gets with a question like that. Icarus had no wish to make fun of her; hell, that was the last thing on his mind.

She made a comment on how her pack was not bad, while stating it wasn't his business anyway. Icarus shrugged, "Nothing's ever my business," he said, quietly. "Which is why I endeavor to know more. Otherwise...." he trailed off, as he turned his eyes on her, a muscle in his jaw twitching slightly. Icarus swallowed and looked away.

Through the fog of her agitation Banner recognized that this male was familiar to her.  They certainly hadn't crossed paths before - she'd have remembered those red eyes standing out against his stark white fur! - but there was something about the way he interacted with her.  It reminded her of someone else.  There was a fundamental lack of understanding about him, like he had a hard time figuring out why she might be so pissy.  Another wolf would have gladly blown her off and yet.. he wanted to know more?  Had his face not been painted with genuine curiosity, the short female would have taken great offense to his question.  But he was so serious that it caused her some of her edge to fall off.  Her dark chocolate fur relaxed while she tilted her head and regarded him strangely.

"Otherwise..?" she asked then.  Her body language may have softened but her tone sure as hell hadn't.  Impatience was clear in her voice, which she would probably regret later on during her long trek back to Marauder's Keep.

She relaxed ever so slightly and seemed to regard him with a newfound strangeness. He noticed, but once again, held no understanding. Instead Icarus cocked his head, lips parted slightly to taste the air as his mind withdrew to somewhere more interesting for the timebeing, a part of him bored of this mundane conversation. Her voice rang through the air once more, and he blinked, confused at her tone. Why was she acting like that? What happened? Why did she seem...impatient? As far as Ica knew, he'd done nothing wrong to her, so why did she seem like she was angry? There was no one else around here as far as he knew except for the two of them.

"Otherwise, I will stay forever this way. Stupid, a slave without his master, a man without a purpose, an assassin without his target," Icarus smiles, though it is not one of humour, but rather one that he has efficiently copied and perfected from one of those normal wolves. He cants his head then and regards her with guarded red eyes. "What about you?" he inquires, "Why are you so....angry? I have done nothing, neither had the flower."

"An assassin without his target."

Banner tilted her head at that statement and connected the dots in her mind.  Ghost.  He reminded her of Ghost.  The wolf she'd met in the marsh those weeks ago hadn't come out and said that he'd been an assassin, but the implication of the scars on his shoulder was clear.  The dark brown female took a few cautious steps toward her current company, bright green eyes moving with very little subtlety to the scars on his rear leg.  All three marks stood out brutally against the male's pure white coat, but thankfully she had the good grace not to shudder or otherwise react.

Good grace, right.  Because she'd been so wonderfully graceful to this man who had truly done nothing!

The wind went out of her sails then, her body relaxing further and the spark leaving her eyes.  "I'm.." she paused and frowned.  "I have anger issues," she admitted quietly.  Banner's gaze was downcast - she relized she likely looked and sounded like a petulant child, but she didn't have the energy to correct that just yet.

Icarus watched as she approached cautiously, crimson eyes wary and guarded but otherwise made no movement. He was not scared of her, simply unsure of how to act and as long as she showed no aggressiveness or hostile moves, he would not react with violence either. Instead, he observed coolly as her green eyes moved towards his back leg, towards the leg which bore the three gruesome scars he'd recieved from his master. In truth, Ica was unsure what those marks represented, if they even represented anything, but he knew they were of importance to his former master and that they were no random scars, especially since they were so deeply embedded into his flesh.

Icarus watched almost curiously as she appeared to deflate, her body no longer tense and the anger sparking in her eyes vanishing. A frown creased her brows and after a moment, she admitted to have anger issues. "It's alright," the assassin says with a tilt of his head. "I understand," he closed the distance between them with slow, purposeful steps, ready to stop if she showed any sign of discomfort. He stopped a feet away from her, eyes analysing her with unidentifiable emotion. "Don't look so sad," Icarus murmured, not really understanding what was happening with her but noting that she was neither happy or angry anymore. If she allowed him to, he would touch his nose hesitantly to her cheek before abruptly withdrawing, unsure of his motions. In truth, his actions held no meaning to it, and were nothing than motions he remembered from watching his targets and now, simply repeated.

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  He understood?  Most didn't.  Anger was an instant turn off and Banner could never hold it against anyone who.. held it against her.  She sighed.  Part of her wanted to thank him for understanding, for not writing her off after her initial rudeness.  The words didn't come out and perhaps it was just as well.  The lady Marauder was clearly exhausted in every way - now that she'd accepted the emotional fatigue she could move forward.  Or back home.  Whatever.

"I'm not sad," she murmured.  "Just tired."  Banner offered the red-eyed male a wary smile.  His approach made her tense up a bit, though she didn't mean it in an offensive way.  With an apology shining in her bright green eyes, the chocolate female took a slow step back.  The only wolf she allowed close to her these days was her brother.  It was best that way, for her.  For now.  Her gaze fell to the colorful flowers at her paws and she fixated on the one she'd flattened in her childish fit of rage.  "There's no saving that," she said with a bit of humor in her low voice.

She told him that she wasn't sad, but tired and stepped away from his approach. Icarus stopped abruptly, a look of hurt flitting over his features, though it vanished almost immediately. A part of him understood the wariness that the swarthy girl felt for him, but he felt that it was unneeded, for he was not here to assasinate her. Surely, she knew that. Because if he was here to kill her, she'll know, because she would be dead. But she wasn't dead, which indicated her that he wasn't going to hurt her. Ica's wolfish brows creased into a frown and his crimson eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he stared at her unabashedly, not knowing that staring might provoke hostile reactions. He didn't know, and if he did, he probably wouldn't care.

"No," Icarus murmured, the ghost of a smile lingering on his lips. "I don't think so." He looked, almost sadly, at the flattened flowers. "Haven't got a chance to live," he muttered, almost to himself. He shook himself out of his reverie and lifted his gaze to the green eyed she-wolf, canting his head, "Who are you?" he asked, his tone soft and lilting before speaking again, almost as an afterthought, "I'm Icarus," he offered, almost as if in exchange for her own name and information. The brown furred wolf intrigued him, and he wanted to know more.

The hurt on his face made her want to squirm and she wasn't sure why.  Outwardly, however, Banner kept her cool.  As much as she could considering her current defeated demeanor, anyway.  She felt far too emotionally vulnerable here in this strange place with this new wolf and she yearned to be back in Marauder's Keep where she could just..  be among the few wolves she knew and felt comfortable with.  The chocolate female knew she was being mightly unfair to this male who had really been nothing but civil to her but she couldn't help it - that lack of self control was a constant sore spot for her.

Banner, she offered politely.  Her name came complete with a nod of her head in the red-eyed male's direction.  .. nice to meet you, Icarus.  She swallowed thickly and took a deep breath before cracking a weak smile.  I'm sorry about.. how.. I was.  A pause.  Am.

Banner. He cocked his head thoughtfully, studying her face intensely with brilliant red eyes, licking his lips absentmindedly as he did so. It was a nice name, he thought, although he wasn't sure what it meant. Although, he supposed, it didn't really matter, given the fact that this was probably going to be his only encounter with her. Icarus gave himself a mental shrug and pulled himself out of his swarm of thoughts, fixing his attention back on the swarthy female.

"The pleasure is all mine," the words rolled off his tongue smoothly enough. He'd said those words many a times before, although for once, he was being somewhat sincere, rather than just trying to manipulate others to do his bidding. 

Icarus frowned, however, when she apologised for how she was. He cocked his head, before offering her a tentative, shy smile of his own. "Don't apologise," he stated after a moment of hesitation. "You..have nothing to apologise for."

She had to give credit where credit was due: Icarus was one polite wolf.  He even expressed himself without being awkward, which mystified Banner a bit.  Every other time she opened her mouth the words that followed were either snippy or painfully artless.  Ugh.  Shame caused her cheeks to heat up, but she kept her gaze even.

Her front paws shuffled before she answered, though she was mindful of the lovely wildflowers this time.  Sorry, she replied entirely out of habit.  A cringe later she sighed.  I hear that a lot - that I have nothing to apologize for.  It's a reflex, she explained lamely.  That must cheapen the sentiment, though, so I guess I should really work on that.  Those words were murmured as more of a reminder to herself than anything.  The red-eyed male before her probably didn't have these things kinds of issues with social graces.

Few other wolves did.

Switching gears, Banner ducked her head politely.  Are you from a pack around here? she asked quietly.