Jade Fern Grove if you really listen, then this is to you

In the early morning strokes of light across the grove Soltero ambled, tail swaying at his rear and eyes of a green brighter than the ferns dancing as a ray of gold spluttered past. Large paws traced a natural path amongst the vegetation, and his pelt would often shake as a light dusting of snow tumbled from the heavens to pile atop his spine - silver became draped in white, and the young man halted his steps to free himself from the coating. The trees were tall and thin, their branches providing shade for the life beneath; in the distance, there was the soft rushing of water, and he assumed that there must be a stream or creek nearby.

Perhaps that was why he remained here until the sun grew higher in the sky, vibrant yellow dipping in from the canopy above his head - the Valento shifted his weight and lowered himself down until he was nonchalantly dozing beneath the grove's flora, apple-green gaze fluttering closed but ears tipping back and forth on his crown, absorbing the sounds of wildlife around him despite the cold.

her cinreous majesty ventured; farther and farther from the woods in which she was ambushed. a light snow dusted her inky coat as she slunk through the grove-- slowly, cautiously. it was particularly cold that day, to her. a brisk wind would sweep quietly through the jungle, the flora of the area swaying in it gracefully. she turned her muzzle upwards for the lightest of moments to watch twisted canopies reach towards a cloudy sky-- just before the sun, breaking out like an open wound pours vibrant blood into the area below; making the flurry & the snow peppering her coat sparkle.

the midnight cloaked sylph shook out her fur lightly and broke out into an earnest trot amongst the wood. she wasn't quite sure where she was going, if she was headed anywhere at all; twitching her newly-torn ear, cupped forward, she waited.
listened.
reamaining watchful of the world around her despite the fae's ever-growing desire to sleep. her pace slowed, her heartbeat heavy-- as she comes across the scent of another canine. weary, cautious-- various different feelings of anxiety bubbled up inside her, but she would press onward. she tried to stay at a fair distance, not really very eager to get herself into another unintended fight. velvet slowly started to prowl closer to the silver-colored canine, remaining a safe distance away, whilst being curious as always of this stranger she had come across.

She bore a coat of midnight, darker than the night sky and dusted in white snow, dappling her pelt like stars on a blackening canvas. It would be a lie to suggest that she was not beautiful, a rose of ink amongst the frigid ice, but he forced his gaze not to linger, linger where it should not - she had interrupted his lonesome ponderings like the sharp end of a hot knife into soft foam, but still it was as quiet as it had been before. He could feel her watching eyes though, the sliver of cold that ran down his spine at her presence.

He watched her in turn, noting how she approached with caution; the traveller of shadows stopped a safe distance away, and he regarded her with nothing but quietude until he became uncomfortable hearing only his heart beat against his chest. Who was she? His mind flickered to Constantine, and the wolves of the creek, but he did not desire to scare her away with a sudden proposal of joining their ranks, no, no... that wouldn't work.

"Hello." Voice of deep baritones rumbled from his throat, slipping from his lips to linger in the air.

the black shuck observed quietly, wearily. a gentle exhale, watching as her visibile breath fizzled into the atmosphere in frigid air; a calming thing. thoughts crept up on her, voices whispering to her in tongues she failed to understand; oh, she was tired-- so achingly tired. resting her body on the ground, velvet leaned in onto her side, tucking one of her front paws tightly towards her plush chest fur.

a rumble echoed in the air; the voice of the man she had encountered, his voice was crisp. low.  cold. suiting, she thought-- turning her gleaming yellow gaze towards the stranger with the ever so slightest look of innocence in them; ,,hello,'' the hellion spoke, musing at him with her words.

She was draped in mystery - nothing gave away her intentions. Luminescent eyes suggested only innocence (though he knew it would be foolish to believe immediately), and the black sylph's voice mirrored his words; she did not make a move to continue the conversation, and Soltero did not have the ability to create small talk on his tongue, so the greetings hung there like frost, slowly dripping to the ground and melting away. 

It would have remained this way, too, but he had a job to do; this duty required him to part his lips and speak to the woman, else he would be casting aside his loyalty simply to revell in the quietude. He would not fail. Not if he desired to retain the creek. "...What is your name?" The smoky traveller prodded, listening to his own heavy voice brush through the air - she had settled herself down as he had, and it did not appear as though she intended to leave.

after she had initially spoken, the conversation had not dragged itself on much longer. the silver-peltted male remained quiet; letting her words hang in the frigid air whilst minutes slowly crawled by. the conversation had come to a stop-- until the rumblings of the man broke the silence with a question; a question, that velvet was very good at finding ways around. a crooked smile hides behind the siren's dark muzzle as her mind searches for a sly, quick, slightly flirtatious response to answer him with. ,,whatever you want it to be,'' came her teasing answer, a few beats after his initial question.
,,maybe, when you get to know me better, i'll tell you.''
the sunlight reflecting off of her pitch-black coat gave off a divine sparkle as the wolfess did what she could to maintain the fog of mystery surrounding her & her presence; although her intentions were not malicious, toying with others was something she enjoyed. figuring it was her turn, now, to continue the conversation-- the fae directed the question back at him whlist adding in one of her own. ,,how about you? what are you doing out here?'' she riddled her speech with a tone of curiousity and wonder.

Her answer was vague, and perhaps flirtatious, though perhaps it was simply his own mind, creating something that was not there--

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but the mystery drew him in like a moth to a flame. Perhaps that was her intention, but his mind was never quite settled, and frequently he delved off into silent ponderings, or daytime dreaming; mystery invited a story. Stories, fantasy... they were his lifeblood.

Soltero was not, however, adept at conjuring these stories himself. At least, not when he had to voice them aloud, so when she reflected his enquiry back, the young man let a salmon tongue draw across his lips, and answered truthfully - "Soltero. I'm recruiting for the Creek."

as her musing, her vagueness, her nature, her mystery-- the siren uncurled the paw she had tucked underneath her body and brought it outwards, turning herself over whilst sprawling her legs out-- she used her front paws to slowly inch her body outwards. with a slight pull, her claws dug into the ground to anchor herself, she slithered her bust towards him, ever so slightly. crossing her front paws and leaning back onto her side, she coiled her body outwards-- slightly leaning her neck in and twitching her ears.

his drifting, although subtle-- noticable, to her. her responses were shrouded in riddles & rhymes, she enjoyed it like this. playing games, back and forth, unfortunately that was something this male wouldn't entertain her with. all the same, she would continue her own slyness with him; maybe he'd catch on, she thought. there's a chance she'd be able to have some fun. his name came, in response-- as well as his intentions. the word 'recruit' panged in the wolfess' ears as his tongue curled against hiw jowls. ears cupped forwards, her interest piqued. ,,soltero,'' she whispered his name, her voice thick as blood on dark chocolate. ,,it's a lovely name.'' a siren sang, as they do. a quick swipe of her tongue on her muzzle, as her monologue continued. ,,the creek? pardon my ignorance, i'm new to these parts.''

This was dangerous.

He was acutely aware of every move the siren made, slithering a touch forward like a snake; his mind worked to keep him afloat, but something in the smooth tone of her voice had him drifting, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. He was a daydreamer, a thinker, and comitting to a task could be difficult enough, but with this woman, shrouded in mysteries of ink, he found it even harder to concentrate. That was both intruiging and undeniably frustrating, especially when he had sworn his loyalty to the creek and could no longer afford to let slip his tasks.

The Valento was grateful for the question she posed, as it allowed him a momentary pause to slip back on his carefully constructed solemnity, and refocus on what his real mission here was (at least temporarily). "West from here," he informed, gesturing with a tilt of his angular head. "We're looking for more members to add to the ranks."

his words rang in her ears with the answer to which her inquiry posed, and with a purr she answered, ,,oh, are you?'' highlighting the curiousity in her tone greatly. it had been a while since velvet was a part of something greater than her solitude-- although still quite unsure how she felt about the concept herself, winter was creeping in, and though she was skilled in the art of the hunt, a little extra help would never hurt. with an angular motioning on his head, soltero pointed the direction of the creek into her senses.

before she even considered giving this brilliantly-colored man the potential honor of escorting her to his borders, she would need to know a little bit more. a dusting of snow settled itself onto her coat; dotting her body with light white specks which reflected off of the dimly-broken sunlight to give her the appearance of the vastness beyond the earth of which they were born. brisk air sent a slight shiver down her body, bristling her fur as a question escaped her cold lips, ,,what is your creek like, soltero?'' in a sing-song, she gently urged him for whatever information he would be willing to give.

Her purr was laced with curiousity, and he felt a glimmer of hope that she might join the Creek, add to their numbers and help keep the pack afloat during the cold months... but another part of the Valento was distinctly aware that she was not the kind of woman he wanted to get tangled up with (or did he...?) - like a fly in a black widow's web. What was he to do?

Idly he observed as delicately woven flakes of white drifted from the sky and settled on her pelt, a stark contrast from the midnight of her fur. "It's... it's nice." Yeah, he wasn't good at the talking thing (at least he was allowed to talk about the beloved water, a welcome distraction...). "Ah, the creek itself can be dangerous, but it's full of life. As long as you've got the ability to cope with the deep water and currents, it's perfect." A salmon tongue drew out to sweep across his lips, wondering what exactly she wanted him to describe, or explain, about his newfound domain. "It's wonderful in the summer, but most of the water doesn't freeze over during winter so you can hunt there throughout the year. Everyone is a little guarded, but friendly - we do our best with what we have." At this point he felt as though he was simply rambling to waste time (and attempting distinctly to leave out exactly how many wolves they had), so his muzzle closed and his eyes scanned her features to gauge a reaction - had he done what she'd asked, or was he talking about something completely irrelevent? Soltero always struggled to tell.

the man stumbled over his words for a short while before being able to articulate what he wanted fully-- but once he did, he got going. he told her about the territory, the unforgiving rushing water of the creek they call home-- and although it sounded nice to her, she was far more interested in the man himself. she listened to him intently; leaning in slightly more, twitching her ears as the words fell from his lips into the frigid air. she noticed his tongue moving along his maw as his descriptions reached her imagination; she'd never lived near water, really, she would be clueless as to what to expect from such an enviornment... but she didn't really care. she'd cross that bridge, if she ever came to it.

as his words came to an end, velvet took a few beats to consider. sure, she enjoyed being alone & having her own free will... but being in a pack could open multiple new doors for her; a whole new world could be held in her paws and she could feel it in the tips of her claws. after some careful & thoughtful pondering within herself, her response came. ,,well... if you'd be willing to show me there, i'd be more than willing to join you-- i'm not very good at fishing but on the ground i'm fantastic.'' there was no reason to sell herself short, however she was hesitant to mention that she had assassination training. not the biggest fan of shedding unneeded blood, but she could prove to be a valuable asset to such a pack if something were ever to go terribly wrong. she swayed her tail and locked her gaze with his, wanting to make sure she made her interest obvious.

He felt a rush of relief when she spoke at last, listening to the words dance onto the wind's current, crossing to his ears - she would come. Soltero's emerald gaze glittered, pleased to be bringing a recruit back home with him to the shivering waters of the creek; the pack would flourish soon, of this he was certain. "In that case... we could head over there now? It is not far."

Should she accept, the storm-soldier would pick himself up and lead the way to the borders, glancing back to ensure she followed his stride, pleased with his success in the frosty hours of the morning.

short post-- fading here and moving to SWC ^^

as the hellion's words came to a close, the man's expression lit up a little. she noticed his glow, as he graciously offered to escort her to her-- potential-- new home. his body lifted as he trotted along, checking behind him to ensure she was following. velvet's steps carried her with elegance and dignity: this could be fun.