Sleepy Fox Hollow v. i'm loving your light, vulnerable

@Condatis (Edit: vaguely implying that she's hovering around @Llyr (it should be noted that she would not have already met Condatis) 

Embarrassed as the noxborn might be about needing rescue, she was immensely grateful to Llyr for not only saving her but for the patch job imparted upon her ravaged aud as well. It seemed the exiled Queen would retain her ear - thank heavens; for how half-sided she would have become with both an eye and ear taken from her. 

The northerner was a stranger yet though he seemed adrift, uncertain of his next move. Whether he moved on to an established pack or founded one of his own, Rhælla had taken it upon herself to join him in the mountains - albeit discreetly, as if she didn't want to impose. The night wisp reasoned that she could serve him for a time, to pay him back for his chivralous aid and hospitality. Perhaps if a pack were to form Rhælla might pledge herself as his first recruit - an adventurous prospect at the very least. 

Such was how she came to be digging shallow pits, temporary caches for game to be covered with stream gravel. Hunched awkwardly, hugging herself close so as not to disturb her injuries, the dark girl scraped through the loam - kicking up great billows of dust with each pass.

Lilvani apparently had plans for him to reunite with his brother. The Crowborn's scent was hard to miss amongst the trails of others and while he wasn't quite ready to cease his explorations he figured it may be nice to catch up on things with a familiar face. Such things didn't happen without a reason and he didn't hear destiny's power so he couldn't know unless he hung around.

This was how he happened to find the she wolf who was definitely not his brother, digging weakly. She looked hurt but healed, another sign that Llyr was somewhere around here. "Here...let me" he said and strode forward, his large paws digging at the dirt in long strokes. "Where is Llyr?" he asked wasting no time in asking about what he had really came for. He lifted black lined azure eyes to study the speckled she wolf expectantly and sniffed at her scent which smelled of herbs, herself and of course his brother.

Star-dusted crown tips ever back and back, just as it must with his towering brother, lilac orb flitting up to seek his features. There is no doubt within that he is kin to her white knight - his coloring alone would have likened him to Llyr. 

"Thank you," she lilts first, ever polite. A side-step, a shift and she was alongside him - digging, though less intensely for fear she might choke him with dust. 

"He comes and goes," the exiled heiress murmured softly, somewhat apologetically for she knew not the exact location of the winterborn - was not a great help to Llyr 's brother. "I don't ask much, it wouldn't do to be irksome."

"I think he hunts, or mayhaps he explores sometimes. Either way, he'll be back, if you want to wait," she offers, stopping in her task briefly to send a small smile his way. 

"I could keep you company," she adds after a moment, turning away to shift the growing mound of dirt over the ground with her forepaws. 

Studiously, the earth piled up from digging the storage pits would be levened smooth over the stretch of ground to the side. If it came to pass that they, or even the singular she, were to stay for a time, furrows would be dug and herbal seeds planted.

He wasn't surprised to hear that his brother was off somewhere though he was mildly disappointed. He liked to stay close to his family or at the least check in once in a while and while they hadn't been separated long, he missed them. Nobody here shared his religion, nobody understood the fire that fed his soul and kept him going. "That's alright...I'll find him another time" he responded at her apologetic declaration of not wanting to be a nuisance, a good thing since he knew his brother to be a more stoic, intimidating opposite to his compassionate, hospitable nature. Not to say that he didn't have his moments, he wasn't a saint. He glanced up in time to catch her smile and returned it, his lips curling up slightly though the real smile was in his eyes which glimmered. She offered her company and he swept his gaze over her body, smile becoming coy as he decided that she was quite pretty. "I'd be honored" he replied. He was a ladies man but he wasn't a creep, he didn't flirt blatantly or make sexual comments. "Your fur...it looks like it holds the constellations. Its very beautiful" he said genuinely, eyes lifting again to meet hers as he paused his digging to give her his full attention. He always found at least one thing to compliment on a woman, he found they usually responded kindly to it especially because he was always genuine about it even if he wasn't intending it as flirtation. "Why don't you take a rest though. You're injured" he said gently, his eyes kind.

She grimaced slightly, again bothered that she could not have been more help to the man. Still, she forces it aside - it's not really her fault - and smiles gently at his answer, dark plume sweeping in broad strokes. 

"Thank you," came the words, hushed and docile as her one-eyed gaze falls to the earth. The yearling had oft been compared to the night skies, haled as a beauty since birth. Rhælla knew of her own attractive qualities but held them in conflicting light; with Lucavon, the beauty of the flesh was a curse - the Lady of Veltigar had concluded her appearance to be noxious, drawing unwanted attention. Even now, it's hard to shake those thoughts - that being beautiful only brings pain, lust. 

Her face shone with soft appreciation but she shook her head slightly in defiance. "You are kind ser, but s'not so bad," here she grinned faintly, straightening some to hide the fresh wounds. "I have taken it upon myself to earn my keep, to repay Llyr for his gentlemanly rescue," she explained, muzzle dipping slightly. 

"I would not object to a walk, however, if digging isn't to your liking," the exile offered with a teasing twist of her lips. She rose, reasoning that she could be useful even whilst dawdling with the mountaineer's brother - she could sweep the area for threats, check her fish traps. With a shake of her svelte form, she cast off a great deal of dust, gaze flitting to Condatis in wait.

He wondered if perhaps she was one of those girls who didn't like being called beautiful. He had run into those a few times in his travels, girls who he had left alone because he would only hurt them. He respected women, loved them, definitely loved to lay with them but...he never got attached. Whether he just couldn't form that emotional bond or he hadn't found the right one yet he didn't know but it just hadn't happened. There was also something  about this girl, her softness, it made him wish to convince her of her beauty...but that was a dangerous game to play so instead he let it go.


She declined the need to rest despite how he could see her favoring her injury, careful of how she was digging. She twisted it so that she was offering him a break and he rolled his eyes good naturedly, laughing softly. "I would like to explore this area a bit...a guide would be very useful" he agreed if only to get her to stop straining so much. Caches were pointless unless Llyr planned to hang around and he had a feeling that wasn't the plan. Why would they have left just to settle so soon? Was he the only one experiencing the urge to wander and explore and have some fun alone?

A faint smirk of amusement curled her lips seeing the roll of his eyes, her own remaining orb sparkling with delighted mirth at his antics. "Then allow me to be of use," she quipped, bowing slightly, over-exaggeratedly, in a mock curtsy to to point him towards the forest.

As she pads into the treeline, her gaze slides to him almost unbidden - drinking in the pale man. He's really quite attractive, an artistic aspect within murmured traitorously - even in Lirean where the majority of wolves were pallid, she'd not seen such a pure coat of ivory, almost blinding. He was a beast of the north, much like the daughter of Lirean, cloaked in snow with glacial melt for eyes. 

Calm yourself. No matter how handsome, he's still a stranger. 

Her gaze flitted away briefly, a slight shake of her crown dispelling any girlish thoughts as she collected herself with a breath. It returned to him within a heartbeat as another thought struck her. 

"I never caught your name, brother-to-Llyr," Rhælla jokes with a grin, bumping his shoulder good-naturedly. In all their conversation - jesting and bantering like two friends, or at least acquaintances - they'd never once gotten around to introductions.

She was refreshing, the spark of humor she had was bright compared to his more stoic nature. Though he had a warrior's heart and body he had a loner's mind and he tended to be a bit distant and detached emotionally. He wasn't absent of humor though and as they began walking he felt the urge to chuckle. He snuck quick glances at her from the corners of his eyes, seeing a quick movement in hers that made him wonder whether she had been eyeing him up. The thought stirred up a reaction that he felt was normal for a man and he stood a bit taller, pleased by the idea that she was checking him out.

He turned at the bump and his lips stretched into a smile, fangs peeking out just slightly. His eyes gleamed with humor and he bowed, his front end lowering as his muscles rippling "Condatis at your service Milady" he said with a woIfish grin, teasing her slightly. He stood back up again and resumed their walking "What can I call you? Milady fits..you seem like a princess" he tested the waters, not meaning it as an insult but knowing all too well that some women didn't like being called a princess.

A bemused grin met his courtly flourish, dark crown tipping back as the exile laughed. It'd been some time since she'd heard the flowery euphemisms of Lirean used, it was almost odd to hear the title fall freely from Condatis' lips. 

"Breath-taking and astute," she sighed gently as she sent him a teasing grin, shaking her head vaguely in jest as if to say, damn, what a catch. 

"Princess is a pretty good guess," she chuckles softly, "I am Rhælla of clan Veltigar, former heiress and exiled Duchess of the Lirean Empire, once known as Queen of the Icadearian Kingdom," she admitted with a grimace, feeling freely honest with the revelation but contradictingly sheepish at the overloaded title.

A queen....He would have assumed her closer to his age due to her youthish and teasing nature, much due to his own. He was stunned, taken aback and....pleased to know she still seemed into him. "A Queen? I should have guessed" he said softly and began to walk by her side again. A few moments of silence passed and he gave her a fleeting glance before turning forward again "So how did you meet my brother?" he asked.

Wait is all she can do, apprehension curling in the pits of her being as she scans the shock of his features for displeasure. A wave of relief crashes over her, dizzying in its wash, as he continues on - seemingly unperturbed. 

"He saved me," she admits softly, "from a monster." A shudder shivers through her, imagining the beast's bloody gaze raking over her flesh from the trees. 

"What about you, Condatis?" She asks when the silence grows thick, as if eager to change the subject. "What brings you south?" 

She was so gentle, so soft...He didn't want to be near her. He knew if he did would consider her a friend eventually and he had come here to please himself only.  She announced that Llyr had saved her and he nearly groaned learning she was a helpless one. Yet she did it in such an appealing way, like she was apologetic but knew she was in need of help. He looked at her and have a shake of his head  "That's our way but he may not come back" he said regretfully. She asked him why he had come this way and he looked away and forward again "I wanted to only need to care for one person...myself" he said gently but with a sharp edge that lead there to be something behind it. He softened again and sighed "Do you know where you are going? I won't be sticking around very long" it sounded more harsh than intended but he let the words hang there.

A wistful smile graced the woodline, shadowed by a forlorn glint of her gaze. "When do they ever?" She murmured softly, bitter-sweetly, rhetorically. No matter. She'd paid her debt to the solemn northerner, she too would move on soon. 

The bite of his lonely words drew her soft gaze, it slid over him as questions bubbled up on her tongue.

Who hurt you such, inspired you to plant brambles about your heart?

It was not her place to ask. So, she didn't.

"No," the niteborn would admit with a breathless, humorless, chuckle before allowing her lavender optic to sweep north. "I think I might venture north..to the sea," she mused aloud, realizing only then that she missed it - the crash of waves and cries of gulls, the scent of brine, the feeling of a seabreeze tangling ungently into the tendrils of her pelt. 

"You don't owe me anything," she clarified gently, hesitantly. Beseeching him with an understanding gaze, she shot the pale man a small smile. 

You can go too, if you want. 

I'll not protest. 

Another might have. But she knew little of Condatis and had no right to ask him otherwise - he had other issues that pressed: Llyr, himself. Still, something hopeful blossomed within the cage of her ribs:

Or you could stay.

For a second he swore he heard Melitele whispering in his ear, coaxing him to lay his loyalty down for her right there. Or was it Huldra trying to play games? The moment of suspicion grew and though her words hurt his heart he knew he couldn't just follow after her unless he was certain that there was something about her worth staying for. He glanced down and cleared his throat, bowing in a more serious manner and offering a more stoic smile "I believe you'll be fine on your own Rhælla. You are a queen after all. Stay safe not everyone is a white knight" he said with a slight softening and a humorous flash of his teeth.  At that he turned and stalked off as fast as he could without seeming like he was running away. All the while he worried that she would get lost or hurt herself.

"Aye," she agreed softly, any disappointment carefully concealed. "And I have survived worse monsters," the dark wisp lilted, somewhat cryptically. 

"Seven blessings upon you, Condatis, brother-to-Llyr," the girl bade him farewell with a last twist of her teasing lips - watching until long after the white speck of him had faded from the distance. 

At last, she turned her gaze southeast seekingly - thinking of the spartan camp she had begun to assemble. The exile's dark crown slowly swung back to the northwest - to the way out of the mountains. 

Without looking back, the fallen heiress of Lirea turned north - to the sea.