Neverwinter Forest But we see it, the rest of us. And we lie.

The woods had been quiet lately, quiet enough Belharra began to think it was time to move on. She had grown fond of the little grove in which she resided, and after some early morning contemplation, decided maybe making it her home base for the rest of the winter wasn't such a bad idea either.

She hadn't run into the mouthy guy that had the nerve to attack her, either. While it was too much to hope an avalanche had swept him up or a tree had fallen on him, Belharra amused herself with imagining all sorts of poor fates befalling him. It got to the point as she wandered through the woods marking her little corner of the world, that her voice could be heard singing a soft ballad through the pines.

It would have been a sweet melody too, if it weren't for the lyrics.. which went something like:
"oh, he was a good fellow known to some
and of poor repute to others
wives oft hid when he was around,
or prayed for their fathers

on Cotter's moon one afternoon
he met his maker by the mountain
and from his head spilled blood instead
which gurgled like a fooountaain  --"

And on and on, but you get the picture.

his ear had never been attuned to music, but the notes drew the serpent and his jetstone eyes out of the shadows.

hunting, devotee to that task now that he had learned the hard way there was little prey to be had, asmodeus allowed himself a detour.

he prowled through dappled shadow and cool gusts between heavy trunks until he spotted the earthen tones and  blood-moon eyes of the singing stranger.

"you must not be hungry," the reptile remarked, drawing himself up as he noted with a pleasant inner intrigue the long beauty of this one's limbs. she was rawbound and rife with a rough experience, but the coldness of her features did not hide their loveliness.

he waited, coiled.

The song went on a little longer, describing in some detail the parading of the head that had abruptly parted from its body. It was gristly, and sung with great gusto. One might even have called the song bloodraising, if it wasn't for the fact the words crooned from Belharra's throat were dark and far from bloodless.

You must not be hungry. Belharra whirled around, ears pressed forward assertively. She was met by a tall man, taller than she maybe, who for all of his colorless hue, struck her as incredibly cold. Belharra apprised him silently, the song long faded from her throat. Being a wolf of as many luckless voyages as she, Belharra recognized his kind immediately. "Oh, ye's trouble." She commented, a smile lingering along her tilted jaws. "But if it's food you're after, I'm afraid this isn't the place." She spared a shrug of her long shoulders,  "I was hopin' to draw out the angry grinch that lives in these here woods, but I see my singin's snared a man instead. What's your name, cully?"

"do you find yourself in grave danger with me?" he chuckled, drawing forward on broad pale paws. it was interesting to be recognized so easily, titillating even though there was no hunt to be had.

"asmodeus," he purred to the sable ranger. closer now to see her ruff and the proud, watchful arrangement of her lamplit features. he had been correct about her looks. 

"well, maybe you could use a hunting partner," he suggested brazenly, an arch coloring his brow over the blackrock of his stare. asmodeus liked the cast of her voice. "what's yours?"

Belharra had always been an excellent judge of character. It came with the territory of being a ranger: you stuck by with those you deemed worthy, and you cut bait and ran before things went south. It had always been this way, and it would always stay that way.. long after Belharra's bones faded to dust.

And this man.. She fancied he might be amused with her, but who could say for how long? She was not one to test her luck - not as a loner - and he looked like a man who might use up all of the luck she had, if she was not careful. Asmodeus. To Belharra, that seemed a powerful name. "Belharra. As for your question, that depends. Are you an endangerment to me?" She watched his face carefully, wondering if he, like most survivors, was capable of an easy lie. "Ye got a purpose to be out this way, besides hunting? Did ye not smell the markers a way back?" Perhaps he had, like Belharra, and had simply completely disregarded them.

a smirk unfurled across the man's muzzle. "you mean the children?" he teased, hiking his own as if to cover a mark, but thinking better of it.

"they don't frighten me," asmodeus chuckled gently, a glittering sound that did not change the flat hunger of his obsidian stare. "hurting people isn't my thing, belharra," the snake went on. 

"unless that is something you want." another teasing look; he began to sidle past the woman, deeper into the weald.

So they were on the same page. Belharra hadn't once considered her life in danger here -- her one on one encounter with "the children" as Asmodeus so aptly put it, had only served to make her feel pettiness towards them. 

Belharra couldn't say hunting people was beneath this man. Her impression of him was that perhaps he was a viper - amusing to see, dangerous to behold, and even more-so to prod or instigate. Nothing like "the children" in the woods. 

Nah. Bloodsport isnt my thing. So is your thing enchanting young maidens in pine forests and doing their bidding? Her eyebrow raised and she cocked an easy smile, padding alongside him. He might be dangerous - but he was anything but boring.

lips curled, shifting the pale landscape of his features. belharra was easily the most cunning creature he had met yet. satisfied by this, the man sent his black gaze toward the horizon. 

"i would hope that we could do the bidding of one another," asmodeus remarked with faux solemnity, until his wax-cast countenance melted into an expression of mirth.

"i suppose you would be the young maiden?" he purled, testing her boundaries with a direct step. belharra's eyes flickered, candles against her glossed veener and inquiring tones.

Belharra's big old ego would have burst to hear Asmodeus regard her as easily the most cunning. She liked being smart. It had its advantages.

One of it was, she was born with a healthy dose of skepticism. "Do ye often look for wolves to do the mutual bidding of? What do ye do, to those that don't benefit ye any longer?" Belharra had ideas - maybe he collected ears the way others collected human lampshades. She was going to judge, either way.

"Of course I'm the young maiden. Fair and ravishing, to boot." She delivered a rogue wink, moving now along a trail sodden with damp pine-straw and half melted snow. She then turned around abruptly, giving the dark-eyed wolf the full benefit of her narrowed gaze. "So, are ye the ogre, the dragon, the wicked witch, or the white knight in my story?"

"we take our mutual leave," asmodeus answered, voice the ripple of dry leaves in icebound air. "some might say discard. i say don't assume things." smile to glint below his black eyes; the dark courtship seemed to have begun, and even if it culminated in no pleasurable way, he would still enjoy the banter for what it was.

"none of those things. a bard," the pale man responded calmly, pausing to meet belharra's eyes from where he had been trailing the curve of her hips along the wet route.

"but i would rather make you sing. i can't carry a tune," he offered, serpentine as he drifted closer with the seeming intent to move beyond belharra along their trek.

A bard.

Belharra looked upon Asmodeus, halting. First she peered at him from the bright glint of her right eye - then her head slowly turned as she regarded him again from her left.

And then she threw back her head, and she howled in outrageous laughter.

"HAH! ha HAH

HAHA hAH!"

Him, a bard?

He was sooner a basilisk than a bard, a comedian than an entertainer -- but... he had made her laugh, hadn't he?

"If ye don't mind my sayin' so, ye look like a poor excuse for a bard. But I needed that laff, so I did." She moved forward, following after the male's serpentine slink with mirthful giggles bursting out of her like worms freed from a can. "How d'ye propose ye'd make me sing? Cry more-like, wot with laughter." Belharra knew she was being thick, but in the spirit of teasing, it seemed an awfully fun game to play.

a pealing of laughter that seemed to make her seem even lighter.

asmodeus waited, though his smile grew, and he could not help the swaying of pallid plume behind boneset haunches. "just like that, i suspect," in answer to belharra's question, corners of void eyes creasing ever so slightly, though the centers themselves remained nightblack.

"maybe i'm just the sort of bard you wouldn't expect," he pressed gently, tongue flickering to the side of his lips. a pause, to fill himself with the look of her, openly, challengingly. 

there was no need to be veiled. he was an honest sort of pleasurehound, at least insofar as he did not hide his desires, his hungers. 

"there are other ways to sing, belharra."

He was certainly not the kind of bard she expected. She had hinted as much, pleased he remained amicable despite her probing.

And speaking of probing - she hadn't fallen off the turnip cart (or the wolf equivalent) yesterday. "Why, that's quite the indecent proposal." Belharra accused in mock affront, a light smirk to accompany that lift of her tail in playful response. "Does that always work, I wonder?" Her eyes gleamed with amusement. Truly, she had not met a man so forward as he in a long time, and it did her heart some good to rise to the challenge of their game.

"it works when it's supposed to work," asmodeus rebutted coolly. he would not brag about his conquests to a woman. that was for lesser men, those who did not enjoy favorable attention through every season, not just spring.

a glint of a smile; he had half-turned now, snaking brazen muzzle closer to whisper, "do you think it's working now?" a delight, this game; he caressed belharra's face with his gaze as he waited for her response.

She saw again that hint of serpentine will. Belharra hid her assessment of him coolly, much the same in terms of expression ballpark as Asmodeus. This game seemed delightful, but Belharra wasn't some lonely quiet-town-girl longing for the touch of a stranger riding into town. 

Belharra had Principles, god damn it. 

Not many, but enough that they felt a little cheated to be insinuated they were so easily foiled. She lifted her chin ever so slightly, presenting Asmodeus with the hard line of her jaw and eyes. He was delightful, that he was - but he was still a viper. You think it is that easy? She scoffed and began walking, turning back with a light smile. Ye've been spending too much time with small-town whores. If you want any of this - She gesticulated with a dark paw her lean body: you're gonna have to work much harder than that.

these women and their overinflated sense of ego. a fuck was a fuck, asmodeus thought to himself. and thus far, he had met no she-wolves in season, which meant the risk was removed and it was purely sport.

"i am positive you're worth it, belharra," asmodeus grated in a purling voice, "but i don't work hard. i'm not a husband."

he drew back, pallid plume flicking affably at his hocks. "i'd rather enjoy your intriguing company." an invitation then, to spend the day with him, but oilslick eyes wanted to know what she would make of his rejection.

In Belharra's eyes it was only a rejection if she had earnestly wanted it.. Don't get a gal wrong, she was definitely intrigued to see if he delivered in that department - but she wasn't one to give up part of her for free. Not to someone who had yet to earn her trust.

She was no shut-in cloister either. She could open up, when she was in the mood. It wasn't that there was sentimentality tied into the deed, or even that she wanted something deep and meaningful. It was just that simply, she was at her most vulnerable, when a guy was straddling her. How could she turn around and attack him, if he planned to weild the knife?

"Ye'd make a worse husband than bard." She commented dryly, a hint of laughter glittering in her gaze. "Intriguing company? Is that flattery? I should have ye know, I'm immune to such windbagging. Now that the air is cleared - are ye gonna flit out like a spring dove, knowing your fuckable princess is in another castle?" Her tone was joking, but her eyes had turned hard. Belharra had enough experience to know that men that wanted to dip their dick in something warm often fucked right off the second they realized they weren't going to get what they wanted. What was worse, most of them didn't even hide their shame by pretending to stick around! They just up and left, not that she was complaining. Nothing worse than entertaining a guy who was strictly only interested in her for the warmth provided between her legs.

"ouch," asmodeus chuckled good-naturedly. but she was right, wasn't she? the snake had always been the fuck-off type, searching for an easy lay and a bite to eat.

yet her words struck a chord with him; two lashes of his plume and asmodeus relented. "you did me the courtesy of not wasting my time. would be shit of me to disrespect that."

had he ever told a woman that before? doubt.jpg

"so i would, truly and honestly, like to hunt with you. it's been a while since i was on one with someone." black eyes scrutinized her face; a roguish grin grew beneath it.

"but tomorrow, yeah, i'm gonna fuck off." her choice then; asmodeus put his muzzle to the earth and began to seek about.

Oops. Belharra had hit a tender spot.

There was no apology to be seen anwhere in her eyes, which roved over him. At least he was as honest as she: that, she supposed, was a change from most men.

He didn't seem like most men to her, the more time she spent with him. "I'd be a worthless beast not to comment on your honesty. It's a fine trait, and I appreciate it. Even if you didn't get any fucks today." She winked, but then continued. "A hunt sounds just fine, so it does." The moorlands woman muttered, hiding the grin on her maw as she turned from the basilisk. "Plus with two, there's bigger game to tackle. Ye ever had ram's tongue? It's my favorite." Onward Belharra prowled, making her way to the steppes where she had seen a herd earlier in the day.

tysm <3

the reptile did not preen beneath her compliment, but it was enjoyable to hear all the same. 

belharra continued to intrigue asmodeus, though he would respect the boundaries drawn in proverbial sand and press his luck no longer.

"been a while," the bone-hued serpent commented, slipping into step with the woman. "got here not long ago. seems like you all just pulled through a famine."

It was well deserved! He done did me a laugh.

It'd had been a while since she had such succulent delights as well. The famine had taken very few prisoners. Plenty of lives, though. Belharra slowed her step just long enough to shoot "I call dibs. You can have anything else --" then she realized he might be the type to play with her slip up and quickly reaffirmed: "of the ram. But I'm callin' dibs on that tongue. Deal?" She watched his dark, reptilian gaze a stitch before continuing.

The scent of ram was faded, but it was here. She flicked her tail to indicate to the serpent she had found a rather fresh track in the snow. "Can't be more than a few hours old." Belharra inspected it quickly, and the scent was fresh. "Let's geddim."

:D

"i wouldn't ever try to separate a woman from her tongue," he purled in dry jest. this was the game now; flirting that was not flirting at all, but banter. this was more than acceptable, for so far belharra had captured his intrigue. it was easier between them now, casual. 

asmodeus accepted the woman as lead hunter, flat black eyes lingering on the burnished henna of her own. "this is a pastime of yours, i suspect." she was enthusiastic about it, perhaps more than a common wolf might be.

He was delightfully clever. Belharra stole a glance behind her, snickering at his quip. Indeed, sometimes a tongue was all a woman had - and she had used hers to get out of many a tricky situation (interpret that how you like). Something told her Asmodeus would have been tickled to know this, but she kept her tongue for now and pressed on.

Was hunting ram a hobby of hers? In response, Belharra slowed and delivered a deadpan reply in an over-the-top, blokey accent. "well, oi's heard it once or twice eatin's rather important, yeknow? so oi's suppose you're right.. it is a past-time of mine. jolly good one, roight?" Stifling a snicker she kicked off into a gallop, following her nose as the trail headed uphill.

belharra continued to surprise and ensnare asmodeus. he chuckled, a low rasped sound, as she darted a theatrical voice at him.

"dinner and a show," he remarked, long pale legs carrying him easily at her side. "can't say i've ever had both."

a genuine warmth had begun to swim in the serpent's heart. witchcraft. illusion, he jested to himself, and turned his coal gaze to look for their quarry.

There is more of that where that came from Belharra purled confidently, sashaying up the slope so Asmodeus could get a good glance at her swagger (and tush). 

She smiled at him coyly, but those eyes were glitter hard. Asmodeus intrigued her - dangerously so - but Belharra was wary of going down that road. Staying at an emotional distance was better, for her anyway. Stowing those thoughts Belharra shook out her ruff and sampled the air. It was cold, thin, and faintly tinged with ram. Gettin’ closer. She remarked, scratching at the snow where the scent was concealed.