Phoenix Maplewood even when i lose i'm winning

i decided to just go ahead and start the thread @Desna :) set at the borders.

Though her sister had said that Desna was no longer a part of Phoenix Maplewood, Sheogorath knew that she had been lying, and so he had continued his journey North to find the missing child. He would try to herd the other one home when opportunity struck — though Burke had said that he wanted to give them a choice, Sheogorath felt that the children belonged to the Dark Brotherhood and that it would be better simply to retrieve them. Perhaps he would manage eventually. For now, though, his focus was upon Desna of Phoenix Maplewood.

Sheogorath stopped at the pack's borders and lifted his head to call for Desna specifically. He wasn't sure what it would take to bring her home, and didn't intend to straight up ask her if she wished to come with. Maybe he would try to become her friend, first. She seemed amicable enough last time. Sheogorath started to walk up and down along the borders (though his body language was neutral and respectful enough for his proximity to a pack), waiting impatiently for Desna to arrive.

Hahah! Yay!

Desna was quite surprised when she heard a howl that was meant for her. No one really howled for her at the borders. Did Mason return? Her ears popped up to listen better. She had the feeling it didn't sound like Mason. A frown settled over her brow. Life had been strange ever since her mother died. She tried to keep her sisters together but she had failed so far, and there was the matter of wanting to visit her father to tell him. He probably didn't care but she was curious how he was going. With that in mind she trotted towards the border.

She stayed a bit by the tree line, seeking for the wolf who called. She saw him pacing up ahead. She recognized the pattern of black and white. It was the young male that might wanted to join PHX! She trotted towards him, staying on her side of the borders, just in case. "Sheo! You came back! Are you going to join?," she asked, sounding surprised to see him.

It did not take all that long for Desna to appear, and she was her usual cheerful self. How a child from such a broken home could have turned out as she did was a wonder; or it might have been to Cicero, Sheogorath sourly thought. He put a smile on his face as Desna greeted him in her boundless excitement and asked if he were to join.

While it'd been part of his initial idea, Sheogorath felt it would be rather pointless to join now, if he did not intend to drag Desna back by the scruff, anyway. Perhaps he still would, to test if she liked the idea of returning to Kove. To get close to her, so that he could rip her apart thread by thread if she denied, or guide her and train her if she accepted.

"Hey!" First, Sheogorath decided to try a different route — one that the lost sister he had met upon his travels would hopefully help with. "Desna... Do you have a sister?" he asked, his smile fading slightly as he looked more serious. "I ran into a girl a little to the south who said that there wasn't anyone called Desna in Phoenix Maplewood. I'd grown worried that you'd gotten hurt or anything, so I'm glad to see you're still here. She looked around your age, so I thought..." Sheogorath looked puzzled, as though he couldn't quite piece together why the girl would deny him the information.

I'm just going to date this thread after her encounter with Mason if that is okay, because that would make a lot more sense in case she would go with Cicero in the end. Just keeping that open.

Under the bundle of excitement there was of course the sadness that her mother passed. Desna was just reluctant to show it to most of the other wolves. She didn't need their pity. She knew that her mother had no fight left in her and that is was better this way. She would mourn her death alone, or share it with Uncle Reek. The girl pushed her ears forward when Sheo told her something which interested her. "I have two sisters," she spoke, unknowingly given the male even more information. She thought about Sesi and how she ran away after she told her that she hadn't been there for her.

"Oh.. you were worried for me?," she asked. She frowned because this was the second male that was worried about her. She felt a bit flustered thinking about that. "Um.. It could be? I don't know. One of my sisters did run away. But you don't need to check up on me. I can take care of myself," she stated to the male just as she had done with Mason. She let out a soft sigh, unsure if she should ask more questions about the wolf that could potentially be her sister. "Um.. Where did you see her? Was she okay? Or was she like... acting weird?," Desna asked. That was her only way to describe Sesi really.

fine with me :)

Desna said that she didn't need any taking care of, and Sheogorath smiled mischievously. "Of course you can take care of yourself. But that doesn't mean you have to do everything alone, right?" A little help went a long way. He wondered to himself if the second sister was still here. Desna made no note of her, just saying that one of her sisters had run away. "Why'd she run away? She was acting really strange." A worried frown ruffled Sheogorath's face, while he wondered of the circumstances that had driven the remains of the family apart.

"Is your other sister still here? You've got family here, right?" he asked then, wondering about the context of what Desna had left here in Phoenix Maplewood, so that he could better estimate how easy it'd be to get her away from here.

Densa looked at the black and white male. Because he seemed to quite good with his words and what to say. The light hearted female nodded slowly. She often felt that she was alone, though lately Reek had stepped up to guide her. She was becoming quite attached to him, like the father she never had. Kove had always been busy or with Xan. She always felt left out while being with her father. Maybe he never intended for her to feel like that but she just did especially while looking back. She had not been too bothered as a child, carefree and reckless, but now she was maturing and realizing that some things he did might not add up.

"Why would you want to know about my family?," she commented with a light frown, he seemed rather interested in her sisters. Unnaturally so? Mason hadn't really asked about her sisters at all. Sesi always had been weird but she wasn't going to tell him that she was like that on a usual basis nor the reason why she ran way. She honestly didn't even know where Nanook was hanging out these days. "I think I am going back," she spoke a little distrustful and stepped back.

Desna's mood seemed to swing around all of a sudden, and Sheogorath's ears fell back as she took a step back. He did not know why she was suddenly so apprehensive, for Sheogorath had only intended to appear interested because of worry. "It's no good to be alone, Desna," Sheogorath said evenly. "I just want to make sure you're alright." He looked away in feigned shame, as though he'd chased another one away, as he always seemed to, as if he was feeling insecure and unhappy.

Then he looked back up briefly, sighed wistfully, and said: "I guess that means you also don't want me to join your pack, huh." Sheogorath took a step backwards, even though every part of his body was screaming for him to attack and drag her back by the scruff if he had to. He hoped that by stepping back, he'd at least gain some confidence back — and if she would run, then Sheogorath did not know if he could control himself to not go for the assault.

Sheo was quite the actor because the innocent Desna instantly fell for it when he looked hurt and worried at the same time. She bit the inside of her cheek and looked at him. "No! I want to be a scout which also does recruitment!," she stated and looked a bit ashamed now for her reaction. She stepped forward again, but staying close around the border. "I just don't know you very well and your interest in me .. umm confuses me a bit," she admitted and looked at him. After all she thought the boy was interested in her. That the male wanted to be her friend or even more. Though she had also been meeting Mason and she was more at ease with him then with Sheo.

"I'm sorry. I can howl for my alpha if you want to join?," she asked, sounding apologetic. "The maplewood is a really great pack. I think you would like it here. There should be more of my sisters but they have been hiding or they are gone. I really don't know where they at. It has been very confusing truthfully. They were never the same after mom and dad split up," she shrugged, clearly wanting to make amens with her previous behavior.

His tactic seemed to be working, and Desna was quick to try and convince him to stay, placing the back in his court again. Sheogorath looked at her, looking a little forlorn while he decided what to do next (his mind told him to drag her back to the brotherhood by her ear, but the more sensible part of him knew that would unlikely work, and would most certainly displease the big wuss, Burke).

"If I'm asking about things you're not comfortable talking about, please just tell me. Then I know to keep my nose out of there from now on. " Sheogorath grinned uncomfortably, and then turned to the other matter at hand. "Could you maybe tell me some more about the Maplewood? Like... Do you like it here? Is it the sort of pack that's forever, or are there lots of wolves that come and go?" Really, he just hoped to figure out if Desna intended to stay herself, lest he join and lose his purpose.

Desna was falling for Sheo's trick with ease. She still had her child like innocence and a biota her mother's naive nature. She thought most things would be okay or not happening to her. She nodded slowly to the other male. "I'm sorry,' she apologized. "I will tell you next time," she added. It was a good lesson on social behavior for her. Especially dealing with strangers and not a pack mate one was familiar with. She asked a new question, asking her about the Maplewood.

"I really like it. The forest is really nice and feels like home. I really like the alpha pair too," she spoke to Sheo. She had to think about his other question. "Well. First we were small and had a steady group of people being there but now there all a lot of new ones. I am not sure they will stick around, I haven't really made some effort to meet them yet. But they seem okay. I am mostly befriended with the upper ranked wolf," she admitted. Seeing that she was close to Reek and a bit to Ukko and Saena. Desna saw the alpha female more as a mentor than a friend currently. Tavi was probably the only wolf that was in the middle ranks she knew a bit. If Sheo had planned to kidnap her this was quite valuable information seeing that she was close with he upper ranks meant that they would miss her if she would be gone.

Sheogorath nodded as he listened to Desna mention more of the Maplewood. It was good to know that she was friends with the upper ranking wolves here. Sheogorath was rapidly growing bored of the present conversation, but he knew he needed to hang on -- especially because he was forbidden to physically force the children to come home. He asked, "Are your parents high ranked here, too?" Perhaps Scarlety held a high rank here; she had once held a respectable Alpga and later Beta rank in her own pack, after all.

"Ah, if you don't mind me asking, that is, " Sheogorath smiled, feigning bashfulness as he did, hoping to pull the answer from Desna by pretending that it wouldn't be a problem if she didn't feel comfortable answering.

Desna then realized that she hadn't said anything about her parents. Well that was sort of tough since her mother was not here anymore and her father had been in another pack. The dark colored female looked at the other. She did not want to talk about her mother. "Yes, she has. My father left with my brother so I wouldn't know," she stated. Technically she was lying bit but this male wouldn't know that. She had shared her mother's death with Mason and she was not really keen on experiencing that kind of sad feeling again while thinking of her.

"What about you? Do you have siblings? Why are you all alone? No parents?," she questioned, finding that she had the right to ask them. It was somewhat weird for him to be alone seeing that being alone didn't really make sense to Desna. There would be less food and she would feel really unsafe. She wanted to be a scout but she was hesitant of leaving.

"Oh, it's gotta be tough to be apart from your brother and father," said Sheogorath, frowning. He watched Desna's face, hoping that she would give him some sort of information about her emotional state, so that he knew if there was any chance to his endeavour here working out.

Sheogorath was unprepared for the next question, though he should've been, what with her sharing so much information. "I..." He looked away, frowning, then back at Desna. "They died — my parents. My sister, she was never the same again and left, too, and my brother..." Sheogorath closed his eyes and sighed. "I loved my brother, but he didn't return the gesture. It was too much to bear to see his gaze and think of my parents and my sister every day, so I just sort of... left." Sheogorath figured he may as well use Cicero's more-than-need-be dramaticisms in real life to form a fake story. The more real, the more convincing he could tell it. He wrinkled his nose and sniffled while he muttered: "I wish they were still here, together with me... If I knew where my sister was, I..." He sighed, cutting off his sentence and he glanced at the sky. This'd gotten more dramatic than intended, but all he could hope was that it would unlock some sort of emotion for Desna's own lost brother and father (though he had little hope that she would actually come voluntarily in the end).

Desna looked at Sheo and shrugged. "Not really," she returned to him. She would like to visit her father yes. But she was not really put off by the fact they weren't around. Xan had never been nice to her and her father was mostly away. How did they expect that she would have bonded with him. The girl then listened to Sheo who was telling a very sad story. Her ears turned forward to listen to the male. His parents were dead and his siblings had left. Desna didn't catch the fact that Sheo was talking about a romantic love. She was just assuming he was not retuning a brotherly love. Like her two sisters that left her without a care in the world. Desna let out a puff.

Desna did frown a bit when the other seemed quite disgruntled with everyone leaving him. "I'm sorry this all happened to you. It sounds a bit like my story. Maybe you can find your sister, ask around?," she spoke to encourage him. "It sound like you need a family," she added. They were quite the family at Phoenix but Desna was clueless about their numbers and how full they were. Though his story did inspire her. "I might go see my dad, just visit him and tell him... He lives in a dark forest. Do you know where it is?," she asked. "Directions would be great."

"At least you still have your mom and pack, " said Sheogorath with a sigh. He wasn't really sure still whether to join this pack and try and get her to join, or kill Scarlett so that Desna really had no reason to stay here... Or simply try to convince her to come along, now.

She gave an opening, and Sheogorath nodded. He decided that he may as well lead her home, and perhaps once there they could... Convince her to stay. "I know the place you mean, I think. If it's near a marsh, in the south, at the edge of the mountain ridge?" He waited for her answer first, and figured that if she wanted to come, he could possibly escort her. " I could show you, if you wanted. "

Desna nodded faintly at his statement. Because she didn't have her mother but she did have the pack. The black female looked at Sheo when he told her he knew about the forest. Her ears popped forward when he spoke about it more. "I wouldn't know if that is the one, as long as it is dark. And father had a red paw print on his shoulder from it," she explained to Sheo, maybe that part of information would be a good one.

"You would? That would be great! I can only leave in a few days though, maybe in a week. I have to discuss this with my pack," she explained to him. She was quite eager to go seeing that she wanted to work on her scout trade. The young female looked at the other to confirm. Then she would have to do some arranging herself.

Sheogorath looked uncertain when Desna told the information about the pawprint, feigning uncertainty so that it was better believable that he wasn't from the pack, that he only knew of it but wasn't sure it was the right one. He knew that it was the right one, of course, in truth. Desna actually agreed to come with him, and Sheogorath decided to hide his excitement over this fact. He barely needed to work for this one at all.

"Alright. I'll explore the surroundings a bit in the meantime, see if this is the place I might want to settle. Can we meet, uh, along the mountain ridge, a little to the south? I know the way from there." Sheogorath awaited her reply, figuring that he could soon leave and await her near the mountain ridge. The anticipation of the kill was throbbing in his head, but he knew he needed to be patient now. Then, once he would have her at Blackfeather Woods' borders with Kove, the two of them could grab her, take her someplace safe -- and keep her where she belonged until she was indoctrinated enough to be set free and stayed.

Love your ava! <3

Desna looked at Sheo as her info about the paw print didn't ring a bell with him. The girl nodded, feeling kind of like a rebel for going away with a male. "Um.. okay!," she agreed. It was quite a vague location and she hoped that she would find Sheo. That was a problem for later. First she needed to convince Reek that she was going but that she would return. She didn't want to leave her family.

The girl looked over Sheo, imprinting his look and scent in her brain so she could possibly find him more easier later on. "Okay I will see you there. Have fun exploring," she wished him. With that Desna turned around and rushed back into the territory to ask Reek about a couple of things.

You can archive after your post!

"We can howl if we are near, " Sheogorath said when he noticed Desna's doubt. He dipped his muzzle in silent farewell and then he took off, moving south to see what he would find there to amuse himself with until Desna showed up. And once he would have her at Blackfeather Woods' borders, with Kove to back him up, he would have won. She would be his.