Wild Berry Meadow foreign creature; gift is a burden

The sky was lit in pastel hues, soft against the blankness of the snow. She girl slipped from beneath the tree she found the abandoned set beneath; it had made a good sleeping place the last few nights, the surrounding meadow made for good hunting. Blinking against the softness of the sky; carved out body full from last night's success, the girl stretched carefully as she made her way towards the sun-lit meadow, colours in the sky fading as day took it's hold. 

Choosing an exposed boulder as her perch, she bound nimbly atop it, setting to cleaning her fur methodically, swiping her paws over her muzzle as she began to hum. The note followed no strict melody, slipping from one snippet of a song to another, tempo changing all the while. Finishing with her face, the canine moved to her chest, carefully preening the fur there, not missing a beat.
@Engel

Engel was doing circles by now, he had no real direction. Just going from place to place. The day was coming, and in the coming light, he spotted the silhouette of something upon a boulder. He approached them, and chuffed to them to let them know that he was there as he came close to the boulder.

"Comfortable up there?" he asked up to them. Engel now could see that they were a female, and a light wag started behind him.

The humming changed, become loyal to a single rhythm. Words came soon after, low and melodic, perfect in pitch. "go to sleep, you little baby,"  Movement at the fringe of the meadow had her gaze dance towards it, but she didn't move from her perch, moving to her forelimbs as she blacked the earth from her ankles. "go to sleep, you little baby," The male approached, stopping, calling out words. But she was not finished, not yet. Her singing continued in the manner of a lullaby, low and soothing. 

"your momma's gone away and your daddy's gonna stay, didn't leave nobody but the baby" She paused her humming, glancing to the male with a small, ambiguous smile.  She dipped her head, replying lightly, "are you? down there?" 

He was stunned by her singing voice, it reminded him of the lullabies Heartha would sing. It truly touched his heart to hear, but only for a moment. The next verse though, hit him...if it were Heartha singing, it would have been the other way around. 

"When I hear a singing voice like that, yes. Yes I am" he said, with a smile that cheered her on. "Sounded like a lullaby for a child."

Again came the vague smile, tail wagging softly behind her not quite leaping down from her perch, but shifting a little towards the male.  She hummed softly when he mentioned the lullaby, dipping her head in affirmation as the last few notes faded into the air, murmuring half to herself; "go to sleep, little baby" She song faded into silence, and she mentioned airily, "my mother sang it to me." 

her gaze moved to the male again, blinking down at him. "what's your name, stranger?" He seemed a little old for her tastes, but he certainly looked stunning with all that red. Bi-coloured gaze surveyed him, tail swishing behind her in the manner of a bored cat.

His smile faded as she finished the short lullaby, as he thought more about Heartha. "She must have been a great mother." He wondered if he should ask what the part about the father meant, but instead he kept quiet. He thought that it wouldn't be his business.

"Engel...it rhymes with angel." Though he was no angel, that was for certain. He grinned at the thought of that. "And what might be the name I can accompany with the sweet lullaby voice?"

She had not been. Her mother had been absent much of the time, noncommittal and unreliable, and the Cordiva siblings had been glad when she'd vanished, truthfully. But that was not something you said to a stranger, no, and thus she merely gave a small noise of noncommital agreement. "and are you an angel?"  She asked, the slightest glint in her gaze as she paused a moment before offering her own reply. "you can call me Helia." She said with a dip of her head, crossing her front limbs over as she regarding him with the slightest cant of her head.

He chuckled when she asked if he was an angel. "I am far from an angel...unless angels are charming. Then I am one" he said with a wide smile. "Helia...usually I think of a word that rhymes with names..." He grew a grin as he looked up at her. "Yours will be quite a challenge."

Ah, this one was flirty. Her gaze betrayed little, but she slipped from the rock then, offering a small "hmm"  Fiery gaze blinked at him; his wide smile that on other's seemed snake-like and menacing, but on the male - Engel - seemed sincere. He spoke of rhyming names, which bored her, she slipped toward him before seating herself a little closer. "are you a poet, Engel?" She asked, sweetly, wondering if this was one of the rare males that seemed refined; unlike the most of them, all brawn and little brain. She'd little time for those sorts; they were rather dull (and yet easy to manipulate, she found).

She seated herself closer towards him as he nodded to the question. "I am indeed. At least, I try to be. Songs, poems, rhymes. I try my best, unlike the rest." He smiled lightly after his miniature rhyme he had given. "What of you, Helia?"

He claimed he was, though his easy little rhyme grated on the woman a little, though she hid it easily. The wordplay came too simply; she saw skill in subtle, beautiful song and poem. Skill, she gave a tiny echo of his own smile, saying nothing. "I collect stories." She offered, for that was a simple way of telling how just she lived her life. She lived, and she experienced, and she collected tales as they were told, sung, or lived.

Engel had sung songs, rhymed and told poems. But never a story. "Stories, eh?" He had a thought in his mind, and he smiled at it. "How about we trade? You tell me a story you've 'collected', and I sing you a song? Can be about anything at all" he proposed with a grin.

The woman's attention was plucked away from the wan by a bird swinging low over the two of them; a vulture. It seemed for a few moments that her attention was drawn away completely from the man, but when he finished speaking, her gaze snapped back to him. "fair enough,"  She mused, though she'd rather another story than a song; perhaps his own would reveal something. "what nature of tale do you want to hear?"  She'd seen a lot, but grown stagnant, grounded, and it was here she had come to experience more of life.

He shrugged. "Any at all, whatever comes to your mind" he answered. he laid down on the ground as he waited for Helia to begin, ears turned toward her and ready to listen. "Though....I do enjoy a good romance from time to time" he added after a small pause.

She dipped her head, collecting her thoughts a moment before speaking. A romance was requested; a romance she would give. "there were once two lovers," She began, voice sliding into the entrancing, easy tone she used for such tellings. "their names were Alo and Zephus, and their love was forbidden by a powerful man.  they persisted, for their love was great, met quietly; secretly, in the dark of night. they could not bear their separation, however, and thus decided to run away from the pack that did not allow their love to be." Here she paused, tail sweeping over the snow behind her once, twice, before she continued.

"and so they chose a place to meet; from there they would flee. first arrived Alo. yet it was not Zephus she met, but a cougar, maw stained from a recent kill. she ran in terror from the place, and Zephus hurried when he heard her cry." Again she paused, shifting, considering. It was a tragic tale, one half-legend; though in each story there lay a grain of truth. "in grief did Zephus throw himself onto the cat; it killed him quickly. when Alo returned she found naught but violence and death. in grief did she throw herself onto the rocks, and her life ended as swiftly as her lover's." Her she stopped, the girl blinking her bi-coloured gaze as the regarded again the male, curious.

Engel's ears perked forward as she began, and he held his mouth shut so he wouldn't interrupt. A forbidden love, he could always see this being good. And part of him guessed it would be either tragic, or more of a dream come true ending. 

When it came to the end, he found his eyes welling up without even realising it. "That...that was romanctic..." He quickly wiped at his eyes with his paws. "Sorry...something in my eye...anyway, do you wish to request a type of song?"

She watched him; with the impenetrable gaze of a hunting cat, as he reacted, tears welling up in his gaze. She hadn't thought it one of the best tellings of the tale, but obviously, it was good enough to move the stranger before her. This she noted with something akin to pride and nodded near imperceptibly as he explained away his emotion. When it came turn for her request, she thought for a moment before remarking. "some songs carry a story in their melody." This was the type of song she wished to hear, and she looked at him pointedly, waiting to hear his own offering.

That made him think. Indeed, almost every song had a story to it. At least, most he had sung. Most he had sung were also about romance, as well. One came to mind after some thinking over, however. He closed his eyes, and then went into song.

"What'll you do when you get lonely, and nobody's waiting by your side?
You've been running and hiding much too long, you know it's just your foolish pride.

You've got me on my knees. I'm begging, darling please. Darling won't you ease my worried mind.

I tried to give you consolation, when your old man had let you down.
Like a fool, I fell in love with you, turned my whole world upside down.

You've got me on my knees. I'm begging, darling please. Darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Let's make the best of the situation, before I finally go insane. Please don't say we'll never find a way, and tell me all my love's in vain."

With that he finished his song, opening his eyes to see how she reacted to his song. "Well? Was it to your liking?"

In truth, she'd expected something more like his cringe-worthy rhyme, and the siren was unable to hide completely the pleasant surprise that glinted in her gaze. Helia canted her head a moment as she committed, carefully, the lyrics to memory, a moment silence after Engel had asked his question. The smile that touched her muzzle now was closer to genuine, and she dipped her head. "good - I liked it." She admitted, shifting contently. It was a desperate sort of romance that he sang of, and his voice wasn't all the bad. Rather, it was fairly good; of course, not as good as her own (she was a rather prideful creature).

He smiled back, glad that she had liked the song he sang. "Why thank you, Miss Helia." He sat there for a moment, then a question came to mind. "So...what will you do now?" She seemed quite contempt where she was, and he was enjoying his constant travels...although he wasn't against comapny of any sorts in staying in one place for a bit.

Their exchange at end, both ends of the bargain fulfilled, and the male seemed interested in what happened next. She wasn't yet sure if she liked him enough to tempt him in coming with her, for a time, perhaps growing to know the male better. Things got boring, however, when they were devoid of mystery any longer; though Helia supposed she could simply leave the male behind if he got boring-

Oh, she was getting too far ahead of herself. He'd simply asked of her plans, not offered to be her companion in travel. She was lonely, truly, but not desperate enough (or humble) to ask him outright. She offered her answer truthfully, seeing no need for obscurity. "I'll head west, eventually. After that, before that; I do not know." Her answer was given vaguely enough, but there was a glint of invitation in her gaze; she'd become good at compelling others to keep her company; likely to do with the beauty she exploited when she could. "and you, Engel?"

He listened to her answer, then shrugged to her question. "Really? I am just going about here to there. Singing songs, telling poems..." He paused for a moment. He had no real direction. Nowhere he knew that he could go. Easthollow perhaps, where that wolf, Day's brother lived...but he also knew that Day would visit there again. He had a sad look about his face. "I...I shall leave you to it...if you wish."

Ah, she almost had him, should she play her cards right. Aimless, even sad, not quite willing to leave, it seemed. Perhaps it was purely selfish reasons that she sought to enlist a companion, she was lonely after all this time alone. Had she been back home, she would not have bothered with the male beyond their exchange. Perhaps she would accompany him for a time, only to leave him behind, perhaps she wished to make him her companion because she craved some challenge. No matter the reason, she did not relent. "you do not have to," she offered with a cant of her muzzle, adding a moment later, "the travel is lonely, is it not?" 

Engel tipped his head a bit, and remained seated as his eyes rested on her. "It is...but I can manage." Besides, there was bound to be plenty of companionship along the way. He'd only nearly been eaten once by a female so far. Plus there was the inspiration to more songs and poems, the best inspiration; adventure.

Hmph - it seemed the male was not as easy to entice as she thought, and while the woman was not one to waste time on feeble prospects, she might as well give it a final attempt. "everything is manageable - but to manage is to merely exist, nothing more." Existing and living where two very different things, another basic philosophy her mother had managed to teach them before becoming so withdrawn. She canted her head at the male; perhaps he was happier alone, then. She supposed she could call it quits; he did not seem quite interesting enough for her to pursue the issue much further. Still; "then perhaps our paths will cross again, Engel." Her vague smile returns as she rises gracefully, feeling something like the sting of failure, but dipping her head in farewell all the same, thought for a moment longer, she lingers.