King Elk Forest fortune and glory, kid
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#1
All Welcome 
branching out of the wistful little creek that had so captured his brother's attention, harrison found himself in the heart of a thick wood. it was more like what he'd imagined they'd seek to claim, though he knew that grayson was the type to get his mind stuck on something and never let it go. that was fine and dandy with him, really; the charmer was mostly along to get his kicks and settle down with a good wife who wouldn't ask too many questions.

the pale snake prowled his way through the brush of the wood. birds clattered overhead with a cacophony of sound that pulled his attention upward. a pair of crows seemed to be combating each other with feverishly beating wings and precise pecks. noisy things, but they didn't go after each other for very long before they took flight and vanished.

harrison prowled onward, keeping his head low and his body swayed from side to side. little flecks of light filtered through the foliage of the trees and danced along the pale hairs of his neck and back. the musky scent of forestry seemed to linger against the air, but he didn't mind any of that. with little direction, he paused near a large boulder and scanned the forest for signs of prey.
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#2
God she was so stupid! She had zoned out and lost track of the group and then Grayson and Harrison had disappeared. She wasn't sure where she was but at least she was able to catch Harrison's scent rather quickly. She scurried along in a hurry, tail tucked nervously and eyes farting around in fear. The crows fighting did the trick and she yelped, startled off into a run which ended up being unfortunate because she smacked right into Harrison's backside.

She fell backward onto her haunches and stared at his butt in horror "Oh! H..Harrison im sorry. I lost track of you and Grayson and then Crows scared me..." she trailed off her purple eyes wide and then ducked her head, wondering if she was about to get scolded and yelled at for being so clumsy.
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#3
his search was brought to a swift halt as he felt the shape of someone else collide with his rear end. harrison bristled immediately, swinging his crown around to face his assaulter with a wild glint and a peeled lip. when the sputtering girl became a familiar face, the pale snake released a sigh and shook his head at her.

girls were so soft and clumsy, he reminded himself. before the expression on his features was made into a permanent one, harrison cupped his ears forward and lowered his lip back over his canines. he stiffened and lifted his head upward. only then did he adopt his trademark smirk, allowing it to wipe away the last remainder of what had been his hostile snap. the brute was not any more pleased that it had been lilah who had careened into him, but he was always quick to put on a show to hide away any reflection of who he actually was.

“gotta watch where you're going, lilah,” he reminded her in a gruff tone. “you run the risk of bumping into some unsavory characters in a foreign land.”

it would always be their job to protect the fragile women that had pledged themselves to their calling. the men were there to keep those assets safe; they were superior in physicality, after all. harrison had always felt a magnetic pull to the life of a mercenary. it was likely what he would pursue when they had finally claimed the land they intended. ladies couldn't resist a man who could throw his weight around, could they?
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#4
Her eyes flew wide open at the snarling face in front of her and she dropped into a crouch, pressing herself down close to the ground. She lowered her eyes and pinned her ears back, not aware that Harrison had already lowered his lips and was smirking at her. She nodded quickly at his words, shame creeping through her gut as yet again an Odolf told her to be more careful and watch herself. She seemed to never get anything right and when she spoke up her voice was shaky and thick with shame "Yes Harrison...I'm sorry. I was trying to catch up as quickly as I could, I had your scent but then these crows were loud and.....and well, it scared me."


She sneaked a look up at him and caught the smirk, that one it seemed all men had but Odolf men had perfected. Her breath caught and she stared for probably a bit too long before tearing her gaze away and slowly rising up from her scared position. "You were hunting weren't you? Darn.. I'm sorry. How about I go herb searching within the area and you can continue, then when you're done I'll find you? So I don't get lost and cause any more problems and you can finish your task" she suggested, trying to be helpful for once.
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#5
harrison couldn't really imagine what it would have been like to be scared by a couple of noisy black birds. it did seem likely that a young woman would find the noise alarming enough to cause a spook. really, he wasn't upset with her for having run into him. when ladies were frightened, it only made sense that they would seek out the nearest man in hopes of receiving protection. in that regard, the pale snake understood exactly why she had collided with him so unceremoniously. it did make him feel better about himself, and wasn't that what they were supposed to do?

after his ego had been padded considerably, harrison swiveled a single ear to collect the remainder of what she was talking about. yes, he had been hoping to hunt so that they could eat. it was unlikely that there would be any promising prey in the trees after the crows had flown through and made their ruckus, as well as the noise that lilah and harrison had made. “i would hate for you to get lost again, lilah. let's have you stick with me and we'll collect herbs and try to hunt all at once,” he instructed her with a firm nod.

the idea of jaunting around in the woods in search of weeds wasn't really up his alley, but he would rather keep a close eye on the girl than have her disappear once the sun had disappeared beyond the mountains. as long as he stayed close by her, he figured she would be safe enough. hunting was not something that he anticipated she would actually aid him with, but proximity was key. as long as lilah could stay quiet, he could catch them something.
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#6
Lilah finally stood at full height when she was sure he wasn't mad at her and gave a soft sigh of relief. She was ready to stay within earshot of Harrison and had prepared to make her way off when he kindly said he'd stay by her and collect the herbs with her. She immediately broke out into a grin that was pure happiness and gratitude and wagged her tail "Thank you Harrison. I'm sure this isn't what you want to do, it's really nice for you to help" she said and turned, waiting for him to follow. As she headed slowly away she focused on the plants around her and spotted what she had been looking for. The long feathery leaves pointed it out. She headed over and began to slowly dig, not minding the dirt and yanked out several bulbs one by one. She looked to Harrison "This is Fennel. Tastes sweet. It gives energy, keeps you going when food is low" she said and grabbed all the bulbs into her mouth to carry them with her.


Her ears perked suddenly at a sharp snapping in the bushes somewhere nearby and she looked to Harrison, wondering if he had heard it. She sniffed the air, smelling rabbit but said nothing. It wasn't her place to point out a hunt unless he missed it, besides she figured it would make him feel good to find it on his own.
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#7
oh, she was right as could be; the task of hunting down herbs was something that he had never had any real interest in. the charmer would have much rather spent his time filling caches and supplying their small group with enough food to last them a short while. he was certain that they would need it if they were to be scouting out further in search of members and to see what kinds of territories surrounded them. still, harrison felt that it was best to keep an eye on lilah in hopes that she wouldn't fumble so easily.

they trekked along and he kept his skull up and eyes searching the forested ceiling overhead. the girl seemed to be searching for particular things while harrison only appeared distracted. really, it was best that he stayed that way; there wasn't any help that he could have offered her to make her job easier. the further they moved along, the more he had forgotten about his lost hunt. it wasn't until lilah had spoken that he pulled his attention downward and toward the green bulbous thing she had found.

“huh,” he mused with a thoughtful expression, “that's kinda neat. if we didn't have real food, right?”
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#8
Lilah blinked once and dropped the bulb, taking his question as if he thought she were suggesting the men couldn't provide enough food for everyone. "W..well sometimes winter gets really rough and even men like you and Grayson can't do anything. That's where these neat little things come in handy" she explained her tail doing nervous taps against her hind legs as she studied him. If she wasn't mistaken he looked somewhat thoughtful, as if maybe what she was saying was a bit impressive. "If more meaty things are your cup of tea there are plants and stuff that almost have a meaty taste. They do the same as these. Though of course everyone prefers the real thing, that's why we need you men to do the strong jobs" she couldn't help the lightest hint of teasing, of flirtation that crept into her voice.
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#9
plants had never really been interesting to harrison, but he had always thought that the random knowledge the women collected on them was surprising, and moderately concerning. there was certainly a way to use some of those leafy greens against someone, but lord help him if he knew how. all he could imagine was biting into a juicy rabbit and finding it had been laced with something via his sister. he would have either shit his brains out for a week straight or died on the spot, he was sure of it. still, the use of those things against others might have been a swell idea.

harrison didn't really believe that winter would get too rough for the boys to pull together and find something to eat. sure, things would get harder for them, but it was just part of life and it would pass in several months to leave them with a plentiful harvest. he really wasn't certain that he was going to try eating bulbs to keep his energy up. “you know, i'd thought to ask around about this, but do you think that there are more helpful herbs in the forest or by the water? reason is that, i'm kinda more fond of the woods than the creek... i've got a gut feeling it'll get real cold there when winter gets bad,” he redirected the subject fluidly. his attention was pinned to her features as he waited for her answer.
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#10
Lilah studied his expression for a moment, wondering if he was truly interested and needed an answer or if he was just humoring her. After a moment she decided he did look genuinely curious and she felt a surge of delight, her tail swaying back and forth slowly as she pondered the answer. "It really depends. Herbs for eating normally grow in more wet, moist areas like streams and riverbanks. Herbs for medicinal usage are better found in dryer, sunnier areas though their lifespan depends on rain. For winter it's much better to look for nutritional herbs around the stream and keep a stock stored of medicinal herbs. They do their job when dried out, just a little bit less effectively" the whole time she spoke her face got this really focused look, brows drawing together and eyes going glassy just a tiny bit giving her a really cute expression. Or weird depending how you wanted to view it. It was how she always got when talking about plants, they were her passion.
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#11
well, her response didn't really make him feel much better about his coo to force grayson into the forest. if the girls were going to have more luck fetching herbs by the stream, it wasn't likely that he was going to win that battle. his lips seemed to crease downward into something of a thoughtful smile just before he wiped it away with a nonchalant shrug and a soft tsk, tsk noise.

“well, guess that means i'm firm out of luck in moving us away from the creek,” he said in a playful tone. of course, he had been completely serious, but there was no way that harrison wanted lilah to believe that he was plotting a coo against his own brother – that would have been crazy. besides, the charmer didn't care too much about where they lived, save for the premise of snow, and the idea that the creek would mean chillier air around them. he figured he could trot himself off into the woods when he needed a break or if he felt the need to search for food.
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#12
Lilah didn't like the way his face fell, she felt somewhat bad for it. She studied him and wasn't sure if she could pinpoint the emotion behind his sudden decrease in happiness. Then he joked it off and she laughed softly though there was less humor to it then there should of been because she was still fretting over what she had said to make his mood change. "Well...If we were to move to the forest it wouldn't be too hard for a man to escort the ladies to a nearby stream would it? Or...if you are bothered by the cold i'm sure Grayson wouldn't care if you made yourself a den somewhere away from the creek" she suggested trying to make him feel better.
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#13
harrison was a selfish creature, and his moods were entirely fixed on whether or not he got what he wanted. if he didn’t like the creek, he would be surly and sour until they had found a way to move away from it. on top of this, he had thought that the woods would have made a good home for them. still, it was grayson’s way or the highway, and he wasn’t about to pack up his bags just because his brother wanted to go swimming in the water.
 
lilah seemed as though she felt sorry for having answered his question the way she had. he didn’t care to correct her, only nodded his head at the remark that he could make his den closer to the woods. that was precisely what he planned on doing. “yeah grayson is just going to have to get over it. the trees are going to keep me warm, so i’ll likely stick around there,” he agreed with a small nod.
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#14
Lilah blinked once at Harrison, shock etched on her features. Then it faded away and was replaced by amusement. Men...they could say anything they wanted to one another and when upset over it, fight and bloody themselves up and be fine afterwards. If a woman said anything like that however, she would be frowned upon and put in her place, or even kicked out. She decided to keep the subject on warmth and dens, she was a woman afterall, she knew about this stuff. "If you really want to stay warm, abandoned elk or deer dens are amazing. Dig them out a bit and bring leaves inside. The walls keep the wind out and the extra bedding helps your body heat warm up the inside" she wagged her tail "that's what my den is. Deer do tend to bed closer to water"
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#15
we could wrap this one up and have a new one?? :D

lilah set off to talking about how deer and elk dens were the best options for keeping warm, and that there wasn’t much work that he’d need to do in order to make it homey. harrison half-listened to her while allowing his mind to wander where he wanted. it wasn’t until she mentioned that deer preferred to be close to the water that he offered her his full attention. what she’d said was nice and all, but not what he really wanted to hear. and it was all about harrison in that moment – as most moments were with the snake.
 
“that sounds nice, lilah, but i think i’m sold on the woods,” he told her with a quick wink and a flash of his teeth in a smile. at least he was honest in that moment, right? he wanted to be near to the wild wood, not the water. he’d been searching for a way to convince his brother to move away from the creek, but he had started to realize that it was an impossible feat. “hey, let’s go see if we can find some rabbits?” he then said to her and set off at a trot in search of prey.
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#16
Definitely! I love threading these two for some reason.


Darn. She had tried to convince him but he was stubborn and set in his ways. She ducked her head and stared at the ground as she walked, his wink and smile making her belly flutter again. What was it about Odolf men that got her so weak in the knees? It was probably because they were almost perfect men. They had been raised in all things manly. They knew how to be a man, how to please a woman and make them happy whereas other men could be clueless. She glanced up at him and offered her own smile "At least it'll be quiet and away from all us gossipy giggly women" she was surprised when the playful words came out of her mouth and quickly looked away again, realising he had suggested rabbit hunting while she was musing over her thoughts. "uh...i mean yes. Rabbits sound tasty, I'll follow your lead" she said quickly and would remain silent until he found a rabbit and then she would watch quietly as he caught one.
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#17
without so much as another word, the charmer set off in search of their source of prey. he'd had a hankering for rabbit for a while and he was pleased that he'd have some form of company while he searched – even if it was that of a woman. he didn't expect anything of lilah; harrison knew that she was not going to be capable of catching a meal for them. it wasn't the job of a woman to keep the pack fed, after all.

still, the two of them moved through the woods until harrison had caught wind of a warren. by the end of the day, he had managed to catch three hares and deposited them into a cache nearer to the creek. after having completed his tasks, he invited lilah to patrol the edges of their intended claim and to search for others who might have passed by.