Grouse Thicket You're too bright, lower them rays Sunshine

for @Phex?

That beaver had really done his stomach some good. The next two days after it had brought some good hunting and he found that he wasn't as winter-lean anymore. He had some meat over the lean and chiseled type muscle he held. It felt good not to be hungry anymore and he felt reluctant to abandon this area that seemed to thrive even in the snow. That day he had trailed a rabbit for the past few hours, entering the thicket and sniffing around a bush when he heard a sharp crack and a growl from a few feet away. He turned and spotted a fox attacking his rabbit and snarled, running toward it and body slamming the fox away before wildly grabbing the cornered rabbit in his jaws and breaking it's neck. He dropped it and turned on the fox who was ballsy enough to attack him back.

Fangs scored his muzzle and he winced, pulling back and throwing a paw over the creature's back pushing it down. Once it was pinned he tore it's throat out and stood there panting and growling softly. He would never allow another to steal his hard work.

Phex turned back inland for a short time to refuel before heading further up the coast. She didn't fancy trying to eat crabs; she doubted they'd be many on the sands anyway. She was hunting now, using her pelt to bury her image in the marsh and trees. A master of camouflage. Recently, the girl had been getting better at hunting but was distracted today by a call.

Curiosity pushed her towards the screech of anger and found herself staring at a fox and wolf. The fox lunging and making contact to the man -- a stunning man, in a different way to many. Large, body carried with purpose. His coat held a glistening silver that was marked by a rich mixture of red sands and sequoia bark.
But it was the eyes that held the glistening of moonlight on the rippling ocean that stopped the youth in her tracks.

All the way up until the giant ripped out the throat of the fox as it screeched with wild shock and pain.

Phex stared at the felled, mauled body. The gore leaving its throat, mouth agape and still contorted in the scream. Eyes dull at the winter sky. But she didn't know what to look at; the horror or beauty. Her mouth hung agape, shock and a small kindling of fear held in her ocean eyes. Was this the sort of person Cry had warned her against? 
She tried to form words on her mouth, leaden tongue working to form them, yet nothing came forward. She dragged her gaze from the fox to meet the moonlight eyes of the man; taking a sharp draw of breath.

The fox didn't make her feel sick, just the sheer shock of seeing the brutality easily acted out without a second thought -- but she understood why. She took a step backward, finally forming words, "I'm not a threat..." Her voice trailed off into a small quiver. If one sensed fear, would they act upon it? Become the beast of a man that Cry warned against?
The youth knew that being weak got you hurt, so she drew herself up a little, pulled her tail up from where it was tucked and spoke again, adding more firmness to her voice and yet asking different. She saw the blood welling in the shallow wound on his face, "Are you hurt?"

He hadn't noticed the approach of the young woman who stared at him with such horror, if he had he probably wouldn't have reacted in a way that would have lessened her fear anyway. What did he care if others feared him based on him offing a thieving fox? But he hadn't noticed so that's beside the point.

His tongue swept across his bloody lips and touched the edge of the smarting wound, an annoyed sigh leaving his maw as the wound began to sting. That was when he noticed the female, staring and looking like she was both enraptured and considering running off. He blinked once and finished licking his maw, keen eyes studying her figure before she spoke saying she wasn't a threat. He blinked once and then erupted into laughter, his deep voice booming in the silence. "I know that lady, I would never hurt a hair on a pretty thing like you unless you gave me reason" he said amused and then nosed at the fox "It'll make a nice fur for a den" he mused "It tried to steal my rabbit and then had the balls to attack me when it failed, I'll enjoy using it as extra warmth"


he was purposely being cruel just to test what kind of girl this was. So far he thought she seemed to be the scared, sweet kind....he never really bothered with them. He'd do that kind no good. Her question on his wound was met with a shrug and a smirk "Not really. I'd say he got the bad end of the deal. Though....I could use something to prevent infection" his eyes sought hers, silently asking if she had any knowledge to be able to help with that need.

A weight lifted from her when he erupted into laughter, yet she gave him a playful, silent snarl,  "I'm scary! See." She grinned and shook herself -- the shock clearing as if it were a bad dream in passing. She looked to the fox when he nosed it, tilting an ear sideways, "It'd be a shame to waste the aspects of any creature: prey or enemy. Like poor foxy here." The girl took a step forward, fully understanding the situation now and realising this wasn't just some fight between two predators for fun. She could accept it in winter with food. She stopped a few paces from the man, still slightly guarded but no as much. She was confident in herself and didn't sense a problem with the man.

"There is a medic back where I live in the Shadewood. Just over yonder," she gestured east towards her home, "I could take you. And you can stay if you wish, we're recruiting." The youth beamed, tail waving softly. She looked up to him then, her ocean eyes fixing on his moonlight. Slowly, she relaxed, the tension fading from her body like a soft wave calmly erasing markings from a sandy shore. 
She felt at home. Until she dragged her eyes away from his almost sheepishly, a warmth creeping along her cheeks and a small smile springing to her lips.

"it would be a shame to waste the aspects of any creature said the fly....to the spider" the ominous thought crept in against his will as he admired how beautiful she was, so young that he wondered if she had ever been touched.... and he swallowed thickly, shoving it back. He wasn't a bad man...he wasn't...he couldn't let himself be. Her attempt at being fearsome was pitiful and childish and yet coming from someone so pure it was too wholesome for him not to crack a genuine smile which he quickly dropped and instead pretended to look impressed "Damn. Perhaps next time I'll let you swoop in and save me" he teased and then dropped his gaze to his kills, falling silent as the sweet girl offered him a home. He should go....

Yet he was losing time. He wouldn't be able to last much longer alone. He needed a medic and a warm den. He ground his teeth together and then looked at her considering it, watching as she so innocently ducked her head looking shy. It was that gesture that damned him, that made his walls crumble and he relented "Alright...how can I say no? I'll follow your lead then. I'm Laroche by the way" he wasn't sure that this would lead anywhere good and he definitely couldn't hang around this girl, he'd bring her nothing good. He'd been around too long, seen too much and she...she was like a fucking newborn deer still teetering on unstable legs all innocent and naive and shit. He'd ruin her. He'd drown out all the sunshine that he swore radiated off her blindingly.

The girl grinned, catching the smirk that dropped so quickly. Oh, she’d already infected him with her sunshine, there was no cure. ”Yeah I’d be so scary I’d scare off the fox before it ended up...well like that,” the girl smirked triumphant and gestured to the body. No longer fazed by the sight. 

At his acceptance of her proposition, the girl turned to look at him again, this time keeping herself from gawking at him, and offered up her name, ”I’m Phex, pleased to meet you.” Polite, innocent. 
But you know what they say, it’s the innocent ones that are wild. 

The girl turned a circle before pointing East towards the Keep, ”It’s this way, then we’ll meet Cry, he’s the Leader, and get you patched up.” She threw him a grin of mischief over her shoulder, and started to circle about, ”You can bring whatever you need from here, I’ll wait.” Strange, she usually waited for no one before racing them — despite her losing streak. 

She watched the man whilst, quite unceremoniously, the conversation with Iskra poped into her mind.
Whyyyyy. 
Phex tilted her head skywards, trying to remove whatever image the thought had conjured whilst seeming perfectly unbothered to Laroche (her new bestest friend) despite her fidgeting paws.

Phex. Well...that was unique. He wondered if it meant something. His full name meant Ice Rock. He liked to think that his mother named him that because it was cold when he was born not because she had known somehow that he would be like he was. "Yeah well...wait till you know me" he added on a quick grin to show he was joking but there was an underlying tone of bitterness that if caught showed he was being truthful. "So this leader's name is Cry? That...could be good or bad" he said jokingly. Cry. Did the man mope alot or did he make others cry? His inner joking made him chuckle as he picked up the rabbit and then grabbed the fox by the tail as well. 

He turned to look at Phex and saw her staring at the sky, seemingly focusing super hard on the clouds while she fidgeted. He couldn't help it, she was being super obvious trying not to be obvious and he laughed again. Jesus. He was being recruited by temptation wrapped in a pretty, cute, innocent little package. "What's so interesting up there kid?" he teased around a mouth full of prey and fox. He motioned for her to lead the way to her home and his new home.

”Cry? Oh he’s alright he’d only hurt someone if they were mean.” She glanced at the man, happiness in her eyes. But when is that light ever not there?

She tilted her nose down to properly look at Laroche again. Her nose crinkled at him in what only could be described as in disgust, ”I’m not a kid! she started to protest, ”I’m just short! But I’m still terrifying I promise!” 
In emphasis of her obvious lie, she pulled her lips back again and put on her mean face which looked like a disgruntled fledgling that had fallen from the nest. 
The girl laughed softly, shaking her head and was again the cute pumpkin everyone saw her as. 

”The stars are up there, you know those little shiny sky-spots? Those are stars and I study them. Sometimes they move in the sky but, they mostly seem to just twinkle up there.” She smiled hopefully, wondering if the man knew of the stars and could teach her.

He gave a non committed type of grunt in response to her attempts to get his opinion of his soon-to-be leader more positive. He would decide that for himself when they got there. 

The more he walked with her the more he was certain that this girl hadn't seen anything really rough in life. It made him want to avoid her and at the same time he wanted to protect her, to preserve the cute childlike innocence that Phex had. She drew him in as if she was the last place of warmth and also deterred him for the same reason. If he grew close he could be hurt, whether by being burned by her bright rays or wounded by others who wanted them for themselves. This internal process was happening while she joked around and his silver orbs strayed from the path ahead to the playful girl at his side just in time to catch the pitiful attempt at a mean face. He fought back a bark of laughter, jaws crunching down on the dead things between his jaws causing rabbit and fox blood to flow onto his tongue.

It was silent for a while before she spoke again, asking about the stars. He swallowed back a lump in his throat as he recalled his mother staring into the sky and talking about the glimmering balls of light "find the brightest, biggest star. It's the one that is the first to appear at night. That star is the mother of them all and the guide, it points north. If you get lost, find it and it will be your guide" he had paused and dropped the pretty his  mother's words flowing from his maw before he could stop them. He slowly moved toward Phex and if allowed he would gently stick his nose under her chin and guide her face in the right direction "There. That one. It sparkles brighter than any other. My mother used to say that when you first spot it to make a wish and eventually it will come true" he stood there shoulder to shoulder, speaking in a hushed tone like his mother had used. Like it was a secret story just for him. When he realised how close and personal he had gotten he stepped away and picked up the fox and rabbit "I need some silence, to think about what I'll say to your leader." he said in a more reserved tone, eyes focused ahead of him. "Thank you Phex...for asking me to come with you" he didn't know why he added it, perhaps he didn't want to seem cold or maybe he didn't want to see her frown or think he disliked her. Whatever the reason he gave her a quick smile before motioning forward.

The listened with interest and watched as he moved. She didn't so much as flinch at his touch, letting him guide her until her eyes settled on the star, bright and proud. His words seemed to melt away as her heart become a tidal wave, beating against her ribs as she realised how close his form had sidled to her. His muzzle under her chin.
It was in that moment she took a deep breath and made her silent wish.
A wish from a fallen ray of light that still shone through the hardships she'd endured from the ground.

When Laroche pulled away, she tilted her eyes to him, wide without fear. Like she was only now seeing the world in its true light. And she still loved it; good and bad.
One day, that will change forever.
But for now, the nieve girl could dream of a perfect world with a happy family. It was all she wanted.

"Everyone deserves to be happy Laroche -- most of all those who are hurt."
And with that, she turned and led the man to her family.