Duck Lake prettiest girl in the whole damn holler

AW! set a bit after this thread, keeping it vague - SCC members more than welcome <3

thorn had been driven from swiftcurrent, and here he sat nursing his pride, pondering his next course of action. he was not a beast to despair, and while @Aria would come to find him a rather dogged pursuer, he was not so ready to call it quits.

it was more than his own willful determination that drove him. there was something about the season that compelled the wastrel to be more assertive than normal; to take stock of viable partners around him, and vie for their hard-won affections. he knew such masculine endeavors to simply be natural -- yet he surprised even himself with the lengths he was willing to go to capture his own fair maiden.

hulked down with the stiff form of a wood duck held between his paws, the black baron sat and waited - watching as the sun began its slow descent across the horizon.

Perhaps not the prettiest girl in the whole damn holler, but a girl nonetheless, Ruenna trailed the Diaspora wolf from a distance, waiting to show herself until he settled down beside the pond. 

"I'm guessing that didn't go as planned," Rue spoke softly, voice sympathetic. She was, perhaps, more willing than her packmates to give the man the benefit of the doubt. It really seemed like he hadn't known any better... and that offering he laid at the border had been rather chivalrous. Rue wondered again about the woman for whom it had been meant.

it had been for aria. she was not stupid.

originally, the question had baffled her, sure. while instinctually it made sense, aria had never encountered such a thing. wolves mated within their packs. wolves left packs. joined new ones. and so it continued. there was no need to court outside, and she found it almost degrading to be called out to be courted. 

but it was also sort of romantic, in a weird, girlish way. aria sort of liked the idea -- especially paired with all of the drama that constantine had brought down upon her. aria found herself conflicted, and almost hoping to cause a bit of issue. for her own sake -- she hadn't done anything for herself in a while.

so, when he left, and the crowd dispersed, aria snuck out to find him. to have a conversation with him -- and him alone. without durnehviir spying and snarling over her shoulder, without constantine pretending he had some sort of claim over her. if he wanted her so badly, he should leave his wife and claim her, dammit. but he didn't. so aria could do what she wanted.

of course, when she arrived, she found she was not the only wolf that had taken interest in the offer -- no matter the circumstance for the interest. aria looked at ruenna with a blank expression, halting a distance away from the pair, her pale gaze eventually moving back to the dark, broad man.

it was not quite sunset when the eyjolfur felt his solitude broken. glancing upwards, he caught the silhouette of a wolf. instinctively the brute braced, for his first thought was it might have been constantine come to cut him down for insolently dancing so close to his claim. 

the figure revealed itself to be ruenna; thorn relaxed his tensed shoulders, stretching his paws as he recognized the woman. it occurred to thorn, perhaps belatedly, that he might have chosen too high a goal —for as lofty as aria’s beauty was, there were many virtues about the reserved woman before him that thorn had overlooked. 

how so so very like a man, to crusade for love when it possibly existed right under his nose. 

before he could oblige ruenna with much in the way of an answer, the very woman he had come calling for appeared. a surge of adrenaline buzzed in his blood as he beheld her — and stilling the uproar of his pumping heart, the eyjolfur rose. 

he pushed the bird towards the two of them — and then, as if a shadow spooked, began to lope away.

Another had followed the lovesick male, it seemed. It was a packmate Ruenna had seen from afar, though she had yet to echange introductions with the ivory lady. Rue offered the woman a friendly smile, opening her maw to introduce herself...

...And was met with a blank stare. Ruenna's friendly expression fell away. The woman had already turned away from her, eyes set on Thorn. Ah, of course. This must be Thorn's lady-love. Perhaps things actually had gone according to plan for him, then. 

Rue shifted uncomfortably. The woman had almost looked through her, as if Rue weren't a person or a packmate so much as Rue was simply an object standing in her way. Rue might have been hurt, if she hadn't in that moment come to a realization that filled her with pity for the ivory lady. 

Perhaps the ivory lady was used to seeing other women as obstacles, because that was all women were to one another in this pack. The structure of Swiftcurrent Creek had not escaped Ruenna: Constantine and the other males sat atop the ranks as leaders, and all the subordinate ranks were filled with women. Swiftcurrent Creek wasn't so much a pack as it was a harem, with poor subordinates like this ivory lady forced to vie for male attention and approval.

Thorn ran off. Good for him. It was a smart move-- to let the ladies fight it out between themselves while he waited nearby for the victor to come claim her spoils. Rue had no intention of opposing the ivory lady... she had followed Thorn out here to offer him friendship, nothing more. 

Rue flicked her eyes from the ivory lady to Thorn's retreating form, as if to ask her, "Well, aren't you going to go after him?" She then turned back toward Swiftcurrent Creek and trotted back towards home. She had clearly already overstayed her welcome. 

Rue's exit.

the man didn't speak, merely pushed the bird upon them and left. aria was a distance away from them still, but still managed to meet the gaze of ruenna, who looked... annoyed. that was the emotion that aria sensed, regardless of if it was true. there was something suggestive in her gaze -- a look that durnehviir might've given her. when the women passed her, aria bristled. so many people assumed so many things about her -- and this was a new wolf too. had she already heard the whisperings? 

did aria put herself in these situations on purpose? what, the first time she tries to have a little fun and she's in the wrong? 

agitation bubbled in her chest. confusion and uncertainty. she stood where she was for a moment, and then took the bird. she'd eat it, but she would not chase after the man. she would play his game, but he would have to keep chasing her. and so she too returned to the creek, slower than ruenna.

thank both of you for joining <3

thorn was unaware of the cold ripple shared between the two women. he had known better to stay when so poorly outnumbered, and even if both of the wolves were potential mates in thorn's eyes, it made them no less dangerous. he had found more often than not the most fierce aggressor was often the female -- he had no intention of offering his own hide for their fell teeth.

the stygian male would return to diaspora, mulling his next move.