Fox's Glade Second Decisions
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Ooc — Malia
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@Merrick

[size=medium]His paws drive him through the forest where the light hardly reaches the forest floor; only in small, sharp beams of sun that shines through. Large ears listening for the fox that run abundantly through these trees. [/size]

[size=medium]His ears perk up and swivel backwards when he here’s swigs snapping. Rookie mistake for a fox. Uly thinks, spinning around quickly to catch his meal. He sees it, the big brown ears, orange fur, and full tail tipped with white. That’s a fox alright.[/size]

[size=medium]He forces his body into a sprint, muscles flexing as he jumps over a small creek, milky eyes fixated on his target. He chases it, he’s slow but this fox isn’t as fast as others he’s encountered before. The fox is crossing another of the many streams that flow through the forest and it’s paw sinks into the deepest part of the stream, it gets caught between two rocks. A mistake on the foxes part and it flips itself on its back in the freezing water.[/size]

[size=medium]Uly approaches, surely looking like the devil himself with his massive form compared to a fox and his otherworldly eyes gazing upon the terrified animal. It lies there, body partly submerged in the shallow stream on its back, all paws except the one stuck in the rock curles up in itself. Beautiful, thick orange fur sopping wet and beneath the fur, the body is trembling almost as if it was having a seizure. The chocolate eyes are wider than quarters and the purest of fear is intertwined within them.[/size]

[size=medium]The wolf is towering over it now, it’s a younger fox. Not a child, but more of a young adult. Uly’s massive form has it trapped between his paws as he stands over it. He watches it tremble and shake like a leaf. It’s beginning to whine and scream and Ulysses’ ears press back at the horrid noise of fear. The wolf doesn’t know what’s going through his mind but he just [/size][size=medium]can’t[/size][size=medium]. The animal before him ran for its life and knows it’s about to die and for some reason the form of the small terrified fox begins getting to him.[/size]

[size=medium]Bending his head down towards the fox it flinches and squeals again, crying. It’s front paws go skywards to press on the plume of Uly’s neck attempting to get its shaking paws to force its predator away. Uly’s eyes go wide and his ears press to his head. [/size][size=medium]God. [/size][size=medium]He thinks to himself. [/size][size=medium]What am I doing to this poor thing? [/size][size=medium]The small paws shake against him and suddenly they’re locking eyes. Ulysses forces himself past the weak paws and takes ahold of the side of the fox’s scruff, it cries again and kicks it's wet back feet against his belly and chest. The mutt pulls it up out of the stream, it cries again when Uly pulls enough to yank on its stuck paw.[/size]

[size=medium]With his own larger paw, he claws at the rock, knocking it over and it’s foot falls free. He has the fox dangling from his maw now, the poor thing still shaking, wet, freezing, and terrified. He goes to a patch of dry moss and sets the fox down gently. Raising his head and looking at it with apologetic eyes, ears pressed back against his skull.[/size]

[size=medium]“Leave.” He says gruffly. The fox stares up at him, eyes wide with surprise and fear. “Go!” He yells deeply, once it doesn’t move from his first reply. The mass of wet fur begins moving its gangly, shaking legs. It’s eyes never leaving uly’s form until it finally gets to its feet and it begins limping off. Looking back every once in a while at the wolf, Uly watches it’s still shaking form make its way back home and he realizes that he’s hungry AND feels like shit now.[/size]

[size=medium]He shakes his head, he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. If any other wolf saw that it’d look weak. And he is. It’s his dog half and he knows it, he can kill but he doesn’t know what happened there. Head slightly held down he walks to the nearest tree and slumps his muscled body against it and rests his chin on his paws. He’ll sit and contemplate life for just a second he decides.[/size]
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Ooc — ebony
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it was the screaming that drew merrick.
even though the crone had passed onto into a world where the boy could not follow, he thought of her still. by turns the pain began to ease and ebb, until at last merrick could think of their way forward.
specters had joined he and the nightshade. the inner whisper of the bear suggested they might be collected, a vessel of flesh in which the ursine could live again.
he drifted out of the valley; merrick sought nothing in particular as he glided across newfallen snows and entered the old reek of the glade.
more pungent now with the musk of breeding foxes. merrick wandered, pausing as the shrieking echoed in the cold air.
reminded very much of his flayings, suddenly seized by memories of that time, merrick hurried toward the sound, elated and breathless.
he crouched in the brush to watch the scene play itself: he was mesmerized by the passion of the huge dark wolf, but ultimately disappointed that no blood arced against the white drifts.
a glimpse of mournful pale  eyes, and he knew then that this was the man he had spent time with in the springtime, long before the deaths had begun. merrick hesitated only a moment before vibrating out from behind a juniper bush.
"ulysses," the boy called gently, unsure of how the man would regard him. at their last meet, merrick had been whole; now he stood older and scarred and with only one eye gracing the planes of his face,  eartip lopped away, wasted down to hard sinew and ribcage.
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The fox situation already has Ulysses mind spinning. His mind deep in thought about just exactly why that just happened as his legs are kicked out to the side and he lies on his hip, paws stretched out in front of him. He feels a presence. He swears if its that little fox he’ll eat it for real this time.

Then he hears his name being called by a familiar voice. It makes the hair on his back bristle and he stands back up to his massive, natural size and turns to see whoever’s called his name. What Uly sees he almost doesn’t believe. He wasn’t sure he would ever see the coy wolf again. Especially in such short notice.

His pale eyes gaze down at the other, taking in his form. The first thing he realizes is one of his missing copper eyes. Ulysses’ brows furrow and his own eyes take to the torn ear. The coy wolf has been through the ringer is such a short amount of time hasn’t he?

“Merrick?” He asks deeply, concern also laced through his voice without him even noticing. He even urges his paws to come closer to the coyote mix, a comfortable meter away Uly’s moon-like eyes gaze into the others. Despite the state of his old friend, he’s still excited to see him and a coy smile graces his features. “Thought I’d never see you again friend. What’s happened?” He’s asks carefully, unable to stop the wag of his tail.
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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Ooc — ebony
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ulysses rose swiftly to his full and terrible height, but merrick smiled to see the familiarity fill the moon-gaze, hear the beseeching voice. another time, he might have been cunning ganymede to this king among their kind, but he was ugly now, ruined for such visual delights.
with a pang, merrick stepped forward to greet the tall man, smirking at ulysses' concern. "it's been a long time," merrick observed dryly. "i —"
indra's last breath; salt licked from her cheeks; the man's choking anger hunter mother hunter mother hunter;
caiaphas
"— went wandering. i received nothing i didn't deserve, ulysses," merrick purled, seeking to soothe the turbulent crashing within him by reaching on tip-paw to touch his nose against the man's shoulder.
walk with me, his single eye glimmered up in invitation, before the coywolf stepped back and canted his head to one side. "were you looking for me?"
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As the coy wolf speaks Uly nods his head, still unable to help himself, he stares at all the coys faults. The torn ear, missing eye, numerous scars, and the all around wear and tear on such a young wolf. Those milky eyes are still filled with compassion as he looks upon his friend, he still thinks he is as stunning as he first met him. Uly doesn’t think scars deter beauty; rather they tell stories in a way words lack.

Merrick chokes, or perhaps is searching for the right words but Uly can see the hesitation. Then the things that shoot through the wolf-dog’s mind at what could have possibly warranted such punishment; such pain. It almost makes his blood rush with anger, perhaps if Uly had been there he could have prevented him from taking the brunt of the trauma. But Uly shakes his head at his own thoughts, it’s too late now. There would be nowhere else for the coy-wolf to go but forward and the moon-eyes wolf can’t change the past.

Then the touch of the other brushing against him and the way the raven haired wolf has to stretch to reach gives Uly a certain course of satisfaction climb up his spine. It causes a smile to come to his face as he looks down to his companion. The single copper eye stares up at him and he can tell there’s something in the look he gives him; a plea to follow perhaps. Of course Uly could not resist. 

Shit, even if the coy-wolf didn’t want him to follow he probably would have to fight to stay. The coy wolf pulls away though, and Uly is close beside him in an instant. The next sentence that came from the other gets Uly thinking; had he been looking for him? It’s safe to assume: yes.

In Ulysses’ recent travels the coy popped up in his thoughts often, sometimes he would catch a scent that might have even resembled his friend. He caught himself following it once but it bore no fruit. Then, Uly wasn’t even sure if it was actually him or perhaps a thoughtful gleam of hope to be able to find his long lost companion; to make sure he was alright, to make sure he was even alive.

So Uly gazes back at him with a soft gaze, eyes burning into the coy’s own. “Yes, perhaps I was.”
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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Ooc — ebony
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#6
there had always been something curved and unspoken and thrumming between them.
merrick had not attempted to understand it, nor put words to it; his carnal desires had been for a while now satisfied by the ardency of his nightshade.
but it was not a pure desire that pressed itself into artery and bone now; the singular eye remaining to him was beset by the moonlight of all the things held back behind ulysses' own.
intriguing, the boy decided, arching a vain brow at the great man's admission.
"well, you've found me," merrick whispered throatily, pausing to turn in a quick, mocking circle for a look-over. 
a smirk, and then he forged forward through the snow. "where else did your travels take you, ulysses?" merrick inquired, disliking this new feeling of unsurety around his companion, wanting nothing more than to have it leave him.
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#7
They walk side by side in the dim light of this forest, the soft sheet of snow cold beneath his paws. The wolf-dog’s size compared to the smaller coy-wolf is significantly different when they’re near each other. It cause Uly to look down to the raven tinted wolf.

As those moon like eyes gaze upon him, he laughs himself. “Seems like you found me.” He comments. 

He gazes down to the other, the light trickling in from the negative space of the canopy above them. The light leaves splotches on the ground and on uly’s face, shining off the scar atop his muzzle from humans much long ago. 

Then Uly contemplates; what has he been up to?  Nothing really. He thinks, so he nods at the coy wolf and simply says, “Here and there. Nothing interesting of course.” He shrugs. “I stay clear of the packs near the area and I have no reason to fight unless provoked.” He smirks at Merrick, “And not many attempt to provoke me. Even though I’m quite the gentle giant, yes?” He jokes, bumping his body against the coy, punctuating his joke.
this is my book
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i know them all
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"always gentle," merrick muttered warmly. "you can always come work for me," the boy invited, gliding smoothly into the work he had thus far for the bear spirit.
but the soft light of ulysses' gaze had unlatched some switch within his interest. merrick did not believe in breeding attraction: the individual details were then more intriguing than a goal.
mercenary work was thankless and dangerous, but the role had been filled by astara. perhaps she could be entrusted with carving ulysses into someone worthy of the great bear.
tongue bathed his excitement-dried lips. "can't promise it will be exciting," merrick sighed, but his smile told the truth of his bemusement. would ulysses agree?
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#9
Uly smiles sweetly at his comment, his ears instinctively lying flat on his head for a second. Yes, such a massive beast of an animal that was forced for fight his own kind, then got tested on and left to fend for himself has become the sweetest boy of all time. Uly even surprises himself by it. Quite the gentle giant he is.

Then Uly’s ears perk up at Merrick offering to work for him. The statement makes Uly tilt his head. What work does he do? The wolf dog wonders. The moon eyed wolf gazes down to Merrick and stops walking.

“And what work would that be, Merrick?” He asks a smirk appearing on his maw. He comes slightly closer to the other, towering over him he lowers his head so that they’re eye to eye. Moon gaze meeting the single coppery eye of the coy wolf’s own gaze.

Though he likes to mess around with the coy wolf, he’s genuinely curious. For the wolf dog has no other purpose than to serve and protect those he holds dear and this finally sounds like a way to find purpose for himself once again.
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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Ooc — ebony
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ulysses must have become aware of the boy's gentle pressure, for the larger creature had begun to flaunt himself, posture.
flirt.
a pride flushed the young madman. he knew himself attractive, charismatic, but to have such masculine approval was new, heady. he should have been wary, perhaps, but was anything but.
charmed, surprised, cunning; merrick thought swiftly of how he might use this occurrence to his advantage.
"dark jobs," he chirped back, deliberately vague. "not the sort of thing 'good boys' do?"
copperlight surveyed silver; was ulysses too righteous for this kind of task?
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Uly continues to gaze into the others eye, his own moon like gaze half lidded and unable to take his eyes away front he other. Then the raven colored wolf tells him it’s not a job for ‘good boys’. Sure he believes him when he says it’s dark. Somehow he expected some type of shady work to be done by the coy wolf. Really there’s so telling what kind of horrible things he’s done. Uncaringly but still with much consideration Uly throws his concern to the wind (only slightly).

He barks out a loud laugh, moving away from the other face as to not laugh in it. After his laugh dies down his brilliant smirk still on his face. “You think I’m a good boy?” He asks tilting his head with those big ears.

Then he comes closer, hot breath lightly bushing bast the hairs of the coys ear. “What if I told you I could be a bad boy?” He grins savagely, voice gruff with a hint of humor still in it from his previous laughing fit. The sentence could be taken as sexual but really Uly only barely skid the edge, playing more on humor just to test the waters with the other.

He pulls away then, if only slightly, and sets his face into a comfortably brutal expression. “Are you actually interested in me joking you?” He asks. “I am considering it.” He tells truthfully.
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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Ooc — ebony
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"i have no doubt, ulysses, that you could be whoever you wanted," merrick answered simply, glinting up into the moonstone eyes of his companion. odd, this pairing that flirted between friendship and some anonymous grey area that the boy had not explored, but found himself pondering all the same.
nightshade-woman would be jealous.
spun of the same dark stuff he himself was born into — his interest might well put ulysses in danger.
intrigue then, for his snowy court of slumbering bears.
"i'm serious," he chirped, traveling beside the large wolf. "i am gathering individuals here. if anything else, at least you wouldn't be alone the rest of the winter," merrick encouraged earnestly.
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#13
Uly chuckles briefly then goes back to his usual ghostly self. “If you are serious, then so am I.”

The wolf mix contemplates what the coy could really be up to. What jobs he could be talking about–dark ones apparently. The decision is a grave one. Sure he knows enough of the coy but he doesn’t really know what he’s got himself tangled in. He doesn’t know the usual mannerisms of this coy wolf called Merrick. Perhaps what he’s seen so far could be the usual but somehow Uly suspects it’s not; he suspects he’s into something much, much deeper than that.

Uly doesn’t notice himself, but his face goes gravely serious contemplating the possible pros and cons of joining Merrick on his journey, to help him with this ever so vague idea of a job. His white eyes appear distant, brows furrowed. Could this cost him his life? His morality? Who knows. Merrick could be entirely different from the wolf Uly knows and has seen so far. The rather dark humored but fun side of the male that attracts him so. Maybe there’s something more to him.

Finally he’s makes his decision after hearing the coy make his last comment about not being alone for the winter. Then without looking to the others tempting gaze Ulysses nods. “I will join you, Merrick.” He rumbles in his deep accent, still contemplative of his most recent decision, but willing to go forward with it.
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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#14
ulysses seemed to think quite seriously about such things, and merrick was delighted, amused. he watched the tall man for as long as it took him to reach a decision,  then granted him a sweeping beam of immense pleasure. "i don't think you'll regret it," merrick purled.
he did not care how his creed might change another. the onus was upon those who followed; merrick had but two gods.
ursus.
astara.
and ulysses would come to know them too.
"hungry?" the boy invited, wanting to repay ulysses for his goodwill so many months ago.
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Uly chuckles darkly. “I’d hope so.” He comments casually, not know what could become of this mutual friendship or his own future.

Then, as they continue forward, Uly smiles lightly. “Yes; very actually.” He frowns comically for a second, mind going back to the terrified wide eyes of that little orange fox from earlier. “That fox made me lose my appetite.” He says dryly, almost mad at himself that didn’t kill it.
this is my book
and i know how to work the spells and charms in it
i know them all
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Ooc — ebony
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#16
fade & have a new one? :)

"you were so gentle about it," merrick teased, swinging his hip gently against the broader flank of the great man.
"let's get you fed," the young coywolf went on, that same teasing light playing upon his smile.