Heart Made of Glass

Don't Believe Everything You See The mention of teaching him would make her stop in her tracks, her attention turning entirely to him as she regarded him for a few moments, her ears swiveling as if she had heard him wrong. It made her mind delve into a trove of possibilities she never thought of before as she drew in a breath brimming with excitement, she didn’t know she even had in this day and age. “Teach you?” she mirrored his words into far fewer. “Why ever would you need to know such things, sugar? Want to start placing traps around the Redwood to stop rude trespassers from moving in?” she humored, her tail swaying with morbid curiosity. Was it just to chase his own cautions or was there a darker twist to his words? No matter the case he had her caught in a net, wanting to see what he would do next. Everything he said seemed to hold her fascination, the way he worded everything next would have her eyes brimming with enthusiasm, one not so cruel as the thoughts she had prior. His previous life? Was that to be taken literally or as a saying of sorts? Reincarnation was not lost on her, often hoping Elwynn would come back in the form of a baby to steal away into the night and raise as her own to be reunited once more. Though based on what was spoken after, she was starting to lean on him just meaning a career path that had swapped places to something different rather than a whole other life he may somehow remember. “I’m not sure if I will take to his studies but I won’t shove it into a pit just yet. Why don’t you introduce us?” she grinned, not sure if she wanted to meet this Cyrill or not but there was no harm to do so. Worse come to worse, she would just leave him high and dry. If Sundstol loved him, he couldn’t be too bad though. Right? Then again he was friends with her and blind to her motives, so what was to say this boy of his wasn’t also a demon with a friendly mask. The way his demeanor changed as the protests were brought up made her smile slowly fall, taking in the anxiety-like reactions that consumed the large man. She nearly told him to breathe but it would appear he would gather himself on his own enough to speak again. “You? Violent?” she laughed at the thought, fairly certain if he could he’d tip toe between every blade of grass to not hurt the flora let alone another wolf. “Could always lie and just say you are old oooooooor I could pay your way out of the draft, if you’d like?” she mused, already having tossed them a bone to get herself out. Where she loved bloodshed, just out right attack and being attacked on even ground just didn’t sound fun. She rather watch them murder each other and maybe whisper in an ear to steer it in a direction she’d like.

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@Sundstol

RUBY RIVER
GLOWING IN
THE SUN

Wisteria seemed to be surprised that he'd asked about her teaching him poisons at all. He had to chuckle and shake his large head in response to her teasing, amusement glittering in his emerald eyes. “No, no, nothing like that Wis...I just figured if I was lackin' the knowledge about your namesake, I should probably learn before I poison myself or worse...I be the one fallin' for the tricks 'n traps of another, eh?” His tail started swishing back and forth gently behind him as he smiled. “Gives me a chance to spend more time with ya too."

Sund's lashes fluttered as he blinked, dumbstruck that he hadn't thought to mention a gathering of his closest friend and loved one himself. “Ya took the words right outta my mouth. Oh, yeh, I could, uh...plan a nice roast and perhaps send for some other goods from the market." His hindquarters wriggled with excitement of even the prospect of these two worlds colliding. It momentarily took his mind off of all his woes until he had to address them again.

He tried to focus his shifty eyes, brows furrowing as he glared down at the ground before glancing up at her. ”It wasn't violent at first, ya know...it was never meant to be. I had gone there to support a peaceful protest with Cyrill." He grumbled, wanting to make sure that he set the record straight on that. It has all happened so fast that it sounded like rumors about it skipped that very important detail.

Wisteria was kind enough to offer to help him, though he couldn't accept seeing as there was no reason to burden her in such a way. “N-no....I don't need to be takin' any of your money and you know I'm a horrible liar...shoulda named me after that wooden puppet with the growin' nose...what was his name? Pinno...Pinnokey...?"

@Wisteria

Wash me over,
Show me where you run...

Roll me deeper in your tide,
Take my spirit, take my mind,
Take me over to that other side...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

Don't Believe Everything You See Ears would preen when a nickname was spoken aloud, causing her lips to spread into a childish smile, having not heard Wis in a long time, it made her feel far younger than she was. Back during the days she wasn’t cynical of everyone and everything this world had to offer but how that part of her had fallen so far down beyond repair. There was no fixing what she had become now, a monster in her own right that should Rionnach know who she was, a death sentence would be plastered on her head but that nativity within her old friend was clear. He didn’t know who she was, not anymore. Or maybe, it was the opposite. Perhaps this nicer side was her true side. She couldn’t tell you as she drew in a breath at his warm sentiment. “Do you miss me so, Sunny? I have to admit, not many from my childhood are happy to see my face. I’m a pill they don’t wish to swallow. My old broad, so called mother, made my face bleed last I went to their nest,” she sighed. She wasn’t about to tell him she struck back like a viper, finally snapping enough to damage the woman she had once submitted to so readily. That fear of her parent’s abuse had long since faded and if they weren’t still useful, they would be very much dead by her own paws. “Not that it matters. I will gladly share my knowledge with you, so long as you do one thing for me,” she leaned a little coyly, with a mischievous grin pulling at the corners of her lips. Ears would swivel at his enthusiasm for her to meet his boyfriend or fiance or whatever he was. She only hoped he wouldn’t break his heart but the pessimist in her told her they all did, men were criminals of the heart and he somehow avoided that label within her mind. He was as innocent as they came, a forest spirit. He wasn’t a wolf. He wasn’t a man. He was just a sprite she befriended a long time ago. She could only smile at the thought, not joining into his plans of how they might meet, having little opinion in the matter. A sigh escaped at the shift in topic, even if it was the information she desired, she was starting to lose interest in it with the other prattle they were carrying but when he didn’t toss his own violence out of the equation, she paused. “How many did you hurt?” she had a concerned look in her gaze but not for those he hurt. Only for him. Surely harming others must have weighed on his mind, he wasn’t the bloodthirsty siren she was. The decline of her help did not affect her at all as she simply shrugged it off, it being no water on her back if he wanted to continue playing hide and seek with the law. “Pinocchio. Though, are you sure your snout could get any bigger? It dwarfs mine, any bigger and you could eat me whole,” she chuckled softly, raising her much smaller nose toward him.

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@Sundstol

RUBY RIVER
GLOWING IN
THE SUN

“'Course I miss ya, Wis." He almost immediately interjected as she spoke, but he couldn't help it. He wanted his childhood best friend to know that he still very much cared for her. He cleared his throat and lifted a large paw to wave her to go on. ”Apologies...please continue..." As she talked of faces of her childhood and specifically her mother's, the brute seemed to stiffen slightly.

When Wisteria shared that her mother had hurt her the time she last saw her, his hackles rose, lip slowly curling as an instinctual reaction to protect her rose in him. It burned in his chest even fiercer when she tried to sweep it under the rug as though it were nothing at all. “It does matter! You matter!" Sund insisted, the sound of a growl lacing his voice surprising himself and his ears lay back, drawing his gaze down to his paws. “Sorry..."

He looked up at her again when she began to ask a favor of him in exchange for learning what she knew of her poisonous plants. He seemed to lean in, captivated by her as he always was when she tip-toed around his curiosity. “What can I help with?" He asked eagerly, sitting himself up taller and searching her gaze, ready to do anything for the girl, now woman, who had made his early days worth living through.

As the contents of their conversation changed to the topic of war, she suddenly seemed very interested in whatever he experienced on the battlefield. Sundstol was not proud of any harm he'd caused and he averted green eyes from her, clearly ashamed of his actions. “I...I don't recall how many...there was a lot that happened...I try to never use my fangs to draw blood...it just...it just isn't right to me..."

The storybook character's name was handed to him and he smiled once more. “Ah, yes! Pinnochio." Sundstol blinked down at her petite frame as she seemed to lean towards him again and as he described him eating her whole he, lifting her nose at him, he found himself staring into her amethyst orbs in a mesmerized sort of way.

He was instantly flustered, warmth moving through his body, but this time it was in a different way than he expected. He shook his head, breaking eye contact as confusion swirled around his mind and coiled in his belly. “Right, well...I'd um, better get back to Cyrill...will I see ya 'round again?"
Sundstol left their secret area, looking around as though he were guilty of something. What exactly was he guilty for? There was some feeling lingering, itching beneath his skin and he felt that he could not...no, should not scratch it. Wisteria might have made more a mess of his mind than it had been when she found it, but in some odd way, he hoped it would happen again.

[Exit Sundstol]

@Wisteria

Wash me over,
Show me where you run...

Roll me deeper in your tide,
Take my spirit, take my mind,
Take me over to that other side...

code by claerie ~ art by ashon

Don't Believe Everything You See She’d raise a brow slightly and his multiple attempts to cut her off, though she couldn’t help laughing with each apology he would make seconds later for interrupting her, seeing he was still the same sweetie he has always been. He didn’t seem to be the shy child anymore, at least, so comfortable with speaking up even if it was mixed in with awkward little notes as he realized his behavior was far from savory for most. Had he been someone else, she may have thought the very same thing but she only found humor in its place as she smiled at him and the way his emotions bled for her. It was refreshing to have someone that cared instead of countless liars that only played pretend, feeling an anger that wanted to eclipse her thoughts, she would refrain from letting it intrude. “It’s a sweet sentiment, just as sweet as you, honey boy,” she mused, giving a merry swish of the tail as she took in his features for a moment, not used to a growl wrinkling his muzzle. He had changed in his aggression; she could use it perhaps one day. Just as fast as it had come, it had vanished as his attention fell from her to prove her wrong in him no longer being so bashful. Her paw went to reach up in aims to tilt his chin back up to her but just as her paw was an inch or two away, she would find him already drawing his undivided attention back to her face while she spoke of teaching him for a price. That price, however, wasn’t as greedy as it would normally be. “To never lose your smile or who you are,” she tilted her head, that chaos a second ago alleviated by whimsy. Oh how she wanted to say a little blood never hurt anyone, to downplay his actions like he had chosen a perfectly paved path that any just wolf would take. To admit that, however, would be to admit the monster she had become long since they were children. Elwynn’s image had been passed onto her in the most twisted of fashions and she was not ashamed of it in the slightest. Yet, for him to know that she had become the psychopath at his doorstep, she couldn’t withstand the fear in his eyes. She rather kept him oblivious to who she was now more than ever. She would only offer him a gentle knock of her brow against his, a show of forgiveness for his actions. That sorrow had quickly faded with the conversation of storybooks, her gaze shimmering as he stared at her in a lingering trance, seemingly caught in her spell. The way he floundered as soon as he broke her gaze would cause her a small hiccup of confusion as she followed his diversion, seeking to draw it back to her but he was avid on escape. “I’m not going anywhere, I have nothing to return to. Afterall, my husband has been dead for a little while now…and I can’t teach you what I promise if I disappear again, now can I?” she humored, a false sorrow in her expression. She would never admit to him that the man she ran away with so long ago was killed by her own fangs, even if in her eyes he deserved it time and time again. The sorrow she did feel; that ghost of actual pain was for her children she hadn’t seen in many years. Eclipsa and Stellaluna were not replacements for them. And just like that, she was alone to return to… right what was she doing before he got here? [Thread End]

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@Sundstol