[PRP] Sing me a song [Badgerlock/Serpent]

[Beejoux]

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... se_bee.gif[/imgleft]

Northwest, where the ground didn't squelch quite so much under foot and the trees grew closer, taller.  Bird song filled the air with jovial, beckoning melodies, but there was one that stood out from the rest.  A wild, melodic trilling that wove through the tree trunks and the underbrush.  The source, a colorful mare that bounded carefree through borderlands.  Inviting and enticing.

@blue

[Beejoux]

This was where Badgerlock made his home: in a secluded grove with a blind entrance. He liked it here, mostly, because of the boar; Nighteyes needed to run, and sometimes he needed to run too, and having something for them to chase made it even better.

It wasn't, exactly, that he didn't want to see other kin, though sometimes that was true. Mostly, it was that it was easier to be alone, or with his wolf, who never asked anything complicated of him and never needed the way others did.

But the song was new, not the usual birds they'd try to coax low enough to snatch out of the air, or whose eggs they stole to devour whole. I was a voice, he thought, lilting and high, and so idly he followed its sound.

---

If she was aware that someone was following she didn't show it.  Happy to bound and weave between smaller trees as she continued on her way.  Singing pausing from time to time, ears twitched up to listen, for answering melodies from above.

A duet between the doe and the birds, and one colorful bird in particular that swooped low to flutter above her nose, chirping joyfully back at her.

[Beejoux]

Except, of course, that the birds here knew Nighteyes; even if he was quiet about his footsteps, even if he crept and lingered and worked to go unseen, eventually they'd recognize his shuffling through the leaves and their song would go quieter.

A predator among them. Two predators, arguably. They'd quiet at least half the song.

---

The choir of birds faded, slow to start, then all at once until only the one remained, twittering away for a moment more before the song cut off abruptly and the colorful thing zipped up higher, circling.

Serpent blinked up at her companion before turning in place to scan the woods around her, feathered tail lashing at her back.  "Hello?"

[Beejoux]

They were a dark shape and a light shape amongst the colors of the wood in springtime -- Badgerlock a shadow that didn't quite disappear into the bushes, Nighteyes more successful except for the flash of light off of silver fur.

Badgerlock cleared his throat a little, trying to relax but mostly looking stiff as he shifted, made himself more obvious. "Just checking on the noise."

---

A little step back at the sight of them, and then an eager step forward.  Her head tilted, crimson hair sliding along a pristinely pale shoulder as she looked the buck over curiously.  Maybe she should have been wary, the scars lending her caution, but they didn't.

"Did we disturb you?  Apologies if so.  I didn't think there'd really be anyone out this far."  Betwixt and between as it was.

[Beejoux]

His shrug was smooth, casual, attention flashing down to the wolf that prowled at his heel before his eyes turned up to her again. "We weren't about to catch anything anyway, I think."

---

She gave a thoughtful little hum as she walked slowly around the pair, bright eyes flicking over the numerous scars, the wolf at his heels, and then back up to his face.  "Do you live out here?"

[Beejoux]

He hesitated, attention shooting down to the wolf like it might give the answer in his place -- and then shrugged, slowly, attention dragged back up. "Most of the time."

---

"It's nice here," she continued, undeterred by the vague-ish answer.  "A little dry, but the sun shining through the trees is beautiful.  Don't you think?"  She slowed as she passed under a dappled sprinkling of light, head tipping up into the rays.

[Beejoux]

He looked up, then, his expression just vaguely puzzled by that thought, like it was something that had never occurred to him before in his life. Maybe it hadn't. "....it's warm, which is nice."

And then his eyes dropped back down to her, still confused. "You're not from around here."

---

"Mmm, very warm.  It feels nice."  She tossed her head to send her hair back, nose tipping up scan the treetops for the little bird that had been following her.  "Sky likes it."

She gave a little whistling call, and after a second a similar song followed in answer.

[Beejoux]

"There's boars, though, sometimes." He said it slowly; a warning that came a little bit at a time, just a bit hesitant. "Not too big, but sometimes they get mean, so...."

---

"Is there?"  She looked up at him for a moment, and then a slow, pleased little smile took over that pale face.  "That's good to know.  I hadn't seen hide nor hair of them, but I'd hate to stumble into an ornery one."  Stepping forward, she tipped her head to indicate one of the scars that marked his dark body.  "Is that what gave you these?"

[Beejoux]

He blinked, looking down, and genuinely didn't seem to understand, for a moment. He seemed quietly puzzled, assessing, before it seemed to settle -- "Some, maybe. Not for a while."

---

She gave a harmonic little hum of interest as bright eyes swept along that dark hide, flicking from scar to scar.  "So many," she mused softly, excited, skipping back around to stand before him.  Buzzing with energy.  "Are there stories attached?  Would you tell me?"  Dainty hooves shuffled against the ground with a full body wiggle.  "Oh, I do love a good story.  Pretty please?"

[Beejoux]

"I'm not..." He went quiet, instead of finishing the thought; shifted and tried to figure out what he wanted to say before he started to speak again. "That's not really what I'm good at."

---

The excitement visibly dimmed from the doe's expression, ears slowly shifting back as she looked him over.  That buzzing energy fading as disappointment swept in to replace it.  "Oh."

She took a little step back, tail flicking sedately at her back.  "Not even a little bit?"  She asked after a moment,hopeful.  "It doesn't have to be good to be interesting..."

[Beejoux]

He shifted again, looking down to the wolf as if it might help him -- but Nighteyes just snorted out a sound and finally ranged away, to explore deeper in the bushes. It made Badgerlock grimace a bit. "...well. We're better at taking down boar, now. I did get bitten by a caiman once."

---

Paradise watched the wolf go with a little hum of amused interest, and then that bright gaze was all for the dark buck again.  Keen and engaging, and maybe even a little intense.  The doe was not shy.

"A caiman?"  She peeked at that, hooves shuffling as she looked from scar to scar like she wanted to guess which one belonged with the encounter.  Finally settling on one that she thought might be it.  "This one?  What happened?"

[Beejoux]

He tossed his head a bit to look down at it, then back up at her, shifting a little uncertainly where he stood.

"I don't remember, exactly...." It was hard to tell if it was evasive or just...puzzled. Honest.

---

Again, that little look of disappointment, but it was brief, replaced easily by a sweet smile.  "Too many adventures to keep them all straight?"  Still very curious, but seemingly understanding.

[Beejoux]

"Not in a while." It came with a little breath of something that might have been a smile -- or the memory of one, at least.

---

Paradise hummed thoughtfully, weight shifting from hoof to hoof.  "Do....you remember any of them well enough to share?"  She asked hopefully.

[Beejoux]

Badgerlock was not much of a storyteller, but that didn't mean he lacked respect for the art form -- it didn't mean he lacked knowledge of what it meant to tell a story, and the importance of doing so. And so when he was asked to tell one, he hesitated just a little bit, his shoulders rolled, his expression went resigned....but he nodded, and settled in, and went quiet for a moment as he struggled to come up with the right words.

"Once there was a buck -- or, really, maybe he was more of a colt -- who thought that all the swamp's problems were carried on his shoulders, and that somehow, he held the key to solving them." Something settled in his voice as he told the story, Nighteyes shifting at his side, slowly folding himself up at Badgerlock's feet to wait out the rest of this tail. In doing so, he provided a warm, comfortable reassurance against heavy hooves. Badgerlock only shot him the briefest look before he settled fully into his story.
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It sounded like a fairytale; it was, perhaps, his way of separating himself from a more complicated past. As he finished telling it, Badgerlock lifted his jaw to show off the angry old scar along one side of his throat.

---

For as restless as the doe seemed -- practically buzzing with energy -- she settled in easily to listen as the stoic buck settled into his tale, not at all sure what to expect from someone who proclaimed not to be any good at this.  But he was sorely mistaken.

He had her rapt attention as he spoke, her petite frame folded down to lay on the forest floor as she listened.  Giving the occasional soft hum or interested trill until he'd reached the very end and she gasped.  Bright eyes snapped to his throat as he lifted his head, and the doe hurried to her feet to have a closer look.  Speechless, for just a moment.

[Beejoux]

He kept his head cocked -- gone very still -- and as the story faded back into the background he looked more flustered than in control, unsure what to do with himself.

---

"That's an awful lot to have gone through," she commented finally, straightening up to stand before him.  Certainly more than she'd experienced in her life, that was for sure.  "You're wrong, you know."