Of The Dark Forest

[Songdog]

(to prevent confusion, I made another board since Orsina is in a different location)

The sun, in all its might, could not penetrate through the thickness of the foliage. It had no power here, for it was the territory of darkness. The oak and pine trees created a veil, banishing light from the forest. The green leaves kept the soil cool and moist, where grass, devoid of sunlight, could not root.

Somewhere in the dark wooded terra was the great wolf beast, cut off from the flock and sulking, no doubt. For a wolf, she had horrible hearing, as it was apparent that she had not heard Corvidaex's order. Or perhaps she was just foolishly defiant and overwhelmed in her own self pity for the cruel words wielded against her.

Seeing as Sora, also a fool, had not followed his order to fall the wolf, Cor decided to act on his opportunity to speak with the she-wolf, without disruption from the deer who seemed to like speaking for her. He'd rather hear the wolf speak in her own words, not the fumbling doe.

For awhile, he was content just watching from above, disguised as ever the clever corvid crow. When he believed that none were around to overhead them, he showed himself as a deer; the Captain of God's Hand. "Orsina, wasn't it?" He called.

"I've never been to good with names. Tell me, do you know what it was I told you, just before you went storming off here, into these woods?"

[Kodiak]

Orsina kept her eyes closed for a moment longer, letting the sunbeam ease her anger a bit more. She then opened her eyes, not shocked at all to see Cor who had come from out of no where. She hoisted herself upward, then turned around to face the leader. Once she was facing him, she sat down and locked eyes with him, but not in an intimidating manner. Just to show that she was fully focused on him.

She nodded her canine head, her face emotionless towards him.
"Yes, my name is Orsina. I believe you said for me to follow Ira and Sora, and do what we usually do. I apologize for not following them, honest. But my mood had gone sour, and I did not want to make my first impression on them as a bitter, mean beast. I just wanted some time away from everything to calm my nerves. I was going to come straight back. If it was wrong for me to do so, than again, I apologize." She finished, her voice matching the empassive expression on her face. She did not remove eye contact with him, her mind and face totally focused on Cor.

[Songdog]

How those eyes seered into him, burning like twin flames set solely on him. Their deadly awe was both beautiful and frightening; she had the eyes of a killer. How could he forget the numerous subordinates he had lost to the teeth of the savage hunters, and how they relished in the flesh of his brethren. All of that nonsense about the great order meant nothing; the hunters told their children how they were the ones who had to keep the balance, but it was rubbish. Those were only stories to free themselves from the burden of murder.

He dared one of those wolves to look a fawn in the eye and tell them that story while they rip open their flesh. They would always be beasts so as long as they swallowed the blood of his people. Not only the deer, but the herbivores who could not defend themselves.

"Emotions can be a troubling thing..." He said with the slightest smirk. Cor knew Orsina could see the fear in his eyes, and he did not try to hide it. At the same time, he refused to cower in her presence. "But you can't always act on them. If I acted on how I felt just a while ago, I'd have run a tine through your eye for leaving."

Cor stamped his hoof, dipping his head to snuff any chance that the wolf might retaliate for the comment. "But I didn't, because I know better. Past experience has taught me not to act on certain whims if I did not have the upper hand. Just as past experiences have taught me, that wolves eat deer. That is pretty basic. It has been that way for ages, and I've seen many of my kind eaten by your kind."

His eye twitched, but his smirk widened. "So forgive me if I don't immediately jump on the idea of allowing a killer into my herd. At the same time, I'm smart enough to know what kind of edge that gives the herd. However, it sounds a little too good to be true; deer are cautious by nature. That is what has helped us survive, you know."

[Kodiak]

Orsina listened carefully, a little emotion coming back to her face once she understood why exactly he had not believed the story even a bit. She grinned slightly at what he wanted to do to her when she left. just picturing him running after her in a headbutting position while she ran as fast as her legs could take her was an amusing thought. She preffered talking to him one on one rather than in a group. It was calmer.

Orsina grinned a little wider when he said it was a common thing for wolves to hunt deer. "Well, apparently I am the retarded wolf that does not know the difference between friends and dinner." She joked, her muscles relaxing and her mind going a little more at ease.

She heard him call her a killer, but oddly was not angered by it. She barely even picked up the word while he spoke.
"I guess the best defense you have against my kind is caution... that and antlers that can stab right through us. Take all the time you need getting used to the idea of a wolf in the herd, I don't mind." Orsina said, a warm smile set on her face that replaced the grin. Cor wasn't so bad after all.

[Songdog]

The muscles in his shoulders relaxed and some of the tension visually drained out of his face. The soil shifted beneath his hoofs, trying to enter a calmer state of mind. But Cor was always cautious, constantly alert, waiting for danger. He was to some degree a paranoid type, but not overly so as many a cut-out would. He took his paranoia in small doses, and kept the symptoms lowered to a meager twitch.

Corvidaex never really 'trusted' anyone, no one was that special. He didn't open up like a book, others simply couldn't read him. He was not going to spill his life story, or speak poetry about his emotions and what not. So many a doe had wished to 'calm his inner turmoil' by finding the trouble in his past. No one said there had to be any trouble; not all problems are relate-able to reason. Yet for those most persistent in uncovering his 'hidden secret', their thirst could be quenched with a few lies.

"You mistook me." He spoke calmly. "By my kind, I meant all herbivores. The rabbits and the squirrels and the mice and everything else. You're not a vegetarian, and that means you're still a killer. But that's enough of this talk. Tell me why it was you've stopped hunting deer, as you claim."

[Kodiak]

Orsina nodded, agreeing with what he said about her still being a killer to herbivores. The way he put it, she could not deny it. She ate meat, which was other living animals. She could never argue with this, for she would be telling a flat out lie to say that she did not kill.

Orsina blinked, a small cloud above moving to reveal the sun's weak rays through the dense tree branches. The splashes of sunlight looked like thin golden lace, peaceful yet intense. She turned her eyes back to focus on Cor.

"I have never hunt deer, and even as a pup I would not accept deer meat my mother gave me. I couldn't eat deer, it just seemed wrong, even though the law of wolf eats deer has been going on for centuries. Deer just seem too intellegent and special to eat in my opinion. You have a voice, unlike most mammals who only know of signals and movements to communicate with each other. In my mind I am no better than deer. We are both intellegent, we are both unique, and we are both special for being able to communicate with our voices. You are not food, you are just as special as we are. I could never eat something that has character and intellegence like us in them. It is murder." Orsina explained. "And I have seen murder to your kind." She said, a flash of anger in her eyes at the memory. She looked away as her expression went dark for a few moments when thinking about it. She calmed herself down, and looked back over to Cor, her face not as warm as before but still not cold. She was calm, but it still seemed like a dark cloud hung over her head.