open my eyes // open

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

two weeks had flow by, seeming like a few days. two weeks it had been that alice had left her beloved adoptive mother, iris alone. would she ever go back? meet her back in the den. hopefully jazz would help her. he must know how lonely she must feel. again the lose of someone and it had been her life to take care for her only child.

it took a while for the youngster to rid her thoughts of her mother and focus on her way. she had been traveling on a trail which had led her into the wast beauties for ever-rolling seas of emerald and honey toned grass. the prairie was a stunning sight, but too flat for her own good. she could sense that rain was not a rare site here. flowers bloomed in the most extravagant colors, her ideal place if it weren't for the damned rain. why, oh why did she have to be scared to death from it? why did she have to be cursed with such destiny? her mood was getting grouchier by the moment she let her paw into the borders of this land. not because she knew there was a pack here. she'd past at least two a few days ago (traveling right between aldreienda river and gambit trail, but of course she had no knowledge of this just yet), but because she hadn't the slightest idea where she was. the prairie seemed to go forever in her point of view with the its blossoming nature growing till her knees. "perhaps i could just turn around and follow my own scent back," the fae breathed, not minding that she was speaking aloud. say if i where to stumble upon this particular female in the middle of nowhere i'd go thinking she was light in the head the way she spoke to herself. but this was only natural to alice.

her pelt shimmered in the dawning sunlight, sending of glitters like gems to gleam. what a beautiful sight she was, purple legs moving swiftly like on air in a jog that resembled a collected trot on a dressage horse. her ears pricked into the day, nose and eyes just as sharp as ever. a couple of butterflies danced together over flowers, that made her smile. there was nothing to do that very moment. her stomach was still filled bits of rabbit and she certainly didn't feeling like walking at to moment. so she settled down on her hind legs to stare at the sun, occasionally watching her surrounds life with awe.

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

The keiyou weaved through the thick grass easily, brushing the rich green strands away arrogantly. He acted as if there was no tall grass standing in his way, determined to slow him down; Draugur moved as if nothing could stand in his way, with his gait long and full of pride, or rather arrogance. The muscles in his small body rippled as he moved in a rather exaggerated way, with his round, handsome head lifted up high. His tail was curled into an arc behind him, half raised to show that he was dominant yet relaxed, and upon his back, his great white wings was open and their feather tips were high in the sky, almost as if to brush the clouds above him. If it wasn't obvious enough, Draugur was in a good mood. Reasons didn't matter; he just was and that was good enough.

But he was also in that mood when he wanted to talk, or rather have fun, with someone. His pale red eyes scanned the emerald horizon, casually searching for a stranger. It should be easy as the view was flat, but unfortunately it was also full of colours, thanks to various wildflowers scattered all over the prairie. The albino wolf squinted, thinking he had seen someone, but it wasn't clear whether it was a flower or a wolf. Briefly Draugur's ears twitched nervously, wondering if it was Kalylia and her sharp, back-stabbing claws again. He hadn't seen her since that... incident, but there was always a chance. Instinctively his wings shrank to his body, intending to protect his previously exposed back. Once he got closer, he realised that it was definitely not Kalylia, or any other wolf. Just a big flower head.

Draugur snorted self-consciously and shook himself before continuing his stroll. Almost immediately after, something caught his eye and this time it was definitely a wolf. Draugur changed his direction, from nowhere and now to this wolf. His pale lips stretched backward into a smirk as he called out at her; "Hello."

Once he was close enough, his pale eyes looked at this female up and down, taking in her ever details. This girl was indeed very attractive and very elegant-looking. Draugur's tail swayed lightly behind him and his wings unfurled halfway. His head tilted slightly, and his smirk widened. "Hello," He repeated. His voice was now lilted slightly to match his mood, "beautiful. Are you lost?" Draugur took a step backward to give himself a space to bow to the female in greeting.

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

the breeze blew the soothing smells of the grass up her nose as the fae took a deep breath, closing the lids over her garnet eyes. she could taste the sweet air and the lovely alluring scent of several creatures. blackness slowly flowed through her every limb, relaxing the worrying side in her. she could enjoy it couldn't she? it was her own life after all, with her own choices. her tail curled around her, resting on her two front paws. another deep breath filled up her lungs with the grassy air. to her displeasure there wasn't much wind, or basically any breeze to carry many scents. what if there was someone ... a wolf ... around these parts, surely it wasn't deserted, it would be such a waste of nature.

slowly she open her eyes to the dazzling light, apparently the sun had moved right in front of her and was quite uncomfortable. with a sigh she looked down to see a couple of tiny black ants weaving through the grass carrying bits of something she could not make out. alice watched them peacefully not knowing what to do now. but that was when a sudden voice seemed to come out of nowhere, "hello.". the female jumped about a meter of the ground swiftly turning to face the stranger. it was a male, no doubt, she could tell by his voice. her hackles weren't raised when she turned to face him full in the face, nor where her lips curled, in fact nothing on her showed warning, just plain simple surprise. she gently lowered back on her hind legs, hoping the mysterious other would take it was offer to sit with her. his shining white coat resembled that of clear white snow that fell at winter. a pair of angle-like white wings stood folded neatly to his muscular figure. a keiyou, she recognized immediately, jazz had told her about them, bird wings with a thin tail. he was older then her, she could tell, but his looks where still handsome. the white male wasn't much taller then her. on his sleek muzzle a smirk played and it moved gain to communicate his thoughts, "hello, beautiful. are you lost?" sparking blood red eyes stared back at her. for a moment she was lost in what to say, her surprised expression slowly changed into a content face.

"oh, my apologies, you startled me, sir. please, call me alice. perhaps you could help me. i am lost indeed, recently traveling into these lands. could you tell me where i am?" her voice soft and kind. she couldn't help feeling a tad bit excited that she had company. her ears pricked forward to listen to his answer as she waited for his next moves.

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

Draugur's arrogant smile grew larger as his albino eyes took in whole of the stranger's appearance, and he liked what he saw. This female was coloured beautifully, especially with the rich purple dips on her pale yellow-white coat, and shaped gracefully, and he found himself drawn to her wide eyes. They were rich in red like Draugur, but brighter and bolder, dancing with unclosed emotions. From the first sight, the keiyou could easily tell that this wolf was innocent, far too innocent for a loner, so he guessed she must had left her home recently. There was no familiar loner wildness or hard edge to her movements; she hadn't been hardened by her experiences yet. As far as Draugur knew, this girl might have been soothed and pampered by her family and then one day, just like every young wolf, she suddenly decided to have a taste of adventure so she left them. Of course it was the most normal past a young wolf could have, but, thanks to life, this sort of past didn't always apply to every wolf. Sometimes their past was more tragic or more complicated than others and therefore Draugur couldn't just assume that this female's past was filled with pampering. But this didn't change the fact that Draugur found her very alluring to look at.

The white keiyou guessed that she was a lupus, but he had been greatly mistaken in the past when he thought his cael mate was a lupus. So he refrained from deciding her species straight away. Draugur saw the stranger relaxed, after an apparent surprise, and sat down. He watched her watching him for a while with his smirk leaving his face slowly. Sometimes he felt self-conscious whenever someone stare at him for more than a moment wordlessly, but this time he revelled in the attention of such a beautiful female. Slowly he sat down with his tail flat against ground, its tip twitching idly, refusing to take his eyes off her.

"Oh, sure, beautiful..." Draugur paused, observing her under his eyelids, a corner of his mouth tugged into a half smile, "...Alice." He allowed her name to remain on his tongue for a while longer before finally answering her question. "This is a prairie, isn't it?" He raised his brow and looked around with a mock quizzing look on his face, and after a moment his gaze came back on Alice's face with a hint of an amused smile. "But if you want to be specific, this place is called Yuliterra Prairie." He raised his head, the smirk was back on his face. "And I'm Draugur, by the way." With that he inched slightly closer to Alice, a relaxed smile, not a smirk, touched his lips again, "Where are you going, anyway?" Draugur liked the idea of staying here and talk to a wolf, someone without any connection to his past.

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

sparking garnet eyes started back unwaveringly into his vermilion ones as the off-white stranger mimicked her movements and sat down opposite of her. the air around him as different from most of the others, more ... blocked, but free? she couldn't find the right word just yet, but usually all of them had their own contrariness. his smirk pulled into a half-smile against his maw and he seemed to be unable to look away, like most of them. yeah, she knew, though why, that she didn't understand. unfortunate that the young female didn't understand her own full potential, she could've used it for lots of things.

"oh, sure, beautiful ... alice." he spoke, rolling her name on his tongue. typical, but the fae didn't seem to mind now, her cheerfulness blocked away any annoyance at the moment. "this is a prairie, isn't it?" hmph, a mocking look spread on his features like butter on toast, though she replied with a small eye-rolling and same sized grin. "but if you want to be specific, this place is called yuliterra prairie." he continued smirking again. "and i'm draugur, by the way." draugur, she played it over in her mind, pushing that together with the rest of the information she had on him so far. the keiyou's ranking lingered in the 'like' book as he surly was keeping her interest. "where are you going, anyway?" she sniggered a bit before answering. "do you seriously think i'd be asking where am i if i knew i where was going? ah ... wait, that sounds weird-" alice spoke with a hint of amusement in her voice, "well, anyways it was my mother's idea to go out and explore to world so i ended up here. i have no precise destination. and where are you heading anyway?" she asked, her ears twisting to him again. he defiantly knew the area well so he must have lived here for a while, but he could just have been well informed ... it was not the time to jump to conclusions. but as far as she knew him he was no instant danger and his company was alright for now. as for where he was from, alice couldn't think of anything. she thought he'd could be a pack wolf, but she was sure there was no pack on this paririe, she would have know it by now.

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

The wolf in front of Draugur was looking particularly happy today, and her cheerfulness was very infectious. There was something soft and fuzzy and... happy settling in his chest. Normally he felt really cheerful whenever something had happened in the way he wanted, or something. However this time there was no real reason to be happy, but he felt it anyway. It was a nice feeling and he was grateful with Alice for infecting him. She was soft and open, it seemed that she hid nothing. She was... innocent. Truly innocent and cheerful. Easily pleased perhaps. With a twinge, an image of Siren came to Draugur's mind. They were alike, at least in the beginning, before he broke Siren. With an uncomfortable jerk of his ears, he shoved the thought out of his head and he felt his ball of cheerfulness starting to ebb away. So perhaps that was why he didn't feel truly happy very often - he was stuck in his past and was unable to shake it off. He was eight, nearing nine, years old (even though he didn't look like it) and there was far too much weight on his back for his age. Of course, some would say that he deserve it, but he didn't like it.

Draugur blinked and focused on Alice again, in an attempt to dismiss those troublesome thoughts. He smiled as she sniggered at his question; he had expected this reaction. He remained quiet when she spoke, allowing himself to concentrate on this wolf's gentle innocent. Then she confirmed his initial thoughts about her past; her mother had encouraged her to explore. With a thoughtful nod, he looked at Alice directly, "Mhm, your mum sounds like a wise wolf." He said this sincerely but his twitching lips betrayed his amusement. "Oh, I'm just a wanderer. I wander." Draugur smirked, "Even though it can be rather dull sometimes, it isn't all bad. Occasionally I do run into something... nice." He tilted his head, staring at the female intently with a slowly fading smirk lingering on his lips. His answer was very vague, revealing almost nothing about himself. He didn't intend it to be like that, but the idea of him being mysterious intrigued him. Hell, if it intrigued him, it would interest her for sure. Draugur stood up and walked towards the wolf, with every intent to be close. "How's your great adventure so far?"

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

perhaps he entered a reverie. currently it was the only thing the wolf could think of as the other seemed to have gone a tad bit misty eyed. she took immediate advantage of these seconds by trying to analyze him even more to finally get a bigger picture on who he was.

his scent was different, mixed actually and she could have sworn he could have been a pack wolf before, but she still wasn't sure. waiting seemed to be the best answer. he was like looking at a block of ice with occasional indents and marks, but with no real clue on what it really was.

draugur sat quietly all through her explanation, which reminded her of her times with her adoptive mother. she always used to listen to her every time alice spoke, never interrupting. it was nice to be reminded now ... she guessed. the older one showed a thoughtful nod at the end of her words, while his eyes bored into hers. "mhm, your mum sounds like a wise wolf." thought instinctively her eyes never left his she still caught a twitch on his lips and her mind jumped to amusement. so he was amused? how interesting. of course she couldn't go thinking he'd go all iris on her, but he still reminded her of him, but she'd never thought draugur would make her think of an odd combination between iris and maybe herself. but now she was slightly confused if she should be hurt by his amusement or just take it lightly and let it pass.

she let it pass. no reason to get all annoyed, so she replied with a mischief glittering in her eyes before she actually confronted him. "i guess she is, but you occasionally remind me of her." yep, that should do it. a smirk played on her lips and she let it linger as the other continued to reply. "oh, i'm just a wanderer. i wander." weird, but interesting. that is what she thought after that statement. though she couldn't tell how old he exactly was she knew that most wolves joined packs. alice thought he was different like iris. ha, more like her mother. this was actually starting to get funny, not just interesting. but with his continuing words she was left to wonder for a moment. "even though it can be rather dull sometimes, it isn't all bad. occasionally i do run into something... nice." his smirk faded slowly and his head tilted before he stood up stared walking closer. "how's your great adventure so far?" draugur unsettled her now. it wasn't clear to her want he meant, so she shot a questioning glace at him, followed by an answer to his question. "actually, like you said you wanderings are sometimes dull, i might say the same now. although i saw many new terrains which where i guess interesting, i haven't walked into any wolfs yet, until now." alice's voice was calm and she sat where she was her tail gently brushing the grassy ground.

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

The keiyou twitched his ears and raised his brow in surprise when this Alice said that he reminded her of her mother. How so? Had he transformed into a girl, a mother even, without his knowledge? But there was also the way she said it; it was as if she had known him for ages, although this wasn't as insulting as the mother thing. He frowned and broke the eye-contact, watching his tail flicking at nothing quite haughtily. "Okay, whatever you like..." His lips twitched slightly when he saw his opportunity to make fun of this girl, "...daughter." This word felt like bile on his tongue. He didn't have any healthy pure-blood children, just one deformed hybrid daughter. The image of Skyler invaded his mind uncomfortably, and he quickly shove it out of his head. He didn't need another moment of humiliation. Hell, Spirit knew he had enough in his life. That familiar mischievous amusement had left his face as soon as he said that 'daughter' word, and now that Draugur realised that, he hurriedly changed his face into something akin to curiosity. "Your mother? What is she like?" A safe topic to talk about.

Mothers were strange beings. Draugur never really knew one before. He, as a pup, had been ripped away from his own mother, just because he was a genetic freak, and two wolves of his birth pack had adopted and raised him outside of the pack. They had told him that his mother was a stunning wolf, but, hey, that was just what wolves say to puppies who had just lost their mothers. However that was time when he thought he saw her, or at least her spirit. So that didn't count. Another mother he could have known but didn't, was his mate and he didn't want to go deep into that.

Draugur didn't miss Alice's questioning look when he asked about her adventures, and this encouraged another smirk to appear on his lips. He dropped his gaze from her face to her swaying tail, and back up at her face again. "That is unfortunate. I don't want you to think that the life of a loner is... like that." He nodded once at Alice, or at least at her words, to show what he meant. He had left the pack three years ago (but he still stuck around there frequently, but that wasn't the point), and started his loner life. It wasn't as bad as he'd initially thought. Sure there were some bothersome wolves waiting to be encountered, dull territories waiting to be explored, but there was also a whole new world of being a loner. Freedom. He didn't feel the clacking chains that came with being in the pack, dragging his paws. "At least you're free." His smirk slowly changed into a soft but challenging smile, "You're free to do anything you like."

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

his brow raised in surprise to her statement. though it wasn't something she hadn't expected the moment the words left her lips. frowning, draugur broke their eye-contact, turning instead to watch his own tail flick. okay, maybe she had been a bit rude, but, what? it was funny. didn't he have any humor? "okay, whatever you like ..." small tension sparked inside of her. had she ruined whatever ‘bonding' they had? alice hoped she was wrong the second he continued his words, "... daughter". a grin spread across her pretty face, eyes sparkling in amusement like crystals. everything was alright then.

"your mother? what is she like?" the males face changed quickly into a look of curiosity. "well ..." alice began, "she's not my birth mother you know. her name is iris, and she's a sennyo, a really pretty sennyo." she added the last few words with a small grin. "i never knew my real parents. she told me she found me when i was a few minutes old ... on a shore and she's been raising me ever since. mom raised me alone, though she had occasional help from her friend- oh, forgot to mention, she was a wanderer. left her pack even before she adopted me ..." she let out an small airy laugh before continuing, "she not like me thought. calmer and more serious, though she is almost always nice. that's how she made so many loner friends." she broke off now; occasionally her eyes would go misty in thought. not because she was sad - well, she was a bit - or about to cry. no, no, just in thought of those good ol' days.

she focused back her eyes on him soon enough. "so tell me more about yourself. i've told a little of my past and self, now it's your turn." she nodded encouragingly. might even find out old he actually was. wow, she hated staying in the dark about someone.

another smirk played on his white maw at the sight of her questioning look, but he soon flicked his eyes on her swaying tail before looking back up at her. "that is unfortunate. i don't want you to think that the life of a loner is ... like that." draugur nodded at her. "at least you're free. you're free to do anything you like." oh, yes that was true. he really spoke like he knew both ends. waiiit ... "have you ever been a pack? you speak like you know what it's like ..." she hoped she didn't hit a bad spot in their conversation. she was really enjoying his company and if she ruined it now ... oh well then here we go new territory.

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

He listened to Alice quietly while she talked about her mother. In fact this wasn't his usual behaviour; he would be overly sarcastic and cocky at this point, but no, for some reason, he was in a quiet mood. He was in one of his rare listening moods, and... well, perhaps he was pretty tired. Draugur blinked when Alice explained that her mother wasn't really hers. This immediately reminded him of his foster mother whom he thought was his real mother for a while. But she died before he could consider her as his mother again, so in a way he never had a mother. The thought was supposed to be grim but Draugur found this highly amusing. Perhaps this was why he turned out to be like this; he didn't have the mother's attention he greatly needed when he was a pup.

"A really pretty sennyo." Said Alice with a grin, and Draugur responded to her smile with a curious frown but let her continue. It disturbed him how puppies seemed to put their parents up on a pedestal without any second thoughts. It was too... unrealistic and naive, but he was sure that no parent would argue with this. Although now that he thought about it, it would be a nice feeling for a parent to have; to be loved unconditionally. Of course, Draugur had never experienced that kind of feeling from his only daughter, and he didn't want to. To be loved unconditionally by an hybrid was unthinkable. Disgusting. But, good for him, she didn't even like him. That thought brought up a bitter taste in his mouth and he quickly ignored it and focused on Alice's words.

Draugur narrowed his eyes when he saw how Alice seemed... Her eyes seemed damp or dreamy, but he made no comment. He didn't deal with crying females, it wasn't his place to do so. Besides they were too clingy. He was uncomfortable with her sudden emotion that her question took him by surprise. "Oh." His mouth fell open and slack, and his thoughts weren't in order. No one had asked him this question before, not even his mate. Then he smiled, laughter was obvious in his smile, "No one had ever asked me that before. Ah, right, I was born in an all-keiyou pack and, um, I don't know much about what happened, but I left soon after I was born. My foster father told me that my biological -" Words chose carefully, he didn't want to sound too attached because he wasn't, "- father didn't like my... beautiful looks. Anyway, my foster mother died soon after we left the pack so I had her mate instead. He was too cautious and protective of me so I left him as soon as I could." He snorted as he remembered the moment.

"I tried to find any pack to join but none of them would accept me. Apparently albinism is catching. Who knew?!" He rolled his eyes and his tail twitched to show his disgust, "Anyway, I had enough and decided to make my own pack with my own rules." He stopped to look at Alice carefully, "Yes, that answered your question; I was in a pack. I ran into two other wolves, Reynard and Siren. One of them ended up as my mate." His lips twitched, "I meant Siren; I don't like boys in that way. Anyway, they agreed to found a pack with me as their leader. We called the pack Children of Hvítur Ári. I'm sure you've heard about it, so I would be surprised if you haven't. The pack is still around and it's one of the largest around here." Pride touched his smile when he remembered his own pack. "Yeah, we, Reynard, Siren and I, had pretty good years and then... W-well, something happened and I had to leave the pack to think clearly." He broke off and shrugged.

"I dunno if I mentioned that Reynard was my deputy but, during my absence, I expected that he would take a good care of my pack. However, after a year or so being gone, I returned to find him ruling the pack. He didn't look after the pack for me, oh no. He just took it." Draugur's face was radiating fury and his voice became cold. "According to him, I was a tyrant and that no children were safe under my leadership." He gave Alice a wry smile, "And all of my old pack members turned against me and, well, I left. I doubt that I would be ever accepted into the Children again. I'm the monster that the Children parents tell their pups to be careful of." This keiyou wasn't a private wolf - in fact he was very opposite - but he didn't expect himself to open up this much. He breathed a sigh, and his face brightened, but it seemed forced. "Ah, yeah. That's my life." He beamed at her, but the smile appeared strained. "Hopefully I haven't put you off from getting to know me. I'm pretty awesome once you know me." He gave her an assuring wink.

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

draugur seemed to be quite the listener type, at least for now he was. not once did he interrupt her flowing words while he did show a couple of faces, like smiling for instance, it didn't really matter. while her eyes clouded over she was hardly noticed how he narrowed his. her daze ended before he let his mouth form the word "oh," after her question. raising a brow at first, she waited patiently, which was unlike her for this girl liked to fidget much, for him to continue. "no one had ever asked me that before. ah, right, i was born in an all-keiyou pack and, um, i don't know much about what happened, but i left soon after i was born. my foster father told me that my biological - father didn't like my ... beautiful looks." alice smiled, though trying hard not to giggle. "anyway, my foster mother died soon after we left the pack so i had her mate instead. he was too cautious and protective of me so i left him as soon as i could." draugur snorted. she listened carefully all the way he told her about his life. it was interesting, a lot more interesting then her own at least, though full of turns and twists. she'd never thought a wolf would share a similar path to hers, at least in the beginning.

her lips slowly formed an 'o' as he explained about how he formed his own pack with reynard and siren his later mate. the children of hvítur ári? alice asked herself. quickly nodding as she remembered hearing about it being the biggest of all packs, though she wasn't sure where the rumor had touched her ears. also it was beginning to feel like the territory that had been to her right when she'd passed between aldreienda river and gambit trail (though she did not know the names) had been the children territories, it carried lots of scents which had made scared the fae - also odd because alice usually craved company - but apparently too many foreign scents could be overwhelming.

she watched him as he smiled again. "yeah, we, reynard, siren and i, had pretty good years and then... w-well, something happened and i had to leave the pack to think clearly." the female let out a small gasp, but quickly shut her mouth not wanted to disturb as he had been kind enough to listen to her. he deserved the same respect. though the upcoming thoughts where hard not to mull over. he had left his mate? yes, she believe there where 'soul mates' and the fact that he left disturbed her. not just that. she couldn't think of what it had been that made him leave. i mean what could be that bad? death, maybe. but who's? or had he killed someone. she forced her face into a frown then later a questioning look to hide the urge to open her eyes wide. not that she was scared, rather more curious. she wasn't sure why, but it deeply interested her what happened to this keiyou, but i guess that's alice for you.

the next part in the males story made her gasp again though more loudly this time in disbelief. how could anyone be so ... so, mean?! (she didn't quite find the right word for it) to push the actual creator of the pack out of his own pack was something she'd never thought of. suddenly alice was feeling sorry for him and it showed in her softened look. then his face brightened, though she suspected that it was forced. "ah, yeah. that's my life. "hopefully i haven't put you off from getting to know me. i'm pretty awesome once you know me." he winked at her in assuring and her face broke into a small giggle, but she stop abruptly. questions where bubbling out of nowhere and she finally couldn't restrain herself. "but why did you leave them?" whoops. stupid. stupid. stupid. her lovely face screw up in annoyance and the girl hung her head. "sorry, didn't mean to ask that." she knew (at least though) it was a touchy subject or he would have told he more about it. lifting her head a bit, a meek smile formed on her lips. "you've lived through much ... i must say you're pretty strong to be able to keep a level-head."

[Draugur]

D R A U G U R

It interested him to see how Alice's face changed throughout Draugur's story. Most of the time there was a surprised look on her face as if she could not believe what he was saying. He found this rather funny; he had never thought that his story was so exciting. It made him sound less dull than just being an 'ex-high chief and one of the three founders of Children of Hvítur Ári'. With this thought inflating his ego, he moved slightly and snickered, feeling slightly better. But what really pleased him was that Alice looked utterly shocked with what Reynard had done to Draugur. He was a rather good storyteller, wasn't he, if he could stir such a strong feeling in the listener. Then Alice giggled and stopped herself so that she could ask him something. Draugur's tiny smile was completely removed from his face as he thought about his answer. He knew she meant why did he left them when he got the highest rank possible and the protection of his pack. Why he had left them for the first time.

An image of his cael mate came to his mind, dressed in brown, blue and indigo coat and wide, curious, innocent, naive eyes, and a voice that constantly complimented him. She always had called him her knight, and sometimes a fallen angel. The latter was more suitable, if you think about what he had done to her later on. And Reynard knew. It was the reason he was banished from his home. Just like a fallen angel would be banished from the heaven. He gritted his teeth together as a vivid memory of seeing clarity in Siren's eyes when she realised that he was a devil instead of an angel. And of him slamming Siren's head against the rock, shattering her mind, damaging her like a fragile shell. And of that time when he forced himself into her body. At the time it gave him the power he so craved. However now... He realised that it had been a huge mistake and that it had bore some terrible consequences: the ugly hybrid puppies, his broken mate, and him losing his powerful place in his pack. It had taken him ages to realise this, but now he regretted it so badly. He had destroyed his own future.

Draugur blinked from his trance, his eyes fell on Alice's and frowned. It was a horrible story and it wasn't the story for a little girl like her. So he opted to pick another answer instead. "Didn't I tell you? Reynard banished me just because I'm a 'safety hazard' to his pups." He frowned and shook his head incredulously, a convincing smirk on his face. "Do you think that I'm dangerous, little girl?" He snickered, but soon he stopped and swallowed. He didn't want anyone to think that he was dangerous. Okay, anyone except for Reynard. Normally he wouldn't care, but seeing this young female admiring him tugged at his heartstrings. Wait. Oh, no, Draugur thought with a silent groan, he was being sentimental now. Was he beginning to become senile? Was he losing it? Was it because of the guilt on his shoulders? If it was, he could not seem to shake it off. Perhaps he needed to do something to make him forget about it even for a moment. Level headed? If Alice only knew what was going on in his mind right now.

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

"do you think that i'm dangerous, little girl?" his snickering question caught her for a moment -and kept her thinking for a couple of seconds. now to come and think of it, alice wasn't sure. she wasn't uneasy at all in his presence, infact she was still enjoying draugur's company, outcast or not. the cael (who didn't know she was one) came to the conclusion that he was not at all dangerous, or at least not to her. basing the thought on the fact that he still hadn't attacked her, threatend her or did anything to her dislike. surely she would have caught any change of wind in their conversation so she defiantly molded the thought into stone that draugur was not dangerous. "no." was all she said in her normal ringing tone without implying any body movement which was a bit unheard of for alice. usually she'd fidget wanting to finish something faster, but there she sat, even her tail that now was curling elegantly around her rump, resting beside her right paw.

finally the girl broke away from her statue-like stare and twitch her ears at the chirping of two birds. her eyes followed as the two-some flew away from the branch they'd perched and headed away. "you said you're heading nowhere, merely wandering. why don't you accompany me for a while? i have no destination anyways so it would be a better adventure with two. surely there are places that even you haven't visited. am i correct?" a small smile appeared on her lips and she looked back into white misters eyes. though she doubt he'd accept her offer of travel it was still worth a try. besides he was experienced anyways, not that alice would want to use him for her own good, no she wouldn't have the heart for that. but it would be nice to have company and not get lost all the time. worse, venture into those with not good intentions. the thoughts of places around this place made her forget about autumn's cool air that was gently biting into through her smooth pelt and into her skin. though it wasn't that cold to make you shiver yet, that was still a bit farther away. this was the cold was the one you could welcome. and it let alice survey the prairie once again.

[Draugur]

hurr I suck, sorry for keeping you waiting D;

D R A U G U R

During those two seconds of silence after Draugur asked his question, he was worried that Alice would say yes and bam, he was considered dangerous to everyone, even to a passing stranger. Maybe not, but it would be always there, in his subconscious, pestering him, quietly reminding him how dangerous he was. Subconscious was sucky like that. No. He shrugged it off inwardly, no. He was being silly. Just because he screwed one wolf up, it didn't mean he was risky. Someone always screw someone up in some point of their lives. No one was perfect. Most of times, they would learn from their mistakes. Most of times. Draugur was immortal, and he didn't expect to die any time soon, and that meant he was likely to have hundreds of years ahead of him. Would his guilt increase or decrease after at least one hundred years? He didn't know, and what he did know was that both of them sounded equally bad. If only he could find some way to redeem himself and go back to his old womaniser ways. Now that would be awesome.

He didn't realise that he hadn't breathed at all during those two seconds as when Alice told him "no." he exhaled. Draugur noticed how solemn and serious she looked, and he smiled a smile that had no traces of his usual smirk, and thought if only Rey saw this. The orange bastard seemed determined to consider him as a dangerous loner. A monster. But Alice seemed to think otherwise. It was odd how one wolf, who had been Draugur's friend for years, considered him as a monster while another, who was just a stranger, seemed to happy to consider him as a friend. It shouldn't make him feel better, but it did.

Draugur laughed, "Great, it's nice to know that there's one wolf in the world who doesn't hate me." After that moment of clarity, he realised that Alice had been staring him for a while. He flicked his ears and turned his attention elsewhere until he thought she had looked away as well. As he had his attention diverted, he realised how the recent moment was so... It made him sound like a pup desperate for any attention, pity even. All he could do now was to hope that Alice hadn't pick that up. The keiyou only met her gaze again when she asked him to join her travels. That sounded like a great idea but... "Of course I haven't been everywhere," Draugur snorted, "I'm not that good."

But, seriously, was this girl for real? She invited him, a stranger who could be dangerous despite what she thought, to travel with her alone. Talk about really naive. Draugur hummed slightly and frowned before replying, "But... are you serious? Do you want me, a stranger, to hang out with you even though you know practically nothing about me?" That was true, despite him telling her his life story earlier. Perhaps his story was twisted in some areas to fit his perspective and she would never know. "You're so naive!" He shook his head and laughed scornfully. "Sorry, little girl, but if you keep like that up, you won't survive for long." Now with the earlier conversation they had about feelings and his past gone, he could finally shove the guilt deep into himself and he felt like himself. Well, a part of himself that wasn't riddled by guilt.

[alecia.'alice'.foyer]

a l i c e . f o y e r

her gaze rested on draugur, transfixed at the his words. she didn't really believe him. to her it seemed impossible to be liked by only one wolf in the entire world. did everyone he'd meet hate him? no one could be that bad ... could they? even those who here 'evil' had followers or something. the young wolf imagined herself in the place of draugur ... as much as she could, being alone, kicking out from everywhere, called a monster. it was terrible, but that was what she called it for the lack of word. alice came to think that if it would be her she'd probably dissolve in her own world and die from grief. shaking her head mentally she forced her now constantly wandering mind to instinctively flick her eyes when someone made a movement. no motion ever when without her notice. her company had looked away, as she thought because of her staring. so alice flicked her eyes again to focus on the scenery behind him, thinking. draugur seemed to be different now that alice had heard him laugh. almost as if he hadn't believed her and that made her come to the conclusion that he was a pessimist.

she realized then that he'd made eye contact again after her invitation, claiming that he hadn't been everywhere. though he hadn't exactly answered her question, so she look at him with a small questioning look. he seemed to be considering it. waiting quietly she pulled her tail behind herself and started tapping the tip lightly on the ground, probably so lightly that the white wolf couldn't even hear. her old self seemed to be showing again because she was getting impatient. then he replied, frowning. her ears twitched to catch every word clearly. the female shrugged in response. so what if he was a stranger? clearly, he wasn't taking her seriously. and she did know something about him, which was nearly enough for her not to think of his as a total stranger. had she misjudged him? no, she cleared the thought out of her mind. when had she been wrong about judging others? this male here was just another wolf who she met and was sorted into her books. she was never wrong about anyone. period.

"you're so naive!" he laughed. sure, she'd know that already, but to be told that in the face was a different matter, even if the speaker was laughing. iris never told her to change, neither had jazz, or anyone else they've met. maybe they had never expected her to ever enter the 'real world'. her head moved back, but her face was passive. there was no way she was going to show that she was so weak to be angered my a simple comment, however she wasn't sure he hadn't caught her flinch of surprise and hurt.

as draugur continued to speak, alice listened and what she heard was again not to her liking. survive for long?! excuse me? her mother survived as a loner, if not in these areas, but living as a lone wolf on any territory wasn't safe, yet the two of them lived. now this was defiantly a 'no' to her invitation. she turned her head to the right a bit, looking from the corner of her eyes now. "and you are so pessimistic! i won't be killed unless i lose faith in living. no one dies unless they want to, even if they never admit it to themselves. it is the simple law of attraction. my mother tested it and it works, that is how she survived as a loner and kept me alive alone. when she needed help, she got it from a total stranger who later became her best friend. i don't think you should be worrying about me, i think i should be the one worrying about you!" she sucked in the air after realizing she'd said the whole think without it. though her voice had been entirely normal, it may have sounded harsh ... but she was speaking the truth. and even if she didn't know him well, she wanted draugur to live on happily. seeing the world as a beautiful place and not it being against him. though now that seconds passing after her sort-off lecture she was surprised in her own reaction. hoping she'd make up to him alice muttered a quiet, "sorry." the last thing she wanted was him to turn against her. looking straight into his eyes she forced a curl to the edge of her lips.