A little heart to heart (NB/BF/Squeeji)

[Blackfeathr]

The two climbed the rise until at the crest, Armageddon noticed two wolves, a male and a female. These two must be NightBlood's friends.
He gulped, inadvertently making his mouth quite dry.

He really shouldn't be so nervous. These were NightBlood's friends, after all, and NightBlood was the one and only wolf he could trust. Any friend of Night's is a friend of his.

Better make a good impression...

He descended the hill with NightBlood, grinning serenely in greeting the two.

"Lo Pollux"

Okay, the females name is Pollux, take note of that...

"You seem to be healing well, Mortil. How have you been?"

Armageddon's ears twitched at her statement to the one called Mortil, and he glanced at him. His form was covered with many fresh, but healing scars. He wondered to himself what this wolf got himself into. But Mortil didn't seem like the fellow who would merrily and happily answer his silly ninny questions over a spot of tea and a buttered scone, so he let it be.

"'Lo Pollux, Mortil," He nodded to them respectively, as if he'd known them all his life, "I'm Armageddon. Nice to meet you two."

[Electus]

"You seem to be healing well, Mortil. How have you been?"

Mortil touched noses with Nightblood, a small smile on his face. "Well enough, friend." He suddenly grinned. "So I see you've gone to fetch an Archer look-alike. How nice. You do turn in the opposite direction fairly quickly, don't you?"

"I'm Armageddon. Nice to meet you two."

Mortil dipped his head respectfully again. "The pleasure is mine, I assure you." He looked seriously at the two, his single eye roving over them. They fitted, he thought, like two pairs. It seemed even more perfect. Nightblood seemed slightly less...tumultuous, if that was possible.

"Well, four of us. An ideal number for a little heart to heart." He turned to Nightblood.

"I had wanted to ask you, did I...act strangely during my healing?"

[Squeeji]

Pollux didn't seem to say anything, as she and Mortil's conversation abruptly stopped at the appearance of Nightblood, but she did look over Armageddon, eyeing the male up and down, with some scutiny, at her age, she didn't need to make excuses for herself when she leered other wolves down.

But to be polite she did nod at the two.

[nightblood]

Mortil touched noses with her. She couldn't stop herself from grinning as she saw a small smile on his face. "Well enough, friend." He suddenly grinned. She folded her ears, knowing what was coming next. "So I see you've gone to fetch an Archer look-alike. How nice. You do turn in the opposite direction fairly quickly, don't you?"

"He's not exactly like Archer," she said, pulling her head back and making it painfully obvious that the name 'Archer' made her cringe, "Archer is scum. End of story."

"'Lo Pollux, Mortil."

The Sentry watched as Armageddon introduced himself. He nodded to them respectively. She smiled, encouraging him.

"I'm Armageddon. Nice to meet you two."

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you."

NightBlood sighed in relief, happy that Umbra was either asleep, or Mortil was forcing him down well. Then she caught sight of Pollux's critical glances to him. She hoped desperately that she was only trying to sike him out. Even her nod seemed to be almost heartless.

"Well, four of us. An ideal number for a little heart to heart."

Blood turned to Mortil, surprised to find a golden eye looking at her as well.

"I had wanted to ask you, did I...act strangely during my healing?"

NightBlood thought back to after the attack. She could picture it clearly. Just before he blacked out, he had said something. What was it?

"Next time the two of you speak, you should ask him about Revolution. Should be interesting."

"Just before you went under... you said 'Revolution'. Then Umbra took over and told me to ask you about it. He said it's be interesting."

With that, NightBlood sat down and lowered her front half to the ground, facing Mortil, her legs outstretched and almost touching his paws. She wanted to have her full attention on him, as he seemed to be out of sorts since the fight.

[Blackfeathr]

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you."

Armageddon was taken aback by Mortil's polite acknowledgement. His brain had warped all kinds of distorted personalities of this wolf, like he was going to rip off his head right then and there. But he was wrong. His tail swished the ground in contentment, glad things hadn't turned out like his twisted imagination predicted it would.
A prickling at his neck gave him the feeling he was being looked at, and out of the corner of his eye saw Pollux scanning him with scrutiny. He did not meet her eye, not wanting to start anything. Her scents were deeply mixed with Arnlan and he would bet a felled caribou she was one of the older members of the pack.

Nervousness overtook him when he was 100% sure he was being examined by a high or senior member of the pack. He exhaled, trying to keep a level head. What mattered now was this "heart to heart," as the ash grey male said. Trying to ignore Pollux's scrutinizing stare, he focused intently on Mortil and NightBloods conversation, listening with interest.

[Electus]

"Just before you went under... you said 'Revolution'. Then Umbra took over and told me to ask you about it. He said it's be interesting."

Mortil lay down, folding his paws underneath him before letting loose a weary and sad sigh. His blinked several times before considering an answer.

"I suppose that Umbra would think so."

Mortil smiled gently, a sad, thin smile. "You remember how I hated Archer? Well, Revolution had something to do with that. I guess you could say that she...was the cause. But don't think ill of me. I did what I thought needed to be done. That was all..."

The ash-grey wolf seemed pensive and a little out of sorts as he spoke, his voice cloudy and reflecting. "I met Revolution in Manor Cemetery, after a scuffle with Sallinian wolves. I had been hurt, and though I killed both wolves, it was a little ugly. I slunk away down towards the vestiges of human civilization, losing the pursuers in the rain." Mortil smiled at the memory, relishing both the fight and the meeting that would eventually happen.

"Revolution found me there. It was only a little while later till I realized that she was blind. I...tried to avoid her at first. I was foolish, self-righteous...and self-incriminating. But she was so gentle...so...she was...despite her blindness, there was an unearthly quality to her beauty." The ash-grey wolf paused again, his golden eye moving to look into the vast expanse of sky above the four.

"She didn't care about Umbra, or what he..or possibly I, did. She didn't care. She offered me a safe place to stay, and healed my injuries. I...couldn't believe that there were wolves in this world that could...accept what I was." At this, he smiled a genuinely appreciative and happy smile, at both the wolves around him now and at the memory of the wolfess he had left behind.

He suddenly broke into a nervous laugh, looking at the three. "I feel so foolish. So foolish! Why am I even talking? Foolish!"

[Squeeji]

Pollux yawned at the end of the story, and smacked her lips. "Is that all then Mortil? Then on my next rounds I'll go find your little girlfriend, and bring her to you." The scout seemed very nonchalant about that. And wagged her tail, she had that mischievous look on her face that she often did when thinking about stirring the pot some...

"Besides, Umbra is absolutely adorable, you both are, I can't see how any girl wouldn't be smitten with you...but if you want her...I'm sure it won't be long before I get sent out to check the puppy count of nearby packs...so it'll be simple business." She wanted to make Mortil squirm, she really did, but a good sort of squirm...she loved when those younger wolves felt like they were dealing with a crazy aunt...god she loved being the crazy aunt.

"But perish the thought that anything you're saying is foolish...or I'll nip you a good one right on the ear." she cocked a brow, a toothy grin over her muzzle, it was mostly in jest.

[nightblood]

NightBlood frowned when he mentioned Archer again, but soon realized the significance of the name. She was still unclear about what had transpired, but she wasn't going to force Mortil to tell her. She was quite content with being in the dark on this matter, as long as Mortil was happy not reliving it just to tell her.

"Revolution found me there. It was only a little while later till I realized that she was blind. I...tried to avoid her at first. I was foolish, self-righteous...and self-incriminating. But she was so gentle...so...she was...despite her blindness, there was an unearthly quality to her beauty."

A touch of jealousy twitched up her spine as the word 'beauty' slipped from Mortil's lips. Though she tried hard to remind herself that she had a mate, it was hard for her not to find a touch of annoyance that Mortil had found someone that surpassed her in femininity... not that that was very hard to do. Looking at Pollux, she reminded herself that she was no doubt the one of the most butch females there was in the world and every wolfess, even Pollux, outranked her in the matter of beauty. Why did it matter so much with Mortil if she only ever thought of him as a brother? Most likely her unconscious need to keep Umbra happy and... sane.

"I feel so foolish. So foolish! Why am I even talking? Foolish!"

The Sentry waited a moment to think of a reply and was about to say something when the Scout spoke up. Quick with words as well as her feet. Indeed, Pollux outranked her in every way.

"Is that all then Mortil? Then on my next rounds I'll go find your little girlfriend, and bring her to you."

Blood stifled a cough as best she could, masking it as a sneeze very skillfully.

"Besides, Umbra is absolutely adorable, you both are, I can't see how any girl wouldn't be smitten with you...but if you want her...I'm sure it won't be long before I get sent out to check the puppy count of nearby packs...so it'll be simple business."

The Sentry's eye twitched at the word 'puppy'. She disliked those yappy things and really didn't want to hear about them ever since Ziko left.

"But perish the thought that anything you're saying is foolish...or I'll nip you a good one right on the ear."

"Seconded," NightBlood agreed, finally able to speak after forcing herself to wait till after the Scout was done, "You're not a fool, Mortil. You're anything but. Archer's the fool. Whatever he did to tick you off... He'll pay double for it when I find a reason that he needs to be driven from the pack."

Her words were laced with hate for that damned male. She searched for his flaws day in and day out, trying to find a way to get him thrown out of the pack. Though she'd given up numerous times before, that wal all she'd been able to think about on her rounds before Armageddon arrived.

[Blackfeathr]

((Skip me for now. I cant think of anything Armageddon has to contribute.))

[Electus]

"Besides, Umbra is absolutely adorable, you both are, I can't see how any girl wouldn't be smitten with you...but if you want her...I'm sure it won't be long before I get sent out to check the puppy count of nearby packs...so it'll be simple business."

Mortil laughed, a little disdainfully. "For all I know, she could be dead now. She almost was, after Archer was finished." then he smiled. "But...if Revolution hadn't stopped me, Umbra would have killed Archer anyways. Perhaps he should have. Perhaps he should have."

He sighed a little, then smiled again. "But that's all in the past. No use getting wound up over another lost love I guess. No..."

The ash-grey male looked at Nightblood. "What about you? I haven't had the chance to really learn anything about you...or your mate there." he nodded at Armageddon.

[Squeeji]

Pollux shot Nightblood a dirty look, she wouldn't be hearing anymore of the Sentry's ex-boyfriend drama, besides, it made the pack look bad that a ranked official was busy badmouthing her packmates because their relationship didn't work out.

The Scout noted that should have a word with the young lady soonish, to straighten this mess out, one way or another.

"Its wrong to conspire against packmates...need I remind you?" Her cheerful face was now stern and humorless, sure, she knew the stories...rumors, but in the end, it was the Alphas who would deal with Archer if there was any -real- problem.

[nightblood]

"For all I know, she could be dead now. She almost was, after Archer was finished." then he smiled. "But...if Revolution hadn't stopped me, Umbra would have killed Archer anyways. Perhaps he should have. Perhaps he should have."

~Definitely should have... ShadeBlood would still be alive...~

NightBlood suppressed a growl of agreement and shook her fur to seem as if she was shaking off a bug or some unknown annoyance. She stopped abruptly and turned to give a surprised stare to the gray male.

"What about you? I haven't had the chance to really learn anything about you...or your mate there."

"... Me? ... I've never really ever talked about my past... But now I see that you've revealed most, if not all of yours to me. I guess it is time I returned the favor..."

"Its wrong to conspire against packmates...need I remind you?"

The Sentry looked at the multicolored female and saw the seriousness in her face. She knew what she meant, but she hadn't been planning on bringing up Archer unless Armageddon asked about him. She nodded and continued on with her story, varying her gaze from Armageddon, to Mortil, to Pollux.

"I was trained as a warrior leader as I grew up with ShadeBlood in Draviria. My mother had died early on. My father was the alpha..."

NightBlood never did feel like delving into her own history, preferring to forget it. This time, however, she felt that it must be told. If she had to tell it, these were the ideal three Arnlanians to hear it. The mate, the brother, and the aunt.

She continued her story up to the time when she had lost the sight in her left eye, covering the loss of her father and eventual exile from Draviria.

"Then I came here. One day I fell asleep in a rock cave and was taken away by humans. I got this gimp in my leg from herding mustangs. The fang around my neck is from a dog who decided it was a good idea to start a stampede. The tattoo on my shoulder is from some human that worked there. I escaped after that and returned to Arnlan."

Finally finished, she drew a breath and looked around at the faces that surrounded her, waiting for any questions they might have had.