Of Princes, Princesses, and Knights

((forgive me for this horrible phone post))

What lovely company the woman was! She put up with his animated idle chatter and even was interested! He told her about the beavers, the leaves, the pack, everything. Sooner or later, they entered the red forests of Ichorwood. He breathed in deep and sighed happily.

"We're here!" He chimed in with a broad smile. "Ain't it pretty here?" Red leaves as far as the eye could see along with blue mist. He lead her a bit further in, up to the river with busy beavers. She'd seemed interested in them before so he wanted to show her them as they milled about doing their daily duties.

He raised his head up then and let out a howl to summon Crux. They could watch the show as they waited. "Their always such busy lil guys." He said with an almost sage nod.
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Time passed super fast due to the joy of the conversations she exchanged with Mordecai. She found herself slowing down to a halt as they entered the Ichorwood. Mordecai had mentioned the red, but she did not realize he meant like this kind of red. Everyone with no colors to mix. In her mountains they had beautiful falls but never were they dominated by a singular color, and for all the seasons mind that. An uneasy feeling swept over her as her imagination went to work, thinking of wolves trapped in vines above the sky, being squeezed for their blood to fuel the woods for all eternity, mist of souls drifting by as- "We're here!" She snapped back to reality as he announced their arrival and the beauty of his home. To him, this was natural, Riddle realized and suddenly felt bad for viewing his home as a den of evil for a split second there. That was rude.

She smiled and nodded vigorously with a few chortles of laughter (her only evidence of her previous startled mood). "Heh..heheh...It's gorgeous. You must-heh-have a lot of pride for your home." She commented as they kept moving deeper into the woods. The sound of a river growing louder until it could be spotted. Along the river were large rodent-like creatures with large teeth, webbed feet, and a webbed horn-like tail. She was only able to guess them as beavers due to the way the pack stories would describe them. She found her jaw dropped in amazement. "I've never seen beavers before! So they do exist!" She exclaimed like an excited pup.

Suddenly, Mordecai let out a long howl, giving her a start. She assumed it to be a howl to notify others. But oh boy did it make her anxious. To the point she found herself laughing crudely again. However as she stared at the beavers, she found the lull of their day settling her down."Their always such busy lil guys."  Mordecai voiced, causing her to look up at him. He looked a little wise at the moment to her.

She decided to share a story. "Where I am from, beavers are considered greedy thieves who always want to add more than is needed for their palaces. That is why their numbers are thin and they can only live in water as punishment. They were rodents who grew envious of all of the rams gifts, as rams are the favorite children of the hills. One day when the rams were sleeping, the beavers gnawed off their horns to decorate their homes as a prank. As punishment their teeth grew huge, needing to gnaw on things or else their teeth would never stop growing, and their thin rat-like tails turned into uncurled ram horns, heavy and hard to move with unless in water. Since then beavers must always work for what they want now...or so the story goes..." She finished her tale with a deep sigh, talking about her culture was bringing an odd air of melancholy for some reason that she did not want to think about.

Realizing she had just talked on without addressing Mordecai, she quickly tried to engage. "Are my stories of beavers similar to the ones you have of them?" She turned to ask before letting her eyes drift back to the beavers. She was becoming so absorbed in watching the beavers that she was temporarily forgetting why she was here in the first place.
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 He heard the call and came at once. It wasn't all that common for Mordecai to call to him, so when it happened he was quick to respond - howling a response before following the voice, quick on his paws. It didn't sound serious but one could never tell over such a simple thing as a call.

 Yet, he doubted his friend could cover up nerves in his voice even if he was under threat of death.

 As he approached, he caught a voice unfamiliar. She told a story of beavers and he listened in the shadows quietly, as to not interrupt, until the story was done and he made himself known. Mordecai was convening with a female he hadn't met before, one who spoke in a very interesting manner. The starlit prince tilted his head curiously, pondering the tale. “An interesting theory!” he mused, nodding to it. If magic were a thing, perhaps something like that might be possible.

 Nevertheless.

 He smiled at his friend and the stranger, clearly curious. “How may I help you?”

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 At first, he thought of her laughter as a good thing... but then he remembered the nervousness that manifested itself that way. Was this that sort of laughter? Or was it the other kind? "Eeyup! I sure do! 'Specially since I-- we woke up right here in the middle of this here forest." Right near the prince, that had been a interesting day! He remembered happily how the prince had covered him in leaves and how he'd woken up because he'd nearly choked on one.

 Good times, that.

 It seemed that if her laughing had been the nervous kind, she was becoming more at ease. It made him happy that she wasn't tense in this place and was even excited when they found the beavers. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he laughed joyously alongside her, he even began to sort of knead his paws on the ground in an excited little dance. It made him happy that she was so happy about the beavers. He was glad he'd brought her here!

 After he'd howled, the princess began to recount a tale to him. Once he realized that he was being told a story, the large fellow plopped down and leaned forward earnestly, completely enraptured. He sure did like stories! Especially origin stories! He didn't know they could be so interesting until now. His tiny tail wagged behind him and he felt eager for more but the tale was already finished. "Wooooww, do you think it's true?" He looked at the beavers again with renewed interest, pondering if they were really such greedy creatures that would steal horns.

 He was glad that he didn't have any.

 He looked back at Riddle and shook his head. "Naw, I ain't got no tales like that... I really wish I knew more though." He looked at her with a soft smile, warm eyes bright as he pondered if she would share more tales with him. He felt like he could listen to her speak all day.

 Of course, he didn't get to say as much as Crux came out. "Prince Crux!" He said excitedly, rising to his paws. "This is Riddle an' I brought her here because she's a princess and I thought 'Gee, wouldn't that be cool for her to meet the Prince of Stars.' Like a big ole' happy royalty sorta meeting thing and here we are! An', an' she's got nowhere else to go so I figure maybe she could stay with us for a while." Maybe longer than just "a while" because she was awful nice and he really liked her but he didn't say that part out loud. "If she wants to and stuff." His big brown eyes were looking back and forth between the two, clearly eager to see if the two royal figures would get along.

 In any case, he wasn't exactly great at introductions or grand speeches. Hopefully he had done well enough.

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Riddle had not expected Mordecai to be that interested in such a silly tale. Truly she felt every little thing to be validated from this wolf. How could one be so interested in the world around them? Surly he was not mountain-born, his heart was too warm for them. Even though he said he woke up here, maybe it was like her, suddenly ending up somewhere different. The warm feelings came to a halt at one simple sentence. "Wooooww, do you think it's true?"  Her smile became strained and yet no laughter left her maw this time. It was a bittersweet kind of feeling that overcame her. "Probably not." She had responded in a hush tone, feeling her heart being practically gutted by emotional fangs. The stories of the hills, they were not true at all, or else her home would have been safe, and she would be dead. A memory whispered through her ears.

"You my daughter must have been born under the wrong stars. A ram's destiny was for you to fulfill all along."

Ignoring the weird sludge she felt in her head, she was about to ask Mordecai if he knew of at least one tale, when out of nowhere a wolf appeared. He was huge. The biggest wolf she had ever seen in her life. She didn't think it was possible to be so huge.

The wolf was apparently the prince of stars she heard so much about, and as Mordecai started to interact with him, all she could do was laugh. The laughter causing her whole body to shake as she tried to slink behind Mordecai. She had been a fool. Mordecai couldn't take this wolf on. If he decided to attack they were both sitting ducks. She should be braver, to be in front alongside Mordecai to make a stand together. But this small wolf that was far too use to hostility immediately attempted to retreat, ears and tail both lowered.

After a few moments of awkward laughter, a realization came to her. She needed to try to show a little courage, she needed to speak. Mordecai had gone out of his way to give her a chance to rest for a bit, and this behemoth was who she was suppose to get along with. She need to try harder. Poking her head out to looked at Crux, she tried to speak through the giggles. "N-nice-haha, to meet you, Sir-hahaha!" She managed to choke out. "I would-hehe, love to sta-hahahaha!" It wasn't much, but it was a lot for her.
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 Mordecai, as was common with him, was chattering away and Crux smiled, listening to his friend's babbling. A princess? He looked to the girl brows raised, and then realized she was cowering behind his friend. Concern grew in his eyes and he blinked at her, confused. She was... laughing? He tilted his head, listening as she tried to speak through her giggles.

 Ah.

 A stress response.

 He recognized this sort of response from some of the slaves of his past life. They had done all they could to keep themselves alive and sometimes they could not help but laugh. That was, unfortunately, not looked at well by the rest of the Officers, though he felt pity when he heard those gasping laughs.

 He lowered himself to his belly, confident that his friend would not attack him and the girl? She would have no reason to, or at least if she did he would easily just stand to be able to simply push her away. “It's alright,” he said softly, “I'm Crux, nice to meet you too.” He'd offer a genuine smile, hoping that it would encourage her to take a breath and calm down. He couldn't easily just tell her to breathe, since that would make her panic more, but he wasn't sure what else would work.

 “You're welcome to stay as long as you like,” he offered, hoping his calm and gentle voice would be enough.

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 He heard it. That laughter. He knew this time that it was not the normal sort, but that strained nervous laughter that was common with poor Riddle. When he finished speaking, he looked over at her from where she'd hidden behind him. "Aww, don't you worry. Crux ain't gonna hurt ya." He said softly, kindly, as his brown eyes softened. He didn't move away, however, he wouldn't do that unless she felt comfortable. He knew Crux wasn't going to hurt her but he knew that she also didn't know that. He didn't want her to feel all exposed or anything. He was here as a --very-- large security blanket if she needed it.

 His gaze turned back to Crux when he spoke again and bless that man, he was lying down and talking all nice to poor Riddle. What a good friend and leader he was! Mordecai was so happy that this man was his friend. He was so insanely proud and happy that he was being so nice and accommodating. "You're alright. I promise. You're safe with both of us." He would turn back to Riddle and would attempt to reach out and give her a reassuring pat with one of his large paws. He hoped that would help make her feel better as well.

 He would remain next to her for as long as she wanted or needed. He felt awful proud of her too since she was talking to Crux and trying to face her fears of him. Gosh, he wondered if Crux really was intimidating. Was it the teeth? Or how big he was? Mordecai wasn't really good at getting intimidated about people. Not even Vengeance had really intimidated him. Sometimes wolves were bigger and sometimes you had to fight those wolves. No biggie.

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There was a lot going on here to poor Riddle. She had expected negative things from experience, negativity from new and different dependent/independent variables. Yet when one abnormal variable repeatedly piles upon another abnormal one, to the point it becomes an elaborate amalgamated game of tic-tac-toe, then your default expectations from experience falters. And that was what was happening to Riddle. Her mouth practically hung open, giggling stopped from the surprise as the behemoth laid down upon his stomach. He introduced himself with a delicate kindness, and accepted her request without pestering for more information.

Her giggling came back, much quieter and slower, methodical, as she tried to think of what to do or say next. Mordecai speaking, then took her sudden interest, listening to his words. A promise. And as he pat her back with his giant paw, she felt something starting to form at the corners of her eyes. The tears and slow laughter was an odd look, but in a few seconds that laughter died down, and all that was left was just a tired-looking wolf, numb and ignorant to her anxiety, and yet she felt a warmness that could not be described. Hidden in the depths of a poker-face. Riddle got up and moved closer, sitting side-by-side with Mordecai now, flanks a few inches apart. There body differences were almost humorous when able to be compared like this.

"Please...get back up Prince Crux, you don't deserve such a state of being. The closer you are to the ground, the more insulted the stars must become I bet. Thy-I mean my behavior has not been adequate as a guest. I, um, get a bit anxious and wary. It's nice to meet you, and thank you for your patience and kindness. You both have brought new unknown feelings I want to understand and savor." She said with a sudden sweet tight-eyed smile with a tilt of her head, the angle causing a few tears to sparkle into the air. She continued on, "I promise to be a useful guest, please let me know if there is anything I can due to be of use." She added, indicating she was now finished talking by lowering her head politely. The air around her almost suggested she was leaving something out, something intangible yet large in her mind that she wanted to share. To her though, it could be shared another time.
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 Mordecai was an excellent friend, full of gentle nature that had not gone unnoticed. Crux watched as he encouraged the young woman whose giggles stopped for a time. He saw her tears and wanted to go to her to comfort her, as if he were her big brother, but instead he remained still and listened as her giggles faded away and she spoke normally.

 When she asked him to rise, he gave her a gentle smile and slowly rose to a sitting position, listening as she continued.

 She asked about being helpful and he considered it, though spoke on what she had said first. “If there is anything that we can do to help with your anxiety, please let us know. This world can be a scary one, especially with no idea of how we all arrived.” He'd look to Mordecai and offer a smile, remembering the day they'd met so many months ago. How he had piled leaves upon the then-stranger and had made a fast friend by nothing more than being himself.

 His eyes had returned to the girl. “What do you like to do?” He would not ask things of her she was unfamiliar with and if she had some sort of specialty, he would like to make use of it. There was something profoundly anxiety-inducing when you had to do a job you were not prepared for or knew how to do, and something profoundly calming about doing what you love. “If you decide to remain with us long-term and not just as a guest, we will welcome you.”

---

Lmk if you want me to toss the pack usergroup on her, up to you!

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 Oh no, had he done something wrong? The woman had tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, sad things that marked the ends of her nervous giggles. He wondered if he should take a step back or do something else to try to console her... but then, she was moving closer to him and taking shelter quite close. So, maybe the tears were from something else entirely? He was confused about a lot of things and this was one of them... so, he just leaned in ever so gently so that his fur could brush lightly against hers, hopefully reassuringly. He wasn't good with all of the fancy emotions and stuff but he could be there and be a good support figure.

 She went on to speak lovely words to Crux, flowery but simple enough that the dull knight could understand their meaning just fine. She was trying so hard and he was so so happy that she was wanting to stay! He couldn't help his tail giving soft wags when she spoke. It was unintentional and he really didn't realize his tail was doing so while he listened to her speaking of staying. He turned his gaze to Crux when he asked what it was that she wanted to do and then looked back at Riddle. He hoped she would stay longer than just as a guest but he wouldn't push and wouldn't impose.

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Riddle found herself tilting her head. Confused with Crux's first words. How to help her anxiety...That was a thing? Aren't you just suppose to overcome it and get stronger? Making accommodations for one wolf was selfish and weakened a pack. That was what she knew. But if she looked at this in a personal perspective, if she saw a pack-member falling behind on anything, she would change her actions and behaviors for them. So it must be kinda like that, maybe? She listened quietly to the rest of his words, finding herself slightly leaning on Mordecai as their flanks started to touch. His warmth soothing, Crux's voice was soothing. It was nice, she wanted more of it. Her ears suddenly perked in interest as she realized Crux was indicating that they all just woke up here. Truly they were all under quite the spell!

She tried to grab all the fleeting thoughts, to think carefully, but also fast enough not to impose more on them. "Thank you for the empathy and consideration. I, um, i-if it's not too much trouble..." She found her stammering as embarrassment sunk in at the thought of a request. "If you two can keep being nice to me, um, that's all I could ever need to help me. I like the attention..." She found her voice going quieter as she became more bashful, leaning away from Mordecai due to it. More words had come from her maw but they could not be heard as Riddle found herself tucking her head into her chest fluff due to said embarrassment, causing anything she was saying to be muffled.

She realized after a moment that probably not appropriate, perhaps rude, and she lifted her head up to speak, her eccentric nature showing a bit more as her pulse continued to quicken as she tried to explain herself, moving a paw or two on occasion to heighten the theatrics. "Thy do what all others do, survive and vanquish evil. Thee hills are thee greatest strength and biggest of foes. Truly the villages whispered of my soul. A child of the ram, they said with poppycock. Navigating, scouting, hunting, fighting, all necessary truths to success. My skills of they hills allowed me to keep my status, and Hoofbrain only excelled my limits." She found herself growing a little downtrodden.

"Yet a jester like thyself does not belong in this world. Everyone and everything seems much bigger than I. Even I cannot fathom if the prey is too hardy compared to yonder. A mountain is a mountain though. So um, ya know, like...yeah...I climb...and stuff...yeah." She found herself awkward trailing off. She felt pretty stupid right now. She basically just said, 'I can walk on mountains' like it's some sort of special ability. She didn't want to seem like an idiot to Crux and Mordecai but she felt like maybe that might be an impossible feat at this rate.
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 Mordecai remained a silent reassurance for the girl, Crux noticed thoughtfully. Still, his eyes remained on Riddle, calm and curious. She asked for more kindness and he smiled, offering a nod of agreement. Why shouldn't they be nice to her? She had shown nothing to cause Crux concern and it seemed that his friend also believed her to be harmless, or elsewise he wouldn't have brought her here, to their home.

 Her next words were odd, sprinkled in with words he did not know and phrases that made less sense than they should have.

 Nevertheless, he listened intently, nodding along as she spoke of her focuses. When she trailed off with the description of being a climber, he gave a little smile and a nod, looking up to consider the forest around them. Well, they were nestled alongside the mountains and while they had hills within their forests, it was nothing like those that lived atop the peak. “That sounds the closest to Neptunians - hunters, scouts, mappers of the land.” With her anxiety, she would be no good at the Mercurian role and he doubted she would wish to be a Jovian - though, who knew? His eyes returned to hers.

 “Would you like to be a Neptunian of Event Horizon?” A clear and precise question, hoping for a clear and precise answer.

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 Keep being nice to her? The large brown warrior let out a laugh, not a derisive one but an amused one. "Of course, we can do that! Why wouldn't anyone be nice to you? You're awful nice yourself." Truly, Mordecai couldn't see why someone would just be mean for the heck of it, especially not to her. He tipped his head down to her when she leaned away so that he could say more quietly and closer to her ear, "I don't mind giving no attention. 'Specially when you tell those awesome stories." Said with a truthful nod. It wouldn't even be an effort to give her attention. Was it ever an effort to give anyone attention? Mordecai certainly liked to talk.

 Then, she began to speak in that fancy fashion that she had when they first met. Mordecai leaned his head back to where it was previously while he watched with an awed expression, mouth turned into an "O". What an elaborate way to say she was a climber! "I don't know what you said but I sure as heck liked the way you said it. All fancy like." He drummed the ground with his own paws in a form of applause before looking over at Crux with a wide smile and sparkling eyes that seemed to say "See? Isn't she awesome?"

 He seemed to grasp the meaning well enough and offered back an option. Neptunian. What a fancy-sounding position. He looked back at Riddle with a smile. He was going to get whiplash looking back and forth like this.

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Riddle found her fur prickling from the sensation of Mordecai whispering into her ear, though the only movement she presented from the action was a lot of furious twitching of the ear. It made her anxious at first, but his words were kind, making her appreciate such concern. And as he drummed the ground with his paws, Riddle couldn't help but laugh lightly at the action, a notion that should be normal, feeling odd and foreign. Both of them seem to be accepting her in such positive ways still. Maybe that would change in the future, after all the more you acted like yourself the less you were liked, right?

Before she could let her happy feelings spiral down into the normal pit of negativity, Crux spoke, causing Riddle to straighten up and listen from habit. Mind going to an anxious flurry as she tried to get a read on any subtle signs while he spoke. As he explained the rank and offered the invitation, she immediately nodded her head and said "Yes!" before he had even finished the sentence. Realizing she had been too eager and agreed like a blind yes-man, she tucked her head in her neck fluff once again, face burning. Small nervous chuckles could be heard, muffled by her fluff. Get it together Riddle...

Removing her head, she flashed Crux an apologetic smile. "I-I mean yes, I would love to be a Neptunian. Scouting is often what I was assigned to do in my homeland, so surely I can be of use with such an occupation." She said with a nod of her head, leaving out that it was the only thing she ended up being used for. He could probably guess such a thing anyways.
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 Crux liked to see his friend becoming close with someone. He wondered if the two would become a pair or if they would just remain close friends, as he and Mordecai had been. He grinned at his brown-furred friend when the look of "See, isn't she awesome?" was given, giving a little nod of agreement.

 “Then, miss Riddle, we're happy to have you!” He smiled, looking from one wolf to the other. “Would you like me to show you around or would you like Mordecai to handle it? We den on a small island in the river - there are dens there that you can pick from if you'd like!” Some dens had been fairly recently made empty and he wondered if their inhabitants would ever return to den in them.

 Otherwise, they were fair game for the giggly girl, whose giggles were clearly far from a joyous display.

 “What was your homeland like?” Pure curiosity, though he added another statement, “If you don't mind me asking?” to give her an out in case she didn't wish to talk about it.

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 Hooray she was in the pack now! His small tail thumped a steady rhythm of happiness behind him. He would be more than happy to show her around the camp! Although Crux was more than capable of doing it himself... he still wanted to talk a bit more to Riddle himself and get to know her a bit. He already felt like they were fast friends. Although the brown man tended to think anyone he had a positive interaction with was a friend.

 "Yay! You're all official an' stuff!" The brown wolf congratulated his smaller companion. Then, he fell silent, head tilted to the side as he too wanted to hear how her homeland was. If she wanted to tell it, of course.

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