WOLFBANE

A sound of rushing air breaks the pleasant silence, and from behind a summer-green hill the shape of Wolfbane’s snow-colored wings soon bring him into focus. He hovers curiously atop the large rise, peering down to where the call of his name had come from, and when he spots the young, recognizable filly Bane doesn’t hesitate to swoop down the sloping side and coast over the ground to where she wandered.

“Look who it is!” The mature stallion whistles brokenly, circling the petite gray girl before coming to a soft landing beside her. “Mary mary, quite contrary.” He teases lightly, a boyish grin splitting his mouth apart just so he can reach out to tug at her growing mane. “How did something so lovely come from something like a rhinoceros of your father?” The elder male wonders, laughing gently as he moved apart from the girl. At his sides both wings furl closer, tucking atop his spine like a pale cloak might.

“What brings you east to my neck of the woods?” Bane asks at last, shaking out his upright mane so that it could settle properly. The wind always seemed to leave kinks and breaks when he flew, and it felt better when all the short, white bristles lined up in row. “You can’t possibly be bored of Sylva already, can you?” He smirks, relaxing one blue-stockinged leg.

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||

WOLFBANE

Hearty and full, a raucous laugh bursts free from Wolfbane’s chest at the honest truth Mary speaks. She certainly was her mother’s child, but knowing Rey as he did Bane doubted that was entirely a bad thing. Her confidence and interest in socializing seem to be the ‘Arthas’ side of her, as Rey wouldn’t be caught dead actively looking for company. The odd color-changing mare was a hermit at best.

Her beauty though … it runs through Mary and suits her, even though the girl isn’t much older than a yearling. She’s got those fine, long legs and a maturing shape about her. Given a few years, the pegasus stallion doubts she’ll have any problems finding a suitor.

“Ehhhhh…” Wolfbane groans, “Vulgaris isn’t boring at all.” He chuckles, turning to gaze at the sky like she did. Her comment of the view and sunset remind him of his own childhood in Tephra. Those memories are a lifetime away from the present and still … he aches for the sulfuric volcano and unusually choppy seashore.

Turning back again, a pleasantly mild smile eases onto his face. Mary (like Dayé and Sawtooth) was growing quickly, spending up a childhood she’d soon miss. For a moment he contemplates; envisions her as his own child.

The ensuing pain of that idea puts an end to the daydream.

“Loess is surprisingly lively these days. We’ve had a steady flow of visitors and two newcomers, though I’m not sure if one of them will actually stay.” He recalls, flipping through the events of Heartfire’s arrival, Woolf’s proposal, and Electra’s … introduction. “I’m almost glad you left.” He teases cheekily, ears dropping while the rest of his face whipped up a devilish expression.

“We’d be overcrowded!” He exclaims, throwing his brightly-marked head to the sky in a playful shake. “However -” Bane pauses, calming himself, “- we’ve been sharing Lepis. Good thing she can fly.” The brute winks, ruffling his own pale wings.

“What do you think about your dad crowning her Queen?” He wonders, finally calm enough to give Mary his full attention. This question, unexpected as it was, seemed wholly diplomatic and curious in nature. He often wondered how the herd dynamic affected Arthas’s other offspring, though from what he could gather Rey didn’t seem to mind. She never really cared about anything as far as he could recall.

The Sylvian Princess was safe here. She could talk freely without threat of being discovered. Wolfbane had never been one to share a secret once told to him, but this isn’t exactly secretive persay.

Just a bit revealing, that’s all.

|| The Pirate Lord of Loess ||