lilies of the valley

Three more siblings.

Her mother and father would be busy. She wondered what her brothers made of them. Yet pinning them down to find out seemed impossible these days.

So she busied herself with tasks so that her mother and father would not have to worry. Her patrols were hardly done in the way of a paladin, but she did remain watchful of the lands. Especially the ones that touched the mountain home.

The garden was familiar by now. Enough that being lost in thought was not so dangerous to where she stepped. However, how could she have ever expected the unexpected? The smell of something sharp in the air, reminiscent of meals or injuries. She associated it closer to food for the distinct lack of canine scent.

Yet as she moved around a few berry bushes, she found the source tucked between some tangles of thorns.

Antlers.

Large and fresh, without the animal who lost them anywhere around. Had the blood come from them or a hunter? If it had been a hunter where were they to flaunt their trophy? Perhaps, if neither prey nor predator was here, she could make them her trophy...

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Random Prompt: On the ground there are a pair of antlers, but fresh blood is splattered around them.

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He hadn't spent much time with his younger siblings, and Haruki was determined to change that. Although he didn't approve completely yet of @Quicksilver, he now fathered two of his mother's recent litters and has been nothing but loyal to the pack, them, and his mother. Vienne, last year's frost child, wandered off beyond their borders, he caught her tracks while patrolling their borders and so he followed them across the glaciers and into the floral garden whos flowers and herbs were slowly going into their seasonal slumber. Even they, so accustomed to the cold, had to sleep away the harshest season.

Clearing his throat, he felt awkward in his approach and did so with hesitant, slow paws. “Does the sight alarm you, princess Vienne?” He made his way to her side, shoulder to shoulder while gazing down at what he had a good idea of what was going on here but couldn't read her thoughts. Quietly he turned his stormy gaze onto her, waiting for her response.

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They seemed...fine.

Pristine if not for the blood. She counted the points on them and wondered if it meant anything. Did each branch coordinate to an age? An event? She doubted it was the latter but she fancied the thought.

She had nearly been ready to pick them up and hurry home but —

Alarm her? No, but she felt a certain kind of embarrassment in that answer. Especially in the face of the king. Would her half-sibling find her an oddity if she admitted she admired the bones?

“No,” She dared to test the waters with this moment. “I was thinking I might take them. A good...keepsake. Something to admire and learn more of.”

How many young princess could flaunt a set of antlers?

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Their family was awkward - or was it just him? He had been away for so long after all, he barely knew any of his new half-siblings. Not nearly enough to hold a proper conversation for longer than just a passing greeting. Did they hate him already? Intimidated? Holding a grudge for his absence up until recently?

A keepsake? A pale brow quirked at the mention. He even offered a little laugh in response before speaking. “You're my mother's child alright.” With a shrug he pushed away any thoughts of how odd this might be. “Mother might like to see them too if you're enchanted by it. She keeps a stone and other little trinkets herself, you know? Has she shown them to you?”

At least they had their mother in common to talk about. A little ice breaker perhaps if he was lucky.

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