What she said had seemed to upset him, as he rolled over to stare directly at her, almost with a glare. And what followed next only proved to shock her with his verbosity - more came out of his mouth in the next few seconds then she had heard come out of him at any other time, perhaps combined… But it was not just that. It was not just the words that he said, or that he was speaking to her at all… It was the way he said them. There was emotion within them, a passion really. He was vehement in everything he said, with passion more than anything, and it shocked the sunrise princess. But afterwards… The silence was deafening. What was there to say in response? What words could she use that would not sound silly or petty in comparison to his eloquent monologue? Zawyne swallowed and bit her lip, all the while shifting her gaze from one of his orbits to the other, opening herself up to his aura so that anything else he said she could more fully understand. But no words came, not for long minutes, and she wondered if she should break it or if there was more to come. He had never been one, in the short time that she had known him, to be part of a lengthy conversation. And yet here he was, participating more than Zawyne was even. But finally, she could take it no more, and she opened her mouth to say something.

“I - “ But she stopped as he said another sentence. ‘You can’t… You can’t just leave.’ It was not a statement, nor fact, nor question. It was a wish, a hope, a desire. He was begging her not to leave. But why? Would it not be better and safer for everyone else here in this land? But her own thoughts were silenced and she tried to examine him and his. If he were any other wolf that she knew intimately, she would poke fun at him - this was so far from his natural balance and sense of order, so uncharacteristic for him as to be amusing. But somehow, Zawyne knew that if she were to make fun of Archangel, he would clam up, and regress to his previous monotone stance with short clipped responses. And so instead she took it seriously. “Can’t I? I cannot help but think that, despite your claims, we will end up bringing more darkness here than light, and that is not our purpose.”

Archangel stood and huffed, as if that was the end of the conversation. Zawyne glanced up at him with her heterochromic visionaries just in time to be showered by the leaves that he was shaking out of his pelt. “Hey!” She laughed and stood herself, also cleaning her fur but in a more delicate fashion - she picked each leaf out gently and placed them in a pile to her right. But the princess then paused - since when had she minded her coat being dirtied? She was the epitome of an unruly princess… Although she took her role as a Lorer seriously, she was always exploring, going where she shouldn’t, getting messy. The heat rose to her cheeks swiftly and she pointedly tore her gaze away from Archangel… Was she know self-conscious about her appearance… Because of him? At the thought of it, a strange tingling entered her stomach, waves of what almost could be described as nausea… Only she knew she would not be vomiting. It was not painful… But was a little bit uncomfortable to be sure. It was almost like 1 million butterflies fluttering about in her empty stomach, hyperstimulating her nerves. But the sound of a sudden scratch caught her attention, and she was forced to look at him - he had marked the tree that he had been resting under originally… Only now he was addressing her again, This time comparing her to Vera… Only… How he really just put her on a higher tier than the fallen lass? Zawyne shook her head… He held Vera in such high regard… How could she ever hope to even compare? Zawyne hung her head, but quickly raised it with a smile so that he would hopefully not see the sudden wave of anguish and sadness that passed over her facade and she moved on to answer his question, albeit with some confusion.

“But I have told you who I am. You know my name, and you address me by it. If you are looking for my heart name, it is Weargraede Maedve… And I am a Arcus Irae … I am the princess of them… I don’t… I don’t know what else to say that I am. I was to be the next Lorer…” Zawyne struggled over her words and then shrugged, a loose smile dancing over her lips as she stared shyly at him. “I shall tell you whatever it is that you wish to know. I just do not find myself all that interesting, so I do not know what it is that you wish to know. As for Vera…” Zawyne bit her lip and glanced down and to the left. “I know that she was very special to you.” Zawyne‘s next words were rushed, and she rushed through the next few sentences. “And I do not know why you are feeling, or what you are feeling. But I am glad that you are… for without feelings, without emotions, without hopes and dreams, what are we but flesh and skin?”

Archangel apologized for being too forward, for saying too much, and Zawyne couldn’t stay the laugh, the giggle, that fell from her. The femme padded it over to him and sat next to him, close enough so that the tips of their hairs would touch but nothing else. “There is nothing to apologize for, Archangel. Isn’t it these moments, where you are questioning everything, where it is uncomfortable, where are you are uncertain of what happens next… Isn’t it these moments that make you feel most alive? What is the point of being alive, if we do not enjoy it, if we do not push all of our boundaries and search for something more? Of course we strive to be happy with what we have, and to be thankful for it…” She placed her snout under his and lifted it so that he would look directly at her, and then pulled back slightly so that their snouts were mere inches part. “But haven’t you ever wondered if there was something more? If there was something greater out there that would bring you not just happiness, but joy? Haven’t you ever felt that something was missing? “” She stared at him for about a moment before the heat rushed back into her cheeks, and she blushed furiously before pulling away from him and looking down. “It is now I who should apologize… I’ve been told that I sometimes I’m a little overwhelming… I can make people a little too uncomfortable with my intensity… ”

⁂Here^I_{am a}Commoner⁂Teen⁂