To the Victor go the Spoils

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EquinoxSol

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"No, Father, I will not do it!" the young elf shouted, his angry voice traveling outside the tent that his father and mother shared. "I will not be wed to someone to keep peaceful relations. I don't even know this girl. It's not fair!"

His mother tried to pull him into a warm embrace. "No!" Shadowsigh shouted as he pushed his mother away. "I don't want your condolences."

He frowned deeply as his father spoke:

"Think of the tribe, Shadowsigh. We need you to do this so our people can survive. You remember how the Shi'ahs tribe ended up when they were taken over. They are all but destroyed now. Do you want that to happen to us?"

"Father, please. I don't want to marry yet. I was going to marry Woodstar when I became tribeleader. Not some...not someone I don't know!" He ranted on like this for a few minutes, before finally, "...fine. I can't fight it anymore, can I?" His shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Good, son," his father said. "Your future wife will be arriving soon with her family to pick you up. You will be living with them. It appears that your brother will be tribeleader in your place, Shadowsigh." The young wild elf's father gently patted him on his shoulder, trying to be comforting.

"Why don't you go put on your best clothes?" his mother asked, her soft voice helping to comfort him. "You should wear your best jade."

"Fine," Shadowsigh muttered, before leaving. Entering his tent that was right next to his parents', he changed, pulling on a soft black leather vest that showed the lithe muscles of his arms. His loose cotton pants were of the same color, save for a belt made of strong leather and decorated with pieces of jade. Around his neck, he placed his favored pendant carved in the shape of a mockingbird.

Hearing a long blow from a horn, probably from one of the scouts, he muttered, "Guess she's here..." Leaving his tent, he sighed heavily, not looking in the mood to be talking to anyone.
 
"You know that I can and I will refuse you the grandchildren that you so desperately want?" A girls voice piped up from the carriage that she and her family rode in.

"Bellator, please do not be like that. You know that it makes your Mother sick with worry. If we do not have to fight for this land then so be it. You know that you would marry eventually. Yes I know he is not your first choice, but if we do not have to lose our men then why fight? This land is lovely, just look my sweet Bellator." a man answered, leaning forward to place his hand on the girls knee.
"It's Bella. I hate that stupid name." The girl muttered, withdrawing her leg from the touch. She leaned back against the plush red seats and stared out the window. She would rather be out there riding, but her Mother had said that riding was not for a lady. Bella gave a soft "Hmph" and then settled down.

What was he going to look like? What was even his name? They knew nothing about this man or his family, just that he was one of the high heads and that this marriage would mean that the two clans could live there peacefully. "What if we're related?" Bella suddenly asked, looking to her father.
He let out a soft chuckle. "I doubt it. Unless his Mother is also a Dwarf."
Bella sighed softly and turned away once more. They were getting close now, she could feel the horses getting nervous with all of the new smells, plus her Father sat up straighter. "Fix yourself, look presentable. You will marry him no matter what. Better to show him that later than now." Her Father told her, looking at her sternly.

Bella sat up as the carriage came to a halt. She was the first to climb out and then turned around to fix her clothing. She wore a thing long sleeved blue and white shirt that flowed out behind her like a cap. Underneath was a pair of white pants that she had only been allowed to wear because she "forgot" to bring some dresses that weren't for balls and then a pair of soft brown boots that had been with her since she was young.
Turning around the girl pushed her platinum blond hair from her bright green eyes and pushed it behind the pointed ears. With a slim body and the pointed ears, one would say she was an elf. The only probelm was that she was incredibly short. Two of her would barely make one of her father who stood at normal elf height. She was more along the lines of just being about 5'' tall and that was on a good day. Looking around, Bellator her name being the Dwarf word for "warrior" breathed in deeply and then walked over to her Father. "Where is he? I need to just see what he looks like before I kill myself."

Through the crowd of elves she could see one that stuck out like a sore thumb. He was dressed mostly in black, except for the pendant that was around his neck. She did not carry a pendant like most elves did. She had decided that she would war the braclet of her Mothers people. She wore it all the time, but because she was meeting with her future family she had taken it off and instead put it in her pocket at her waist where a small knife was also store. She usually carried more weapons, but had not been allowed to until they were out on the road again with her new husband.

Going back to the man, Bella stared for just a bit to long which caused her father to kick her lightly in the shins. "Ouch." Bella muttered and then stared down at the ground. That must be him. At least he is.... okay.
 
While he had been waiting for his parents to join him, so that they may meet his soon-to-be wife, Woodstar ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I don't want you to leave me," she said through tears. It wasn't often that Shadowsigh had seen her cry, and it tugged at his heart.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, running his hands through her long brown hair. "I'm doing this for the good of all of us. If I didn't, more of us would die. I promise, someday I will return, even if it's only for a little while." Softly, he kissed the crown of her head, burying his nose in her hair. "I'm sorry," he said again, his voice much softer.

Slowly, he detached himself from her, just in time to see his bride's family arrive. As his family approached him, his father placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and his mother standing to his left, Shadowsigh couldn't help but heave a breath out, glancing over at Woodstar longingly. She had retreated to the entrance of her tent, where she and her sisters lived together. She's so...short, he thought to himself, glancing at the young woman who stood near her father. That might make things...difficult. Shadowsigh was easily almost as tall as his father, and he would look quite awkward next to his wife.

His mother, upon seeing the frown upon her son's face, muttered, "Don't frown. You want her to like you, don't you? I want some beautiful grandchildren someday, and you won't get there if she hates you all her life."

"Fine, Mother," he mumbled, straightening slightly and removing the frown from his face.

"Let's go," his father commanded, guiding Shadowsigh forwards.

They approached Shadowsigh's future wife and her family, Shadowsigh trying to avoid bringing her attention to the black and white feathers in his onyx-colored hair.

"Hello!" his father announced. "I'm Dewshadow. My wife here is Rootsigh, and my young son is Shadowsigh. Is this the young Lady Bellator?" It was obvious that Dewshadow wasn't usually this amiable, but at least he was doing a good job of hiding it. Rootsigh was obviously rather surprised by his act, though she was more concerned with Shadowsigh's expression.

"Good afternoon," Shadowsigh muttered, his hazel eyes focused on his boots.
 
Bella had not seen the other girl that her future husband was with and it was probably for the better. Even if she did not want to be with this man, they were still going to bed and that meant that they were going to have to stay faithful to each other and not the other people they had their own hearts set on. That was a tough thing to settle on because Bella had her own boyfriend back at her home, but she had told him the night of her depature that when she came back that she was going to be married and that they could not see each other anymore. It had devestated her and she had cried the first night of traveling, but not she was dealing with it.

Looking up at her new "familY" as they came over, she frowned just a bit. "My name is Bella. I do not like Bellator." She quipped which resulted in a firm grip on her shoulder from her Father.
"My dear, be nice please. He did not know. I'm sure that he meant no harm by calling you your full name." He looked down at his daughter and stared at her until she curtised.
"I'm sorry Sir. My apologies. Please call me Bella." Bella mumbled and then looked over at her soon to be husband.

She curtised again and replied back, "Good afternoon to you also. I was wondering if you would show me around...." Her Mother had asked her to go and take a walk with him so that way they could have some alone time. Here was to hoping that he would say no and then leave. Maybe they could be that couple that only saw each other at night and did not hardly speak to each other. Though that would be difficult considering that she had no siblings so they were going to one day rule her clan when her Father was ready to step down. That was the other reason for this marriage.

"Oh where are my manners. My name is Terrae and this is my wife Ignis." Her father suddenly spoke up and reached out his hand in the normal elven greeting. Her Mother did the same and then they seemed to whisk the other two adults away leaving the two of them together.

Bella scuffed her boot and looked around. Even if this new guy... Shadowsigh did not go with her then she would wander around on her own. She was okay with doing that.
 
"If that is what you wish," Shadowsigh answered, his voice no more happy or louder than the first sentence he had said. Stifling the urge to sigh heavily, he waited until the adults had left before bowing slightly and offering his hand, like his mother had been trying to get him to do for the last few days leading up to his future wife's arrival. Depending on whether or not she would actually take the offered hand determined whether or not he would hold hers as he led her through the camp.

"I trust that your traveling here was uneventful?" he asked, not liking how much of his mother he heard in his words. She had always imagined that it would be love at first sight for him and his wife, that they would fall into each other's arms and never part. Of course, that only happened in stories, and never in real life, but it was a nice thought, he supposed. As they walked, Shadowsigh was relatively silent, only speaking up when he was showing her something important to his people. It tasted kind of sour in his mouth, as if he was saying, "Look at all the things that wouldn't have been here anymore if I hadn't agreed to marry you."

As they were walking, Shadowsigh caught sight of his younger brother Leafpath. He hadn't inherited a combination of their parent's names, since he was the youngest, but now it was obvious that Leafpath would become tribeleader in his place. The younger wild elf raised a hand in wave, but when Shadowsigh ignored him, he promptly lowered his hand, seeing his brother's future wife walking at his side.

Heaving a sigh, the older brother continued walking a bit before saying, "Bella is a beautiful name...Did your mother or your father choose it?" He knew that it was all pretty much what his mother had told him to say, but he was trying to fit a genuine compliment into it. Bella was a decently pretty name, and he hoped that some form of being genuine would succeed in making her like him, at least a little bit.
 
Bella looked over at him when he used the same quiet voice as before. Well this was going to be a long ride back. She was pretty sure that he had no idea that they were going to have their own carriage and they were expected to sleep in the same tent together since the journey was about a four day trip. She took his hand though her grip was very light. It was just the proper thing to do. Besides with his long legs compared to her short ones, she could easily lose them. That may have been his point though...

"Oh yes... it was um, nice. I suppose. Listen, I don't want to be here any more than you do. I don't like this idea and I wish that our parents had a better one. I don't like the fighting, but my Father he may seem like a good fellow on the outside but inside he is a demon." Bella blurted out rather suddenly, looking up at him. It almost hurt her neck to look at him, that was going to take some getting used to. She knew that he was showing her the things that might not have been standing a few days ago if they had been turned down for a marriage. It hurt her heart, but that was how her people were.

Looking around, Bella caught sight of a little boy who resembled Shadowsigh in a few ways. Must be a younger brother. He's a cute looking kid. She did not say anything though because it seemed that Shadowsigh was ignoring the younger fellow so she took his que and did the same. "Oh uh, my Mother. It's Dwarf. Means 'warrior'. I was not supposed to be born, the doctors said that my Father and Mother should not try and create a child, but they went ahead anyways. I came out 11 months later as that is how long our dwarf women are with child and because of my fighting spirit from the beginning they decided that Bellator would be a suitable name for me. I do not like it though. It is the boy version because I am an only child so my Mother decided that I should have a manly name. Thankfully my Father, when he was younger, was kind and gave me the nickname Bella. I have used it ever since." Bella had not meant to say so much, but it just kind of tumbled out. "You are the one with the interesting name though, Shadowsigh. I see that it is a combination of your Mother and Father, but still.... very interesting."
 
"It's tradition," Shadowsigh answered sullenly. "The mother and the father combine their names for their first child. My younger brother got lucky, he got his own name." The elf sighed again, glancing down at Bella for a moment. It felt...odd, to be holding hands and walking with someone that short. It was almost like taking a child on their first hunting outing. With his free hand, he reached up to nervously twist one of the rings in his ears, wondering if he should say anything more.

What she had said about her father was...interesting. Not quite sure how he should address it if it ever came up, he decided to ignore it, for now, and deal with it later. Catching sight of his brother again, Shadowsigh beckoned him over, deciding that he would find out what the younger boy wanted.

"Shadowsiiiigh," he said, that annoying whining tone coming to his voice that Leafpath knew bothered Shadowsigh. Stopping in his tracks, Shadowsigh looked down at the boy, who was several inches taller than Bella. "You told me that you were gonna teach me how to shoot a bow better. But Mother tells me that you're gonna leave. Is that true?" Tears were in the young elf's eyes as he gazed up at Shadowsigh.

"It's true," the elder brother answered. "I'm supposed to be married...to Bella here." He gestured towards her, watching as Leafpath silently appraised her.

"Still, I don't want you to leave!" Leafpath cried, as the first of his tears spilled over his cheeks.
 
He sounded so unhappy about his name, but Bella was more inclined to it. The nickname Shadow seemed to fit him perfectly. Although Sigh would be another great one right now. She did not say anything about it though and instead watched as he moved his free hand up to nervously twist one of the rings in his ear. At least she was off putting to him. Somehow that seemed to make her feel better. The height thing was still a big problem in her head, but with the thought that he was already feeling nervous, it just made her feel all the more better.

When his younger brother came over, Bellator immediately forgot what she had thought earlier about him being cute. He was just annoying. She stared at him, though even he was taller than she was. When the young boy suddenly burst into tears, Bella was taken back and she dropped Shadowsighs arm and stared down at her boots. She had to be calm and collective about this. This could be a ploy to get them to break it off or this could just be an annoying brother who didn't want the older one to leave.

Bella turned to Shadowsigh and looked up at him, "I don't really know what this is, but if it is a ploy to get me to feel bad then I do not know what to tell you. I can't change what is going to happen and while I do not like it, I am trying to deal with it in a mature manner. Maybe I should just continue walking on my own."
 
As soon as Leafpath started crying and Bella let go of his hand, Shadowsigh pulled his brother into a tight embrace. "I know it's going to be hard," he said softly, "but you have to be strong for everyone. You're going to be the tribeleader after Father steps down, and you have to be a leader everyone can look up to." When he let his brother go, Leafpath was still crying.

"I'm s-sorry," he stuttered out, brushing away tears with the backs of his hands. "I just wanted you to be the tribeleader so that I could go become a traveling hunter in the woods near the cities. But now I have to become like you, because Dad doesn't want to have to choose someone else."

Turning to Bella, Shadowsigh listened silently as she spoke. "It's fine. I am supposed to walk with you. Leafpath is still a kid, and doesn't understand that compromises have to be made in order to keep the peace. I am sorry." Looking to Leafpath, he said, "Go find Father. I'm sure that he will listen just as well as I can, but he doesn't have a future wife to take care of." Frowning, he made sure that his brother left before apologizing to Bella again. Offering his hand, he said, "Let's go..."
 
Bella watched as the young man ran off and then she turned back to Shadowsigh and moved forward to take his hand again and stare straight forward. "I don't like the idea of taking you away from your family, but we are supposed to come back and rule over my clan one day as I have no siblings and I am a girl." Bella murmured and finally looked over at him. "We will be able to come and visit your family and your clan though, I can promise you that. Although my Father is quite a mean person I know how to persuade him. I tried to get out of this marriage, but I was unable seeing as how my Mother was also for this marriage." Bella murmured as they continued walking.

She had heard how he had said his father did not have a future wive to take care of, but Bella had let it pass. They were still getting used to each other and there was going to be some tensions early on. "Are you ready to leave as soon as possible? Father does not want to stay away for long. Although his most trusted adviser is running in our stead, Father likes to be in control of things. He plans to leave in the early light of the morning." Bellator informed him, just in case there were things that still needed to be packed and goodbyes that needed to be said.
 
"I don't care..." Shadowsigh muttered. It was clear that he wasn't on good terms with his parents now, despite the facade that they tried to build up. It was clear that their oldest son was not happy with marrying Bella, and he was determined to make them feel his unhappiness. If he could make it happen, he wouldn't even say goodbye to them. Let them take care of their favored son while they shipped the other one to marry some girl he didn't know. At least, that was how Shadowsigh saw it.

"If you wish it, I will leave as soon as your family is ready," he said sullenly. Silently, he promised himself that he would never father any children, not by the woman he didn't want to marry. His legacy would die with him, and his parents would have no grandchildren by him. They would have to depend on Leafpath for that. Letting the frown settle on his face, he looked down at his boots, knowing full well that this marriage was probably nothing more than taking him hostage so that his parents wouldn't try to fight against his wife's family. The thought sent a chill through him, even though the valley was in the middle of summer. Gods...this would be a difficult marriage to get through.
 
Bellator could hear the bitterness in his voice and now it was just starting to upset her. "Listen here, Sir Sigh. I do not like this anymore than you do. I have someone back at home that I want and that loves me, but I can't be with him because I am to be married to you. Would you please try and act like a mature person though? This is all going to take some getting used to, but it would be easier on all of us if you would stop your sullen behavior and try and get through today." Bella finally snapped at him, yanking her arm away from his. She moved two steps for her (one for him) in front and folded her arms across her chest. She could feel the tears welling up again, but she was trying to be strong.

Was this how her life was going to be? Sullen, lonely and depressed? Bella did not want that. She was always the live of the party, but it would be hard to be that way if she was to be around Shadowsigh for any longer than ten minutes if he continued to act the way that he was right now. Yes they had only known each other for a mere moment, but at least she was trying to save face and put on a smile (even if it was a small one) for him so that way he could see how much she was trying. He wasn't even trying to act.

"I don't want my life to be lonely, sad and depressing. I don't." Bella murmured, her voice barely heard above the whispering of the trees.
 
"And you think that I want mine to be, too?!" Shadowsigh shouted back. He had turned away from her, angry at her, angry at his parents, angry at...everything! "My life was going to be perfect. I was going to have a beautiful wife, an amazing family, and a life that I could be proud of. And now I'm stuck with you. Wouldn't it be obvious that I be a little angry at it all? I tried to be kind, I tried to be cordial and act how my mother wanted me to, but I just couldn't do it. I can't pretend that I can be happy with someone like..." he stopped himself. He knew what he had been about to say, but that was perhaps too cutting, even for him.

"If I'm so terrible, show yourself around!" he finally shouted, storming off and out of the camp. Once he was in the nearby forest, he started running, delving deep into the woods. Finding a reasonably-sized tree, he scaled it. Sinking down into a small part of the tree, which was almost like a cradle, he sighed heavily again, his hazel eyes piercing the sky for any help from the gods. Of course, right then he realized how childish he had acted towards his future wife, but his pride wouldn't let him return to camp and apologize. He could hide there all night, if he wanted. No one would be able to find him unless they knew about this particular spot, which only Leafpath and he did. His father might be able to find it, but he would probably be too busy attempting to remedy the situation Shadowsigh had caused.
 
Bella stood there for a few more minutes after he had run off. She looked to see where he had gone, but he was long gone and with her short legs she would never get to him. Should she go back to their parents though and tell them what happened? No... Bellator knew that it would just make the situation worse. Instead she did end up showing herself around the rest of the way and then when it came to be to dark to see with her only half elven eyes, Bella went back to camp. Her tent had already been set up and her parents seemed to be having a grand old time with Shadowsighs parents.

Silently Bella crawled into her tent, pulled out her hair and unlaced her boots before crawling onto her blankets and curling up around a ball. His words still stung her. She knew that he had been about to say something very hurtful and while they had only known each other that short period of time, she was still a creature with feelings and his words had stung as deep as a hornet to her skin. "It will get better.... I hope." Bella murmured to herself as the tears spilled over and she cried herself to sleep. Hopefully he would be there in the morning, ready to leave.
 
Very quickly, word of Shadowsigh's disappearance spread throughout the camp among his people. Soon, it was all they could talk about. How the tribeleader's eldest son had run off after having a heated argument with his future wife. As soon as Dewshadow and his wife had left Bella's family, an elf told him about his son's disappearance. Thinking that it would be extremely bad for the tribe to have his son disappear just before he was due to be wed, and maybe even worse to have Bella's family learn of it before he was found, Dewshadow sent his best trackers off in search of his son, including Leafpath.

Throughout the night, Shadowsigh remained in the tree, folding his arms over his chest as the coolness of night settled over the valley. It wasn't too bad, sleeping in the tree. He had done so before, whenever he had run off or he was teaching Leafpath how to do something. Still, he didn't get much sleep that night. Most of the time, he remained awake, staring at the stars and trying to imagine living his life with Bella. It was hard...Since he had gotten older, and he had realized his feelings for Woodstar, he had always imagined that he would be with her forever. Of course, that was all before this business with Bella's family came about.

When dawn finally started showing itself over the mountains in the eastern horizon, Shadowsigh left the tree, deciding that he had better get home before his father got truly angry. He might be already, but if he was, he most likely would have left the camp to search for him. The sun was showing itself over the mountains by the time he returned. As soon as his father saw him, he had started yelling, reprimanding his son for running off like that and causing a huge racket.
 
Bella was awake and packing her tent when she heard the yelling that her soon to be husband was getting from obviously his father. She was quick to summon over a servant and have them finish packing while she sought out the sound of the two arguing. Or at least... one was arguing. When she came upon them, she moved over and gently touched Shadowsighs' hand before turning to her almost Father-in-Law. "I'm sorry Sir, I said that Shadow did not have to stay the night with me so long as he spent it by himself and not with another girl. We are to be married after all and I expect at least some respect. I did not realize that allowing him to do that though would cause such a ruckus. I can assure you that it will not happen again. Sorry once again, Sir." Bella murmured to the older elf, turning her head up to look at him. He seemed to tower over her, but she did not mind.

"If you also do not mind, I would like Shadowsigh to come with me. I figured that we can help each other pack." Not that they needed more time together, but she wanted Shadowsigh to get out of trouble and taking the blame for it seemed to be a good way to do that. Besides there was no way that Dewshadow would get mad at her because her Father was standing just a few feet away watching this all happen.
((YAY I POSTED. Also... you changed your picture. Thank you... so much.))
 
Shadowsigh had borned the brunt of his father's yelling, unflinching and unwavering. He didn't care about the shouting; he had done much worse before, and this was nothing compared to his father's anger when Shadowsigh had been caught with Woodstar a couple years ago. Of course, her father had been angry, too, but he had just seemed happy that his youngest daughter had found someone she liked.

Flinching when he felt a hand touch his, he immediately identified the owner as Bella. Slightly shocked when she put the blame on herself, he was tempted to step in and give his own version of the story, one where he had left after saying goodnight to his future wife before going into the forest to commune with the nature gods for the night, wishing to feel close to them in the coming days. He hadn't stepped in, but the almost-spoken lie made him feel better about yelling at her yesterday.

Of course, his father hadn't gotten angry at Bella. How could he? She was going to be his daguther-in-law, and he probably hoped that she would be the daughter he had never had. He was still livid, but he wasn't about to start shouting at Bella.

"Yes, of course," Dewshadow said in response to Bella's request. He said no more, only throwing a loaded look towards Shadowsigh, who gazed back at him blankly, before leaving, heading towards his wife, who had been standing in front of their tent, arms crossed over her chest.

Once his father was gone, Shadowsigh turned to Bella and said, "You didn't have to do that..."

((Yay~! ^^
 
Bellator smiled at Dewshadow and then tugged gently, but firmly on her new fiancees hand and led him back towards where they were still breaking camp down for the visitors. "Of course I did." Bella murmured when he said she had not needed to do that. "I understand where you are coming from Shadow.... I am in that same place. I am feeling the same exact things that you do and while I do not like it anymore than you, we are a team now. We have to start acting like one so that we can be as strong as we can be when we are together. We are going to rule my Clan one day." Bella had stopped back at her tent which was now almost completely torn down.

Shooing the rest of the servants away, she finished rolling it up and placing it where it needed to be. "Do you have your things ready? I will help you if you would like some help." Bellator turned to him after putting the pack in the carriage that had been specifically designed to hold packs and other items for the trip. Shadows' belongings would go on top of the carriage and would be strapped down so that way they were not jostled off and lost on the trip back home.
 
Shadowsigh nodded at her question, his dark eyes sullen. "My mother was so excited for you to come that she had me pack almost a week ago..." Letting out a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair before leading Bella to his tent. Outside it sat a medium-sized trunk, containing everything that Shadowsigh had ever owned. Gazing sadly at the tent, saying silent goodbyes to it, he remembered the night that he and his brother had carved their names into the wooden parts of it, when they had still shared it.

Approaching it, he ran a hand along the side, his expression downcast. Grasping the pendant around his neck for luck, he watched as a couple of Bella's servants asked him if it was all he was taking with him. Numbly, he nodded, and barely even realized that they had taken it away before it was already on top of the carriage. "I suppose that's it, then," he mumbled softly.
 
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