King And Vagabond

    “Yes sir, I understand,”

    Angel had remand quiet for a while. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. The worlds were spoken with great concession. If there was something Angel was good at, it was keeping her words to herself. No one would know what was spoken in the clearing. At least, not from her voice.

    Angel almost flinched away from the denunciation but stubbornly stopped herself. Mufasa had a way of exerting authority without seeming autocratic. As he spoke to her Angel felt an honest sense of disappointment from her own actions, even if she had thought at the time she had done them that there was a valid reason for breaking the most basic code of rank. That reason being her own desire and a previous need for self sufficiency. Their king made his displeasure clear, yet in a way that made the canine feel that she should make it up, rather then openly resent his mire.

    She had cast her eyes at his paws, her gaze rooted to the grassy forest floor. The weight of her own collar with it's duel brass tags feeling like anchors. That is until that great paw slipped under her chin, and pulled her back up to a new proposition. Angel took a deep breath and let her gaze travel back up to meet the king's. Her eyebrows arched and her ears slipped back. Actual work? There were a number of meanings that phrase could hold, and she suddenly found her reproach mixed with curiosity. Those sky blue eyes blinked and her bushy tail swiftly curled against her haunch, the white feather of fur that marked it seemingly rolling in a matching curl. A cloud moved from in-front of the sun, and it's shadow cast a light through the lion king's mane and across the smaller dog's face. From her point of view it crowned the king with a halo.

    “Yes,” She repeated. “I won't speak of any of this. I promise.”

    She stood up to her four legs and gently rolled her head out from his paw. Taking a silent yet respectful step back. One ear flopped in front of her face, and she tilted her head to the side to cock it out of the way. She remained respectfull, but clearly confused as to what Mufasa was thinking.

    “Sir, er....your highness, if I may ask...what sort of work do you have in mind. I'll do it! Of course...” A paw rose to graze the Sun's tag. There was no way the pom would pass up a chance to help Arendelle and it's Royal Family. “But what is it that I can do?”

    Angel's eyebrows rose, and she tilted her head to the side so that one of her floppy ears hung awkwardly. She had accepted outright more out of respect for the King's offer then a genuine understanding of what he had in mind. A fact that dawned on her as the responsibilities asked were laid out before her. Getting into and out of scrapes was nothing new. She could have laid out a long record of near misses with a dog catcher, altercations with rats over trashcans, close encounters with stray cats or boys with rocks, or coming close to witnessing the underside of a speeding locomotive. Yet all of that would have, at worse, effected her and her alone. If she was caught, well...that didn't bare thinking. She wouldn't get caught, and

    The dog took a silent step back as the King plucked one end of the log off the earth for a second and let it fall back. While his strength was not something to refute, the only display of physical power caused Angel's ear's to dip back and her tail to shiver. That he could handle his own strength with such dexterity. Mufasa more then embodied the essence of a powerful king, and he wore it with a sense of respect that made her feel as, even with the dangers, there was a sense of honor to his offer.

    “I understand what you are asking. Perhaps even more then you know. I was once a street dog, where every day could quickly turn into a test for survival. Where your very life could depend on a smooth word or the ability to vanish. Those days are hopefully behind me...” A paw rose up and touched the license around her neck, steadying them against her chest fur. Her head was craned, looking straight up at the lion. “But I know how to play that role.”

    As soon as the words left her mouth, another thought hit her, and hit hard. Honor, trust...secrecy. Mufasa was putting his trust in her. For a brief second, that thought alone made her want to decline. Her eyes dropped, and she hoped that the King wouldn't detect the anxiety that flooded her mind. She had her own secrets of extreme value. Scamp...for starters. How would the king react where he to know about her secret relationship? Or how she had struck a deal with Princess Anna to bring her lover into and out of Arendelle under the clock of secrecy? She was already keeping knowledge from his parents...now she was going to hold back from the king!

    Yet...that was why she thought that this was something she could achieve. Not that she was feeling complacent in her skills. Far from it. There was a genuine fear of screwing up, and here was a chance to screw up on a monumental scale. The kind of scale that could get her, and others, killed. However, If there was something Angel knew, it was how to keep a secret. Her eyes returned to lock hard with Mufasa's, and her mouth became an intense line of sincerity.

    “If it will help you, and help my family, then I how could I say no? I said yes, and I'll stand by that.”

    The cloud moved again, and seemed to shroud the forest in shadow. The trees rustling in the wind and the cool darkness enveloping down Angel's back to sch a degree that she actually felt a slight chill.

    “I couldn't tell you,” Angel trotted alongside the king. His gate was massive enough that she seemed to bob alongside him, her paws seeming to float over the ground. Yet he moved a slow but steady, leisurely, pace. Easy for the dog to keep up with. Her ears tipped back and she held her head slightly erect as she strolled, keeping up with the feline. Her lip curled as she thought about the attack, it had happened so quickly that she had not really paid much attention to the individuals involved. That is, other then the leopardess that ended it by wrapping it's claws around her throat. “We were hit mostly by wild animals, so one would think that they would not keep to the city streets. But, then you're not a stranger to Arendelle, are you?”

    The pathway lead down to the riverbank, where it ran alongside the tumbling waters. Cat-tails and reeds waved in the air alongside the dirt road that lead to the animal's encampment. She wasn't sure exactly where they were heading. It wasn't too much of a jump to realize that there was a slight chance that she could be discovered by one of those who engaged in the supply wagon raid. She could remove her collar, stay in the shadows, play the role of a street dog. But that chance would always be there.

    “There where a few humans present as well. But it was such a chaotic event, I couldn't tell you who did what, or how. It had happened just so quick. My head was spinning the whole time...and well...” She motioned towards her thigh with it's feather of silver fur. Her ears dipping down and a soft sigh escaping. The guilt, while no longer as crushing as it had once been, still weighed heavy. “Maybe it's the same for them? They made away with our wagon, so they got what they wanted....why bother remembering a stupid dog?”

    Pushing down a small outcrop of cattails with a paw, Angel tipped her body forward and looked at her own reflection in the water's surface. Getting a quick glance at her own sky blue eyes before the image was distorted by ripples as the great king lapped. She too dropped her muzzle down so that her lips just brushed across the surface. A light pink tongue, much smaller and almost invisible against the shimmering light of the river's face, flicked out to quench a thrust she didn't know she had. The whole series of events had made the dog's throat noticeably dry.

    “There may be others,” She rose her head for a second to speak. “But while I do appreciate your trust in my uh...judgment. I don't think I should speak for them. At least...not yet,” There was a pause in her voice. There was an unspoken rule she had learned on the streets about volunteering others. Don't. She could feel the buried remains of a time where the law of 'Buster's Trouble' was ironclad.
   
    The little pom pulled her head up high enough that her ears flopped audibly. Her tongue running along her lips as she finished her drink. She rose to her four legs, that bushy tail hanging up like a flag waving above the curve of her thighs, and peered in the direction of Arendelle. It was peaceful in the forest, and she suddenly realized that she and Mufasa were completely alone. For a second, Angel wondered where the other members of the animal legions were hiding. Still, the King seemed content. For now, she would be too.

    “Unless you have anything more that I should hear. I suppose I better be a good solder and run off then. I'm supposed to be up in town for some more basic training. Now that all the brass hats are returning from the meeting that I...didn't see...” Her eyes darted back in Mufasa's direction for a brief second and one of her ears flicked. “I should make sure that I'm not missed.”

    She took a deep breath to steady herself. Her mind tumbling about the idea of what she was being requested. Yet another secret to hold. Padding back into the road, she twirled around to face the King and give her her undivided attention. "Thank you, sir...for not cracking my head for eavesdropping. I won't do it again. Not on you guys."