[Wherein Blu tries to be cruel and clever and just rambles about useless shit the whole time and achieves none of her goals :D]

The world was full of pretty things and ugly things, and pretty ugly things too. Öde was familiar with ugly; it had nurtured him, groomed him, made him the stallion he was and repeatedly broke him whenever he failed in that regard. It was not so much that he liked ugly things, but the comfort with them, the understanding of them, well that was something he'd always prefer over the fretful unknown of those prettier parts of the world. That this girl could be so pretty, a seemingly flawless dove cut from porcelain and glass, well it rankled him. How could she be that image of purity and childhood naivety that he knew didn't exist? How could she portray the goodness of the world when that was long buried beneath all the bad? How could she be?

A lie, he decided after a moment of staring at her youthful grace. She was a falsehood, and he realized in that moment that honesty made ugliness bearable. Hardly a virtuous man, and certainly not one above deceit, he disliked being lied to all the same. His mother, the world, the gods - her, here and now, being who she was.

His lips attempted to snarl as he looked upon her so he jerked them back into a grin, gaze catching Erebos' with a knowing intent. Although he had no claws to flex into the dirt, the wolf that was Öde nearly seemed to sink his hooves into the bloodied realm. Break the little doll some raucous voice inside of him hissed, decidedly feminine and utterly ugly. The son heeded his mother.

Yet Öde was not accustomed to working alongside others, and it seemed neither was Erebos. Oh sure, they both dwelled in a herd, the same herd in fact, and Öde had even marched with an army, but when it came to trickery and foul play, one needed a brother to back them up, and Öde and Erebos were but cousins. So Erebos' answer surprised Öde, but he swiftly kept himself checked, betraying only a flick of his red gaze which could easily be written off as a normal look. Without missing a beat Öde replied as well, not needing the time to conjure an alias - though he had to admit, he liked horses to know his name, whether for better or worse.
"And I'm Oblivion," he drawled in turn, flashing another one of his winning smiles, hoping he made it out less wolfish. The best laid traps were the ones never seen after all; he'd need to be a gentleman to get a lady.

Ears flicked back then at the explosion of noise, so abrupt and shrill that Öde's flesh rippled like dark, disturbed water. He held his desire to shy away however, settling for a flinch and a turned eye towards the source of the cry. Erebos' utterly unperturbed response smoothed Öde's nerves. perhaps after today they could become brothers, but for now, that single look was not enough to convey the plan. Still, Öde did his best to fall into line with Erebos' mischief, a boy who seemed rather apt for the talent where as Öde was much more outgoing and just left blood and bruises in his wake. A wolf that slayed was soon betrayed though, all the sheep rounding upon him. Yet the fox that snuck away, lived another day, with all the sheep in a daze.

Öde didn't fear death, but he didn't like it either. Better to be a little bit sneakier.
Holding the girl in his sights, Öde feigned calmness during the ordeal, figuring his own brief moment of surprise would have been lost to her beneath her own - for surely she was too weak to be anything but witless after that. He figured the dead calm of both him and Erebos' might further rattle her, so he held the charade, and even lent his magic towards her to restrict that defense should she summon it. Feel your mortality he thought joyfully, loving little more than to withhold the gifts the gods bestowed upon others, bringing them down to the plains where they belonged, into the shit and the mud rather than the stars which were his playgrounds.

"That sounds like the Skullmaul now," Öde chimed over-pleasently, shivering with noticeable drama. "Nasty thing," he went on, becoming more grave. "It loves the color white and collects anything that it cane to build its home. Ground and snow don't work of course, no it needs things it can hold and collect... like bones and," here Öde glanced from Erebos to her, "pelts. It'll peel away skin from meat and meat from bone just to get at what it wants." Öde was clearly unconcerned, because he was decorated in black and red.