Hideaway Strath your kiss is the jackal among the tombs

roar's followed arturo and ventured off so literally open for anyone! :D

Roarke, unbeknownst to his father follows at a careful distance. Ever since he’d managed to slip from Ceannasach’s watchful eye on the borders it has ignited an insatiable curiosity within the winter’s bane. Can he do it again? This time, he does not follow Arturo to the borders, instead he ducks into thick underbrush when he has decided he has kept up the appearance of little duck for long enough to convince that he is with his father. He hunkers down and peeks through a break in the foliage watching Ceannasach’s sleek form disappear out of sight. Glacial gaze widens for a moment in awe that, presumably, he has managed his grand scheme! Beguiling and cunning the mini tundrian’s lips form a smirk as he waits for a few moments longer to ensure that none has caught onto him before he slinks from the underbrush and gives his plush, pale pelage a hearty shake to dispel debris it has collected in the underbrush.

With his success (regardless of how temporary) his confidence is bolstered and he moves along with a slight swagger to his step and a childish wonder sparking within the glacial pools of his irises as the entirety of the Strath is laid out bare before him, like a lover’s body he is more than eager to explore.

[table width=80%][tr][td]A scrawny rabbit hung between her teeth as she trotted farther into their territory. Although she did not pride herself on her hunting skills, it became apparent that, with lots of practice, she had gotten rather decent at the job. Her strong legs could propel her forward faster than most rabbits could run - her form lithe and feminine could weave betwixt the trees and over hills with grace. But, besides the smell of rabbit, there hung another scent in the air. One she recognized as one of her many new brothers and sisters. A smile curled around her open mouth and she started her chase.

It did not long before the pale, snowy coat of Roarke gave him away. In winter, perhaps it would have taken longer for her to find her blue-eyed bro. She chuffed from behind him, trying to get his attention. She did not question why he was not with mum or da - it was normal for children to wander, yes?[/tr][/td][/table]

There is a chuff that sounds from behind him and Roarke’s first instinct is to freeze under the childish assumption that if he doesn’t move he isn’t seen only to remember that isn’t how it works. Winter’s bane musters his most charming, toothy smile and spins around to face she who apprehended him, filled with relief that it is not Lotte nor Hemlock (or even Arturo). Chusi! “Chu!” He greets her with a breathless giggle, all wide grin and sly glint in glacial colored eyes. “Raaahhhh!” He gives his little roar as he rushes towards her in a ploy to play fight. It is quickly becoming his favorite way to greet and while he is still small, clumsy and as harmless as he can be lest he sink his needle sharp baby teeth into flesh it is all fine, well and cute. In the near future it would be enough to be taken as a challenge but for now it his affection manner of greeting. He leaps up at her in the hopes of batting at her with his paws hoping that she is tolerant and if he’s lucky eager to play along and perhaps teach him a thing or two through play wrestling.

He recognized her, even though they did not share a den nor had spent and abnormally long time with each other - puppy to teenager. She grinned, feeling accepted as their big sister and honestly grateful for the coming of the little fuzzy balls. Life at this new home wouldn't have felt like home without them now. It would've taken her longer to adapt to the change. 'ey there, lil' bugg'r. She greeted cheerfully, lowering her form to not come over as towering as their parents probably did. She wasn't here to lecture them - she was the badass sis who kept things fun! At least, that was what she wanted to become for her siblings.

His "roar" made her ears perk and she giggled as he charged. Chusi felt like giving him the feeling of victory today, and just as he touched her she stumbled and fell to her knees. Whoop! She let out, hopefully not making him think that he had hurt her in any way.

Roarke wasn’t inherently sure what a bugger was — though as Chusi uses it to greet him he harkens it to himself — but it sounds awful close to booger and he snickers in a boyish giggle. “Sounds like booger!” He crows and doubles over in deep belly laughs that cause his rib cage to quake with the depth of his giggles. He charges at her like a bull charges a matador yet without the intimidation factor and yet moves with the swagger of a lion, as if he is a king of the jungle as opposed to a smol tundrian cub. To his astonishment he bats Chusi’s foreleg with his paw and she topples over! For a moment this perplexes winter’s bane and it shows in the furrow of his brow struggling to puzzle out how he’d managed to make his sister fall; but does not linger upon it long as she lets out a ‘whoop’ as she collides with the ground. His butt wiggles from the force of his tail as it wags furiously behind him. “I wiiiinnnnnn!” He declares as he aims to flop down and drape himself upon her side offering her a grin that will someday be as wicked as it is charming. “Wadda I win?” He asks eagerly because already Roarke is eager to move onto the next greatest thing.

She watched him with a nearly motherly grin, finding his humour still very amateur. Still, at least he had some sense of it. Surely her humour had not been as good when she had been his age? Hell, even now was she poor at making jokes, but at least Roarke seemed to like it. Nahhh - ya're my lil' b'gger forevah. She said with a giggle as he swept at her paws which "made her fall over". She didn't mind him flopping upon her own body and instead glows up as he does so. She had never had siblings before to play with, so this was all still very new. Ya win'a piece of mah rabbit o'er there. She said as she nudged at the dead animal that she had dropped in her fall. She was never against sharing food with family, even though she didn't know if pups his age could eat solid food...

hmm, i'm fairly sure by 9 weeks they're eating solid meat and that it no longer needs to be regurgitated. *taps chin in thought; goes with it anyway*

She claims that he will be her lil bugger forever and he is set off into another, albeit smaller fit of giggles. “Chu, whas a lil boo-ugger?” His word catches as he almost lets slip the word ‘booger’ because it truly rings amusing to the winter’s bane and he’s still a little caught upon it. She hadn’t called him a booger and it was very likely that if she had he’d have been extremely indignant about it but the fact that he makes the comparison to the words on his own is what makes it so funny to the pale, pudgy lotturo. Chusi did not seem to mind the press of his body partially draped over her’s — though he certainly had more weight to him than his siblings! — and his please Roarke who offered his eldest (that he knows of) sister a beaming grin that exposes sharp, pearly puppy teeth. His ears cup forth atop his skull as she claims that he won some of her rabbit and he slides off of her and back to all fours when she nudges it. He stalks the few steps towards it and sniffs at it, salvia pooling in his mouth. Salmon pink tongue runs across his jowls in anticipation but he pauses right before he is ready to dig in. “How big?” A piece was a little bit, right? He relaxes upon his haunches, exerting a patience that he’d seen Arturo exhibit. It was not truly a patience that the young winter’s bane had but as his father was working on drilling manners into his head and it seemed, instinctively, like a good time to show off his progress. To prove that he was not a little heathen; even if he was. It was obvious there were bigger plans for the rabbit and Roarke knows himself well enough to know that if he were to tear into the whole thing he would indulge in gluttony and eat more than just a piece thus he turns eyes that have begun their transition from milky to glacial blue to Chusi expectantly, waiting for her to section off a piece he can have.

His curiosity was adorable, not dumb, and Chusi giggled. Honestly, she didn't know exactly herself - it sounded like bugs, and bugs were small and fun. Bugs, I guess - like cat'rpillars  tha' becom' b'tterflies. She replied, her answer fairly thought-out. She was the butterfly of the coast - had grown in the title and had claimed it her own. Now it was Roarke who would grow up to be a butterfly, if he wanted to. Ya like 'em? She asked then. Her silent message was that she was asking of he liked her, but she didn't say that. He'd understand someday.

She smiled back at him and rolled gracefully up to her feet when he removed his white coat from her coal one. A cold spot on her body was all that was left of his comfort, but she knew it wouldn't be the last time he'd snuggle up against her - or, at least, she hoped so. Perhaps he'd grow out of that phase too quickly for her liking, but she tried not to think about how fast time was speeding by them. As much as ya can take. I'll make sure we'll all 'ave 'nough fur dinn'r. She said with a fond look.

Roarke’s left ear swivels out to the side and then lays back as he contemplates why she is calling him a bug; and whether or not he is meant to take offense to it or not. He thinks not because thus far she has spoken it with plenty of affection instead of infliction. “Whas a - a butterfry?” He knows bugs in a very general, very vague manner of understanding because well …they hold no interest for him. Their bodies are easily crushed under foot and he is not interested in something he can break without effort. Roarke likes the challenges and thus far his experience with insects has not brought him much of one; because of his question, however, he does not answer her own. Chusi is full of unexpected surprises, Roarke thinks, because unlike his parents that would have sectioned his share off she tells him to eat as much as he wants (because that’s what cool big sisters do)! His gaze lowers from her to her kill and he contemplates, thinking of what is polite. He takes a chunk of it in his mouth and places his paw upon the corpse as he rips it free before he takes his spoil of victory and trots a few feet away to where he drops to his stomach and begins to eat, his back turned to Chusi to guard his chunk of meat. He knows she isn’t going to steal it from him but primal instincts are so very hard to ignore and Roarke’s savage and dominance instincts are beginning to kick into overdrive.

She smiled sweetly. Of course he didn't know; he had not been as lucky as her to have met one of the beautiful creatures on the first day outside of the den. She frowns, thinking for a second, to find a way to tell of how beautiful they are and what they mean to her. B'tterflies... They're v'ry colourful 'n they fl'tter through thah sky. Big wings, 'n they're different on each pair. She explained. Mum used to call meh tha'. She also said, because Lotte was becoming more and more her own mother. The day she came to them, burned and weak, Chusi had known.

She watched him protect his kill with a giggle, proud that he was already so... Well, she guessed he was becoming more mature and wary of the world. Of course, his big sister would be there to protect him no matter what. Yum? She asked, not getting up and moving about. No, she stayed where she was, enjoying her time of relaxation.

maybe wrap this up in the next post or two? :-)

These instincts: the unbidden rise of possessiveness over his food and the utter willingness to fight for it will affirm his survival in the future despite that now it takes hold in the presence of his own siblings (and even his own parents!). Chusi would not starve him, would not steal the nourishment he needs for his growing body and he knows this but the low growl that erupts from his throat — despite that she has made no movements — cannot be helped. It comes from the part of Roarke that is primal, that is feral and he cannot hope to tame it. He lends his elder sister an ear as he continues to gnaw at his prize, tearing smaller chunks, chewing and then swallowing them contentedly as she she explains to him what a butterfly is. His chewing slows, rather comically, for a moment as he processes what Chusi has explained to him and try to figure out if he has seen any insect like that …all the while trying to understand why their mother would call her such a thing. Especially as the tundrian’s view of insects is not nearly so kind. To Roarke they are fragile things, too easily crushed under paw, from which this stems general disregard for them. “Oh.” Is all Roarke dares to offer lest he (accidentally) insult his elder sister.

Where Chusi and Lotte see a beauty Roarke only sees a little thing that comes to ruin too easy; but he is still young and thinks that strength is a physical attribute only. He does not yet understand that the strength of will and fire of spirit are equal if not more prominent than brute strength. Even though his own twin, Eirlys, is a direct example of it born the weaker of the two and yet surviving despite the numerous odds stacked against her. A flesh example of skin that yet turns from porcelain, to ivory, to steel. Chusi’s giggle caused his ear, swiveled towards her, to flutter for a second before the pair smoothed against the curve of his skull. The winter’s bane does not answer her question instead lets out a small grunt as he finishes off his prize before he turns back to his dark coated sister, blood staining the pale of his muzzle and a few dribbles that splashed upon the crest of his chest. “Bone?” He asks gesturing towards the rabbit with his muzzle. He has a small collection of them already tucked away in an haphazardly dug corner of the lotturo den but fresh bones are undeniably the best as he favors the sweet marrow he can suckle as he worries them.

Soon enough she'll take them all to see some of her favourite creatures - at least, she planned to do so. Little did she know Roarke would be stolen away from them later, perhaps to never return. Still, at that moment, everything seemed rather perfect. Nothing could go wrong now, right? All of them were happy and safe now. She giggled dreamily, remembering how complicated life had been before she had met Arturo, when she was snapped back to reality by a bone-thirsty little poofball of white.

'course. She answered with an approving nod. She had brought her own bone (the one Arturo had hid for her way back when) with her to their new home and saw nothing wrong with Roarke having some of his own. She lifted herself, carefully walked to Roarke to place a quick kiss upon her soft, downy head. B'etter get some f'r the rest o' us now. She said with a smile. Ya take tha' home yaself? Ya're a big boy, aft'r all.

She'd then depart from the spot they had run into each other, ready to hunt down some more critters for her family.