Blackfeather Woods but is blood really thicker than water?

tagging @Vaati specifically but I'm down for a multiple wolf thread too

The world had grown bigger since Ramsay had helped her out of Spiderling's Glen. Without a caring mother to tether them to her side, the pups explored to their heart's content. Maegi had been told that birds of prey loved to swoop down and capture young, unguarded pups, so she had taken to smearing herself in the mud beside the pool to camouflage her white fur from any predators that lurked in the treetops.

She was growing smarter by the day, and soon she would be the apex predator of this territory.

Today, Maegi slipped through the trees, dirt-caked pelt hidden against the darkness of their trunks and the crumble of decaying fall leaves. She had climbed--a little awkwardly, but had made it nonetheless--out of Spiderlings' Glen and now headed northward, looking for something new.

Well, and she found it soon enough--a clearing the bright red of freshly spilled blood, where more light than she had ever seen spilled down from the canopy above. Blinking excitedly, she trotted slowly, weaving through the crimson bushes, her eyes peeled for anything suspicious. She wondered whether she'd find any of her older siblings here, and sat for a moment, panting slightly from exertion.

He almost doesn't notice the blob of mud hopping about in his peripheral. Almost. But when he does, the yearling abruptly halts in his steps, blinks once -- twice -- before peering acutely and coming to the realiztion that underneath the thick layer of dirt and mud moving about was a child, specifically, his youngest sister. A low chuckle escapes from him as he lightly shakes his head, and he trots over to the girl through the underbrush of the forest. "What are you doing?" Vaati voices his curiosity, peering down apon the girl with uncharacterisitc amusement. Camoflauge, he wonders. Or perhaps the art of decorating one's body with mud was a current pastime for this next generation. He would never have considered the need to protect oneself from the birds that made their homes in the decayed trees of the dark woods. They were scavangers, and were only ever real danger when one was either dead or almost so. Otherwise, the ravens and the crows continued their eternal war over the aerial dominion of the woods, paying little mind to the creatures below who truly ran it. But he takes note of where they currently stand: a graveyard of those who came before them. From what he knows, their grandmother's bones lie somewhere amongst the red, fitting. He wonders if he should mention it to the girl, teach her what he knows of their heritage and where they come from. The significance of who they are. But the topic itself is riddled with blank spaces and bloodshed, things he wishes they never know. And so he holds his tongue, and instead, awaits her response.

She almost jumped right out of her skin as her brother materialized seemingly out of nowhere, his snowy pelt vivid against the red bushes. Blinking, a bit embarrassed to be caught unaware, she took a couple steps back and said, "Uh, I. . ."

The words stuck in her throat. She was nervous to be around Vaati. Something had changed in him since the last time they had encountered each other. He seemed. . .bigger. Stronger. More confident.

"Somebody once told me that. . .that, like, owls can swoop down and, uh, eat pups," Maegi stammered, feeling foolish even as she spoke. "And I-I, well. . ." She glanced down at her pelt, then up at Vaati, gesturing with her mangled paw at his white chest. "Too bright. Not like Ramsay or Euron." The latter blended especially well into the trees; she thought it might have something to do with the way he moved, slinking about as he did.

"Not seen you in forever," Maegi piped up, her voice increasing in volume as she grew more comfortable in the situation. "Where've you been?" Her voice was slightly accusatory, but mostly curious, her eyes--just now beginning to change color--peering at Vaati.

Her answer doesn't suprise him. His own childhood had consisted of his family scaring him into believing things that were and were not nessecarily true; it seemed that the tradition had continued on in perhaps a more mild fashion. The yearling almost wanted to laugh, tell her that not only was she far too big to be considered a meal for any of the owls that lived in their trees but they would still have likely picked her out from the ground in any case. But he doesn't simply dismiss her rather intellegent use of problem-solving, instead, offering an alernative that rung true in many other, real-life situations. He smiles, "Ah, but you don't need to hide. You're a Melonii. Show them a glimpse of those sharp teeth of yours and they'll know not to mess with you." It is perhaps the best advice he can offer, for it seemed to be the solution to many of his problems. Life lessons, you know? But, he figures if anyone, Ramsay would have more of a chance of getting swooped up by a bird of any kind than the averaged sized girl. Poor kid. 

A part of him cringes out of shame at the accusation she rightly presents: he had not spent as much time with them as he should have. It was a repetition of his uncle's neglect as an older figure, the lack of someone for them to look up to. Ultimately, yet another factor to add to the seemingly endless list of consequences he faced for stupid mistakes. He chuckles sourly, "Getting into trouble," Knowing full well there was nothing humerous about what he had got himself in to. But he won't make excuses to her -- offering her the truth instead of avoiding the sticky topic all together. His sister deserved an answer for his absence, and not something he pulled out of thin air.

"Hmmm," she murmured, thinking. She did not think she was such a great threat to the big hooting creatures that glowered malevolently down upon them with their golden eyes--even with her teeth--but if Vaati said so, there must be some shred of truth to it. Maegi lifted her lips in a mock snarl. "Like this?" she asked through gritted fangs, quickly breaking into a smile and a small giggle before letting her face fall again.

Getting into trouble. She noted once more the long jagged scar across his eye, wondering if such trouble had earned him the marking in the first place. Vaati was big and strong, and Maegi couldn't imagine anyone roughing him up.

"Melonii. That's our name, right?" A few here and there had mentioned it before; it seemed a prize of a name to have, especially in these woods. She didn't know much about Blackfeather's lore, but she did know that her mother and the family were important here. . .perhaps, in turn, making her important as well.

But her mother. . .  Her stomach clenched at the thought of the white-pelted woman. She hadn't seen Potema in a long time. Granted, she hadn't seen much of her at all in her short life--but Potema had been even more scarce recently. Thinking about all the horrid looks she had cast Maegi's way, her mouth arced down into a frown, and she looked at her paws for a moment before looking back up at Vaati.

"Why doesn't mom like me?" she whispered, her voice troubled. "Everyone's been so nice. . .except for her. Why?"

Vaati smiles, genuinely, for once. He nods, "Just like that." Her attempt is hopefull, that despite her physical disability, she does not take that in to mind when considering just how deadly she could be. She doesn't let it stop her, and it gives him hope that their generation could lead the Brotherhood on once he is dead and gone. He sees potential, but he also sees his little sister. A future killer but the innocence of youth that he wants to preserve in them, so that they should not grow up too fast and become exactly what he had become, all too soon.

He nods, confiriming their monarch lineage that meant a lot to the right people. "We're important. Our pack started with our grandmother, Meldresi Melonii. She was the first one to start the Dark Brotherhood in the Teekon. But she died before I was born, and she's buried here, somewhere." He glances off, wondering where exactly that spot could be. "There are a lot of us out there, you know? Scattered across the globe, far and wide." Vaati returns his gaze down to her, eyes filled with a sense of pride felt only out of word than experiance. There were lots of them out there but very few with them. It was sad in a sense, that they were projected to die out in the next few years while their brethren lingered just beyond the horizon. 

However, her next statement shuts him up; abrupt and heart-wrenching even to the titan himself. For moments he doesn't know what to say, struggling to find the words to explain how their situation could not be helped. How was he to explain that their mother outright condemned their existence? That they would likely never be loved by her in the way that he had? "Mom doesn't like me either right now. She's got some issues. Some bad things happened to her before you were born and she hasn't recovered yet. Don't take it personally, kid. I don't think she even loves herself right now." He sighs, his shoulders slumping just a fraction. It was the best he could do. She didn't love herself enough to take care of herself, to meet the next day without being drugged out of her mind. It was an influence Vaati is grateful they cannot see, a state of existence he doesn't want them to know exists. His tone takes an upturn, disliking the dampen on the mood the talk of their mother created. "But you don't need her. You have me, and your brothers, and Kotake and even Cass." He leaves out his his uncle. Had Vaati known that Cicero had made contact with them, he would have thrown the disgraced relative out of the pack entirely. There is not a shred of mercy within him reserved for that decrepid creature who had done despicable, vile things to his mother for the sake of twisted pleasure. It was a thought that produced nausea in his stomache, and knowing that the only thing saving the man from being cast out at that moment was the fact that they needed the numbers.

Maegi cast a wide pair of eyes around the clearing. Buried here, somewhere! For an instant, she had an intense urge to look, to find, to dig up the bones and hold them close like one of Euron's treasures. Meldresi. It was a name she had heard in passing, but Vaati's explanation opened a path she would follow for the rest of her life--blind worship of her grandmother, a wolf that shared her name.

Perhaps one day, she would be as great as Meldresi. Maybe even greater. With a family twice as big, and many times as happy.

"Okay," she responded, reassured that Potema seemingly disliked everyone right now. It wasn't the truth--but she didn't know that, and, at any rate, didn't need to trouble herself over it. "That's sad," Maegi remarked, her voice slightly hollow. "I wonder what bad things. I wonder if her mom hated her, too."

A thrill of excitement went through her as he spoke of the others, especially at his mention of Cass. Cass! There was another wolf she hadn't seen in quite some time, one of the first to be openly friendly toward her. Maegi wondered what she had been up to. "Have you been with Cass? I miss her," she admitted.

Her acceptance of the fact that Potema's hatred was not only targeted to the girl but everyone else who tried to love her satisfied him. It was good that she accepted it for hat it was: a situation that could not be helped, not by either of them. "I'll tell you one day, if one day you find you need to know." He promises to her, to tell her the truth of what had really happened to their mother. Right now, it was not something he wanted to fill in the minds of the young, that such vile actions and terrible thoughts existed in someone. Blackfeather was known for the many murders carried out by the twisted minds it harboured, but never would they condone rape. It was beyond explanation, beyond forgiving. It was something he himself could not comprehend the motive behind nevermind explain to his little sister why their uncle had done it and why Potema would likely never be the same. But should she one day beg him for an answer, he couldn't lie to her face.

The subject of Cassiopeia takes on a lighter mood into the conversation, and internally, he is relieved. Cassiopeia. The engima of his. His brow quirks in light suprise at his sister's claim, a relationship he had truly not known the depth of. It was a good thing, that they were getting along. Maegi would need someone, preferably a female, to learn from as she grew. He could think of no better canidate than the other woman who held his heart. "Yes, I've seen her." He avoids the wording of "I've been with her" because, he hasn't. Not in the sense that his hormones demand, where the teenage mind of his both snickers and yearns at the thought. "She's back. Do you want to go find her?" The yearling is open to the idea, for time has slipped away from him and he has not seen her as much as he would like[font], as much as emotionally, he needs.[/font]

She began to protest, but managed to quiet the storm of questions raging inside her mind, now. Something bad had happened to Potema--and Vaati knew. Did it have to do with her, and her brothers? Is that why she never saw them? But the look on Vaati's face as he said so invited no opposition, and so she kept her mouth shut--but she would not do so forever.

Anyway, she was much more intrigued with the idea of Cassiopeia being back. At Vaati's query, Maegi danced excitedly in place, slapping her good forepaw on the ground in a sort of wolfish jig. "Yes! Can we?" she asked, her voice rising to a squeak.

Now that she was able to move around the territory with much more freedom than before, she wanted to see everyone again. . .but on her own time. Cass was definitely on top of that list, as was Neo, the blue-eyed boy, and her other brother Ganon. Speaking of him. . . "Can we see Ganon, too? Miss him, too."

He nods willingly at her request, latching on to Cassiopeia's scent and indicating for the girl to follow. He doesn't walk his normal pace, remembering that her club foot would inhibit her from keeping up with his usual, long strides. But the topic of his wayward brother breaches and he frowns, a bitter taste forming in his mouth. "Ganon..." He lingers with a great sigh. There really was no other explanation other than that his brother had suddenly up and left one day, without so much as a goodbye. However, his was not a presence to be missed. All he had ever brought was turmoil and confusion, contributing nothing and having very little worth in the eyes of the pack. Blackfeather Woods had no place for blood traitors, nor cowards alike. "He is gone, I believe. He won't return." He will not be allowed to return. Vaati's brother may have been a Melonii, but he was as much as a deserter as the rest. The law clearly stated that no abandoners should be permitted to return once betrayed the dark woods, let alone the family within. Vaati holds no sympathy, and it is evident in his tone, and the anger in his words.

The corners of her mouth turned sharply downwards in a frown as Vaati spoke. Ganon. . .gone? Why? Why would he leave them? Where would he go? What was better than this seemingly endless forest of darkness and decay?

These questions, the second such wave to enter her mind in this conversation, merely gave way to a small, deflated whimper that slipped from her lips, as she cast her head downward in sadness. She did not have a lot of friends in this world, and now one of them was gone. Probably forever.

"Let's just find Cass," Maegi said flatly, nearly tripping over herself to keep up with Vaati, even despite his shortened strides. Maybe the presence of the dark-pelted woman would cheer her up. It could hardly bring her lower. . .right?

He doesn't blame his sister's change of subject, and remains silent on the topic as neither of them wishes to visit it. "Come on." He sighs and leads her towards the trail Cassiopeia's scent lies.