Blackfeather Woods Lenny's Arrival

@Potema @Cicero @Damien

Lennox was no stranger to being alone. That being said, he was also no stranger to hunger, and neither starvation nor isolation were paths he planned on taking. He'd been sniffing around for a sign of life when he came upon a thickly masked border, marked in both urine and blood. He smirked and ran his tongue along his upper set of teeth before leaning back and calling for an audience. His stance lowered and he sat submissively, patiently waiting to be acknowledged.
Should Lenny find a home again, he'd be more than happy to show his talents. A place like this seemed to be exactly where he ought to be.

the boy answered the call. sometimes, those that made such sounds were dismembered, and that was of great interest to the boy. he remained out of sight, rapidly paling gaze peering out from the depths of a bush, jaw opening and closing as if imagining tearing into strange flesh. perhaps his mother would arrive; watching her bite brought an interested gleam to the boys eyes. how loud and messy and magnificent it was; though perhaps he did not yet understand the implications of death.

he did not yet understand why some strangers came to live in the woods and others became smell, dead lumps. perhaps he would figure it out soon. he settled in too wait.

It was always a fun time when the strangers came to visit. The boy wasn't entirely sure why they kept coming if mother kept growling and chasing them off until they didn’t move anymore. It was a great mystery, one he would learn not to question. Yet, this time, he observed as no adult came to meet the stranger; unlike all the other times before. Instead, his little brother arrive to, Atshen’s displeasure. This was his stranger; eyes narrowed as the notion that skinny little Abraxas might do what his mother did, what he was meant to do. The boy could have it no longer and before he could comprehend his actions, the boy cast a smug look to his younger that spoke of misplaced superiority before charging teeth bared at the stranger’s unsuspecting form. It had never occurred to him once that perhaps he was not at all that scary, no. Atshen was the eldest and he would do what his idol, his Mother, did if he was to be as great as her. With no hesitations, the boy broke from the shadows, snarling and snapping here and there at the stranger in attempt to latch his pointed baby teeth somewhere it might hurt.

From the shadows came his audience. A glorious, mighty... pup? As the pup nipped at Lenny's fur with teeth still yet to be developed, he grinned and decided he would play along with the pup's show of dominance. He twisted his face into a show of pain and whimpered loudly, taking care to fall over onto his back, exposing his underbelly and continuing to groan. Oh the pain, the pain! he cried, though he took care to keep theatrics to a minimum should his actual company arrive. You gotta get 'em right there, he whispered, motioning toward his ripe belly. If the kid wanted to play, he might as well do it right.

his brother was a failure. no blood, no screams of anguish. his eyes narrowed, at first impressed by his sibling but then disgusted. he left the depth he had hidden in, prowling in silence towards the strangers face. he lunged, a tiny blur, seeking to grab hold of the strangers flesh. he did not seek play. he sought the vemour with which his mother fought, they way she moved like a wraith and made the strangers dead-lumps. tiny fangs, like a mouth full of needles, so to bridge across a muzzle and tear into flesh. scars delivered by him would be hardly impressive,  however scars all the same.

No matter his size, the boy's anger was beyond his years; inherited by the fire that inhibited his very mother. It was not the only thing he had received by her; the ability to tell when he was being screwed with. Stepping back, the boy's eyes narrowed against the stranger's act of frailty, full knowing he did not possess the ability to take down the man; his goal had been to chase him away. Did the stranger not see him worthy, but a joke? Did the stranger even know who he was messing with? Bit by bit, the boy's eyes hardened as his anger grew, and it was prominent on his facial features.

However, his younger brother's amused expression did not go unnoticed.

Abandoning the stranger but keeping his advice; the boy changed targets unto his sibling. Atshen was the eldest, and Abraxas would soon learn it if he ever wanted to live an untormented life. Throwing himself, teeth and claw, at his brother's side where the man suggested it hurt, the boy attempted to barrel him over. Anything to teach him exactly who was superior in their childhood, and who was to be respected as Mother was, for Atshen was the chosen one while Abraxas was nothing. Nothing. The thought was as real as the sun and the moon, his earliest account of sheer hate. 

Realizing that the pup really meant business - as did the other who'd appeared - he jumped up to his feet and backed away. Playing was one thing, but fighting a pup was another. Especially when he didn't know whose pup it was. Almost immediately, the two began going at it. Lennox didn't know what to do, so he watched. Should it get bloody, he'd probably step in and separate the two. But as far as he was concerned, a little fighting practice could do no harm.

hiss fangs grazed the wolf, but did not harm the stranger. then, of all things, Atshen had the idiocy to attack him. rage bubbled withing him, mirroring his brothers. of all the stupid things to do, his brother attacked him instead of the stranger. so, naturally, he fought back with full force, tiny fangs tearing and paws striking in rage as his brothers hate and fangs tore into him. His brother pushed him over, and his side blossomed in the first full pain be had felt since birth. this fueled his rage, and his hate became hard as he writhed blindly, fangs seeking to embed themselves within his brothers flesh. he hurt , and he expressed his anger and pain in a howling battle cry as he bite and clawed as was driven by instinct, wanting to get Atshen away

Snarls of her children were a common thing, especially when Atshen the eldest was involved. She had come to realize that the boy harbored an anger passed down from her and from within the dark forest, it would only grow. However, it did not frighten her. It was exactly what she hoped him to be as the eldest of the descendants, he would be the power force to unite them all when she was dead and gone. Therefore, she made minimal effort to correct him when he spiked, only when he went beyond what was accepted. In this case, she met the sound of her children gearing up for another one of his 'battles' in the presence of a newcomer; unknowing he had attempted to replicate her usual way of greeting other's to the stranger himself. Eyeing the boys, she seen no slow to his charge, and as Abraxas was smaller and less of the physical side like his sister (who could normally put Atshen in his place just by opening her mouth) a intervention was necessary.

"Atshen," 

Her voice came clear but demanding, firm but un-scolding, causing the boy to lower his tail and put away his ideas of bloodshed. He knew she was fair, and that she only spoke to him in such a way when it was necessary. "Go," The boy cast one last stink eye towards her youngest son Abraxas, before taking his leave grudgingly; her eyes followed. Abraxas, she allowed to remain observing, for it was his way since birth. Even if the dark woman attmpted to cast him away, he would remain watching from the shadows, she knew, and with that, the fleeting topic of her children had passed; eyes zeroing onto the man who had caused the small debacle in the first place.

"What is it?" The air of demand had not left her, yet, a faint underline of impatience was present in her tone; having lost a percentage of her patience when dealing with her children. While the stranger looked in no position to warrant an attack of his own, and held no suspicion of disrespect, she could never be too sure when in the company of her child though she had permitted him to stay. The last time had been a mistake, to bring her son to a firefight, though a choice she would make again. It was the only way they would ever truly learn. And as future successors of the Brotherhood, their youth would be nothing but learning, honing and cultivating the skills needed to train and carry on their culture until their own children took their place as she had. 

Stoic eyes fell on the outline of the male, head held high in a display of dominance though simply answering the call told the other all he needed to know.

In the quick appearance of the superior of the pack, Lennox readjusted himself so he stood lower than the she-wolf before him. She seemed impatient, so he knew his time would have to be used wisely. I'm Lennox, a loner. I come in search of a pack. I can serve as a hunter or a scout, either way I'm good on my feet. I'm also good at getting information, if that benefits my case. I'm willing to work diligently, and do whatever I need to earn my place. Though he stood low and kept himself at a submissive height, his voice was confident and fluent, each word annunciated with precision. He awaited the woman's verdict, hoping for his favor.

A voice rang out, and Atshen was gone. Abraxas was still silent, but he fumed; gaze hard as ice and full of anger.  Idiotic Atshen. Mephala have mercy when he learned of the many poisonous herbs that dotted the wood. He stared at his sibling, until he made his exit, then retreated beside his mother and the cover of a towering tree's foliage and stared at the stranger with the same hard stare, anger a rolling storm within him.  

The scratches adorning his side stung, but he refused to so much as look at them, a stoic, perpetually silent wraith beside his mother.

She had become less picky in the face of newcomers, yet maintained a criteria that the man had seemed to check off on. Regardless of all that had occurred, the man seemed to have a level head and wise enough to have not interfered with her children's squabbles. There looked no reason to turn the stranger away, for the first two weeks would truly determine his stay, more less; wether he would live to flee. Many pledged loyalty upon arrival, yet failed to uphold their dire promises to save their own lives, nevermind stay long enough to become apart of the brotherhood as a whole. Moments of pure silence passed, and she looked down towards her son. While Nemesis herself believed the man fit enough to survive among their ranks, she valued the input of the brotherhoods future leaders, and truly, children were much more perceptive than adults. 

"What do you think, child?" 

Eyes questioned the boy, unwavering. The dark woman knew it was not a favourable choice, to consult a boy rather than accepte the stranger herself, yet it was the experiance Abraxas would gain that would benefit more than accepting someone she did not know into her home. A nod or a shake, it was up to the boy himself; something she knew would make Atshen scowl in fury. 

The boy. His fate had been left to a child. And a child who had just tried to attack him, at that. Lennox didn't look at the boy, but rather lowered in head in respect as there wasn't much more to be said on his part. Still, internally he hoped that previous encounter didn't anger the rascal too much, as he needed to be accepted for the sake of his life.

"He is...foolish. But hunt good." He spoke, soft and simply and with a voice that cracked a moment, slow as he searched for the right words. He didn't think much of the male, fixing him with a stare, yet even he knew that hunters were good; they brought food to eat. And eating was good. His ice stare shifted from the male to his mother, eyeing her solemnly and offering a small nod. Beside, if he found he didn't like Lennox, mother would always eat him. "If bad, mother can eat." He added, turning slowly to stare at the other. He did not care that this was the first time his mother had heard him speak true, unmangled English, that he had proved that his silence was not born of stupidity. He fell into silence once more, having uttered the most words he had since birth, and was bound to speak for another long while. His gaze simply remained, unblinking, on the male, watching and staring and staring.

She had expected a nod of a approval or a shake of discontent, the closets thing her quietest son had come to when communicating; she had begun to believe he would forever remain silent within the shadowed woods. Yet, when she sound of her child's first literate words reached her ears, she could hardly remember what the topic was about. Staring astonished at her child for the majority of the time, Nemesis found herself lost for thought as Abraxas resumed his silent gaze, indicating his time of speech was retired for now. Blinking rapidly, she struggled to collected her thoughts but in silent time, did. Approving optics met her child's upward stare, before diverting her attention to the matter at hand. 

While some would think the choice of admittance was one to great to be placed on a child, it was precisely why she did it. Those who outwardly disapproved of her choices were those she would not allow within her home; a checkmark off the list. No matter what the male thought inside, he had not dared to show it in her presence on the outside, something she both tolerated and appriciated. Those who insulted her children got no less than the wrath of a scorened woman. Stifling a smile underneath the cloak of icy shrewdness, she returned to the man's gaze. "That's right, momma will eat," While she was no more a cannibal than the herbivore deer she fed upon, the threat was at the same degree. If the stranger failed to upold his end, the fate of awaiting jaws would meet him as any lowlife did. 

"Come,"

The woman and her son led the man into the depths of the dark forest, indicating his trial had begun and the time to earn a place had commenced. The Brotherhood awaited hungry souls, and so, she would bring. 

As if the woman's prowess wasn't enough of a threat to Lenny's confidence, her words sealed the deal. But, he had to suck it up, for it was immediately obvious that he'd stepped into serious terrain. Without a sound, he did as he was told, keeping pace behind the pair. Wherever he would be led would be better than the Wilds alone, and no matter what he had to do to keep himself there, it would be done.