Blackfeather Woods i won't become the thing i hate

i could any day but wednesday. @Grimnir feel free to pop in again at any time; i figured that i'd skip you during the moving since Grimnir had passed out and then he can come to again when they arrive at wolfskull. :-) (feel free to skip forward to them getting to wolfskull if you want to, anthony!)

The urge to shower Damien in licks and nuzzles was overwhelming as his brother came into view, filled with malicious darkness and a sense of satisfaction that they had gotten their target right where they wanted him. Cicero knew better than to stick around this place for too long, however, and so he put those urges on hold while he and Damien started to move Grimnir. It was challenging because of Grimnir's huge size and it did not go without having to take a couple of inhales of the spores, but nowhere near as much as Grimnir had. Cicero found that the effect of the spores was not nearly as fast when you consciously thought to breathe as little as possible.

Eventually the brothers managed to drag Grimnir to the side of the clearing. Cicero's head felt clouded by what he had inhaled, but at least he was not seeing things yet, and he was conscious enough to know that what he did feel was just tipsiness from the tree's spores. Damien whispered about wolfskull, and Cicero nodded. At the clearing's edge he paused, catching his breath and clarity of mind. A grin spread across Cicero's face when he realised that they had really done it -- the culmination of the boys' many months' of preparation and planning -- and in the rush of victory, Cicero bumped his head against Damien's shoulder and then licked his face a couple of times, ears pressed back in uncontaminated joy. The last lick stroked past the corner of Damien's mouth, touching his lips, which caused a tingle of pleasure to race through Cicero's heart. Then Cicero backed off again with the satisfaction of their achievement clearly written on his face.

Then it was time to get back to their task at hand; moving Grimnir, for while they'd done it, they weren't out of danger's way yet. "Damien's right. Let's hurry," whispered Cicero -- Damien was right to be quiet and to want to move him fast. If anyone found them before they would get a confession out of Grimnir, they would be in big trouble. Truthfully, Cicero preferred to just eliminate the threat to their pack, but he also appreciated Damien's search for the truth.