Bramblepoint i have reached these lands but newly
288 Posts
Ooc — KJ
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#1
Private 
Occurring at the same time as this thread.
For @Alya

It had started out as an inkling — the faint knowledge that Cypress would seek out Alya again at some point — but he’d been putting it off and putting it off and now it was an obsession. “I’ll visit her tomorrow,” had gradually morphed into, “I’ll visit her when we leave Neverwinter Forest,” and although they’d left days ago he still hadn’t gone to see her. Part of it was his desire to keep her secret and separate — especially now that @Rannoch was back in all of his heavily-muscled, grayscale glory. Rannoch, with the sunny smile and proud physique — the perfect blend of both Scimitar and Eshe. As happy as Cypress was to see his brother safely returned, he didn’t much like the idea of Alya seeing him in comparison to his turquoise-eyed littermate. Rannoch was a battleaxe, heavy and broad and strong, and Cypress — a zweihänder at best — didn’t relish the thought of Alya’s blue eyes, round with wonder as they looked at Noch.

Cypress moved at a steady southwesterly clip, surefooted paws quickening in his urgency. He was a different wolf than he’d been the first time he’d met the darkling girl — taller, wilder, with a slightly sturdier set to his shoulders. The quirk of his stern mouth and glint in his sulphureous eyes remained largely the same, but there were appreciable differences there, too: the spark in his eyes had grown livelier while the line of his lips had grown grimmer. Careful to stand in exactly the same spot he’d first seen her — or as near as he could possibly get, anyway — he peered across the territory borders as if expecting to see her there.

He didn’t, though, and that threw a sizeable wrench into his plans.

Was he supposed to howl for her? If he did that, would she come to greet him or would one of her sisters? Would her parents come? Cypress didn’t know the answer to any of those questions — but he knew he had to see her, no matter what it cost him. Pitching his voice low, he slicked his tall ears against his narrow skull and allowed his airy baritenor to skim the cool spring air. His voice was clear and crisp, almost businesslike; there was something perfunctory about the rise and fall of his timbre, as though it was hollow in the center where emotion ought to have lived. It was not a beautiful melody — it was not a melody at all — but the somewhat monotonous default ring of a cheap new phone.



Too much time had passed.

With a heavy heart, Cypress made a defeated trek back to the thorny area his brothers had chosen to inhabit, but when he caught the telltale scent of Moonspear he knew he had to try again to find her. Tossing his head back, he called for Alya again — he did not expect to actually see her, but it was worth a shot.
574 Posts
Ooc — mixedhearts
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#2
Alya's tail waved like a black flag as she glided through the forest, nose to the ground. Hydra was always looking for something new to kill, and Alya liked being recruited to search out new challenges for her sister. Lyra liked it less, probably. We'll have to do something that she likes, next time, the young woman thought, pausing a moment to puzzle over what that might be. Talking to squirrels, probably.

Giggling to herself, Alya prepared to move on, only to completely forget the trail when a voice rose up over the trees. Stalk-still and ears pricked, she tried to place the howl. It wasn't Lyra or Hydra, but it was familiar. A friendly sort of familiar, too.

Turning toward the sound, Alya trekked on, a tiny inkling growing in the back of her mind. And when she'd tracked the sound to its source, the inkling exploded into the picture of a wolf - boyish and young, but still handsome.

"Cypress!" she gasped, eyes wide as she drank in his appearance. He'd grown into a man since she last saw him, but there was no mistaking his scent. "It's you!" she chirped, tail wagging gaily as she swept forward and danced around him, unable to contain her joy at their reunion. "Where have you been?"
i can't help but be my own god
288 Posts
Ooc — KJ
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#3
@Lyra and @Hydra are also welcome to this super backdated thread if you feel so inclined, Laur and Steph ♥

“Alya,” Cypress said automatically, even though he knew full well at this point that she hadn’t been exaggerating about her likeness to her sisters. His voice was unusually warm, the syllables of her name drawn out slow as he danced a sprightly circle around him. He twisted his head to watch her, then whipped it around so he could keep on watching her — an unfortunate decision that left him dizzy. Maybe he would’ve been dizzy anyway. “You got taller, darlin’,” he grinned at her, the left corner of his mouth twitching as it tried to mimic its fully functional twin. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner.” His cheeks grew warm beneath his fur at the renewed scent and sight of her — a reaction that was perplexing and a little annoying, if he was being honest. “D’you feel like hearing a story?” He was restless, his large paws unusually itchy as he fidgeted a crudely-drawn circle of his own around the girl. “You don’t have a leaf,” he realized, flustered. “You’re Alya, though, aren’t you?”
these violent delights
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Ooc — Laur
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#4
WHY O' COURSE <3

She followed Alya at a distance like a silent shadow, stalking her. Her intent was nothing malicious, however, she was simply practicing her stealth skills. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if Hydra was following her in turn. She threw a glance over her shoulder to check with a smirk just in case before continuing to follow her sister. Where she was going, Lyra had no clue, but her trek seemed to be following some sort of other trail, searching for...something.

The howl suddenly threw her off, and the girl looked up in surprise, ears swivelling to where the sound had come from. She was still a few minutes walk away and would have turned tail and ran had it not been for Alya being there. Gathering her courage, she headed in that direction as quietly as she could.

"You’re Alya, though, aren’t you?" She heard them before she saw them, and having the current advantage of being hidden, Lyra decided to stay that way. At least for the moment. Peering out from behind a tree within the shadows, she caught a glimpse of the dark stranger — it was him, she realised with a spark of excitement — and then Alya as they circled each other playfully. She smiled, happy for her sister, even though the smallest hint of envy began to bubble in her chest.
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#5
Alya preened. She loved nothing more than being the center of attention, and although that usually meant annoying her father, the girl had always ceded the true spotlight to Hydra. It was simply the way of things. But here, she was the best, the most beautiful, and - apparently - taller.

"You did, too," she replied, a bit shyly. He'd gotten thicker, too, and older. More handsome. Wilder.

She laughed at his next question, and a bit of the tension she'd been feeling seemed to break. A story? "Of course I do!" she said, dancing in a quick circle to release some of her nervous energy. "And of course I am!" She darted her gaze around until she caught sight of a crackly, yellow maple leaf. Snatching it up, she wasted no time in shoving it into his chest, her eyes downcast in embarassment as she looked for any excuse to touch him.
i can't help but be my own god
288 Posts
Ooc — KJ
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#6
“I missed you.”

It burst out of him on the wings of a contented, slightly relieved sigh, and the sound of the baldly spoken words made him want to curl in on himself and implode like a dying star. He endured and maintained, but just barely — his sulphureous eyes, unbeknownst to him, were warm and affectionate as they fell upon the sprightly girl who smashed a leaf into his chest with great gusto. It made a pleasant crackling sound and released the unmistakable scent of maple, and it was these things that would make him think of her from now on: the crunch of leaflitter and greensweet scent of coming summer. He craned his neck, taking liberties that he probably shouldn’t be, but he had missed her and she was taller and he confessed a strange need to investigate these things with the touch of his muzzle against her crown. “Sorry,” he lied, following it up with a modicum of truth: “Can’t help myself.”

“Well, here’s the story,” he said, his memories flitting briefly to another blue-eyed girl to whom he’d told a story, once upon a time. By now, Lucy had faded from his thoughts almost completely and Alya’s features were superimposed upon the little ghost’s memory — but now and again he thought of his childhood friend and wondered what had happened to her and where she was and if she’d ever come back. “After I met you, but before the wolverine, I got back together with one of my cousins — Rian.” He uttered the name lightly, having no idea that the O’Malley’s name had likely been dropped by the Cerberus at some point in time. “We had a real good talk, and — ” he wasn’t going to tell her about the crying “ — ripped apart this giant swamp together.” Dark lips pulled into a boyish half-grin at the memory. “It was at the east side of Neverwinter. We cracked all the ice and ripped up some trees. I don’t know what all came over us, but it felt good.”

The grin was still on his face, but it faded a little as he apologized: “I meant to come and see you sooner, darlin’, believe me, please.” He licked his lips nervously, then made to nose boldly at her cheek. “I was in a bad way, getting angrier and angrier. My older brother’s wife was put in charge of the pack and she didn’t know pretty much any of us by name — and I challenged her for leadership but I lost.” One ear fanned awry in remembered dismay and shame, but he rallied bravely. “I didn’t want to lead the pack or anything. I just didn’t want her to do it. She was bigger, faster, and stronger then — but I bet we’d be evenly matched now.” He didn’t want Alya to think he was some pushover, after all.

“Anyway…I was licking my wounds when Rian came around again, and we talked about striking out on our own, going somewhere new. Shortly after that, my brother came back — Rannoch, remember? — and the three of us left Neverwinter Forest together. We’ve been on our own for a good while now.” He hesitated, before lowering to his haunches and simply looking at the girl who’d quite possibly saved his life last winter.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you before this,” he said.
these violent delights
402 Posts
Ooc — Laur
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#7
Short and not so sweet Lyra cameo lmao

She watched, stock still, staring almost unblinkingly as her sister and the dark boy reunited. Minute movements of her blue eyes were the only signs that she was actually taking anything in. From Alya's sudden averted gaze to Cypress gently letting his chin bump against her forehead after she procured the leaf for him. Jealousy reared its ugly head again, getting all the more stronger as she stayed here. She stared at the crumpled leaf that fell to the ground after being forced into Cypress' chest, her muzzle crinkling into a small sneer unbeknownst to Lyra. I would've chosen a much better leaf.

She glanced back at the raven as he spoke, retelling his story. She listened, completely enthralled, as if she were three months old again and listening to one of Charon's tales. The name Rian caused an ear to twitch. She knew the name, Hydra had mentioned it often. She stifled a giggle at their apparent antics of ripping apart a swamp. The mood quickly shifted, and Lyra felt another flicker of envy flare as he nosed her cheek and called her darlin' — his deep drawl was like music to her ears. Alya doesn't appreciate it like I do.

She felt her eyes drift to her sister to gauge her reaction before settling back on Cypress. She almost felt angry on his behalf as well as saddened he lost the challenge to leadership (though she couldn't quite wrap her mind around the idea of fighting for the title of alpha). Her ears pricked at the mention of another name, Rannoch. If she had heard the name before she couldn't remember, but if he was anything like Cypress...

Her ears pressed forward, wondering where they meant when he said they left Neverwinter Forest, planned on going somewhere new. She toyed with the idea of inviting them to Moonspear, perhaps, or even a mountain near theirs. She, Hydra and Alya could appeal to Charon. Though she quickly dashed those thoughts, feeling strangely selfish. She barely wanted to share the three boys with her sisters, let alone the whole pack. The boy then stared at her sister for what seemed like forever — a simple stare that told her everything she needed to know. Another pang of spite erupted within her chest. She couldn't bear it. With a flick of her notched ear, Lyra cast an uncharacteristically seething glare at her sister before silently turning on her heel and leaving them to their reunion.
574 Posts
Ooc — mixedhearts
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#8
If Alya had seen her sister's departure, she would certainly have abandoned Cypress in favor of the identical girl. Nothing mattered to her as much as the bond she shared with Lyra and Hydra, though she was often distracted from them by boys and other drugs.

"I missed you, too," Alya interrupted, pressing closer to the male when he began to draw away. He smelled so nice, and she couldn't help but chase the feeling of being warm and safe against his chest. "Oh, Cypress," she said ardently, the words sounding rather practiced. She'd acted out this scene many times, of course, but Hyrda's embrace had never felt like this before!

Her heart was fluttering away, and her thoughts tumbled around in a happy, excited flurry. She didn't hear most of what Cypress was saying to her, though she made a token effort to pay attention to him. "It's okay, Cypress. I'm glad you found your brother," she said earnestly. The long weeks of waiting on him seemed to melt away in his presence, and besides - didn't absence make the heart grow fonder? "We're together, now," she added, nibbling affectionately at his chin, the way she and her sisters still did to Charon, at times. Alya didn't notice this nuance.
i can't help but be my own god