Moonspear aetherstream
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Ooc — gerra
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#1
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set after this thread.. @Lyra
She had needed a little time.

She took the cold body of her newly dead daughter further into the mountain, off the borderlands, and away from any trace of a Redhawk's reeking trail. Every piece of that pulled and ached at her heart, so she had to get away, and had to clear her mind to regroup.

Something was wrong here and she had to piece through it. She took Galaxy's corpse to past a hidden grove, somewhere nearing a rocky swatch of mountain where she could.. focus. The others were left to see to that freshly injured yearling, and whatever other domino effect their actions would immediately have. Amekaze had seen it before, she'd be ready to see it again.

Now, later, she breathed deep. She peered down at her poor, fallen daughter sprawled prone upon the rock with a scrunch to her lips. The words from the encounter played over in her head. They killed her. A wolf didn't do it. There wasn't any blood. Some smell never before smelled.. She had to dissociate from the grief, keep it at bay.. and approach with a sound mind; she needed to understand why this light was snuffed from the world so soon. She refused to believe it would be a perfectly clean kill.

She took another deep breath and began to nose through her fur, searching down to the frigid flesh. First across the top of her forehead, then down her cheeks.. 
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i want to bleed in the 「r a i n
these violent delights
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Ooc — Laur
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#2
It had been an arduous task but the Cerberus finally managed to get Gannet within their borders and into a den where he would stay until they could determine his punishment. However, Lyra didn't forget about wanting to see Galaxy before Amekaze prepared her for burial and so, after giving instructions on what herbs to give the injured Redhawk wolf — specifically noting that they need not be generous with the amounts — she took off in search of her mother.

She found her further up the mountain, correct in her assumption that deceased Moonspear wolves were to be given their final resting place as close to the stars as possible. Nosing her way through a silent grove and into a rocky outcrop, Lyra approached quietly and respectfully. Her breath hitched as she saw Galaxy's form spread upon a rock, being examined by Amekaze.

For a moment, she tried to imagine the girl had just been forced into receiving a bath from her mother, and was laying stubbornly, waiting for her to be done so she could run off and play again. The thought failed to bring her any joy, however, and Lyra's ears fell as she took a step forward. Tears began to sting at the edge of her eyes but she tried to push her emotions away, forcing herself to take a more analytical perspective of the situation.
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Ooc — gerra
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Painstakingly, she searched. Over her head, down her neck, across her flanks, and even to the tips of her toes. It was difficult to resist the urge to smooth every flyaway fur, and preen the debris from her as she went, all to care for her as she normally would. Yet as acceptance had settled with the stiffening of her dead daughter's muscles, Ame held fast, trying to move on through the burden of her sorrow. The yearning for answers helped, but that was only going to take her so far.

She lifted her head, and accordingly her gaze, when a dark daughter appeared. For a heartbeat, she felt herself tense, yet it eased with the next exhale. Of all wolves, so very few were worthy. She stood among them.. although Amekaze did not outwardly invite her to participate in this, should she not want to see, and neither did she shoo her off, should she be interested in hunting answers too. There was a clinical coldness about it, most moments.. a few others where she could only feel pain as her nose ran through the pale white fur, only to stop when she remembered the strange scent on her--true, unlike anything she knew.

Regarding Lyra once more, and this time, a tad more officially now she had refocused, Ame sunk down to her haunches next to her with a tired sigh. "She has a few bruises, maybe some blisters and other small signs of.. something." she murmured with a frown, still out on the verdict of the scent, and the little hints of trauma here and there that she saw no pattern to yet. "But.. nothing suggesting apparent struggle. Nothing obvious yet," her nose scrunched up before she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to relieve the sting in them before it got any worse.
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i want to bleed in the 「r a i n
these violent delights
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Ooc — Laur
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#4
She felt the tension in the air rise for a split second before relaxing once more, an uncertain moment where Amekaze might have chased her off for daring to intrude on such a private scene. She knew her mother, however; she was a woman was in control of her emotions - a mountain standing strong against a raging storm. Lyra's own were as wild and conspicuous as the winds, yet she aspired to one day achieve the same level as calm as her mother. For now, she stood, breath hitching in her throat every so often as sobs threatened to escape.

Amekaze reclined, and Lyra followed suit, eyes never leaving Galaxy's tiny form. She listened to her mother's findings, frowning slightly in confusion. No signs of struggle. The lack of obvious wounds was both puzzling and frustrating, and the peculiar lingering scent was even more so. Noticing the woman suddenly furrowing her features and squinting shut her eyes, Lyra crept forward slowly and touched her nose to her mother's shoulder with a barely audible whine. She hated seeing any of her family in pain.

"We'll figure out what that sick bastard did," she said quietly, anger laced into her words. She turned back to her sibling's body, frowning. "That smell...could he have poisoned her?"
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Ooc — gerra
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It was not the answers she wanted, clear cut and raw. These definitely were not battle wounds. More subtle, more questionable—definitely not wounds she would imagine her daughter dying from. She had only seen similar wounds in very dissimilar circumstances, although this did not rule anything out in a world of possibilities. Distrust was running rampant already and none of this helped.

Very neatly, she had kept that anger in check until now, and had been for even longer than this incident—in a different shape, true, but real. It shone in the malice of Lyra's words and she, soothed by its company, didn't want to have to withhold it if only for a second more. Her lips peeled back into a silent snarl, painfully eager to rend Redhawk between her grip. Even if she could not explain how, it barely mattered to her at this point. She had been bothered by them for far too long. This distaste was only compounding through the generations.

Lyra's observation was keen and it brought her lips down over her teeth for a new frown. "He could have, and I wonder how if so." she shot a glare towards the girl's legs, then back towards her mouth, thinking through the possibilities. Poisoning another was a delicate business. She knew of it done through eating contaminated foods, and a few other similar avenues. "It does smell like a poison," she agreed. Or maybe it was just the bitterness of it all that burned her nose like it did. "If it is, I want to know how a Redhawk managed to do it without killing himself in the process.." she growled, floored by the very notion of them ever being smart enough for that. It would mean he had to get here (in winter) with the poison and somehow get it into Galaxy's system without a lot of evidence laying around in the meantime. She simply doubted it still.
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i want to bleed in the 「r a i n
these violent delights
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Ooc — Laur
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#6
From the corner of her eye, she noticed the rise of Amekaze's lip, the flash of pearly white teeth on a full and fearsome display that caused her daughter's ears to fall submissively without her even thinking. She shrank, feeling the air almost spark with the intensity of the rage the Alpha of Moonspear had withheld for so long. It died down as quickly as it had risen, and Lyra slowly crept towards Galaxy, nose outstretched as she took in her scent. She winced, used the smell of death but never had it come from family. Another sob escaped.

Her mother was right, she knew, and Lyra shared the distaste at the thought of a Redhawk having enough wits about them to pull off such a stunt. And yet one had. Somehow, someway. "He must have had some help," she said quietly, pondering. Whether that help came in the form of an allied pack or another Redhawk wolf, she couldn't be sure. Perhaps he had even recruited some more intelligent creature.

"Gannet..." she started but cut herself off, frowning. No, he had come later. He had only come to his packmate's rescue (though was still wholly guilty by association to the triplets). Her frown suddenly became an outright, frustrated scowl, and she found herself gazing sadly at her sister, eyes misty from tears. "Oh, Galaxy," she sighed, her voice a grief-stricken whisper.
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Ooc — gerra
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She had settled into a quiet, seething rage, although a subtle ridge to her hackles suggested the depths of her ache. Unfair--for a prized daughter of hers, especially one of her most innocent and carefree, this was never the end she deserved. Amekaze looked her over once more, eyes aching each time.

They schemed.. and she nodded, although it was small as her mind churned with the possibilities; who would be able to help. She did not trust Gannet any either. "Another issue all of his own," she growled over the thought of the black-footed captive. "But I worry maybe not the answers we want." she licked her lips and straightened into an upright posture with a deep, heavy sigh. She was exhausted, angry.. this was only starting to break her heart more and more.

"I want to take her up more. It is too frozen for a proper grave, so.. a small cave is next best," she murmured sadly--tiredly--before she nudged against Galaxy's pale ruff one more time. Amekaze had a few spots in mind to look.. but they were not what she wanted and was not a task she wanted either. She gave Lyra one last long look before she moved to lift the fallen girl and haul her off with or without further company.

For her, and for right now.. enough had been said. She would regroup again without her blood's corpse at her paws.
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i want to bleed in the 「r a i n
these violent delights
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Ooc — Laur
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#8
Lyra refused to meet her mother’s eye, her gaze fixated on Galaxy even as Amekaze spoke. Gannet definitely was another matter, one that could have a conclusion that favoured Moonspear. They would never be able to get their precious little sister back, but they could have their revenge. However, she nodded sadly; even with Hydra’s apparent friendship with their captive, she was worried his loyalty to his own family would win out over any fear he held for them. However foolish that was.

Amekaze’s murmur was not missed, and Lyra gave another stiff nod, watching silently as the dark woman moved to gently press her nose against her daughter’s neck. She could read the signs, and stood. It would be wise to leave her mother to mourn and bury her child in peace. ”We’ll deal with that Redhawk,” she said, spitting out the dreaded name. They implied her sisters, as ever. He would be their responsibility and she knew their parents had no qualms with the way he would be treated.

She cast one last forlorn look to her sister, knowing her mother would choose only the best of final resting places, before turning and taking off to find her sisters.