Dawnlark Plains Here we go again

@Dawn we can roll for hits? Set after Shale goes bonkers.

A low growl rumbled through his chest, the anger and hurt that he had felt building up inside of him until he felt it would burst. Not only had he been trying to soothe his little sister, but he had been snapped at for it by both his Uncle and his sister. He didn't personally think death was something to shy away from. Wasn't that why he was so upset? He hadn't confronted the fact that his dad would die, he practically thought he'd always be there and now he was gone forever and Sunny wasn't prepared.  

Why had Dawn given him such a nasty look? It was as if they'd never fixed their relationship! Dad was gone and so what, Dawn hated him and felt she could boss him around? A memory from when they were pups came back, Dawn threatening to win dominance by beating him in a fight. Another growl left his maw, louder and more firm. Maybe it was the emotions all boiling up into a simmering rage, maybe he was just tired of being treated lower than his sister. Either way he lifted his head to the sky and called to Dawn, a challenge filled with anger in his tone.

for personal ref. timing this to before dawn x adi
she answered her brother's summons silently, appearing before him haggard and worn. the night had been chaos; comforting Cat, looking after the young and the shell-shocked den mother, her own trip outside the borders to finally lament her grief, and Shale, and then Kasatka and the young again. the constant activity and exhaustion made the day even more unreal, and her head hung low on her shoulders as she finally sought out her brother and made her way towards him, mind too clouded to consider just why he'd called. 

she sought to come to terms with the anger, the challenge, and approached the last few yards with extra effort to bring her head up and seek out the angry gaze that suddenly seemed so familiar.

It shook him the way she approached, looking so upset and destroyed that he almost stopped. He almost stopped and apologized, tried to soothe his sister like he should. Instead the anger flared up even more "So dad is gone and suddenly you can shove me around and boss me again? Did our make up not matter? Was it just a show? I won't do it again Dawn. I will prove here and now, that you cannot boss me and be mean anymore." he spat it all out in a rush, ending with a low growl and circling her. Something nagged inside, telling him not to, telling him how wrong he was, telling him how this was not making his father's death any better.

her brother erupted, and she felt only emptiness. "I can't always baby you, Sunny. I have enough to deal with without you feeling slighted." her gaze was hollow as she stared him down, turning her shoulder and making as if to move past him. surely there were more packmates to check on, more she could do to feed the grief that encircled her so, that didn't involve this. not here, not now.

She thought he wanted to be babied? A snarl of disbelief erupted from his maw and this time he used his muscle to block her path, attempting to bump her backwards. "I don't want to be babied Dawn, I want you to stop pretending you're so much better than me! Those kids should learn about death young, so they aren't blindsided like we just were. Yet you and Shale both went off on me in front of Kitten, scared her so bad she pissed herself" Sunny growled, ears flattening back against his skull as he lunged again, going to attempt to knock her backwards again. "Stop pretending you aren't feeling this too! You hurt because he's gone, i know you do. I don't want you to baby me, I want you to be my damned sister and mourn with me, sympathize with me, for once!" he shouted at her, eyes beginning to blur with tears. Everything was building up, he felt like he was losing a grip on everything he had worked to become.

wake up.

he erupted again, and only tiredness had her listen to him, allow him to continue. finally, he stopped, and for a moment she pulled together enough thought and emotion to finally speak. "they do not need to learn about death while their uncle goes mad and their mother is in shock. they do not need you to preach about death while their uncle wonders when da will wake up." she snapped, then, fangs snapping close in front of his face, the wolfish equivalent of a slap. "I don't have time to mourn, Sunny. we can't all fall apart, or else we'd all end up like Shale." She was dangerously close to doing just that, however, yet forced her tail to curl high and her hollow gaze to glint with anger as she surveyed her brother.

He shook his head with mock pity before lifting his head and clicking his teeth together sharply. He simply snorted at Dawn's opinion of what the kids needed "The body should have been moved somewhere the kids couldn't see it then yeah?" he mocked. When she snapped in his face he didn't flinch, but moved his head backward instinctively. He began to circle her, his movements tense and visibly threatening "No time to mourn your own father? You aren't leader here. It isn't your job to care for any of us. I do that more than you do. I bring Cat food, stock the caches, march the borders. I keep away predators, visit each and every member." He looked at her posturing as he circled toward the back of her, noticed her tail go up and curled his lips over his fangs. She was claiming dominance and he wouldn't have it, not this time. With a ripping snarl of rage he lunged for her tail, seeking to take hold of the limb and crunch it between his jaws.

he was a child. how could he possibly play "who's better" in the wake of what had happened, when he had seen himself what grief had driven their uncle to do? her gaze shuttered a moment, and she gathered the strength to offer him an ultimatum that she hoped would put an end to this, to his words, when his fangs landed in her tail. pain lanced through the grief, sharp and sudden, and a rasping breath left her as yet another thing snapped in her chest. 

she spun, slow and painfully, her tail ripping away from his jaws in a mess of blood and fur. she shouldered him roughly, hoping to push him off and away and succeeding.

Perhaps this was madness showing im it's own unique to him form because no way would he do this normally. As she shoved him off he circled her again in rageful silence, eyes gleaming with fury so unlike him it should be concerning. On fact, what was going to be concerning for him later on was he currently wasn't there. He wasn't consciously present in this moment,only his fury was there controlling his actions. When this was done and he came back to himself, it would seem like only seconds had passed.

Once again like a feral animal he lunged in, jaws seeking to take hold of the back of her scruff and paws on her shoulders to push her downward. He growled deeply as he moved, muscles rippling.

she didn't want to fight, didn't want to do anything more than sleep. but Sunny circled her like an animal, until again he struck and drove her to the ground. she hit the earth dully, joints twisting painfully as she sought to twist back, to push him off her, and failed. her fangs only served to rip into her scruff, and she gasped, subdued and delayed, as again she tried to surge upward, only to come to an abrupt stop when she met the larger mass of her brother.

As she fell to the ground Sunny moved in, pouncing on her and standing over her. Looking down at her he slowly began to realize what he was doing and just simply stood there panting, but then with a curl of his lips he lunged in to wrap his jaws around her throat and squeeze till she submitted,  only to fail epically as she also surged upwards and he accidentally headbutted her mouth. He cursed loudly and reared backward, not getting off but not moving in quite yet either.

"enough" the word was raspy, broken yet firm. the metallic scent of blood met her nose, and it was only a beat later that she realized that it had to be coming from one of the two; likely herself. she surged upward, twisting to face him, the hollowness becoming hard a moment. "you need to leave, Sunny." faltering, raspy. she tried again. "you need to leave, and come back when you are more than a child." she moved, stiffening, wishing she was far away from here. 

"I need you, Sunny. I need you to be better than this." her breath hitched once, but she stood firm, hunching her shoulders in the quite probable possibility that he launch another attack.

He was panting, eyes blown wide as he fully realized how badly he had exploded. His nostrils flared at the stench of blood and he gave a low whine, shoving himself off of her tail tucked between his legs. Her words hit him harder than any physical attack could have and he stiffened, regret and guilt going hard and turning to coldness. She was sendinf him away from Morningside? It's probably what she wanted anyway. But then the last words sank in and he swallowed thickly, turning his gaze away and staring out into the darkness. "I'll leave. Just...tell Aliac I love her and I'm sorry." he murmured and turned away. He began to walk away and then paused. "I don't belong here. Not now that dad is gone. You and me don't get along and I....i can't explode again like that. I hope you become as great of a leader as dad was Dawn." he murmured and then bolted. He didn't stop till he was over the borders.

she wanted to open her mouth, to argue. but it was unfair, and tiring, and she let him bolt into the night. she did not wait until he was out of sight before crumbling in on herself, curling tight and grateful, for once, that she felt little more than a husk.

hollow