Bramblepoint so lets set the world on fire
Ghost
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#1
All Welcome 



✴        This was the furthest he'd ever been from the mountain, but it was a pivotal moment for young Revui. Thus far the world was his proverbial oyster; the pack was built to protect him, and he had yet to find any sort of issue with it. He was pushing boundaries — something new to the four-month-old — and the more he roamed along the mountain paths, the more bold he felt.

Once he made it all the way down the mountain, the sky was beginning to fade in color. It wasn't quite evening (the sun stayed up and the sky stayed bright for hours longer than normal), but he knew he was tired and hungry — but for once, the beckoning forest in the lowlands was more interesting to him than the prospect of food. As soon as the Bramblewood's shadows criss-crossed around him, he felt invigorated again.

The adventure had just begun.
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arcturus had followed revui, at first out of sheer boredom -- but then, as revui's pewter form dipped between blasted rocks and lowland shrubs, arcturus grew apprehensive. soon they were well out of the confines of comforting familiarity; revui plowed onwards, heedless -- and arcturus toiled after him with worry fretting his features.

the little shadow was not a master tracker, but his vantage from the hill and the decreasing daylight at least afforded him the occasional clear view of his brother's backside. eventually, just as the sun began to climb into the distant peaks beyond, arcturus had nearly caught up to his brother. by then the shade of the bramblewood had bent and twisted, and long shadows cloaked the two of them in what arcturus thought was a rather sinister shade.

when you come down to take me home
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Ghost
"God is every bit as feral as that which he creates."
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✴        Revui was not aware he was being followed until much later, when the forest had essentially engulphed his small self and he was being swaddled in shadows. His only indication was the shuffling of feet behind him - something he only noticed because he began to pause more frequently, and the sound curiously continued despite his hesitations. With a turn of his head and a yip, he spotted the bright eyes of his brother — and then with a few bounding leaps, closed the gap between them. The boy grabbed at his brother's ear for an affectionate (but rough) pull as a way of greeting.
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already arcturus felt out of place; his ears swept in fanning gestures, his eyes never quit their worried cast; as the shadows grew so did his apprehension, up until he was as jumpy as a young deer. he had been looking (almost longingly) behind him when revui had noticed him, and with a startled yelp arcturus leapt back at the sudden pressure against his ear.

doing so was possibly more painful than just allowing revui to gnaw the triangular fold of skin; arcturus shook his head suddenly, his ear painful and bloodied. cutting his brother a look equally pained and cold, he muttered something under his breath and then tensed as a pair of blackbirds suddenly set flight above them.

when you come down to take me home
send my soul away
Ghost
"God is every bit as feral as that which he creates."
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✴        He tugged a few times, but it wasn't meant to harm. Unfortunately Arcturus was fighting him a little rather than going with the flow of his antics, but that was his perogative. Soon enough Revui was tasting the thinnest metallic flavor of blood and he released his brother's ear with a small huff, bothered mostly that his shadow wasn't in a playful mood. He was otherwise preoccupied when the birds took flight — but as soon as he heard their wing-beats, his head swivelled, and he doggedly charged away from Arcturus after them. Much the same as a puppy-versus-squirrel scenario, Revui saw the moving objects as targets and was eager to play with them (probably to the detriment of their health). They were faster though; the birds melded with the forest's darkness without issue and Revui was left to race around like a fool.
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Though they did not know it, they had three shadows on their trail. Hydra recalled the days leaving the territory had been forbidden; it was much the same for them. She thought of the one-eyed bastard that lurked within these wilds—how else would Gannet have found him?—and in their journey after the two brothers, it was his eye she sought. 

It was a terrible thing, to use one's siblings as bait. But in removing the wilds of its worst disease, she would do what she must. 

Hydra's gaze shifted to the flock of birds that took flight, and she bid @Alya check that area with a glance. Some time had passed since the boys had made their way out of Moonspear, and soon she intended to herd them back by any means necessary. Their presence kept them out of harms way, and her priority was their hunt; however, any stranger who approached would find themselves most unwelcome.
I'll find that you'll find that I'm lethal
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arcturus' heart was hammering; he instinctively pressed against his brother as if for support -- overhead the dark form of birds moved against the dusk. he felt a gap grow between himself and his brother, and watched almost mournfully as revui pulled away after the birds' departing forms.

he was unaware of hydra -- or of her two shadows -- had he known of their presence he would have felt significantly safer. feeling only a sense of anxious loneliness, arcturus reluctantly padded after his brother with a brave face he didn't even remotely feel.
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someone mentioned wf on the discord???? >> << i am here to cause drama

it was perhaps an effect of what passed as her cubhood that borya did not do well in one place for long, not even when she was far enough away from where she had been given the chain and the scars that it shouldn't matter. but she was not, lately, in the business of questioning herself, and so when the uncomfortable itch under her fur got to be too much she left the little valley and headed over the ridge and out through the flatlands. 

she had scented other bears, not seen them, but she was not surprised when her walk turned up nothing of interest. the valley had smelled strongly of wolves, but the grasslands were a world of little more than deer and fox and rabbit that she did not bother to chase. she found salmon in the river she walked through and stripped new-grown berries from low-hanging bushes and all-in-all paid very little attention to anything around her because if there had been any fear in her to begin with it had long since been stripped away by a hundred sets of teeth.

so of course she did not notice the children, either.

if there was one thing summer brought that borya enjoyed above all else, it was beehives, for honey and larvae alike. and the fringe of woodland she had wandered into provided just the thing. the buzz of bees was enough to draw her ear, and from there it was simple enough. her scarred muzzle provided more place to sting than she would have liked, but she had never been one to let pain deter her from anything -- if she had, she would have been dead long before.

on her back legs, chest pressed up against the bark, she hooked her claws into the pitted surface of the hive, and the bees swarmed out in a furious cloud, with a low buzz that rose like a roar in her ears. she paid little attention as she pawed at it, scraping it slowly away from its moorings. and by extension, no attention to the wolves wandering up from behind.
Ghost
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✴        Revui was ignorant to so many things going on around him. The only thing he had the attention span for was Arcturus, but even then the birds had taken him away from his brother for a brief period. Once they were gone, he looked back and forth at the trees as if he could spy the birds still; but alas, he could not. He waited in this space for a few moments while his brother caught up and then bolted again, finding it easier and easier to get further if his brother came along.

As he dashed this time, the trees picked up a cool breeze betwixed their boughs, and he listened to the shuffling of their leaves. The sound got louder as he moved, but he was going at such a slow pace — and then the breeze stopped, but the sound did not. He blinked up at the trees and then looked back at Arcturus again, as if to gauge his reaction but they were both so new to this exploring thing and the world was filled with strange wonders.

He hummed and hawed for a second or two, and then took off — straight for the buzzing noise.
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there came along the trickling of wind a noise arcturus did not understand; at first it whispered, and then it roared. on the floor of the leaf-littered copse arcturus stiffened, having no recourse or recollection of the nature in which the sound originated.

revui was unstartled, and plunged head-on into the fray. arcturus hung back a moment, finding the darkness that loomed around him far more intimidating than the prospect of following his brother. unwilling to be alone, arcturus scrambled after his brother's retreating form and unwittingly closer to the very noise in which he wished to avoid.

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The very moment her younger brother dashed was the instant Hydra and her sisters broke their cover. They, from three separate directions, would seek to be their brothers divine intervention this day; a clipped snarl was all that came from her lips as she warned the duo that she was nothing short of ready to kick their ass to kingdom come should they think it wise to test the thin, frayed thread that was  her patience. Oh, she would have been content if they had continued in their meander... but two kids, running? She could prevent no disasters, that way. 

Hydra's hackles lifted as she heard the buzzing. From her youth she had been taught much about bears and some of their inclination toward the stuff, though mostly they seemed to enjoy foraging on berries and the like when meat was not readily available. 

I could make it readily available, came her irate, snide side. She was not suited for cub-sitting. And this was not the sort of prey she had hoped to lure to her; it was predator, and the sort Hydra did not enjoy messing around with, if it were there. Hydra's tail lifted above her hindquarters as she stared down Revui, as vapid as Korei Julia despite sharing the same coat as the wise Jarilo, and Hydra noted Arcturus with a sharp glance. He was meant to be her follower, not Revui's—it would kill him.

Disappointment in his lack of forethought presented itself as she looked away and back to Revui, a low snarl ekking forth from her throat again: back home, now.
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borya was oblivious to the drama currently playing itself out a ways behind her, caught up in her future meal as she was. the bees were beginning to puzzle out the best places to sting her -- or their frantic jabs into her thick fur had finally gotten lucky, as sharp pinpricks of pain sprung up around her muzzle. but she'd dealt with far worse. she gave the feeling no more attention than she would a twig breaking underfoot -- though perhaps her claws dug a bit more sharply against the bark as she scraped at the hive where it met the tree, and eventually, after only a few more pulls, it fell.

bees still swarming all around her, borya lowered herself back to all fours with a quick shake of her muzzle. just because they were not the most painful thing she'd experienced didn't mean they were enjoyable either; she gave an irritated huff, reached down and scooped the entire honeycomb up in her jaws. it cracked dangerously under the pressure of her teeth, even though she was being as careful as she could manage. but it didn't break and, satisfied, she turned gingerly around and started walking off with her prize.

the bees followed her for a bit, furiously stinging up and down her back as she drew away, but eventually, they petered out, just about the time that she broke through a stand of trees, stepped into the grass beyond, and had her attention immediately drawn by the snarl of a wolf who -- there were three of them, just about identical, and they were corralling what appeared to be two children.

which meant there was going to be aggression in spades for her presence, which, while understandable, was not something borya wanted to deal with, particularly not while holding a meal. she was not certain she was going to be given the choice.
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✴        It was rare that anyone stop the children from their development, or to be so obvious in their tempering of their behavior, but it was in that split-second moment of Hydra's arrival that Revui felt pure resistance. The Cerberus were only looking out for the newest edition. To Revui, Hydra's abrupt roar and commanding presence was seen as insulting, but he was only a child. A self-centered one that did not like being restrained at that. Her roar was met with his staccato-stepping, a near fall, a pause-and-pivot as he lanced her with a sharp look as if to say, make me.

But even with his resistance present, his posture challenging with the raise of his puffy tail and alertness to his features (because he could not yet control his reactions), he had stopped his forward march. His full-tilt run had ended, and he rounded back to where Arcturus was loitering, as if to garner support for further exploration from him. He bumped against Arcturus' shoulder and nibbled at his chin with swift little pecks, all the while circling the shadow of his brother as if to herd him onwards.

Of course, he remained ignorant to the bear, but thankfully the bear was ignorant of the children for some time yet.
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arcturus thought all manner of gloomy things he dutifully followed his reckless brother - like how he would much rather be anywhere but here, or how he didn't care for the darkness that had descended uninvited over the vale. his glowering was interrupted abruptly, for a commanding call erupted around the hinterlands.

arcturus didn't even need to look back to know who had issued such a sharp bark; his ears swept around and he turned in time for revui to torment his face with insistent pecks -- pecks that seemed to say ignore her, follow me.

but arcturus at present was neither of theirs to command, for his eyes had caught the lumbering behemoth in the brush, and the boy froze still as a tree, the only thing about him moving was the quivering of his nostrils.
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Outraged by Revui's inability to obey, Hydra reacted instantaneously to his look. She would happily oblige such requests, and the Ostrega knew better than to give him any time to think about doing anything else; still, the stray gaze of her brother was not missed, because it stared where it should not (it should be upon her), and the she-wolf turned as Revui circled to see what her brother had, noting it observing them. 

Her hackles lifted and Hydra was stuck between her pride, and her other motivations. She gazed at Revui and Arcturus, knowing the stories they had heard of bears. None good. One had stolen their sister. If you would like to be stolen, Revui, you may stay, she decided, her sharp blue gaze falling onto him. Maybe he would be curious like Korei Julia, maybe he would decide to approach the beast? Think it sweet, and their parents verdicts to be gained through fantasy? She would let natural selection do its work. Hydra hadn't the patience to deal with disobedient curs—

Terribly insensitive to the developing mind of the youth, Hydra could not understand or sympathize with their inability to listen... but their time was short. If the bear had a family to protect, it would surely charge; they had a single bluff, perhaps, but Hydra hadn't the time for seeing that through. So she turned back to her brother to snap at their feet: back home before you get yourselves killed. If the bear doesn't do it, I'll do it.
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borya's gaze lingered on the gathering as she stood there, half-distracted by the taste of honey on her tongue. 

they were doing a remarkable job of standing right in the way she had expected to walk back, which wasn't an issue in itself; she could go around. but the concept of toeing neatly around canines had somewhat fallen out of appeal for her, probably since she had been made to fight them for someone else's fun. she was what she was, and if the wolves knew what was good for them they would simply stand aside and let her pass. as long as they decided not to antagonize her, nobody needed to get hurt.

pausing to adjust her grip on her prize, she lumbered forwards with the slow, deliberate precision of someone who was both unafraid and unconcerned about the potential danger surrounding them. her steps led her closer towards the group by degrees, and as she neared them her spring-green eyes focused laserlike on the three older canines. the expression in her eyes might have been a warning as much as it might have been a dare.
Ghost
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✴        When Arcturus moved, Revui felt vindicated. It wasn't until he turned to confront whatever had gathered his brother's attention that he stopped in his tracks as well, his gaze widening in surprise when the lumbering creature made its slow but consistent pass near their position. He remembered the stories of the bears in a vague sense (mostly because he put little stock in words and the older he got the less he could focus upon them), but it was something else entirely to be faced with such a giant thing face-to-face. He needed no further prompting; Revui felt his limbs stiffen with anxiety and his ears fell back on his head when he took stock of the creature's movement, but still he did not move.

Rather, he looked to Arcturus with a quick glance (as if taking his eyes off of the bear would spell disaster), and then pressed against his dark brother, herding him haphazardly away. He kept himself between the bear and his brother as he tried to flee, and whether Arcturus followed him or he stumbled and failed to protect him, Revui was off like a silver bullet for the safety of their sisters.

The moment he came close to Hydra he looked away from her. There was no way for him to stop the sting of defeat now tha the was following her orders. He did lift his snout to her cheek and nose at it with fondness and humility, a physical showing of an apology that could be read in his body language.
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the dark cub watched fearfully as the ominous shape grew and grew; until at last it broke the cover and came at them with thunderous, swinging strides. it was arcturus' first encounter with the ursine race, and he hoped it would be his last -- feeling his brother swell and then bolt, arcturus was quick to turn tail and scatter like a startled shadow from his rest.

hydra and the other two siblings were forgotten; or at the very least, not the most prominent thing in his mind -- arcturus ran after his darting brother, happy to put distance behind them and hopefully avoid the punishment of hydra's fangs later.
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The bears threat was met with a snarl that did not reveal her intent to attack, but to defend. Size be damned, Hydra would make a slaughtered lamb out of any canine, feline, or ursine that thought to harm her siblings. The display from the other seemed more of a warning than anything else, which caused the Ostrega to trot after her younger siblings as Lyra and Alya both watched their back to be aware of the critter should they suddenly decide they wished to fight.

Fortuntely, her brothers both heeded her; one apologetic and the other too anxious to think of anything else but obeying. Hydra wasted no time in guiding them back home, ears cupped backward to listen for the telltale plod of the beast.

FADE UNLESS BEAR WANTS TO FITE ??
I'll find that you'll find that I'm lethal