Blacktail Deer Plateau No, I can't look down

@Junior I'll still be busy this week and next but my phone's decided to start cooperating for posts after I factory reset it, and I had a good idea for starting this.

Two nights and a day went by before Saēna returned to the plateau from the east. She hadn't realized how far out she'd gone until the return journey, which seemed to take many hours longer than the initial one had. She was already forgetting how the bleak volcano looked and her initial thought that it was a sucky home was nowhere to be found. Instead, she focused on Fox and what an absolute bore she was.

Her thoughts lingered on Fox even as she automatically followed a worn path through the forest in the direction of the old rendezvous site. She searched for any new reason to hate on the red-furred woman with her siblings but came up blank until, with a slight gasp, she remembered an extremely important thing. Peregrine had said she was severely hurt. Saēna's repressed memory of her foster father's explanation rose back up and she recalled him saying Fox depended on him... But Fox had been walking around just fine.

Her gut roiled as she paused. Had Peregrine... lied to them? Deciding that this new gossip was too important to wait, Saēna tilted back her head and summoned her siblings, eager for more shit-talking and especially eager to know how they reacted.

The Script — Man on a Wire

Junior slept near Dante each night (assuming his player doesn't mind that assumption hee^heehee), though she knew she should find a den of her own. Well, her family had lived out in the open in the spring but she figured it might be smart to find somewhere to shelter on cold and rainy nights. No one said this to her; it was just an instinctual knowledge that dawned on her even as autumn zoomed along in the general direction of winter.

She had located the whelping den and was sniffing around, wondering whether anybody would mind if she claimed it, when her pale sister's howl cut through the crisp fall air. Backpedaling and pivoting, Junior trotted in Saēna's direction, all the while wondering what she might want. En route, she realized it might be cool if she asked Saēna — and Tytonidae too, of course — if they wanted to share their family's old den. Then they could be roomies all over again!

"Hey," the young Osprey said as she found Saēna and strode toward her, "what's up?" She noticed the look on Saēna's face and added, "Why do you always look like you just smelled shit when I see you? What happened?"

I know I'm a bit of a slow poster with Ty, so feel free to skip me if I take more than three days to keep things moving along. :)

When Saena's call rang out for her siblings, Tytonidae cocked her head to one side. After most all of her family had left her at one point or another, Ty could hardly remember who was here and who had left. She was, for lack of a better word, slow. The oddest thing had been happening lately, too. Ty could rarely find her friends any longer. They used to show up around every corner, but they had been more and more scarce. Perhaps it had been their time to leave, too. It made her sad to think that she would not see them any longer, but perhaps it would make things easier.

Tytonidae glided toward her two siblings, clearly the meekest of the three. She had little ambition and kept to herself more often than not. Both Osprey and Saena were already outriders, and all Ty could boast was that her father had asked her to be a gamekeeper. Or rather, to try it out. “Hi, guys.”

Saēna is quickly turning into the gossip-y shit-talking kind of girl I hated in jr. high. :P

"'Cause you're full of it," she quipped with a smirk when Junior arrived with a question on her tongue. She trusted her sister would know she was teasing. Ty followed close behind. Though Saēna was half expecting the dusky grey female to defend their father against what she was about to say, she invited Ty in by sidestepping so they formed a rough little triangle with their heads turned in.

"Actually, I went wandering," she said, "and went a lot farther than I meant to and found dad's new pack." She bit back a remark about how ugly it looked before continuing. "Fox was there patrolling. She completely ignored me, didn't say hi til I called her out. Classy to steal dad and then act like we don't exist, eh?

Anyway, I didn't stick around, but you know what? When dad took off he said she was super hurt or something, like really bad. He said he had to get back immediately." She looked conspiratorially between the siblings, though her gaze lingered on Junior longer since she knew the Warrior teen despised Fox more than Ty did. "But she looked pretty fine, walking around, being a bitch and everything."

Finally getting to the point, Saēna sucked in a breath and then said, "I think he might have lied to everyone about how hurt she was to look like less of a dick for abandoning us."

Junior too, apparently! O_O

Junior sensed that Saēna was about to dish out something juicy, so she folded her haunches to the ground and leaned in, listening raptly. Her eyes glistened when her sister mentioned Peregrine's new territory. She had seen it for herself and she actually shared Saēna's opinion of the landscape, even if neither of them spoke of it. Black ears slicked backward at the mention of Fox's cold-shouldered behavior, not that it was any surprise.

When Saēna insisted Fox's injuries were a lie, Junior's mouth opened to refute this. She'd seen Fox too and something had definitely been wrong with her. But why on earth would she come to that jerk's defense? Recently, the pre-teen had really come to enjoy fibbing and even outright lying. It had never hit so close to home, so she felt a tiny flare of guilt, but it didn't stop her from saying what she said next.

"You know, I think you're right. I saw her too. I didn't see a scratch or mark on her. I bet she either faked it with him too... or that they both pretended. Probably he was just raring to get back and bang that bitch, is all," Junior said. "I don't even think dad's a bad guy, deep down. I think she's turning him into some sort of... puppet, though," she said, hesitating before finding the right word. "He doesn't have a mind of his own anymore, that's for damn sure. The dad we knew would've never left the plateau or even thought about it.

And," she continued, her voice suddenly lowering to a conspiratorial level, "I heard that Lasher came back. I'd bet anything that selfish slut made dad break up with him and send him back here 'cause she couldn't stand sharing him... even though Lasher was here first!"

The acid that spewed from her sisters' mouths caused Ty to step back, jaw ajar, in shock. She had known that they were upset, but to so openly talk about him like he did not matter... it was not right. Even Tytonidae knew that, and she was not the brightest star in the sky. She could say nothing, speechless as she was. Her father loved Fox, that much she knew, but he had loved Lasher, too. Tytonidae could not believe that any of them would be mean to each other.

But, then again, she could not have imagined the words that spilled from Osprey and Saena's mouths right then and there. Shellshocked, Ty remained stilted, jaw snapping shut and lips forming a thin, uneasy line on her face. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, unsure if she was going to be able to talk to either of her former den-mates. Was she the only one who still harbored an ounce of respect for their father?

As I was writing this post I kept replayong the image of Saēna, Junior, and Lasher showing up at RHC, knocking Perry out, and dragging him back to BDP "for his own good". >_>

She spotted the look of horrified shock on Ty's face and gave her a grim nod that said, I know, right? She couldn't imagine that the horror and shock was toward anyone but Peregrine and Fox, so wrapped up in hating them was she.

Junior confirmed her suspicions and Saēna snorted. "You're right," she said, breathing in deeply. "She's not even pretty or fun, can't imagine why he listens to her, but I'm sure he's only doing it 'cause she's turned him into her personal servant..." Junior went on to mention Lasher, causing Saēna's ears to tilt further forward. She didn't know Lasher was back. She assumed that the chocolate male was deep in her father's affections and would never leave his side. Although she spent almost no time with Lasher before the pack splintered, a fresh wave of anger washed over her.

"What a bitch," she murmured. "At least she's not here anymore. I think I'd barf if she tried telling me what to do." Shaking her head, Saēna quickly latched back onto the topic of Lasher by saying, "hey, we should talk to him. Separately. Let him know he's not the only one whose life is being spat on by that selfish trollop." Then, more quietly, she added, "maybe he can help us break her spell on dad, too. Get him to ditch her and come back here where he belongs."

Like Saēna, Junior mistook Ty's silence and horrified expression as a reaction to the news about Peregrine, Fox and Lasher. Her own mouth drew into a grim line as she met her sister's eyes, then looked back as Saēna continued berating Fox before suggesting they each try to catch Lasher alone. She seemed hopeful that Lasher could help them break Fox's spell over their father and, with his help, bring him home.

"I'd be happy to talk to him," Junior said. "I can just see dad breaking up with him and Fox standing behind him, smirking all smugly..." She growled at the mental image, unaware that Lasher had decided to leave all on his own. "I bet he's heartbroken. And," she finished darkly, "I bet the only reason dad picked Fox over Lasher is 'cause Fox can give him pups. That's all that matters to dad anymore, I feel like: Fox and their freakin' pups who aren't even born yet."

But even Tytonidae had a breaking point. Her sisters tore into their father and Fox like they were the scum of the earth, and by the time Osprey had finished, Ty's lip was pulled back and a low growl rumbled in her throat. "You can't talk about them like that!" she said, "Dad loves us! And... and he loves Fox!" She could already hear the crack in her voice when she said it, but Tytonidae couldn't stop herself. How could they be so cruel? "I thought you guys were nice, but you're terrible and mean!" Is this what her sisters had learned while they were away? To be terrible and mean? If so, Tytonidae wanted no part of it.

Emotions overthrowing her usual meek self, she launched herself at Osprey, teeth flashing as she attempted to shove her sister to the ground. Ty would show her what happened to terrible, mean wolves. And when she was done, she would do the same to Saena.

She bobbed her head enthusiastically. Everything Junior said made perfect sense. Before she could add her sympathy for Lasher or say anything else, though, shit hit the fan.

Her ears twisted back as Ty lashed out verbally and her own lips crinkled. If he loved them so much then they would have come before his stupid woman. "It's pretty obvious he doesn't give a flying fu—" She never finished, for Ty launched herself at Junior. Saēna's loyalty to Junior ran far deeper than it did for Ty. She didn't even think about it as she lunged to intercept.

She'd accepted Ty's dreaminess, come to forgive her youthful "lie" from when Junior was gone, but she could not accept her attacking Junior. Saēna was smaller but threw herself blindly anyway. She knew Junior could subdue Ty, she just needed an opening to do it.

Tytonidae's outburst surprised Junior so much that when her sister leaped at her, she went down like a sack of potatoes. If Ty had used her words, Junior might have listened to her and felt badly for talking so much smack. Yet all she could think about was getting her sister off her before anyone got hurt. Although it was a little too late for that; Ty's muzzle had smacked against hers, busting her lip and rattling her teeth.

"Ty," Junior grunted, "get off me." She kicked out with her legs, shoving her sister away — likely with Saēna's help — so that she could clamber to her feet. "The fuck is wrong with you? If you're such a big fan of theirs, why don't you go to the caldera?" she demanded heatedly, wiping a thread of blood from the corner of her mouth.

She shook her head, then sighed forcefully as she tried to calm herself. This was her sister, after all. "If you had an issue with what we were saying, why didn't you speak up instead of just... attacking me? You're lucky I didn't whip your ass, Tytonidae," Junior finished disapprovingly, then fell silent and glanced at Saēna, not sure of what else to say or even how to feel. She was angry, hurt and guilty all at once.

It was over just as quickly as it had begun. Nobody had won, but Ty certainly felt she had lost. "I hate you both," she seethed, never having used that word before. They were both stupid and she hated every ounce of their beings. Hackles raised and snarling, she gave them one last look to let them know just how terrible they were, and then she fled east and south, running as fast as her feet would take her. She had no friends here any longer. Now, it seemed, was her time to leave.

Junior showed more restraint than Saēna did, at least outwardly. The larger youth called out her biological sister on freaking out while Saēna lurked at Junior's side with hackles raised and head lowered. She didn't expect Tytonidae to take another shot at either of them, but that didn't stop her suspicion. She was glowering, and found that she mentally agreed with Junior—Ty could take a hike straight over to Fox's lap.

But when she thought it, she hadn't meant it, so when Ty whirled and took off, she took a few startled steps in the girl's direction. "Ty!" she called after the fleeing teen but it was no use. Tytonidae outpaced her voice and vanished.

Saēna shot a panicked look at Junior that was mixed with uncertainty and hurt. She would never change her views on Fox and would never believe that Peregrine truly cared for them anymore so long as Fox was in the picture, but to be hated for talking about it stung. Her lips twitched between a frown and a thin line before she broke away and began to pace after Ty, hoping to prevent her from going missing permanently.

Tytonidae's only response was to tell her sisters she hated them. Junior blinked, her ears slicking back against her head. What a horrid thing to say. What on earth had gotten into her usually soft-spoken and easygoing sister? Nothing she and Saēna had said warranted such an awful sentiment. Junior's feelings of anger and hurt intensified.

Saēna loped after Ty but Junior remained standing like a statue, flinty eyes watching as they disappeared into the woods. She remained there for a good minute or two, then skulked away toward the whelping den. So much for asking them to stay with her. Well, she wanted to be alone now anyway.

I assumed Ty was out of the thread and this is the concluding post. @Fox If you had wanted to post again just hit me in PM. :P

Saēna's paced increased until she was galloping through the plateau, hell-bent on catching Tytonidae, but not even two minutes went by before she stopped. Her thoughts were turning over and over in her mind. She alternated between wanting to leave Tytonidae to struggle by herself and wanting to make sure she stayed. Saēna couldn't take any more abandonment, even if it was just the spacey den-mate she never really understood... but the thought of another verbal licking kept her planted.

She warred with herself for a short while before she turned away from her pursuit. It's no use, she bitterly told herself as she walked back to where she left Junior, she'll just yell some more about hating us. It was her fault for bringing it up, but what was Ty thinking, defending the one who had broken their family?

When she reached the spot they'd all been standing not five minutes ago, Junior was gone.

"Ju?" she tried, hopeful that her remaining sister was nearby, but there was no response and eventually she left the scene as well with a dejected sigh.