Winter was finally upon the Teekon Wilderness and with it came a bone-chilling wind from the north. Despite this, the eldest of Kove and Nemesis’ brood found himself scouring the fog-laced lands. At nearly four months old, Atshen had learned much in his time on earth, but there was still much for him to learn. His body was ever-growing and it was growing apparent that Atshen would grow to be the largest of his litter.
Stalking silently, the eldest slipped through the shadows with the smell of
@Nemesis fresh in his nostrils. Baby blue eyes, which were now flecked with lava, scanned the wooded lands as he attempted to find _mother_. He often kept to himself, unless the opportunity to screw with his siblings came about or either of his parents caught his attention, and this day was clearly no exception to the normality that was his established routine.
The way the forest was changing had sparked a jubilant curiosity within the shade-eyed Apaata. The way the fog spread across the land, making his eye-sight limited brought him stimulated him, for the unexpected was all around him at every moment. He could feel, hear smell it creeping up on him, and touring the shadows, blending in with his surroundings to avoid the demons in the mist was as thrilling as a game could get.
His laughter, ever present, resounded through the forest in a characteristic way. Keelut had brought an eerie light to the dark woods with his birth, for his brothers and sister all had their own dull way to traverse it.
A shadow brought Keelut down to a halt. He swore he'd seen it walk right past him, and he was sure he'd just missed a chance to catch it. Imagine that, becoming the owner of yet another shadow, master it on his own. He would become grand, monumental. Pale like his surroundings, the secondborn stalked behind it, slithering his way over his path as he struggled to keep his laughter under control.
Laughter suddenly sounded from somewhere behind him, only adding to the the eeriness that embedded the woods. Despite this, Atshen did not bat an eye as he knew instantly who the laughter came from. Honestly, the idea of entertaining Keelut was not one that he wished to pursue. So instead of turning away from the noise, Atshen continued away from it in favor of his current interest: Mother. Surely she wasn’t far.
Instead of his pale-sibling losing interest, as the stormborn had assumed what would happen, Atshen soon found himself a new shadow. The other followed his every step whilst cacking like a crazed hyena. Though the noise easily grew into an annoyance, the darker child’s mind began to churn as he began to plot the ways in which he could mess with his brother.
Suddenly, the Spiderling veered east as one wicked idea came to mind. Though Atshen was usually stoic in expression a rare, almost menacing, smile slithered onto his dark lips as he moved his plan into action. He was heading into an area of the forest where there was a heavier density of trees. Lying at the feet of every tree were roots that seemed to jut up almost randomly. It was his hope that he would somehow be able to (literally) trip up his brother so that he would fall flat on his face.
What fun this would be, Atshen decided solemnly as he slunk off.
He crept closer and closer, and the warmer he got, the harder it became to keep his giggles shut. He should have known that the shadow would listen, he should have known that he was unnoticed no more, but Keelut simply did not have enough grasp on reality to notice that his laughter wasn't only in his head.
And as should have been expected the shadow picked up it's pace, leaving Keelut behind in a cloud of fog that thickened along the foliage as he advanced. At some point he lost contact with the shadow, and he couldn't find it's silhouette in the mist anymore. He picked up his pace, perhaps too late to really do any good to his cause, so soon enough the kid was left stranded in the cold, dark forest. Keelut advance didn't stop, nor did his laughter, but they both slowed down considerably as the cub came to realize that he didn't quite remember what he was following. Trees left and right showed no signs of escaping, but he did try to creep up to them once or twice before stumbling with one of their roots and, like Atshen had been planning all along, fell flat on his face with a loud yelp and a thud. He forced himself up shaking his head.
"Stupid tree!" yelled the kid madly before the giggles started twisting his frown back to amusement.
Slithering out of range, Atshen carefully picked himself through the mist in an attempt to avoid any contact with his pale sibling. The laughing would often grow louder as he scampered away, but with enough speed he was able to quiet it after a moment or so. When he felt that he was far enough away, Asthen began scouting for a suitable perch to watch the impending show from.
Soon enough, Asthen found comfort under a mighty oak not too far from where Keelut had tripped. Settling down as the sound of the other’s yelp. Smiling wickedly, Atshen lingered, hoping that that hadn’t been the grand act of the show.
The tree, as all the others, decided to ignore Keelut's insults. Such thick things they were, did not deserve a drop of Keelut's cordiality. Instead, the pup chose to offer his tongue, which he stuck out to blow a deserving raspberry to regain some of his dignity. Then, once satisfied, the pale kid set foot to retake his path, which somehow he remembered it to be that of the shadow. He sniffed around to find a lead, and once he recognized something he couldn't quite put the finger on her followed it steps through the undergrowth. It wasn't Anna for sure, for her form was much brighter than the one he was looking for. But the scent carried a familiarity that Keelut couldn't -- or didn't want to link to himself.
"Who's there?" he shouted airily. He could smell, feel, hear it breathing somewhere near, and it was thrilling to imagine what n this world it could be. "I can hear you," he added, panning his head with a sly smile edging his lips. It would be, however, a great disappointment to find that all this time he'd been following no less than Atshen, the least entertaining of his siblings.
Asthen was all too content in his world-- after all, what was there not to enjoy? He had entertainment and safety; two necessities in the child’s world. But, his newfound utopia crashed as his brother called to him out of the fog. His ears flattened quickly and his smile vanished at the sound of the other’s voice. Asthen was no longer jubilant in how his day had turned out.
As quietly as he could, Atshen sucked in a deep breath and held onto it tightly in an attempt to not make another noise. He sat in silence with a sense of anticipation hanging heavily in the air.
Before the forest settled in silence again, a gasp caught Keelut's heedful ears. He had keen senses despite his undeniable clumsiness, and that one faint clue had not escaped him. He followed it in silence, calculated, cat-like moves taking him closer and closer to the place where he believed rested the responsible. And with his nose's aid, the pale child soon enough found a target nested against an old oak, blurred by the mist. He would have been hard to see in the thick fog, but he wasn't hesitant to pounce on his target with jaws and claws widely spread to take hold on to anything he could before his prey escaped.
Permission from Anthony to fade!
With his eyes trained forward, Atshen attempted to keep his silence the best he could. He held his breath until he couldn't possibly hold it any longer. It was as he exhaled that he sense a force driving towards him and he perked to attention quickly. Figuring that Keelut had discovered him, and was attacking, Atshen scrambled onto his paws and to the side, just out of his brother's reach. Keeping his momentum going, Atshen darted further into the tangle of the woods, hoping to give his brother the hint that he would not win the game.