+- Wolf RPG (https://wolf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: In Character: Roleplaying (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Rising Sun Valley (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Thread: Morningside Cuesta kill the witch (/showthread.php?tid=66817)
Pages:
1
2
kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
The days were passing quicker than she ever could have imagined, and suddenly Easy's pups were poking their heads outside and more curious than ever. With some more prone to wandering than others, she posted herself outside of the densite for most hours of the day to help keep an eye out.
Today was no different. The snowfall that had been so relentless overnight had paused, and Baby had joined her outside in the cold. He usually preferred the indoors, clearly not a fan of the weather, but today curiosity seemed to get the better of him. Milan watched, amused, as he attempted to navigate snow that was up past the pup's paws.
It was a good day, there was no denying it. Milan doubted that anything could ruin it.
RE: kill the witch - Amadeus - December 29, 2025
His birth came with a promise of duty. His sister knew that, it was why she ran so far from home.
Days of deliberation and tracking scents had ultimately led to a cuesta. He made no effort to conceal himself beyond remaining upwind, eyes scouring for a familiar figure in the snow.
Milana, but not just her; a puppy. His lip curled at the sight. It was young, and after meeting Searchlight he was sure it had to be hers. She was a disgrace, a blotch on his father's tapestry,
She needed to be dealt with.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
Most days, Easy slept for long, endless hours. She woke to stretch, and sometimes to hunt, and often to slake her thirst with fallen snow. The bitter cold, thought she'd long weathered it without care, was getting to her the longer she spent stationary, but she was just too tired to get her blood truly pumping.
It was difficult to admit that she'd be in real trouble without Milan — but she meant to, one of these days. She wanted the other woman to know how grateful she was.
"I can smell the snow," she grumbled as she woke, speaking to the mouth of the den. She counted the pups and found one missing — but that was fine. Milan must have him. They were almost as much hers as they were Easy's, at this point. "Is it higher yet than my head?" she asked, continuing in good-natured petulance. Not becoming for a woman her age, but she was doing her best to laugh in the face of her misery, and all the better if Milan could join her.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
Milan hadn't yet noticed the scarecrow.
Have you shrunk?She responded with a smile only for herself.
It's up to Baby's paws. He still isn't a fan.Had he known anything but snow? She felt sure that the little boy would be thrilled when spring came.
This time her contentment was cut through when she was bowled over. Baby squealed, without yet seeing what had happened Milan screamed.
She thought it was a cougar. Maybe a cougar would have been an improvement.
RE: kill the witch - Amadeus - December 29, 2025
Amadeus thought himself rather smart; it was why he grabbed the pup, not Milan. He knew which would hurt her more.
He didn't know about the old woman hidden away in the den.
The pup was a fat little thing. It wailed and wiggled, but the jaws of Amadeus held tight.
With his sister on her side, something became apparent. The hair on her stomach was still thick. There was no sign that she had been feeding pups this young. A spark of anxiety, something he hadn't felt since youth, rang through his bones until he nearly could have cursed. Milan was soft, but he had heard stories of mother's from outside of the Paragon giving up their feminity for the jaws of bears.
But they were still women.
Amadeus snarled, hopping back to keep distance. There was no room for sermons with a mouthful like this one, instead he would play the brute.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
Old woman though she was, tired as she was, Ishara Morningside was still every inch the black bear she'd embodied since her youth. She was slow at first, as if arising from hibernation, but the cry of her son (her largest of the litter, and therefore her favorite) kicked her heart into overdrive.
She burst from the den with a snarl of her own to answer the stranger's, hardly pausing to assess the situation before pressing in for an attack.
It did not matter to her, really, that he held her son's life in his jaws. She would save him or she would mourn him. That was life.
But this man would die.
Easy launched herself over Milan, powerful jaws grabbing for whatever she could crush between them.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
It seemed to Milan that Easy practically flew into the attacker who upon lifting her head, she found to be her brother. She knew exactly what this was about.
Milan scrambled to move herself in front of then den, stern barks telling the rest of the Morningside brood to keep inside. She begged that Searchlight might hear the commotion and come running, or that Sven would come by with a meal.
Skipping her for a few turns!
RE: kill the witch - Amadeus - December 29, 2025
Amadeus had never seen a woman so big.
He had no time to react before jaws met his shoulder, and with little other option he spat out the child to fight back. The pup fell to the ground, and Amadeus found joy in how he tumbled and cried when he kicked him in the ass.
This must have been the old woman he could smell on Searchlight. It embarassed him to realize how much more she looked like the boy than anybody in the Limbardi line, but there was no time for that now; in an effort to protect his neck Amadeus turned his head down, legs pushed forward and jaws snapped at front legs. Whether he injured her or simply got loose and ran, he had to get out of this.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
The cries of her son were ignored. Easy had more children in the den, unharmed but in peril due to this intrusion. Whatever had happened to Baby had already happened, and her main concern was seeing the threat quickly neutralized.
Her jaws strong and tight, she gave a furious shake of her head, hoping to rend something loose.
Her vision was all red and black. She knew, urgently, that she needed to destroy this man, but in truth she could barely see him. So she tore what she could, bearing down on him until something sharp grabbed at her ankle and wrenched. She meant to haul him away from her paws, but in the heartbeat it took her to adjust her grip, the male slipped her grasp.
Heedless of any pain or bleeding, Easy took off after him, utterly intent on recapturing the threat. Her paws pounded the ground beneath her, launching her larger frame after him but never quite close enough. He was faster, and there was nothing more to be done.
Easy slowed, cold intention shifting abruptly to seething rage.
"Run, you little rat, as far as you like!" she screamed, pouring her hatred into her voice, so loud and so deep that she thought her throat might bleed from it. "I will feed your bones to my children! I will bring them your flesh in my belly!"
RE: kill the witch - Amadeus - December 29, 2025
His flesh was torn, but he had freed himself. Amadeus ran on long bony legs, but he could not ignore the insults of a lesser being. His head flipped back to preach, but he had the sense to keep running.
You harbour a woman fled from her rightful place, hag. The Paragon will punish you just as harshly.His eyes felt as though they could be burning with pure passion. This was what had brough him here, surely. It was destiny.
Your children will never grow to be even half a man.A threat or an insult, Easy could take her pick.
Amadeus fled westward for the hollow where he would call for Ambra to tend to his wounds. He would need to rethink his approach for next time.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
A woman? Easy knew then that he must have come for Milan, and whatever had happened to Baby, it had happened because of this. Her hatred for the man, however, eclipsed any other feelings on the matter — for the moment.
"She is mine!" she bellowed in return, the words spoken like an incantation, "and your body will feed her, too!"
She took a step toward him, incensed by the distance between them. He was still running, but he could not run forever, could he? If she followed —
But, though Milan had nourished the babes with her spirit, she still produced no milk. Easy was tethered to them in that way, and in the knowledge that, should this man evade her and circle back, Searchlight and Milan could not protect the family as well as she could.
She shrieked, her ire wordless but ripped from somewhere deep in her body, long and horrible and grating. She cut herself off before her anger was spent, turning her back on the male to return to her family.
The walk back did not cool her temper — but it did give her time to think about the circumstances surrounding the man's appearance.
"Is he alive?" she called as she drew near, her voice rasping after the abuse her throat had taken.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
Milan was still trembling when Easy returned. Baby was on his back between her front paws, in the process of being checked over.
He's okay, just some scrapes and bruises.Amadeus, whatever his plan had truly been, clearly hadn't intended to kill Baby.
He's sturdy.And thank god for that. If it had been Mission outside instead, Milan wouldn't dare imagine what could have happened.
Baby wiggled back to his feet, bounding to his mother with more urgency than he had ever gathered in his one month of life. Fear did that to a kid, apparently.
Milan got back to her paws, nose twitching as she searched for signs of blood.
Are you hurt? That was quite the leap.She had always heard stories about what motherhood could do to a woman, but Easy was almost certainly her proof.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
Something in her chest eased when she received her answer, both verbally, and in the welcome sight of Baby moving spryly and energetically in her direction. Even so, she was too angry to offer even hoarse words of comfort. She laid her paw over him, folding him into her, but wary still of putting her own angry jaws too close to his bruised body.
Her orange eyes locked quickly back on Milan.
"Who was that?" she croaked, her voice quieter than she meant it to be. She would, in fact, wake up quite without it, and would not be able to produce more than a rasp for days yet to come.
She did not waste breath on answering the other woman just yet. She was unaware of her own injured leg, in any case.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
Milan was hesitant in her answer, ocean eyes fixed on Baby as he took in his mother's quiet comfort.
An older brother.She chose to answer honestly, rather than bouncing around the topic of family as she had so many times before.
I don't know why he's here, or why he attacked your son. He shouldn't have if he's also left home.
Not unless the pack had moved, but her father would never dare. He had always sworn that the lands he settled them on were holy, and he was never one to put himself in the wrong.
I'm sorry I've brought you trouble.There was no way around placing blame on herself, not in her mind.
But she had heard Easy. "She is mine" was what she had told Amadeus. Maybe she would be forgiven.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 29, 2025
She did not know enough about the situation to make a true judgement — but she could not believe that Milan had invited her brother here. What fault then could she bear? But Easy had needed to hear the apology anyway, if only so that she could cast it aside.
"You didn't do this," she said, easing further out of her fury. She cast one last, long look behind her before dipping her her head to nose Baby back toward the den. "Come — tell me more about this man. About your home."
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 29, 2025
Milan nodded, silent as she watched Baby return to the den. She would need to keep an eye on him for the next few days.
We both come from the Paragon. That's what our father calls his pack.It was a name that showed exactly what the wolves thought of themselves.
I wasn't supposed to leave. Wolves who abandon the pack, especially women, aren't treated well — not that we're treated well in the pack either, but the men are meant to attack us on sight.
I don't know why he would be so far if he isn't an abandoner too.
It was the bare minimum. Milan didn't exactly find it easy to advertise that her birth home was full of women hating freaks.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 30, 2025
In the relative warmth of the den, Easy quieted all her frightened children, her heart still thrumming too fast despite her assurances that everything was fine. The children were more easily convinced, soothed further by Milan's voice, ignorant of the topic of conversation.
"They harmed you?" she asked, unsurprised by the attitude of Milan's former pack, but still unsure of the specific brand of terrible they were dealing with. Were these wolves that Milan loved and missed, but could no longer abide by? Or was it something worse?
The brother, clearly, was unsalvageable. Easy would kill him, and the world would be better for it. But she wondered if there might be a larger problem here than Milan realized.
"Perhaps he means to start his own pack," she suggested, though she had little doubt, in truth. "He told me that Paragon would punish me. He threatened the children."
She was not afraid, exactly — but she knew they were not secure in this place. Not while some mad wolf had it out for them.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 30, 2025
Milan laid across the den entrance like a soft wall, watching the puppies as they inspected their brother and seeked comfort from their mother. She felt horrible knowing how scared they must have been.
No. The men aren't allowed to strike us unless we do something wrong, and I knew how to keep quiet.She had seen it happen though. Women who arrived in the mornings injured and silent, how a Domina would come to clean her without asking what happened; she already knew. It was always them who told the men of wrongdoings.
I didn't have a husband yet, that made it easier. Most girls were married as soon as they were yearlings, but my father was picky with his daughters.Not so much picky as devisive; they were dangled as rewards for the highest ranking men.
I don't know why I left. I had heard stories of the wider world from my cousins, but I think I felt safe at home for a while.It wasn't entirely a lie, but Milan knew exactly why she had fled. One morning her parents had left along with a Domina and the heads of the council, they were gone until nightfall. She had waited up for them, went to greet her mother as she always did, but something was wrong. Her mother was there physically, but it seemed to Milan that the rest of what made her familiar was gone. There was dried blood on her head, surely her own. Milan was told to return to her den, she did.
The next week she ran, perhaps selfishly, for fear that one day whatever happened to her mother would be done to her. Her mother had been a good wife; obedient, quiet, and talented in her craft. Milan never understood why she had been made to change into such a husk.
..Maybe we she move. You could be right, and he could have others with him.But were the pups old enough? How far could they go?
Maybe it's time to go to the Stone Circle with Sven, even if it's only for a little while.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 30, 2025
These were not her ways. Easy's lip curled in derision at the idea of men being disallowed from hurting their women, as if they had to be held back from doing so at any given moment. The rest, though — it was not her way, but it did not sound like evil.
Even so, something in her heart whispered quiet warning.
"Call for him, please. And Searchlight," she agreed in her barely-there voice, resigned to this. She'd been feeling more and more strongly that Stone Circle was where she was most needed, anyway. But, before Milan could move to do as Easy had asked, she stopped the younger woman.
"Your brother," she said, solemn now. She watched Milan's face for signs of disagreement. "I am going to kill him."
Milan needed to know this, she thought, before she made any further decisions.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 30, 2025
"Your brother," "I am going to kill him."
Milan was silent for a long, tense moment. She understood Easy, she thought she did, but her feelings were complicated. Maybe in her mind Amadeus was still untouchable.
..It's okay.She said after a moment, though she didn't entirely believe her own words.
He isn't my brother anymore. I want to leave my name behind.She hadn't been Milana Limbardi for a long time. It was the right thing to do, even if it was small.
Turning her head towards the outside, she sounded out two howls; first for @Sven, then for @Searchlight.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 30, 2025
Milan's acceptance was lukewarm at best, but Easy supposed it was too much to hope the girl would be as bloodthirsty as she was in that moment. Perhaps even her own ire would fade with time — but a pup snatcher could not be allowed to live, no matter how personally victimized she might feel, or might fail to feel.
"You should take mine," she rasped, lowering herself to the den floor and stretching her injured leg out with ginger care, finally seeming to realize what poor shape it was in. "Theirs," she added, nosing at the clamoring pups. "For as long as it serves you. There's no penalty for a Morningsider for wandering off — and my own father took his wife's name, near the end of his life."
RE: kill the witch - Sven - December 30, 2025
he will arrive presently but not there yet
Sven happened to be near. He was hunting again. He had not been near enough to hear the first commotion. However, he was close enough to hear an undercurrent of tension in a howl.
So he lifted the pheasant from the ground. Freshly killed and began to trot towards the sound. A look of curiosity in his steel eyes.
RE: kill the witch - Milan - December 30, 2025
Milan already felt like a member of Easy's family, so she had no trouble agreeing.
Milan Morningside has a nice ring to it.
She fell silent, hoping that soon one of the boys would arrive to cut through the tension that felt so apparent to Milan. The attack was long over, but her nerves wouldn't fade for some time.
RE: kill the witch - Searchlight - December 30, 2025
Searchlight had heard the howls and his ears perked. The hair on the back of his fur stood and before he could fully think, he ran toward it. He wasn't sure why, but it seemed at least somewhat urgent.
It wasn't long before he could smell his mother's scent and Milan's scent in the air. He made his way there. When he found them, he approached Easy.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice. His heart raced from the run and the nerves shooting through him. "I heard your howl." He looked to Milan, then back to his mother.
RE: kill the witch - Easy - December 31, 2025
A breath of laughter escaped her; it certainly did have a ring to it. But her throat was too sore to comment further, and so she devoted the next few moments to cleaning up the bite on her ankle. In at least one puncture, she could see a pale sliver of bone once the blood was cleaned away. It did not look broken, exactly, but it certainly didn't feel very nice.
She was relieved when Searchlight appeared, apparently unharmed. Her tail thumped once against the ground, and she opened her mouth to speak and at first only croaked. After clearing her throat, she tried again:
"There was an attack. We need to move the pups to the Stone Circle."