Porcupine Ridge Some prefaced with ZYR-OHT-OHT-MET

Open to those tagged!
Some powerplay, lmk if it's not okayyy

Bloodied from her fight with the woman, but no longer bleeding quite as much as she had been, Anathema returned to the ridge. The fight had shaken some deep nameless part of her. Her thoughts were scattered, erratic, but always they circled back to the same thing.

@Hex.

There was no question of what must be done now. Anathema called out for @Accipitra, praying that her sister would understand what was needed from her. Then she went at once to Hex; she tracked him soundlessly, and when she found him, did not bother with any kind of greeting.

Instead she seized him by the scruff, unsure what she might do next but certain that she would let nothing take him from her. Not even him.

with no one to utter her new name, it faded. and with it, went its power.

ava amara, once pakasqa, now accipitra met her bloodied sister, thrusting her nose to her pelt to drink of all of it and learn the reason for such disarray.

but before she could explain anything her sister moved off with purpose. accipitra skirted her, following until she seized hex and pinned him between her grip.

her eyes slid questioningly to anathema.

He found himself gripped with dread and fear over the last moon's time. So many gone from the Ridge without a word. He pleaded with the spirits for answers, for them to say something—and all he received in turn was silence.

Though, perhaps, silence was answer enough.

The dark man prowled the rendezvous site, every so often thinking of the cavernous maw nearby that led into the belly of the mountain. If he were to go within once more, would he find truth there?

Hex was seriously contemplating the notion when the pair of sisters emerged from the trees, the cursed one leading, the silent one trailing behind. He gave them both a nod of greeting, and was beginning to register the dried blood and scars upon Anathema's pelt when she lunged.

What—

Her teeth were set in his scruff, holding fast, and he was too stunned to react at first. Then, some semblance of life entered his limbs once more, and Hex squirmed and bucked, trying to loose her grasp.

Anathema, what are you doing?! he exclaimed, breath bursting into fog on cold air. Let me go!

Little as she was, The Anathema carried strength in her stout frame, her thick limbs. She didn't look back at her sister as she threw all her weight against Hex with both forelimbs in a bid to knock him to the ground. In the same motion she lunged to lay her front half across his flank, letting her grip on his ruff fall away in favor of digging her elbows into his ribs.

We're leaving, She panted, aware she couldn't hold him for long. Not alone. You'll come, or - or we'll make you. Here her gaze finally flicked briefly back to Accipitra, hoping to find assent in the dual-toned eyes of her sister. Or at least understanding. She would explain later, of course.

After Hex was safe.

she watched as hex struggled and her sister subdued him. when anathema made to flip him down and lay across him, it dawned on her.

moving then, sharing one glance with her sister before she did so, ava-accipitra-pakasqa — whichever she was today — sat directly on hex’s haunches in the hopes of thoroughly hamstringing any attempt to rise and break free.

Though she be but little, she was fierce. Hex found himself bowled over, and before he knew it, she had him pinned. 

Leaving? he managed, looking completely bemused. Going where? And why?!

That question hadn't yet been answered when Pakasqa joined her sister in detaining him, and a frustrated growl rose in his throat as he cast a gimlet golden gaze between the two. 

I can't leave, he barked. This is my mountain—our mountain, Hex amended, looking for some kind of argument to get them to stay. 

Through his anger and panic, he realized he might well be trying to convince himself of the same.

And you're mine.

Anathema didn't want to argue. She knew that with Accipitra at her side, Hex could do nothing but their will in the end — but that didn't mean he couldn't hurt them in the process. She wouldn't risk her sister more than she had to, not for some boy, even one she'd decided to claim for her own.

Walk, or we drag you. Pick. Her teeth clicked together with the last word in unspoken threat. Ana pressed more of her weight against him, wary of the strength hidden in his dark frame and simultaneously impatient to start moving, before it occurred to Hex to start screaming.

for someone entertaining her first abduction, she was surprisingly calm.

her mismatched gaze traveled between the pair. anathema ordering, hex confounded. do or don’t, it did not matter - she would do as her sister willed.

her ears pricked at the click of teeth together. nudging his hip, accipitra shifted just enough to allow him to get up.

cooperate, her intense stare entreated.

And you're mine. 

His nostrils flared at that remark—he certainly wasn't anybody's, not since Agrippa's death—and he shuffled to his paws, growling, I'm not going to be dragged.

Again, Hex looked between the sisters, then focused on Anathema; her mute minion certainly wasn't going to give him any kind of response.

At least answer my questions, he went on, frowning. I feel like you owe me that. I gave you a home here, after all.

Well, it had technically been Muskrat. But the wiry warrioress was gone; he had remained.

Anathema moved slowly to let him up, satisfied with his lack of argument. It isn't safe here, She spoke as if to a child, preening the fur at her chest like a cat in the aftermath of a kill. We'll go to the sea.

Black waters in her veins.

She shifted toward Accipitra, allowing herself one more glance toward her sister before her attention fixed fully on Hex. Come on, then, Ana spoke brusquely, reaching out to nudge him along with her nose. Is there anything you want to take?

They would have to retrieve her bones, the split halves of the stone. Then they would waste no more time here. The ridge was dead. The black waters called.

keeping vague <3

she too heard the call; if it was blackwater it moved sluggish in her veins. blood or oil, both equally malevolent when left to seep.

releasing the man, the girl's attention fell upon her sister.  if he was not to fight, she would not escalate to blows. in all things she matched the energy around her.

now a pulsing came to her brain that drowned out the lull of their voices.

under fresh snowfall, the shapes of their bodies slouched west as they quit the eldritch forest.