The Sentinels backstreet boys

aw, but maybe a wild @Emaleth or @Deirdre will appear!?

Behati was gone, and so was Regulus, and Cas was very suspicious that they had run off together, maybe to begin another pack. the boy was hurt and sulky -- why would she have agreed to be his girlfriend if she was just going to leave soon after? -- and he skulked around donnelaith with a pained scowl. the inquiries of his mother and father went unheard; Cas merely mumbled some vague answer and traipsed off in the direction of the border.

indeed, the only rays of sunshine in the darkness of his my chemical romance life were his new sisters. he hadn't seen them yet, but he'd heard that their eyes were open. Cas fished around in a few caches before surfacing with a worn antler tine, which he rubbed clean in the snow and carried to the whelping den. woofing to announce his presence, Cas lay down on his belly and shoved head and shoulders inside. a warning growl from the occupying parent was soft, telling him to be gentle, and the boy lowered his ears in acknowledgement before searching the gloom for the little ones. "i brought you guys something," he murmured softly.

deirdre was within the warm den, snoozing halfheartedly but wrapped wholly around emaleth in the process. or perhaps emaleth was wrapped wholly around her. deirdre was never sure how it happened, but it always seemed to, and she never minded. they alternated in the positions they slept but for the most part, emaleth was the shell of them, stoic and sure. there were times deirdre assumed the role, but those times were rare indeed; deirdre had a good, sweet, kind heart but it was far from courageous. 

every fiber of her was awakened the moment she heard something quite unlike the other things she had heard. if there was a degree of familiarity in it, deirdre disassembled that fraction of it and had worried herself into forgetting. the pale girl was not sure if she was crawling anxiously under or protectively over emaleth at this point, only that her twin surrounded her entirely though they were one. the protective sound of a loved one was not translated for what it was worth, and deirdre anxiously pressed into her elder sister. she quailed at the thought of something new, and held fast to emaleth. she did not yet see his gift, nor did she see him either; deirdre could only catch the dim outline, but knew this one was not one familiar, if only because there was a new ceremony here, a difference when he came to the threshold.

Herp, editting b/c sissa is speedy.

Now that she had been bestowed with sight, Emaleth had become more restless— this small den that had been everything to her, all that she had thought she would need, now seemed insufficient. The hole where others came and went, where the Giver and Bringer oft disappeared into or emerged from, fascinated her as much as it terrified her. She and Deirdre had been encouraged to venture out, but Emaleth had avoided this; the temperature dropped rapidly whenever she approached, and she wasn't sure she liked it.

Better to stay where it was warm and safe.

She entertained herself by conversing with her sister, or playing with the tails of the Giver and Bringer. For the most part, this was enough— to play with her family, to eat, to sleep. But there were times that she wanted to play and the others had no interest, and those were the times that Otherworld piqued her curiosity. Emaleth would sit and watch it intently, as if doing so she would be able to divine its secrets.

But for now, she slumbered against the Giver-Bringer (at times, she grew confused about which was which) and her constant companion. At least until a series of vibrations interrupted her sleep, and Emaleth lifted her head to determine the source of it all. Deirdre was panicked already, clambering over and under and around her— the dark child grunted softly in frustration, "stop!" as she struggled to make out what was blocking the Otherworld's gate.

first the little one white came, then the dark puppy, but they sorta held back, the first kid clambering all over her sister in consternation. "not sure about me, eh?" he muttered, his ears folding back to cup his skull. Cas gave a soft whine of encouragement, tongue lolling as he pushed the little tine closer to his sisters. "you guys are kinda cute, in a baby way," came his teasing, the first instance of many to come. holding quite still, he waited for the kids to swallow their fear and come closer, his tail thumping with excitement on the ground behind him.

deirdre heard him, but as of yet the day had not come where she would grasp and cling to words to suppose at their meaning. his voice was different than those that she knew better, but that meant nothing, because she could understand very little about that matter. but he lost her attention altogether when her sisters soft voice overrode all else. deirdre said nothing, simply withered from the command and accepted it, an apologetic look gracing her dollish features. and then the other spoke again, and deirdre felt herself become smaller in lieu of that, looking demurely to the floor. he had guessed correctly, of course, and deirdre looked to her sister and breathed her in for comfort. she felt that his being here was alright, but the youth was tethered to where she lay, quite overwhelmed.

it was then that her eye caught sight of the gift he had brought. deirdre's eyes held it, and on her belly she dragged herself a mere inch in its direction before pausing, requesting of him without knowing it with soft and wanting eyes, growing rounder in circumference for the moment as she implored him with a sweet look. there was something about the tine he had brought that deirdre felt called to her old soul, something she wanted to investigate.

Deirdre relented, and the dark child could finally make out— if barely— a dark figure at the gate. Near him lay a both odd and fascinating shape, one that Emaleth instantly desired to touch. He spoke, and the words flowed over her like a current; she felt them, absorbed them, but they held no meaning for her. Usually quick to aid her companion without complaint, the little Emaleth found, suddenly, that she had no more patience for it in this moment. It had been the first time she had protested Deirdre's requirement of her, and while those moments would be rare going forward, neither would they be uncommon.

She glanced at her younger sibling, seeing her hesitation, but then approached the stranger at their door with an innocent confidence. After all, Emaleth had yet to experience real danger, and it would not be until later that she would know that strangers were not always as kind as the Source and the other visitors to the den. This particular visitor was different than the two she knew, but also seemed familiar— and she accepted his presence without complaint.

Instead, her attentions locked upon the tines at his feet, and she immediately set out to explore them with her tiny jaws.

"aww," the boy exclaimed as the puppies tumbled toward him. "it's from a deer," he explained. not that they would know what a deer was, but maybe the word would stick with them. "they use it to stab other deer. and wolves. really anything." Cas had put on his scientist hat, but realized he was about to babble some NatGeo crap at them. they were babies. they didn't get it, not yet. Emmy was the more curious of the pair. "you can chew it," he exulted, then: "oh, you don't have teeth yet." no matter. "gum it to death, Emmy!"

deirdre watched her sisters approach with wary eyes. it seemed she had inherited something that cautioned her to do this, because while she herself had never a terrible experience—in fact, she could only ever remember warmth and love and happiness—she still felt was distrustful of others that were not what she had seen time and time again. her trust was earned, and in these days it did not take too long to do so. he did things she was familiar with, after all; like her mother would sometimes do, or her father, he brought something from the Otherworld. deirdre immersed herself in these things without question; she trusted that place, without entering it, because the pieces of it sang a song of summoning that was sweet and lovely. deirdre was enchanted, but it was a song she ignored because she felt that she must. the two that guarded their domicile were once strict in their prohibitance, and although that had changed as all things seemed to, deirdre held fast to remembering that as it seemed prudent that she do so. 

so she had come to the conclusion that going to the Otherworld was not a good thing, though the Otherworld did not bring to them bad things. she felt the fallacy in that moment, and looked toward the place he had come...

but her brothers speaking distracted her. she looked to him, who looked upon her sister, and remained where she was, not knowing quite what she wanted. her love, when given, was without filter and limitless, but she had not yet opened the door to him yet. deirdre was watchful, only, after he had not regarded her look, her question, and emaleth set upon her desired object. well! deirdre puffed with youthful indignation, and moved toward the antler clumsily. once she was before it, she gingerly reached forward to inhale it, her eyes surveying what she could make of the mystery item. her own nose functioned not quite so well as those with the mature sense of smell, but she caught a whiff of the world again, and her tongue swiped against the spot she sniffed.

She enjoyed the feel of the object against her tiny jaws, against her gums that had been aching only days before. New teeth had finally erupted forth, perhaps this day or the one before— little Emaleth was unable to mark time— but they were not yet more than tiny nubs. As she chewed, happy to share with Deirdre, small rivers of blood mixed with drool made their way down the velveteen antlers. Emaleth remained oblivious to this, only knowing that the pressure upon her gums felt pleasant, and her tail wagged contentedly behind her as the white creature tasted the object as well.

sorry this is so short!

they came forward and Cas backed away a bit as they settled down to chew on the tine. he didn't say anything else -- mostly because there was nothing else to say -- he thumped his tail and waited for them to pipe or growl or ... do something. presently he reached out to boop! Emaleth on her forehead and then did the same to Deirdre, wanting them to pay attention to their big bro and not the much more interesting gift.

deirdre continued to gob at the object, the experience wondrous and mind-numbingly grand. she and her sister were mirrors to one another in a different color-scheme, but in this antler gnawing world she was perfectly unaware of this. deirdre drew ever nearer to the antler 'til her tiny chest pressed against it. she did not even notice the dark cloud that loomed overhead until the very moment it touched her face quite gently. the shock of it caused her to squall and withdraw, head whipping around confusedly. her trance-like state had been ripped away from her, though she hadn't any idea she was in that sort of state at all. her eyes turned toward her brother, and she tilted her head to peer upward at him. there was plenty of interest there, but her shyness triumphed as she settled for observing.

em, feel free to hop back in!

they gummed on the thing and he smiled, giving a soft whoop as deirdre took her attention away from it to look at him. "do y'like it?" he asked excitedly. while he was aware that she could not answer, and her reaction was response enough, he wanted to talk to her, to make them both aware that he was the Cool Older Sibling. Eilidh was all right, but she was no Casmir. he was obviously superior.

some red marked her chin; her blooddrool had leaked there and lingered, but she did not know it. her eyes stared onward at her brother as soundwaves emanated from him, and she cocked her head. no, she could not understand him, and she was still the smallest bit afraid of him! so she remained where she was, looking from antler to brother to sister, not knowing what exactly to do now. the predicament was exhausting, and she loosed a yawn, where bloodspittle snapped from the string of saliva and landed upon her brow.

last from me <3

he chortled at her messy little face, reaching forward to gently lick her lips and forehead clean. "all better." she yawned, and it was infectious -- the boy's own long jaws split in a yawn and he lowered his head until his chin bumped the floor. the eyes closed, and sleep soon followed; Cas slipped into a peaceful doze.

me, too! will archive it in a day or two, if em wants to post a closer herself!

a tongue pressed against her face and she froze against the touch; the feeling was familiar, but it was strange that it came from him, not The Giver or The Source, and so she was silent still and continued to stare, immobile up until his head descended downward. without knowing it her own head drifted downward as his did; a startled expression took place of the thoughtful one at the sensation of her jaw against the earth. in moments time she was acclimated to it... but she, despite her tiredness, only watched him sleep and remained awake herself. there was emaleth to think of, and her indecisiveness on the matter of this creature that slumbered ahead was enough to keep her out of the sandmans reach.

Emaleth had squealed with delight at her brother's touch— or perhaps it was annoyance, for she hadn't paused in her gumming of the antler. She only watched him with a wariness as she continued to taste the velveteen tine, her gaze shifting to Deirdre as the pair interacted. And with them, she, too, yawned— though unlike her pale sister, the dark child was content to slip to the floor beside the gift and drift into a slumber. Her gums felt better than they had in a long while; and her body demanded that she make up for the rest lost due to the pain.