Moonspear i am actually very curious to see which way this is going to go.

Life had been comfortable and quiet since Liffey had joined the ranks of Moonspear. Young and naive as she was, she took the silence from the Cerberus to mean that they had accepted the fact that she was now one of the pack and that Rannoch actually belonged to her in spite of their posturing. Poor little thing. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

Liffey moved light on her feet along one of the paths that had begun to grow familiar to her over the past few weeks. She'd spent much of the morning  creeping along Moonspear's higher cliffs, but the scent of a coming storm had driven her back to lower terrain. She was making her way back to the den she shared with Rannoch at the moment, finding the idea of cozying up to her beau during a thunderstorm rather delightful.  She paused for a moment in her travel to lift her head to the sky and feel the way the wind moved, attempting to determine whether or not she'd be able to make it home before the storm struck.

The trio were storm-chasers; they had been sprinting toward the very storm Liffey was making her way away from. Their paws thundered against the earth as they moved around the bend; Alya and Hydra both adeptly weaved around one another, away from Lyra who had, along their adventure, become it. And although Lyra was the fleetest of foot, Alya was clever and Hydra was perceptive to her movements; when the three of them played, it was a long time before one could capture the other. The duo gained on Liffey, who at the time was looking skyward. Without question Liffey would see them coming, and Alya and Hydra did nothing to alter their course. It looked, from this distance, as though they would crash into the girl. Even Liffey, if she was looking to them, might think so. 

It was incredibly last minute that Alya and Hydra both drifted left and right to not do so, and Hydra bellowed out a loud: RUN! without stopping. Her tongue lolled from her mouth as she and Alya maneuvered upward without losing momentum–giddily, she hoped that Liffey might be slow on the uptake and would therefore save her and Alya the trouble of fleeing their own dear sister. Lyra had been close–and has likely heard Hydra's loud hollering, and understand there was a new target to take on. 

Overhead, thunder rolled. The storm was but a passing one, Hydra sensed.

Liffey didn't hear them coming over the rumble of thunder that echoed between the trees, but even without it, their steps were near silent. Her eyes were turned overhead when she heard the shout. Every muscle tensed as she whipped her head to face them. Her eyes darted from shadow to shadow, finally landing on the one in the very center that was leaping like a wraith straight towards her.

The Blackthorn nearly hesitated for a moment too soon. But at the last second before collision, she leaped to avoid collision with the oncoming wolf. She stumbled slightly as she landed, but caught herself and whirled around to face the direction the sisters had gone. Her heart pounded as she looked through the trees, trying to catch hold of all three in her sight and struggling. She knew she should leave, but she remained still and tense as lightning flashed again, waiting as something warned her that this might not be over yet.

The wind from the oncoming storm tugged at the trees, pulling the dying leaves from their branches and sending them aloft. The three sisters ran amongst them, expertly navigating the pathways of the mountain without so much as the slightest misstep. Lyra trailed behind the other two, though her gaze remained focused upon them as she gave chase. It was Hydra's shout that broke her attention from them, and she looked ahead to see the newcomer gazing so absent-mindedly at the sky. Lyra was more than glad to take advantage of the moment.

As her sisters ran past dangerously close on either side of the girl, the third head of the Cerberus barrelled straight towards Liffey, eyes flaring as she sought to throw her full weight against the pale girl — all in the name of a bit of fun. However, she quickly found herself being sent tumbling as the other leapt out of the way at the very last second. Lyra rolled into the dirt roughly, betraying the sheer force that had originally been for Rannoch's lover. With a frustrated snarl, she rightened herself and shook out her coat before immediately targeting the girl again.

She seemed confused. Lyra couldn't help but feel a wicked smile cross her lips that she would later be adamant was simply a playful one. She kicked off from the ground and sprinted towards Liffey who had now become rooted to the spot. Just as lightning flashed overhead, Lyra suddenly launched herself at the other girl with a cry of, "you're it!" She aimed to plant her forelegs squarely onto one side of her ribcage in a very rough form of tagging her as it.

Alya glanced back long enough to see Lyra attacking the pale-coated interloper. Her ears flickered excitedly toward Hydra, relaying the situation, only for her to let out a frustrated huff when she saw that this was not actually the case. Still, the girl could see some merit in enaging the stranger-girl in petty play. Perhaps they could arrange a fall for her, or perhaps this was just a good way to lull her into a sense of security -

Despite their many and heated discussions on the topic, they'd not yet come to a conclusion on what ought to be done about the "Liffey Problem", as it had been dubbed.

"Spiffy's it!" Alya shouted to Hydra, informing the head of the situation. Then, Alya doubed back just enough that she was equidistant from both Lyra and Hydra before taking off once more.

They'd decided that a 'fun nickname' might help keep Rannoch's hideous friend off-balance. They just hadn't figured out anything that was both ambiguous and mildly insulting enough. Spiffy had been the best they could come up with.

OMG SO SORRY somehow I missed that Liffey posted again!!! DERP

Liffey did not move until the very last, nearly causing Hydra to collide with her... and after that, the girl still remained still after Hydra's warning. Moron, Hydra could not help but think. The girl could not follow the advice given and because of that...

Hydra did not see the moment Lyra attempted to tag Liffey, but it would have made no difference. Alya's hollering was not missed, and Hydra barked to Liffey: I told you to run! before she moved upward. Her tail waved and Hydra looked over the ridge to see if Liffey had begun to give chase to any of them. Lyra was nearest, but quickly getting away... and Hydra positioned herself where she would be difficult to reach. Alya was near to her, and Hydra paused long enough to provide a momentary lookout.

Liffey hadn't known what to expect with the sudden appearance of all three sisters. Her own self-consciousness and anxiety around other wolves had made her an expert at reading body language and hearing the words that went unsaid with each one that did. She'd had to in order to comfort herself that the behavior of others was not directed towards her, as her lack of self-confidence often tried to convince her it was. But this level of expertise had not been necessary in understanding quite plainly that these dark sisters did not like her. And so it didn't matter the playful amusement in their tone and in their laughter - Liffey knew in her gut that this was not a game she wanted to be playing.

Liffey spun, barely in time to see a single bright, blue iris of one of the sisters just before she was slammed into. The Blackthorn yelped in surprise as she stumbled backwards. Her hip smacked against the trunk of a tree just behind her, which hurt, but actually helped her to stay on all fours and focus as the dark female darted away, calling out almost unintelligibly to her. Liffey took a few steps forward, wincing at the pain, but trying hard to pay attention as another sister called, and then another.

Truth be told, Liffey wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave right then and there. But there was a command in the words, and she was far too low in the ranks to ignore it. She began to run, slowly and uncertainly, in the same direction as the other girls. Her hip smarted still, but she ignored it as she leaped up and along the ridge towards whichever sister was nearest to her at that time, purposefully moving slower than she was capable in the hope that they would simply leave her behind and she could return to Rannoch without further incident.

Her snide smirk turned into a toothy grin as Liffey yelped and stumbled against the weight of her paws, pushing off her slightly as she then leapt backwards. The other girl hit her hindquarters against a tree but didn't fall over completely, which Lyra was slightly disappointed by but at least she had had the pleasure of pushing her. The triplet raced up to where her sisters stood, standing on the higher slopes and looking down upon the paler girl as she staggered forward.

She cackled quietly as they taunted her, darting past Hydra who had halted for a second. As she did so, she gave her sister a knowing glance, the glint in her eye and cant of her head telling her all she needed to know — let's see how far we can lead her away from her precious Rannoch).

"C'mon Liff," she called sweetly, disappearing over the ridge they were standing atop of.

Alya broadcasted her understanding of this plan through heavily-nuanced triplet-speak. Although she was not particularly eager to include Liffey in their game, she understood that this was an excellent opportunity to give the other female a hard time. Still, she wished they could find time to terrorize the interloper when they weren't scheduled to spend quality time with each other.

"Yeah, come on!" Alya added, pausing on the lower stoops of the crags to allow Liffey time to catch up. She'd be more willing to chase if she had a chance of catching them, after all.

Hydra watched as Liffey moved after them, slowly. Her ears flicked atop her head in a clear message to her sisters: don't underestimate! It was a clever move on Liffey's part to pretend to be hurt to slow them down, but the cerberus were women without pity. And Hydra so detested being lied to! Liffey drew closer to them, and the trio let her—Hydra heard her sisters move away, though remained still herself, tail wagging.

Though her sisters might have some ill intent, Hydra wanted to see the worth of Liffey. What was she capable of? Was she really such a fraidy cat? What did Rannoch see in her? A loud peal of thunder sounded overhead, and Hydra turned to bound toward the storm and her sisters both, though she took care not to move too fast—yet.

Liffey cantered lightly along after the triplets, frowning at their calls of "encouragement". They didn't seem willing to simply leave her in their dust, instead calling to her to continue her pursuit of them. For a moment, she began to wonder if they actually did want to include her in their game. Logic told her that it was simply her longing to truly be liked by these three that was tricking her into believing this. Intuition told her the didn't mean as well as they seemed to, and Liffey was one to trust herself.

All of that being what it was, the fact remained that her ruse did not seem to be performing the way she'd intended. Liffey continued at her slow pace for a while longer, debating her next move. Lightning flashed overhead, followed by rumbling thunder. She needed to get home to Rannoch, and it occurred to her then that the only way she was going to be able to do that was to play their stupid little game and relinquish the title of "it". Then, she too would be allowed to run away, just like the three dark shadows ahead of her.

They were perched upon ledges above her - three black shapes with glinting, skies blue eyes. Liffey hesitated as she leapt along the crags after them, slowing to a near stop for a few seconds before lightning flashed again and the Blackthorn seized that moment of potential distraction to leap onto the same plane as one of them - Hydra maybe? - and put on a burst of speed, darting right towards the girl on artfully placed paws. She'd spent a great deal of time in the Sunspire mountains, trying to train herself to be as lithe and agile on mountain ledges as Airi had been. She did not have the skill of the panther, but that didn't mean she hadn't honed her talents into something worth bragging about.

At least, she hoped.

It hadn't been Hydra.

It also wasn't Lyra. Nonetheless, Hydra hollered: Ly! as she turned to run. She noted Liffey's newfound swiftness and grinned at it—she had mutely warned her sisters of this—and she nearly hoped Alya was ensnared, if only to engage Liffey again. Liffey was nimble, she'd give her that, but in comparison to Moonspears experts? Hydra imagined the girl could never beat them, not really. Not unless they wanted her to.

And today, Hydra decreed with an amicable tail-swish that they did. Alya knew all about it—the friendship of magic. Today would be less rough than the others for Liffey, but still a difficult one if only because playing with the cerberus was never a particularly easy task. Even with one another they were difficult, as evidenced now by Hydra's cajoling of Lyra (who Liffey would think was Alya), snapping at her hindquarter to get her moving the opposite direction of her.

They'd fan out and let Liffey take her actual pick, if she hadn't successfully tagged 'Lyra'.

She noted Hydra's silent warning about the girl, reminding herself that the other was still a capable wolf as much as she despised her. She was around their age too — young, agile, and swift even upon the foreign, rocky slopes of Moonspear. If she had been brought up on mountains just like the three sisters, Lyra did not know, but even if she had, the girl believed they were far superior navigators of the peaks than their pale enemy.

She had danced away enough to be placed the furtherest from Liffey, and watched intently as the other girl leapt upon the ridge Alya was on and bounded towards her. She didn't react to Hydra's call of her own name, aware of the game of charades they were playing and instead darted away again, crying out a, "run!" to her sister.

Well, at least their family fun time wouldn't be completely wasted. Alya loved pretending. As Lyra darted away from her, she put on a meek, startled expression and called out, "Hydra! Alli! Wait up!" in a worry-tinged falsetto.

Soft and sweet, she thought to herself. With a hidden steel.

The trick to being Lyra was that she was every bit as dangerous, cruel, and devious as Alya and Hydra - it was just that she never showed it, and no one but the Cerberus knew. It was difficult to play such a masterfully evil wolf, and Alya could never quite do her justice. But it wasn't as though Liffey would ever be able to tell.

Alya-Lyra darted after her sisters, lagging behind them by several feet and 'slipping' a few times on the more difficult slopes. "Hy!" she entreated once more, her voice full of mixed hurt and acceptance - hinting at emotional fissures that weren't really there. Let Liffey think there was a place where a wedge could be driven between them. A place where she might fit, given a bit of time and compassion.

Things were moving fast now. Liffey sped towards one of the sisters - she had no idea which - but the girl darted away, evading her in spite of the additional effort she was now putting into the game. Liffey gritted her teeth, keeping on the race as the three targets fanned out. She hesitated briefly as her flaming eyes danced from one shadow to the other, anxious words brushing her ears that were disregarded almost instantly. It didn't matter who was who - they were all deceitful in her mind. Liffey was not naive, and she was absolutely not gullible. Her good heart might want her to believe the best of others, but her logical mind knew better. She could trust none of them. But that sure as hell didn't mean she was giving up.

The moment was over as she narrowed her eyes on the wolf calling out for help. She didn't believe it for a second, but if the three were trying to toy with her, then this was the most logical opportunity she had to actually tag someone and get out of dodge. She knew she could never actually catch them if it came down to physical talents alone, so "falling for" their game was the only chance she really stood. Liffey sprang for the black tail flapping only a few feet before her, all the while keeping her ears tuned in to where the other two sisters were located in case she was leaping headfirst into a far more dangerous trap.