The Sunspire You know, the tortoise, he always wins

"Time to go?" mused Ramsay as he and @Euron padded toward the south-eastern edge of the Vale under the pall of late evening. He asked because he was unsure; though he had spent virtually no time with his packmates, from whom he assumed only judgment and spite, he didn't know if the same was true for his sibling. Perhaps Euron would want to stay, in which case Ramsay would as well. His loyalty to his family ran incredibly deep, but of his family, Euron was the highest on that list.

He thought momentarily of Maegi and his mouth felt bitter, so he swallowed it down and shouldered ahead. He wanted to know how she was holding up—he and Euron were well, very nearly fully grown, all gangling limbs and little muscle to speak of—but she had made her choice, and they theirs. Ramsay was weak for wondering after her and he knew it.

The borders loomed ahead of them suddenly, but the young mercenary, rather than stopping and heeding them, simply surged on ahead. If he was capable of turning his head he would have shot Euron a conspiratorial look—there was no excitement in this new pack, so why not make their own? He trusted his equally chaotic litter mate would be just as willing to cause some trouble as he was. Ramsay was in search of an outlet for all the feelings pent up inside him, the grief and the frustration and the tension. Mounting various objects had been his form of stress release in the days since Cicero's death, but perhaps something a little more was needed.

So without much thought at all, Ramsay passed right over the Sunspire borders and kept on going with a narrow grin on his black lips. If they passed through without being accosted, great. If not, well, he was spoiling for some fun.

Please allow Euron to post first, both are trespassing. Quick note that I am happy to play no consent with Ramsay, meaning attackers decide the damage they do (short of killing him) and do not need permission to cause damage, buuut if you choose no consent, you are giving me permission to do the same with your char. :D I'm also good with limited or full consent if that is the preference.

^ basically what she said but I am not consenting to the taking of any appendages is all :)

"I think so. But where?" he asked, twitching an ear and canting his head. Back to the dark woods came to mind. But Euron could not fathom a reason to. There was no one there he cared to see and as much as he favored the forest and desired for his paws to tread familiar ground, the idea of associating with what remained of the pack agitated him. He especially did not want to look upon his sister's face; the thought made him clench his teeth briefly, before he shoved her from her thoughts and reminded himself that he did not care about her.

He could not explain it but he felt a need to go, and was encouraged by the dawning realization that being on his feet and doing things seemed to keep his reflection from interfering with him. Still, he had not been able to sleep, and the usual grace of his steps was beleaguered with exhaustion such that he occasionally dragged his toes and often scowled because of the effort required, and wanted for nothing but his bed. He might have left his brother and sought fruitless rest, but following Ramsay beyond the vale had imbued him with a bit more energy, and a tingling of excitement that he had not felt in a long time. He was reminded of old times, and picked his head up a bit as he trailed after his shadowy sibling.

They pressed past the border of a nearby pack. Though he had not been taught much (how could he have been when he practically raised himself), he understood enough the significance of borders. "Mm, you are being bad," Euron hummed, trailing into a whisper-quiet titter as his mouth drew into a fiendish half-smile. "That is good. Keep going," he encouraged brightly, suddenly feeling alive and awake as he drew forward to be shoulder to shoulder with his partner in crime.

fine with limited consent (: preferably no broken limbs etc. 

terance was... concerned. the scent of not one but two tindome wolves passed by him, and they were just too nearby for him to convince himself that they were on the other side of the border. his gaze narrowed and he abandoned his post at the borders to go after them-- praying he was wrong. 

he saw them-- they were an ugly pair, specifically the darker of the two. and they certainly smelled like delight had-- but... they were trespassing. a low but meaningful growl rumbled in his throat, hoping to grab their attention. and if they ignored him, surely they'd hear him as he called out, "this alliance does not give you permission to trespass!" terance might've attacked the pair immediately, had he been stupid enough to take on two wolves at once-- and had he been more decisive on what to do in a situation like this.

Nara was close to the Sunspire borders. She wasn't patrolling exactly, since she was taking a short nap. It was already late in the evening and she decided to sleep just a little longer before resuming her patrol.

Suddenly a familiar voice sounded closby and woke her up. Nara recognized it as Terance's voice and it sounded urgent and alarming. She quickly got to her feet and ran in the general direction of his voice until his scent, and the scents of two other wolves  gave away their location. Someone had crossed the borders. Terance! Is everything alright? she called out to him. She came to halt a few steps behind him and eyed the two wolves curiously. She didn't recognize them.

Goldy wasn't a fighter. Far from it. He was a lover, a learner but harming another had been frowned upon back home. That didn't mean he was a wuss or anything, with a group or so he definitely dared to attack, but alone? He simply couldn't risk getting scarred up.

but duty called. The scent of strangers, for he knew nothing of the allegiance with another pack, clung to his lungs. He was quick to chase his nose to the place where the shitshow would start, protectively coming to stand with his packmates. He faintly recognized them, but their names he had forgotten. He had to say the female was quite a catch. Hiya, all right? He asked, knowing perfectly well that not everything was right. They were staring right at the problem.

bitch incoming.  oops!  i'd prefer limited consent for now, don't want any missing appendages or anything that could cause her to miscarry!

seabreeze had been after terance's scent again, because since her heat had ended she had found herself invariably attracted to the idea of spending time with him.

but it was not long she was on his trail that she heard him shouting — the smell of tindome's brood and terance's words were enough to give it away.  she had put in a good word for him and this is what they do?  surely delight could not have authorized this.

when she stumbled upon the scene she could not help the way her eyes widened because ho-ho-hooo my god, what was that?  selfishly, her thoughts turned to her own possible children and she sent up a silent prayer to who-may-be that whatever had happened to this child could not happen to hers.  even though that was kind of a god-awful thought to have.

what is the meaning of this, she demanded, rushing in close to chastise the children the way an overbearing mother might, you are old enough to know better!  did delight send you?

It didn't take the pack long to convene around the trespassing pair of juveniles; Ramsay listened with some interest as they arrived at their rear, and his gaze slide sidelong to Euron. Had they been waiting? They were prompt, much prompter than he would have expected, but strangely not a one of them made an aggressive move. He swung his body sidelong to look at them. The first was a growling dark man, prowling up from behind them; the second a pale she-wolf that came up behind the first; and the third a goldish-creamish male whose fur colour would have interested Ramsay when he was younger, but not anymore.

He turned back away from them despite the growled threat and the voices. He was interested only in going forward, past this mountain and beyond. They were being very, very tolerant and reasonable, but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears. Ramsay was an anarchist who had never held a shred of respect for authority in his life besides Cicero; it was no wonder he ignored them so easily, despite possessing all the instinct of a wolf that told him he was, as Euron had pointed out, being bad. They were in danger, but they were chaotic, the two brothers. They were playing with fire here, knew it, and loved it.

"Pack wants no alliance with weaklings, so says leader," Ramsay cryptically dismissed before they were suddenly cut off by some creamy fourth wolf promptly invading their personal space and chiding them like babies. Ramsay's reaction was immediate: Seabreeze got in their way and got in their faces, and his hunched spine lifted into a bristling mohawk one second before he lunged forward and slammed his jaws shut on her muzzle, digging his teeth hard into her flesh, but not hard enough to damage the bone or underlying structures of her delicate face. Just enough to scream get the hell out of my face.

Since it's 4v2 now and pack advantage is firmly established, would strongly prefer that no others join unless they are Rannoch and/or Liffey just to keep this moving at a decent pace, thanks to those who have joined! <3

It took no time at all for him and his brother to find themselves surrounded, and for Euron to feel that familiar electric thrill crackle along his spine and down his limbs. It was intense; perhaps because he knew by instinct the dire predicament he was in; certainly because Euron had been numb and it been a long time since he felt such excitement and energy. It awakened him, and he loudly giggled in a sharp high pitch — "TEE HEE HEEEEE!" — as Ramsay lied in reply and then struck out at the last female to arrive.

Made animate by his fervor, and spurred his brother's brazen attack, Euron took no time before he followed up by darting for Seabreeze's paw while Ramsay punished her face. The patchwork boy's teeth chomped down on her toes and sliced the flesh there, painfully bruising flesh and bone before he scampered back. He expected retaliation from her or someone else but he was poised to duck, dodge and dance to avoid anything he could, in the manner of a dastardly eel.

ho boy. seabreeze was just not good at keeping herself safe-- terance was quickly realizing this with a heavy blow to the heart(and mental health). it seemed that every time there was some sort of scuffle, whether it be at the borders or otherwise, seabreeze was right there getting in the way. and, bless her heart, she meant well-- surely-- but god damn terance wished she'd just stand back and not offer herself up as a chew toy. 

and so, of course, she inserted herself into the middle of it all before he could stop her-- and truly, what control over seabreeze did terance even have?-- and was lunged at almost immediately by the stumpy looking one. terance, still on edge and especially now that seabreeze had arrived, was ready. and when ramsay lunged, so did terance, timing it just at the same time as the patchy one did. his teeth mashed down on the scruff of the youth, burying themselves into the flesh. 

no verbal command was issued, but terance's actions surely spoke for themselves-- attack.

we have the pack advantage in numbers-- but for the record terance is the only one with any sort of mercenary skill LMAO. not sure how much the pups have? but this should be interesting regardless!

Shortly after herself, Seabreeze and Goldy arrived. But one of the young wolves made it clear that they weren't here to talk. And before Nara well and truly realized that, the situation was going awry.

The sickly looking wolf jumped at Seabreeze and then almost simultaneously, Terance lunged at him. After that, it didn't take Nara long for her to jump into action too. As the second young wolf got his teeth into Seabreeze's paws, Nara growled and charged at him - teeth digging into his neck. Though she wasn't the best fighter, she would protect her pack, always.

Weaklings? How dare they. Goldy was disgruntled and offended, and it seems he wasn't the only one. These kids surely had some balls to simply show themselves in some other pack's territory and attack. Goldy knew little to nothing about an allegiance, but if their whole pack was as disrespectful as them he would advice to cut ties with them.

Though not a fighter, Goldy followed Terance's lead and he charged for the weirder looking one.

 

Sorry, didn't realize Seabreeze was made a PPC.

Partly by his own strength and partly by Terance's interference, Ramsay wrenched his head back, drawing several ugly lines down the length of Seabreeze's muzzle before he let go. Pain blossomed from the back of his neck as he was dragged back, and then the weight of Sunspire's sentinel was on him. Terance had the advantage in terms of age, size and experience, so for a while Ramsay struggled and snapped, heedless of the other wolves for the most part. He saw the white one lunge for Euron from the corner of his eye and wrenched his shortened body in his brother's direction, but Terance held him firm, and he lost it.
The only advantage that Ramsay had was his unusual shape. His center of gravity was different than Terance's, and because his hindquarters were closer to his shoulders by a lot, his maneuverability beneath the Sunspire wolf also differed. He swung his body, using the increased space between himself and Terance's hind legs to kick his out, and suddenly he was collapsing and rolling, snarling and snapping as he went in a bid to free himself from the Sunspire wolf's hold. Blood dripped from his nape from the deep wound inflicted upon him by Terance's fangs, but the pain was ignored for now; Euron was in trouble and he would be damned if he didn't get free to help his litter mate.

Though he skittered around, there was a lot happening in a short span and the young wolf could not foresee nor avoid it all. Grinning maniacally and laughing, he swung for the dark male that had seized his brother, but found himself snared instead as a white female set her fangs into his scruff. Euron was thrilled by his capture and the danger it presented, and he cackled even louder... until a lance of pain shot through his temple and interrupted it with a yelp. He felt dazed. The world darkened around him and would not hear his cry of protest.

"No!"

Then he was writhing like a feral cat, twisting and contorting until he had extricated himself from the wolf's grasp, tearing his flesh through her teeth in the process. Despite the pain and the urgency of his actions, he had become strangely soundless and expressionless.

Blood saturated his fur. He collected his paws beneath him and made to flee as Ramsay pried himself from the dark male. "Run," he commanded levelly, as his limber body stretched into a gallop and never looked back.

"Stop!"

"Ramsay!"

Even with her teeth digging into his scruff, the young wolf was laughing like a lunatic and it infuriated Nara. She kept her jaws clenched closed and bit down hard. Then the stranger started moving frantically - desperately. There was a horrible ripping sound as he tore himself from her grasp. The taste of blood filled her mouth as the warm liquid dripped from her muzzle. Stunned, she stumbled backwards. This was nothing like snapping a rabbit's neck with a quick shake of the head and for a moment she hoped she hadn't done too much damage to this young wolf, but then she saw Seabreeze, her packmate - thorn skin and blood staining her pelt - and her concern dissolved like snow in the sun.

this tiny tiny post is based off the predetermined ending... please lmk if i need to alter anything.

the stumpy wolf shook beneath him, and only when terance tore a chunk of flesh from where he held him did the beta let go. the child fled after his sibling, but not being a few snaps were exchanged between him and goldy. terance bristled, but gave a loud growl in a command to his wolves to hold back. let them go.

Same as Terance's note - please no permanent damage on Goldy's face, I'm okay with him being snapped at and getting a small wound that won't scar or anything <3 You can decide if he misses or not

As the odd one escaped, Goldy went for his leg which resulted in a quick flash of teeth in his face. He felt a sharp pain shoot over a small portion of the side of his muzzle and was about to chase after the two when Terance demanded they let them go. Alright fine then, but if those ever came back Goldy would totally destroy them, if he wasn't sleeping or something.

Euron fled, freeing Ramsay up to do the same. He shook wildly under Terance's hold and felt white hot pain sear along the back of his shortened neck as he tore free of the Beta. Only then did another source of pain register—the golden wolf had a hold on his leg, but it was tenuous still and the young Melonii acted immediately. Lips skimming back from his bloodied teeth, Ramsay swung like a small wrecking ball and dug his teeth into the side of Goldy's muzzle, but didn't stick around to do any lasting damage; quick as that, with leg and scruff freed, the dwarf took off running with a mild limp.

His destination was not Tindome—he wasn't stupid—but the lands beyond the mountains.