Blackfeather Woods i'm in a pressure today

@Damien

very few things held astara's attention for long. the squirrel that constantly outmaneuvered her, the split geodes that bore prismatic colors, the distant and deep depths of the swamps, and occasionally the sleepy life that stirred within. yet no discovery astara had made to date compared with the grim gravitas damien exuded -- somehow, he commanded all of her attention.

perhaps it was the dangerous air afforded to him, or the cutting glint of his pale eyes; astara might not have known he was her uncle, yet somehow, instinctively she felt as if he belonged in blackfeather the same way a tree grew uncontested in their realm. perhaps it was some biological pull that instructed the girl to set out that day, and curiously map the area in which she had seen her mother encounter him. astara knew very little of the world, but she knew enough of blackfeather that she found the borders easily enough -- unfortunately, at three months old the girl had no skill whatsoever in tracking, and set to pacing frustratedly back and forth where her mother had stood.

Morning pissing had never been as dull as that particular morning pissing. Damien was used to seeing, smelling and living the gore that used to decorate their borders, but that has history. Still unsure of why they'd made that choice, Damien decided to stalk by the path traced by their markings, reliving those times he'd mounted guard with Burke. He was sure the old man was gone by now and deeply regretted not having said more in their last meeting, but there were other things he could still do to honor his memory.

His thoughts went on and deeper, dragging out what was supposed to be a short stroll into a full patrol, and at some point his attention was kicked back into reality by the sight of a spiderling walking back and forth at what happened to be the exact spot at which he'd met with Relmyna at his arrival just a couple nights before.

Perhaps I could help looking? he barked after a few seconds observing from a distance, noticing how determined she seemed to be about finding that lost something. Damien was calm, sure of himself unlike he'd been the last time within the darkness of home.

The ghost child was much the same as her dark counterpart in many ways, and yet abundantly different in yet other ways. One thing that they both shared for certain was a child's attention span; the pale girl was as easily distracted as the dark one. Though others had given them names -- called them by names -- she did not use hers nor the dark one's. Often she would ignore the call of others, knowing they called her but finding it easier to pretend she did not understand. Words were slowly beginning to filter into her head but the pale child used little of this vocabulary herself.

She had followed the dark one, for there had been a purpose to that one's step that the ghost child could not ignore. Surely something interesting was going to happen. The ghost child had been distracted various times along the way but every time she'd seen the dark one's disappearing butt and realised that she was doing a following-of and pounced after.

Eventually the dark one reached a spot but only to do... seemingly nothing. The ghost child lingered for only a moment longer, fully intending to head somewhere more interesting because this was booo-ring, when suddenly someone else showed up. Someone new. Now, the pale child thought this interesting not just because he was new, but mostly because he looked almost exactly like the dark one. She approached the pair of them and stared at the big version of the dark one as she exclaimed in surprise: "Waow!"

her shortened muzzle trailed the debris, desperate, unskilled. the scents she identified were quick to fade from her attention - she lacked both the mental falculties and the experience in which to track old scents reliably. as she shifted through a patch of leaf-litter in frustration, a male's voice sounded -- spooked by the sudden noise (and subsequent sudden arrival) astara felt her little hackles climb as she jumped. her gaze settled on the materialized man - perhaps it was not so much that he had suddenly appeared, but that she had suddenly become aware of him.

cowed into muted subservience, astara's posture dropped in time for her pale sibling to come to the scene. instinctively she reached out to her sister, her tail beating slowly against her thin hips as she tilted her muzzle and looked curiously at the male's feet. she hadn't thought far enough ahead to exactly what she was going to do once she found him, and now that she found her older doppleganger, was suddenly aware of her poor planning.

seizing a stick from the ground, astara muttered quietly and paraded it in front of him with a shake of her head.

Damien became aware of another's presence, picking up the scent well before she decided to fully walk into the scene. Her scent was much like the other spiderling's in many ways. There was youth in it, and the smell of Relmyna thoroughly mixed, for which Damien deducted there was still more of that litter to see.

And there certainly was. Just as much Astara's raven-black hair and indigo eyes were clear signs of the Melonii heritage, the other's ghostly coat of white and the eyes to match were the other half of Damien's litter's genes that they didn't really talk about. Averna was the miniaturized image of Bane Blackfeather, and although he had long disappeared from Blackfeather Woods, the memory of his image was as fresh in Damien's mind as though he'd seen him yesterday.

Damien simply stood there, watching both girls for a moment with awe, just as impressed by their appearance as they were with his. It was only Astara's gesture that broke the trance, bringing a prop into the scene with a shake of her head that Damien interpreted as an invitation to play.

Is that what you've been looking for? asked the shadow prince raising a brow, and then lowers his head in what could be read as an acceptance of the previous proposal. Damien usually didn't commit himself to play, nor any kind of childish interaction, but these two brought around a feeling of being among family that Damien simply needed, and bonding was important this time.

A low growl sets the mood, and the dark prince takes slow, threatening steps towards the girls as though he was stalking them. His eyes though, shifting between the ghost and the shadow cubs, emanate the playfulness that Astara calls for with her invitation.

The pale child merely observed for a while, still amazed at the resemblance between the dark one and this larger version of her that had simply walked into the forest. She saw that he saw her and merely stood, a certain defiance in the way that she stood though she did not make eye contact with him.

Easily distracted, the pale child noticed the stick that the dark one had found and she let out a woof as she trotted towards her sister. Once more she was distracted when the large dark one lowered himself to the ground before the ghost child reached the dark one, and she turned to look at him. She too lowered the front of her body to the ground in an instinctively readied reaction to his invitation, and let out a cheerful woof to show that she was accepting the challenge while a white paw mowed the air playfully.

pleased by the stick held tight in her jaws, astara swung back towards damien in time to see him lurch forward; she froze, as if expecting some sort of attack from the intense creature -- but then he spoke a language she did understand -- play?

the girl's tail wagged fiercely, and she clumsily stepped towards him -- her attention diverted as averna issued a chipper woof in response. feeling quite cheerful to have both her sister and the wolf that she had been looking for willing to tumble, astara stretched her front legs in front of her, waved her haunches wildly, and let loose a quiet growl before she zoomed wildly off with the stick still held awkwardly in her teeth.

While Astara approached clumsily Damien remained in position wagging his tail as his head kept close to the ground, but he stood right up with a brusque jerk to stand stiff after Averna yelped accepting the challenge. A large, dark paw gently boops her pale head  with an awkward stretch while Astara dared closer with a growl. Damien bowed down once more, stomping the ground in front of her with his heavy paws before the dark child zooms away with the stick. He barks at Averna, challenging her to get her sister before him, and then he zooms off behind Astara himself. But the kid was fast! Damien struggled to keep up with her as she randomly curved away from his reach.

A few playful bats were exchanged left and right before the dark one suddenly moved away with the stick. Her mirror image wordlessly invited the pale child to fetch her, a thing she didn't need be told twice. The ghost rushed after the dark one with a spark in her white eyes and woofed playfully to let the dark one know she was coming.

Both pups were more versatile than the large dark beast, so it was easier for the ghost to keep up with the dark one than it appeared for him; every twist and turn was followed with agility and the ghost was keeping up fairly evenly, though not quite yet reaching the dark one as she had a head start.

if laughter was part of the language she commanded, astara might have cackled to see damien and her pale counterpart fumble after her.  she moved off on thin legs at a rough gallop, twisting as if drunk, with truly no plan save for keep the stick away at all costs.

yet all costs came at a cost -- her energy was brief and short-lived. she dodged and then bobbed, and when she bobbed the stick slipped from her grasp and the earth rose up to meet her as she tumbled wildly, flipping over a full three times before landing a spectacular distance away from her prized stick. she froze, eyes on averna, who was far closer to the toy than she -- and then launched in chase after her.

being that big meant that dealing with momentum was a harder task. Damien veered when the girls did, but his movements weren't as agile as theirs. Astara had the lead while Averna easily kept up with her. Damien was behind them but winning wasn't really a priority for him. You may call it familial pride, but Damien saw his nieces potential just by looking at them. While Cicero had never been an athletic creature, he and Relmyna had good genes, and their daughters would grow up to be formidable creatures. But they were young and needed training.

Astara's escape was impressive but short lived. Eventually her bum caught up with her head, which made her tumble to the ground dropping the stick and rolling a good length away from it, giving Damien a good chance to snatch the toy for himself. But he was still behind Averna, who had taken advantage of her agility to get ahead of her uncle without much effort.

The pale child had a lifetime of learning how to keep things from the dark one or take them from her. So when the dark one dropped and fell, tumbling to the ground, the pale child was quick to follow the prize. With her eyes at first, but soon teeth caught up with eyes and the pale child snatched the stick from the ground. Without missing a beat she picked it up from its landing place before either the dark one or the new one managed to reach her, and she turned and doubled back.

The ghost dashed closely past the new one who looked like the dark one, a taunting smirk on her face as she did so. If he reacted quickly enough perhaps he would have time to grab the stick as she passed by, before she -- and likely the dark one right behind her -- would leave him far behind again as she zigzagged through the thick forest.

few things had such an  unsettingly crisp taste as the taste of defeat or folly; already averna had clutched the stick, and thus dashed astara's hopes of recapture. she flickered a gaze towards her doppleganger, who was nearly upon them and now shared the burden of their defeat.

she would not be quelled so easily -- with a growl she sprung into action after her darting sister, who had a significant headstart. astara remained undaunted in the face of such sure drubbing. there sat in her gaze conquest, and she doubled down after averna with terrific fury.

Averna grabbed the stick with a lightning-fast reaction, and though Astara was already back on her paws to chase her sister down Damien had the advantage of proximity to attempt his own move. The ghost girl flashes by, but not fast enough to get past the danger zone. Damien flings left and with a gigantic paw - compared to the cub's size - pulls Averna to the ground. Gotcha! he barks, and proceeds to snatch the stick from the ghost girl's jaws.

Game Over.

Damien had his victory and there was hardly anything else the helpless pups could do to change that. So with the stick tightly held on his maw Damien stands tall above the girls and sways his tail as if daring them to get it back. There was no need for running now, he had the game under control.

With a surprised yelp parting from her mouth the ground was swept away from under the ghost's legs. The stick flung from her mouth in the process but was subsequently snatched away before she had a chance to grab it. "Raaawwar!" the pale child chirped while paws flung through the air and tried to snatch back the prize, but she wasn't successful. She remained on her back while she pawed the air.

the little phantom's earnest re-entry into the fray was short-lived, for damien had intervened and with a great swing of his colossal paw, had upended her sister and simply ended the game.

astara slowed, stepping carefully towards him as she studied his countenance, the great height in which he held the stick, and her sister on the dirt below.

it only took seconds to assess the likelihood of her success (slim) if she tried to wrench the stick from his jaws; she gave averna a secretive look and then bolted around damien like a shadow fleeing from a sudden burst of light. for a moment she seemed to disappear behind his form, but she was not running today --

instead, her dark designs were revealed... as the little shit opened her mouth, and attempted to bite down hard on one of his exposed hocks.

It didn't take much of an effort to remain superior to the girls, but why should it? He was above them, both in stature and pretty much everything else, but his confidence gave foot to cockiness, and sooner rather than later Damien let his defenses down convinced that there was nothing the girls could do to turn the tides of the game.

Wrong.

While he focused on the ghost child with near amusement as she foolishly paws the air beneath his nose, the shadow child took her chance to make a move and disappeared to finally emerge from the darkness targetting Damien's ass. Astara could be a wispy thing, but the kind of daggers that she had for teeth! They almost pierced through Damien's skin, prompting a yelp from him as the stick was released when he turned to snap at the vampiric whelp.

At first the pale child made no progress, but the dark one had other plans. A small smirk painted her muzzle as the large wolf was distracted and the stick flew from his mouth. The ghost tried to grab it before her sibling could, and should she manage she would be on her feet and off again, ready to continue the game...

up to you whether astara gets to it first or averna makes off with it!

astara snuck round her twin-like charge, gaze simmering with impish intent. her teeth clipped sharp against thin skin and damien whirled around with a yelp. such a victorious sounding yawp might have sent astara into a fit of goading, were it not for the sharp-fanged retribution she was certain would follow.

she was a sneaky thing, and already had anticipated some sort of rebuke: whatever came would find astara already shirking  - and his teeth indeed raked her fleeing hips, a cold reminder he was far more capable than she.

the game was forgotten, but her crime was still fresh in memory. satisfied with the damage the girl had caused she prowled next to her sister, eyeing damien with guarded, yet smiling eyes.

The game wasn't anymore about the stick at all. The game had long ago turned into a test of the girls' boundaries and capabilities, a game Damien very well had wanted to take part on ever since he'd found out his lineage hadn't hit a dead end before his return.

His teeth clashed against thin air as the nightcub dodged Damien's titanic frame. And as she scurried herself next to the daycub Damien turned to face them with a playful glint to his snarly grin. But he was drained and instead of making yet another move he gently dropped his body to the cold, shaded ground to allow the girls to come closer. He still didn't know whether they had the same speech impediment as their mother, but in any case there were things he wanted them to know. Were they old enough to understand?

Do you know who I am? asked the dark prince eyeing his nieces with a gentle gaze of white snow.

The pale child made off with the stick but the others did not necessarily follow. The stick was then soon forgotten, dropped from her mouth and she trotted back to the pair of playmates. As the larger dark wolf spoke the pale child understood some of the words -- she heard 'who' and 'i' and knew the context in question-form -- and in response to his question she simply tilted her head in inquiry.

She did not know who he was, but she had a suspicion he was about to tell her and her dark counterpart. The ghost slunk to her counterpart's side, sat down -- still panting from the exertion of the game -- and once more tilted head in silent inquiry for the answer to the question behind the question he just asked.

their arcane game soon saw end in the form of damien's slumped body; astara slowed her prowling and eyed the adult in suspicion. surely whatever motion he made was also made in conniving spirit of the game -- astara was not so trusting as averna was in that moment and hung back with a feral glimmer in her gaze.

whether or not she understood damien's question was unknown: presently she was studying the tilted head of her sister, and occasionally stealing glances towards damien as if to suggest she was certain he was up to something.

He watched them settle down, each with her own particular quirks becoming more apparent with every move made. Averna was a calculating creature, he could see. Her eyes were vigilant, they knew where to look for what he mind craved to know, and she was always calm as she contemplated her next move. And Astara was basically the opposite. A spark on her own right, the night cub was never still. Her curious eyes danced back and forth covering all the space they could and while her moves weren't calculated her instinct did a great job at driving her.

They hadn't seemed to understand his question, which made Damien almost sure they were probably mute like their mother. While Relmyna didn't seem to have trouble understanding speech he guessed the lack of verbal communication in the girls' lives had been a hindrance in their development.

Do you know what family means? he asked, trying a different approach to where he wanted to go with this awkward conversation. But he needed them to know. I am family, he said and he hoped that would be enough for them to understand what he was trying to say. Your father was my brother. did he need to say anything else? The girls' reactions would tell.

The dark one stayed back, still enraptured in the game, while the ghost did not mind the risk of being fooled all too much. The pale child looked up to the tall dark one as he asked them another question, considering his last had gone unanswered by them both. 'Family'. The pale child had heard it once or twice, but it not ring that much of a bell to her. Perhaps an example of what she and the dark one were might have given her more insight, but she had only ever heard that referred to as 'sister' and she had heard the word 'family' in a broader context such as pack, or what the caretaker was to them.

Her face remained blank and her tilted head still inquired question. "Brovver?" she asked clumsily, not used to speaking all too much -- at least not coherently; usually she would just screech and scream randomly -- and not sure what a 'brother' was... or a 'father', for that matter.

while she still suspected this drop in demeanor was a ploy, her sister was less suspicious. astara's melonii gaze swept trustingly across averna's rapt features, and felt settled enough to draw to a quiet sitting pose just out of the reach of damien's jaws (just in case, you kno).

the melonii male's small speech fell on uncomprehending ears, but his posture did not. she studied the intense way he leaned, the earnest in his expressions -- tokens that whatever he uttered now were important. astara would have liked to understand, but she lacked the education, having a penchant for more feral purposes than either her mother or sister had previously reckoned. 

the quietly spoken voice of her sister raised astara's attention; her ears fluttered forwards in surprise to hear such clumsy utterance, and she looked from averna to damien expectantly for whatever conversation transpired thereafter.