Blackfeather Woods Reading between text

@Venamis

Not much got past the inquisitive boy. His job was to look after the woods for it in return cared for his Family with shadows. His birds too liked to stay close at hand. He had his own small murder that followed him frequently. He'd named him after some words he knew.

Altar, the oldest with a greyed head and one leg.
Stone, the boldest and most inquisitive.
Stick, for she always brought him one in return for food.
And Void, the one that was always close and led the boy to the other birds that had fallen to the forest floor, never to wake.

They glided overhead as the boy picked through the roots of the Redgrove. They were showing him something, but he wasn't yet sure. Maybe they just wanted to fly easier, so he picked up his pace to race them. He was looking up at them, not really looking where he was going for the time being.

@Rowan sorry for the wait!

He heard them before he saw them. The obnoxious cry of a crow in the canopy above seemed to draw the attention of others, unfortunately, and when one called out the others were swift to screech back. They reminded young Ven of his mother's awful companion, who'd often eye him long enough to rouse discomfort with those beady black eyes. Initially the boy would've swatted him away, though Ven was a quick learner. Ignoring Tulugak yielded better results than anticipated, so he practiced the same technique with Blackfeather's birds.

Pressing on through the foliage with ears tipped back and platinum eyes fixed on the worn fox trail ahead, the young Melonii did not register the presence of another juvenile until their collision. Both cubs tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs and Venamis' snarl of outrage enough to silence the crows in the branches above.

Having always been the bitey one of Damien and Astrid's brood, Venamis parted his jaws at once, arching his neck in attempt to deliver a sharp nip to whichever body part was closest. Jumping to conclusions, he was certain that this was an attack - an assertion of dominance that he simply wouldn't stand for. He may be the new kid, but he was the biggest and he sure as hell wasn't prepared to submit to any of these other pups.

He blundered into what he thought was a rock until he heard the alarm call ringing faintly. Then he felt the nip, heard the ferocious snarl.
Rowan growled, twisting himself to plant his jaws into the shoulder of whoever was attacking him.
Rowan had always been the biggest but whoever this was was bigger. Not that Rowan would let that stop him.
He snapped his head back after attempting to land a blow of retaliation then growled a warning, trying to prevent another attack, which was totally uncalled for.

Besides, why was he being attacked? He was minding his own business for once and he got jumped outta nowhere! This lent more anger to Rowan and he pushed up to wheel around and attack from above; hopefully the other was still on the ground flailing like an idiot. He probably hadn't had lessons in fighting.

His attacker bit back, needle fangs finding grip on his shoulder, and with a high-pitched yip the young Melonii swung his head toward the other youngster's muzzle to clack his jaws like a frantic barracuda. He aimed wildly, teeth parting and closing until they could hold fast to whatever part of the stranger's crown - his muzzle, if luck was on his side - was unfortunate enough to face his wrath. Any effort to get this idiot off of him.

He manouevered enough to push onto his back in attempt to evade, and followed Rowan's movement to the best of his ability. The wild child pulled himself upright to loom over and make his next attack, one that was met with raised limbs in rebuttal. Hind paws worked to find firm purchase beneath the russet pup's belly, claws raking delicate undersides with the aim of using the advantage of his larger size to shove him off.

His warning didn't work.
Fangs snapped at his face so Rowan greeted the Parhina with a jaw lock, trying to bite down on the others face and force his head back like he'd done with Star a few times.
Teeth scratched over his muzzle, earning a yelp as he moved his ass quicker to dive down on the other he could now recognize as black and white.
Racoon.

His prey made to defend himself with kicks. A move Rowan had not encountered before because he was the biggest of his litter and this one was bigger than him, so it worked.
Sharp nails cut into his belly, scraping along his underside as he pitched forwards, snapping his jaws about the other's muzzle. He crushed as hard as he could, determined not to cry out in pain and let go. He threw himself sideways, desperately holding on, and made to throw his head side to side, wrenching the others.

Lacking the power of an adult wolf's bite, both pups seemed to deliver only minor injuries on one another. Venamis continued to nip and snarl at any opportunity, feeling himself to have the upper hand despite having found himself belly-up.

The force of his hind limbs against sensitive undersides succeeded in shoving his attacker aside, and the dark-furred Melonii moved to straighten himself upright. He rolled onto his side and hoisted himself on his elbows, but the russet cub seemed unwilling to admit defeat. He moved in, catching Ven off guard as he sought to right himself, and managed to grip his snout between sharp canines.

A yelp finally came from him, one of surprised pain and his immediate reaction was to yank his head away - resulting in the raw scrapes that marred each of his jowls. Salmon pink tongue snaked between bared teeth as he gathered swiftly to his paws, rounding on the other boy with a warning bark: "back off!

The boy pulled back, so did Rowan.
He was readying himself for defense when the bark came.
He glared at the other, his almost golden eyes speaking levels of confusion and anger.
"Why'd you attack me!" His words were hot and angry, pain throbbing along his undersides.

Who was this kid? Where'd he come from?
"Who are you?" His ears lay flat, muzzle half crumpled in anger and hate. These were his woods and this kid couldn't go around doing what he liked. Especially beating up someone without reason.
Void, sleek and pointed, floated down a few feet away. Watching, it seemed. Rowan knew they wouldn't involve themselves with lupine quarrels, but they sure as hell talked about them.

The russet youngster drew back just as Venamis did, though the latter's suspicion never faltered. He carried on with fangs bared, ears splayed and eyes narrowed as he positioned himself sideways - like hell would he be turning his back on this asshole!

"What!?" Ven snorted, further riled to be accused of making the first attack. Usually he was the instigator, the one who pushed and teased enough to cause tempers to spike. The one who provoked, but never pounced. "You fuckin' jumped me!"

The question of his his identity went unanswered, as he was unwilling to share his name until he knew his.

His fur prickled, his ears flicking flat and tail curling slightly at it rose behind him.
"I was just running." He glared at the boy, taking in the details of his face. Just so he could remember how it looked because he mangled it worse than Maegi's. 

"You need to be more careful, you don't belong here." He had not been here since he was born otherwise Rowan would have scented him first. He was born here, he was a Blackfeather. This kid showed up out of the blue like he owned the place.

White eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, Venamis glowered from beneath a furrowed ebony brow. He stared at this rangy cub, found his gaze and decided at once that he wouldn't accept this major attitude problem.

No. Way. In. Hell.

Outwardly, he didn't give a shit that this kid thought he didn't belong among them. Maegi saw potential in him. Still, secretly it rubbed him the wrong way and he didn't appreciate the comment one bit, despite knowing it was likely intended to provoke a reaction from him.

"I need to be careful? That's big talk for such a little kid," Ven sneered, tongue snaking past bared teeth to flick over the droplet of blood from an oozing scratch. "Why don't you run back to your mommy?"

The adrenaline was starting to ebb away, the pain starting to seep through the clouded veil. His lips writhed up, baring stark at the boy. He wanted to just sink his teeth into his and shake his head until every bone snapped in him.
"I'm a way better fighter than you." Of course, he'd got into a few spots of trouble in the tussle but that was all part of his training.

"I don't ever need to run back to my mommy. She's the Merei​ and I'm trained by Tundra." He can and will look after his damned self. He could do anything in these woods.
So he did.
He made his rolling chirp, hoping that at least Stone would come to sit close.
He didn't stop, but moments later he swooped low between the boys, Rowan glad and overjoyed, but couldn't show his surprise. He kept staring at Ven, emitting a rumbling, low growl. He wasn't about to fuck off.
He could.

Well this didn't exactly go to plan, hahah. Ven will never be able to make friends.  xD

His cuts and scrapes began to sting, accompanying the sudden feeling of exhaustion that made him wish to retreat to a dark and quiet place to rest. Venamis snorted a laugh at this youngster's bold declaration of being a "better fighter" which, much to his amusement, needed to be confirmed by an assurance of the wolf who apparently taught him.

"You keep telling yourself that," he answered, lifting a velvet ear slightly at the odd noise his russet pack-mate made. Venamis shot him a look that quietly communicated you are fuckin' weird.

Even more strange, some bird settled in the space between them. The young Melonii looked down at it as it peered up with a beady black eye, trying to appear entirely unimpressed. This was no dark magic, this was pure coincidence.

Rowan rumbled lowly, yet Venamis maintained his silence before raising his frozen stare to find his newest enemy's glaring right back. "I think he wants you to take him home," he teased, "must be nearing your nap time."

Lmao poor Ven 

He watched the other, seeing his eyes flicker wider for a moment before returning to a neutral expression of disgust. One Rowan was sure he’d be stuck with forever. 

Then he made some more snide comments and Rowan had had enough. He could prey on him another time but he was enjoying the company of the birds for now. Or at least was. He was glad to find they were hanging around. 
“Drop dead,” he murmured audiably, then stalked back on his path the birds were leading him on. 
He was done with this kid and did not want to see his stupid face again.