Haunted Wood the devils of truth steal the souls of the free

The morning light slanted through the trees around the pit, glimmering off of the ice that had begun to cling to naked limbs, and as Revui woke from his half-sleep his breath fumed from him in the manner of a dragon's smoke; exhaled from his nose, he looked utterly reptilian where he lay. There were new scraps scattered along the edge of the pit but he did not turn his attention to them immediately, as he once did. This time he shook his head and shoulders, trying to rid the groggy feeling from his mind, and his dulled gaze latched upon the ginger-and-dark shape of a sleeping boy. He hoisted himself to his paws (careful of his broken hind, which throbbed no matter what he did with it), and sought about gathering up the scraps in to a pile.

He had the inclination to eat it all himself; knowing that once he was healthy and his limb was working, he would be able to free himself from the pit and tear his captors a few new holes. He relished the thought of eating their faces, breaking their legs, tearing them off like one might tug the legs off a spider — but the images of violence and retribution flit through his mind very swiftly, then were shunted to the back of his mind and locked away. He chose to pile the meat closer to the boy; then, taking the largest of the (rather pitiful, desiccated, almost inedible) scraps, tossed it at @Orochi's face with a satisfying thunk.

It had been less than one day since the lad followed Vengeance back to Nightwalkers, and althought he was happy to no longer be alone, the boy was deathly afraid of everything around him. At every turn he smelled rot, the remnants of blood an fur speckled around and painted into the dirt. It made his skin prickle and fur rise in uneaseness, and Clay, eager to not meet the same fate, shuffled himself away in the depths of the territory.

One being a small outcrop of rocks by a lengthy cavern.

He tucked himself away there, body curled and head low. He wondered what it was for as he gazed downwards, watching silently at the figures below. One of them being a male clad in cobalt fur. He seemed to be eating something, or... no. He was tossing something— throwing it at anothers face.

Clay raised his eyebrows at that, curious as to why they were doing such a thing. His own brother and him had played like that before, tossing various objects at eachother while roughousing. But... these two, well— they didn't look to be playing. He scooted closer to get a better look, tiny head peeking well out from behind the rocks as he stared downwards, cheek fur dangling.

His paws slipped some, sending tumbles of rocks downwards and alerting others of his presence.

she'd been following the newest whelp most of the day, in much of the same way she'd followed Venamis when he'd first come to the wood. she's certainly discontent with his presence here; she'd only just dealt with the latest potential rank to her place here and does not need any contest besides Valour.

and yet she'd done nothing to indicate her presence, hanging back a fair distance with a scowl etches on her features. and then she spots his rear near the pit's edge, and moves. silently, at first, a quick stalk, and when she comes within range she barrels into his rear, shouldering him roughly forward and spinning away just as fast, rounding back to face him in a moment should her attempt to send him over the edge fail.

The dragon was sleeping soundly. It was about time too! He had spent hours upon hours shouting, pacing, clawing at walls, just causing a general ruckus in the pit. Orochi didn't care who witnessed him or whether or not they were pleased with his antics. Escape was the only goal on his mind, and by god he would do so sooner or later.

Of course his attempts were physically taxing and a young boy could only be active for so long. As the last rays of light were swallowed by the horizon, he succumbed to exhaustion.

...

Whack!

A blow to the head was enough to awaken the child and boy was he angry. Hey! His eyes bounced around the pit and landed on his silver cell mate. What's your problem? Why I oughta- As he got up and began to make his way towards Revui, he stumbled upon a hunk of scraps. Of course he was happy to see some food (as little as it may be) but the way it had been given to him was irritating. Orochi grunted before grabbing the meat and turining his back towards the man.

Before he could even get a bite, he heard rocks fall into the lair. Had another Nightwalker come to torment him? Orochi had turned his head just in time to see that little brat shove someone forward.

Many things happened in the span of minutes, during which Revui was focused on the tawny boy and the food; he felt satisfied by the sound of the dried meat hitting the boy in the face, and invigorated when they rose up to shout and squall, before falling upon the offered chunk of scrap meat. Revui did not offer food to anyone typically, being a covetous and gluttonous beast ever since his birth, but in this case he had made a clear decision. There was a distinct difference between his injury and that of the boy: there was no broken bone that Revui could see, which told him that the boy's health was better. They were close in age but the boy looked to be further his junior, which indicated he might have an easier time with the healing. The food played another part in this scheme though: a chance to befriend a fellow inmate.

Beyond where the leviathan was situated with the boy there came a crunching sound, a crumbling, and Revui's attention drifted towards where young Clay was cloistered; he did not notice the boy watching them until he was halfway down the ramparts of the pit, and by then the fallout of Hela's shove was clear. The boy's grizzled body thumped to the pit's floor and as the dust settled Revui could make out the near-shadow that was his figure, but did not move to intercept to to inspect. As far as he could tell captives were brought to the pit in an incoherent state and they woke in the pit, serving out their sentence without ever being given the freedom to roam the territory. This boy, whoever he was, had started outside, which to Revui meant he was not, in fact, a captive. A fool maybe, a witless child that fell prey to someone with a stronger sense of purpose, maybe. The worst-case scenario was that this was planned, which made Revui less inclined to check on the boy or to associate with him.

He was wary, and kept his distance (due to his injury and his skeptic nature), and glanced briefly to the ginger boy that sat nearby, eating. His brows raised as if to say, do you know him? Or perhaps, what should we do about that? Revui was otherwise unaffected by the tumult, but his belly gave a little groan, and he turned from Orochi to watch Clay in a new light.

Clay did not notice the other until it was too late. Until his weight was off center and he was tipping forward, hurling downward. An undignified gasp left past his lips as he whipped around, digging his paws into the dirt, anchoring himself there as he fought to scramble upward.

A pair of eyes and unfamiliar face met him as he dangled, desperately holding onto the cliff edge. "Who are you?" he grunted "Why did you do tha-" A slip, another tumble of rubble falling downwards, and before he knew it his body was falling in tide with gravity. A yell sounded from his lungs as he did, but was cut short as he landed on his back at the bottom of the pit.

It knocked the air out of him, but Clay, already knowing there was others down here, was instantly on his paws and wheezing. He looked at them, bewildered as he puffed up and raised his tail to seem threatening. They seemed hurt, ragged in their state and clearly hungry by the look the dark one was giving him.

"Don't." He growled, giving a warning to the much larger wolf as he backed up. They wouldn't, right? They were the same kind— both wolves. Wolves don't eat other wolves!

the boy hits the bottom, to her grim satisfaction, with a dull thud. deflating somewhat, now that there's no immediate threat, she nears the edge herself. the new boy is standing, which means she wasn't as successful as previously in putting him out of commission, though it's only a slight disappointment. 

"stay out of my way." is all the girl offers him, watching as he eyes the two other wolves in the pit. she lingers a moment longer before turning tail and moving back the way she'd come, hardly caring to see the exact outcome of the situation.

Orochi wasted no breath on the fallen boy. All of his attention was strictly on the girl that had crippled him. As she crept near the edge of the pit, he stood up and limped his way over. Get down here and fight me! He shoved his chest on the wall and slithered up in an awkward fashion, only to fall flat on his back. When he looked up she was gone.

Coward, the dragon spat. With a groan, he got back to his feet. As he did so something bumped him from behind. It was the boy, he had realized as he spun around. Arg! Get away from me. Orochi attempted to shove him forward with his shoulder.

Overhead came a voice but Revui ignored it, along with the retreat of the girl. His focus was on the creature that had fallen in, drifting awkwardly but with purpose around where they sat squabbling next to Orochi; the hungry look did not ease. It mattered little to Revui where his meals came from - meat was meat - but he did not think of Clay as food ouright, not yet. He was vaguely curious of the stranger. A limited sense that his space had been invaded.

The boy spoke, cautioned him in a single word, which irked Revui. He had been here first; before the purposeful shove, before the irate other boy too, and this pit was his. He drew as close as he could without putting weight on his injured limb (which put him in crowding distance to the newcomer) and made a point to take a deep, expressive breath, studying the scents Clay brought with him.

He was, in part, learning of the world outside the pit in this manner. He was also testing the boy and his reactions, but did not expect much. If they were not careful the beast might snap, just to play with him further.

His questions went unanswered as the girl fled, going back to where she came from before shoving him into the pit. Now, his only focus was the two accompanying him in the pit.

The loud boy, one who was constantly angry, seemed preoccupied with the fleeing girl and the side of the canyon. Clay drew his ears back at the tone of his voice, the loud yelling that rung in his skull and only made him quiver more. The other however, the dark one, was far more interested in him and Clay backed up slowly under his gaze. Never breaking eye contact until he got a rough shove foward from the other wolf.

He spun around, lips now raised upward in a show of teeth. He was scared, and like a cornered animal he was ready to lash out in attempt to prove he wasn't. "Don't touch me, pit-wolf!" he snapped at Orochi, tail raised and stance wide. "and you!" He turned back to Revui "Stop looking at me like that."

The boy's brazen façade pissed him off to no end. It was already enough that he was humiliated by his childhood enemy and that girl of his. There was no way in a million years he'd let this stranger get the best of him, broken ankle or not. As far as he's concerned this was his pit and he wouldn't be bossed around on his turf.

Orochi's lips pulled back and his tail arched over his frame. My name is Orochi, and you best get it right! He took the opportunity to lunge forward as the boy was preoccupied with Revui. Fighting wasn't the smartest option in this current situation. He would no doubt ruin his paw further whether he successfully tackled him or not.

Gonna lightly pp, lemme know if I should change, this'll be short as I don't have much time!!

The storm-cloud of a boy was watching him, but then the other captive was shouting a bit, jostling against the body which had been deposited in the dust among them, and when Clay's attention shifted back to Orochi it was Revui's chance. He lunged, flashing fangs as he aimed for the nearest part of the child for a half-assed grasp of his tail, but Revui did not know his own strength nor did he anticipate the spastic reaction of Clay; when the boy felt those teeth on his appendage he tried to escape (as any animal under duress would), and Revui heard, and felt, a satisfying crack.

aaa sorry for the late reply!! I dont mind PP

Clay didn't expect to be tackled, nor did he expect it to be the pit-wolf, Orochi as he called himself. But when the weight of the other pushed him to the ground, all clay could do was let out a small yelp of surprise. His weight tumbled with the other, and while he desperately pushed away with clumsy paws and a fury of snapping jaws he failed to notice Revui.

Pain was felt at the base of his tail and as Clay struggled and kicked, attempting to worm himself away, a crack echoed through the pit. Fire. Liquid hot shot up his spine, and as it traveled through his body Clay opened his jaws to let out a scream. It hurt! It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! He writhed with the pain, and as it consumed him he lost his effort to fight the others and fell limp to the ground, his vision darkening as his body fought the only way it knew how: knocking him out to block the pain.

As expected, pain shot through his leg as it slammed back onto the earth. No matter, the boy was firmly held beneath him and pride would mask the discomfort.

Orochi couldn't hold onto him for much longer. The shoves and snapping teeth caused him to limp back. Stupid boy. He dare challenge a wolf who, despite his injuries, knocked him down? A grin spread from cheek to cheek. He would accept with pleasure.

The dragon got ready to leap forward again, but he froze when he saw Revui's form rush forward. Teeth, crack, defeat. It all happened so fast. In the end the prisoners of the Nightwalkers stood over its young. 

It wasn't fair! Orochi was doing just fine on his own, he didn't need any help. He shot daggers at his cell mate, then back to the boy. Don't ever call me pit wolf again. Those were his parting words. There was no use in beating up an unconscious body.

The crack of bone was scintillating for Revui. The taste of blood from where his teeth punctured flesh, well, that was like wine. The taste was revitalizing in many ways, and he was akin to an alcoholic being given a taste after many days of sobriety: he thrashed his head and crunched down harder, not quite enough to sever the tail from the body but enough to fill his mouth with slick red, and then he pulled back, released. Savored the taste while the target of his malice fell stagnant against the dirt.

The other boy - the captive one - said something sharp and snide, but Revui was busy riding the high of the blood taste, licking at his muzzle and working his tongue between his teeth to gather it all. He thought of going in again and snapping one of the boy's limbs - make him mirror the damages of his own body - but when the target remained earthbound Revui's interest waned. He would not attack again if the boy was truly lost to sleep.

Growing bored of the situation when the grey thing did not shift or wake, the leviathan kicked the body away like refuse, then prowled off to where the depth of ledge served as a partial shelter, where he sprawled and began to gingerly groom at his forelimbs and face. Almost like this was all totally natural behavior.