Haunted Wood ain't no mercy in my smiling, only fangs

@Arcturus coming along, @Vengeance ; backdated immediately after orochi thread, but 2 days travel-time!

 

They traveled swiftly, she and her brother, and they moved in silence. 

Revui was alive. He had left some time ago, true, and he had never returned... Hydra attributed his departure to either death, or abandonment. One thing she knew for certain was that he had not been among the Nightwalkers for all of that time, because the Nightwalkers own arrival had been recent. Revui was dim, dimmer than most; she could forgive him once for his absence if it was not meant, if something had kept him from being by their side, all of them—if something kept him from being there, when their parents had passed. From when her children were born. 

He had been granted leadership and simply quit them, though—bearscent and blood, his, and its own. Hydra admitted to herself now, fully, that she had thought him dead. He was alive, though. Beyond that, Hydra had not yet thought much—even with all the time they had on their journey to rescue. Only a little, such as...

Perhaps on his journey homeward bound, something went wrong. And now he was held captive by the Nightwalkers. Not for all that time of course, given they were too recently made to account for the entirety of his absence. He could answer that later, she had already decided, if he yet lived. Fury was all she let herself feel as they moved, but it was directionless here and now. Traveling did nothing to calm her, and by the time she arrived to the borders of the Nightwalkers she summoned @Vengeance. 

She and Arcturus had taken care to rest, knowing arriving exhausted would not be conducive if Vengeance revealed to them both he had elected to kill Revui after all; Hydra would have him answer for the grief and the rage she felt all at once, and to do so without rest would mean her own certain end. Not knowing the truth of his bloodline would not help him; he led, he commanded, and he ought to of known something. What use was a captive if there was no information gained from them? 

And if he knew, and kept him still... 

Hydra thought she smelled him there, though easily such a notion could be attributed to the cruel and horrible hope that he yet lived (horrible, for if it was not so... no. She would not think it, not yet). She waited, no indication at all of the violent stirrings within her upon her person. The Queen was calm, then—terribly calm. Stoic, and at ease, there was no tension upon her person; she would come to find out all she sought to know, one way or the other. Her attention was for the yawning stretch of shaded Woods before her, one swiveling ear searching for the sound of the Warlords approach while the other, alertly cupped forward, listened to all the rest.

he was unfeeling as he went, sorrowed by emotions that ran deep. to an outside observer arcturus seemed to travel mechanically, as if somewhere some distant order commanded his limbs to keep going.

his mind was elsewhere.

revui.

he thought not of his parents' death or the subsequent upheaval. he thought of how he had bitterly sworn off his brother, cursed his name -- and thrown him aside.

and now, guilt hounded him like maddening plague dogs; if revui had suffered at his hand (for this time, arcturus had not looked for his brother), arcturus could never live that down.. and to think, all this time, his brother lived under his very nose...

and now, quite probably, was dead..

he flanked hydra, a grim look set to his distant gaze. he thought of what he might do to any nightwalker, if revui was dead..

and somehow, cared not if he died alongside them.

The call was something new, and yet familiar all at the same time. Hydra was paying them a visit and summoning the Warlord himself for some kind of impromptu hearing. Perhaps she had found something interesting in regards to other surroundings packs - or maybe it was one of pleasure. What he wasn't aware of is that it was in regards to the escapees. He paid no mind to the child, while Revui had already been dealt with while he was skulking around the borders after his own escape. 

Not once had Moonspear been a part of any conversation. Not that either of them was the talkative type. 

Walking up to the border, the first he noticed was there was a pair of them. Hydra was accompanied by another this time around. His grin faded while he eyed the two. Never did she need a companion before, so why now? She was heading to an allied pack, after all, she shouldn't have needed a guard more so than any other time while wandering the wilds. To what do I owe the pleasure? Naturally, he was guarded. 

What was going on? Clearly it was something more than just a pleasant visit of friends.

Vengeance was prompt, and for that was a good thing for them both; it left her less time to ruminate on all that she might do were her brother to be gone too soon from this world for no good reason at all. She regarded him firstly with a polite dip of her head—for here and now, they were still allies and she was not so foolish as to behave in an asinine way before his own borders—and her tail lashed behind her as he spoke. 

Bad news oft travels fast, she began, voice eerily calm and tone absent of any inflection as she spoke. There was news that came to us that my younger brother is a captive of yours, and that he failed to escape where another did not. I want to know how this all came to be, she drawled, and if he still lives. The who, the what, the where... all of it. The Ostrega did not think she needed to spell it out for Vengeance. He knew the manner of woman it was that he dealt with, and she wanted no detail spared; she wanted to understand, and know the truth of it.

it was a good learning experience for arcturus to watch and listen to hydra -- in more ways than one, she was his superior. he himself would have been pressed to seize vengeance by the throat and demand his brother be released or else. unfortunately, as we all know, that action would have surely ended arcturus' time on this earth.

he kept his hot-headed fury at bay, though vengeance was spared none of the fire in arcturus' gaze as he arrived. arcturus was discomfited, yet he maintained a somewhat believable facade of composure.. save for the accusation that burned in his narrowed gaze.

The boy's gaze did not go unnoticed. Lips quivered in response to the accusatory glares before resting again as he focused on Hydra. He would not be outnumbered on his borders, not today. Should the need arise he was prepared to call for reinforcements and mercy would not be given, not even to Hydra should she decide to end their alliance here and now; but he listened. Picking the details to learn more about what was happening. Thankfully Hydra was a leveled headed queen and did not seem interested in breaking any truce without speaking first.

We had two captives. There were no secrets. He had no reason to lie and cheat in this little meeting, it gave him nothing in return. One a boy, the other a young male just below 2 years old if I were to guess. No one shared any names yet, though he did not know of the boy's name, he would not bring up Revui unless Hydra did in turn - confirming that this was all true and not some kind of scheme in order to find a reason to end the alliance. One couldn't be too trusting after all. They were caught trespassing a few days apart, smelling nothing of allies or Nightwalkers, and were treated as such. Neither of them even mentioned Moonspear by my knowledge.

Hydra listened, giving the floor to Vengeance entirely. His past tense was not missed by Hydra, who payed attention to detail: had. 

She had always been an exceptionally patient woman, but it would not be a stretch to say that she had exercised near all of it for all else that was spoken. Had echoed dully; was it unintentional, or did he and Revui share the same sort of mind? The rest of what he spoke was far from unbelievable; Revui had trespassed before, after all, and his fellow had just done the same upon Moonspear. 

In all fairness to Vengeance, Hydra would have dealt the killing blow to her brother, were she him. 

But Vengeance had not. He had let him live, even if it was only temporary. And word had come back to Hydra about it.

Ah, she rejoined, as though understanding; and truth be told, she did... to a certain degree. What good was a captive that had trespassed? It was an utter waste of resources that could otherwise be for pack... and yet, Orochi had not looked rail-thin upon his arrival. Unhealthy, certainly, and battered... but the Nightwalkers evidently did not starve their captives to death. What they were meant for Hydra could not be certain. A forward-thinker, Hydra could not help but think the idea of them to be a waste.

But that was more because of the lack of food than it was anything else. 

In any case, Hydra continued, slower this time: And now, she drawled, speaking to the present, he is dead? She asked, to be sure of it. Hydra could not understand why he would have avoided the question unless he supposed she might not like the answer, though still Hydra extended to him this final courtesy so that he could reveal to her the truth of that.

If he had trespassed and died, Hydra could understand; the dumb often died such ways, after all, and if that was what Revui had been reduced to in his time away, he only had himself to blame for leaving. But he had survived. Of course he had; he had the same tenacity as they all seemed to. He had lived and died both in her heart, and now that he might live was cause enough for Hydra to stand beside him. Not for his trespass, for that she would never condone; evidently, he had paid for that in his time here. That she could not know for certain of course, but she could only guess from the looks of the once-captive that had trespassed upon the Spear.

She was outraged with her brother, of course. Outraged that he would be so foolish. Outraged that he was so selfish as to put them through this terrible thing for what Hydra felt was one time too many. Mother, father, brother, not brother—yes, brother. Vengeance, she spoke levelly, only a beat after the inquiry, where is he? She breathed. He might not know it, but the questions alone were proof enough she had not come here to end this alliance; no other in this lifetime would have ever been granted the chance to speak if she imagined they lay a hand upon her family. 

For trespassing, she could permit injury even to death; she had always been explicit in her teachings of what one must not do, and this had ever been at the top of it. But the problem lay in his continued survival, only to be (potentially) cut short by fleeing... 

No, she would kill for that too. Best to tie up loose ends. 

But she needed to know. If she was to bury him, it would need to be for good this time—and she would not let him rest alone. Not for very long. She would need to know the name of the wolf who swung the sword, and then her brothers restless, foolish, violent soul might feel peace to know her pursuit of them.

had. the word echoed dully in arcturus' mind. he thought of the worst instantly, revui's blood spilled -- and all because his brother had selfishly written him off.. guilt flooded with latent fury, but arcturus kept his form still. it would do no good to be rash, not on someone else's borders.

he looked to hydra, admiring her poise. his own tongue felt leaden, and his eyes blazed in reddish outrage. how he wished to wring the male's neck for what he assumed the beast had done -- still, arcturus did not move, yet his blood pounded fiercely in his rapidly beating heart.

He continued to try and ignore the boy to his best efforts. The boy's rage was palpable, something that was hard to ignore, difficult to not excite the Warlord to the point of initiating a battle between himself and Hydra's little companion. 

Normally Hydra was eloquent. She had words for words and a beautiful way to put them in a way that would demand respect - even from the Vengeance himself, though he would not outwardly admit such a thing. Right here, right now, she was a woman of few words. It felt abnormal for him to be speaking more than she was. Though it seemed that her rage was not focussed on the Warlord, he would remain on high alert and watch them both carefully. 

If Revui truly was her brother, she had shown to be fiercely protective over her family; and thus, was unpredictable for the time being. No, he's alive. At least for now. He was uncertain of the man's current state of being, or for how long should he truly go after Black Hat and Tzila as he originally intended; how that exchange would end, only time would tell. 

Away. He jumped at the opportunity to find out more about Rusalka. He hasn't been seen since. It wouldn't surprise him if the boy had gone and abandoned the pack that harbored the two members he hated so much - he had a position, a home, and was able to stay close to his enemies (as the saying goes, keep your enemies closer).

Indeed with her questions, it was clear that she had no intention of ending the alliance, but still, he kept on alert. Anyone could change, all it took was a split second, a moment of madness. What would she do with Revui? Would they lose a member by death at the fangs of Hydra herself, or would she force him to go back to Moonspear (something he would not stop her from doing, they were allies after all). Though he offhandedly hired the man to take care of a pest within Nightwalker's ranks, it wouldn't be a great loss... What are you thinking?

Alive, he said. 

And he went on. 

Away... to Rusalka. 

Alive, and away—much had changed, but much, it occurred to her as her she felt another part of her heart fracture, stayed the same. Hydra's gaze was void of all feeling as she looked to Vengeance, an unsettling calm about her as she shifted, stepping then in front of her brother. The rage that came from him found her, and as she looked to him she swallowed it whole.

Stone was too weak a thing for what was at work within her then to mend the break her brother had thoughtlessly caused; what was built in its stead was something that no time, no thing, could corrode. Revui; she would never admit it, but she had once loved him most. Hydra had placed him even above Arcturus; he was a solid, vicious boy... a little dumb, true, but he was able to learn—and there was no doubting who Arcturus had put first, even when at odds with him. Thoughtless. Careless.

She did not think it could be so now. Not after hearing this. Not once had he come home, not once. He had yet to learn of their parents fate; he had yet to learn of Speedy's lie; he had run away, and Hydra wondered now if he had ever even meant to return. 

Clearly not; they would have seen him along the way, had his path been that... but perhaps he might yet still come to them? 

Hydra looked back to Vengeance as he spoke, the dark shade of her mood not at all revealed despite how it rallied within, yearned to spill over. It was not for him. Not anymore. He had not known who her brother was; likely the attackers would not have known either. Vengeance and his subordinates had been far kinder to Revui than she and hers would have been to a stranger that had barged past their door; he had not acted in any unjust way, and now, Revui even deigned to answer to him. 

Rusalka. They had their next destination set.

What was she thinking?

Revui—you have betrayed me! Us!

But what came from her lips then was a different thought entirely, and one she shared freely: that we should make sure he has not lost his way, one last time. Hydra did not believe in closure, but she imagined Arcturus needed this—and perhaps, perhaps, she could be made to understand if she could see beyond this all-consuming rage, this black, fathomless void that she waded in. Why was it that those who she would do anything for, everything for—why was it that they could not do the simplest thing for her? For the rest of those she loved? 

Incosiderate fool; she knew Arcturus, strong though he was, would suffer to think it so. And he, a hero, would surely need to see for himself. Deny it though she would, vehemently, fiercely, Hydra did too—

Damn it all, she loved him still, and hated him all the more for it then!

The Ostrega maintained her composure despite her internal seething, and now nodded her head (both in mute thanks and adieu) to the Warlord. Hydra would not forget this, and thought better of the man for it for more reasons than one—but enough time had passed, and with stormwinds within her sails, Hydra moved to depart.

arcturus could tell he was being ignored -- and that incensed him further. he kept his wits about him, arched brows and dark gaze trailing from hydra to warlord, and back again.

revui.

he mirrored his sister -- his stalwart sister -- who somehow, seemed unbroken by the news that threatened to split him in two. for that arcturus admired her, and steeled himself to be more like her -- there would be other days to express his malcontent.. but not today.

he canted his muzzle to vengeance in return, following hydra out. he was aching ready yearning burning to put the miles between them to find revui

to answer that burning question he had held to his chest like the tiniest flame all these lonely months as winter threatened to move into his heart.