Noctisardor Bypass somiyon

heda spent all her time hunting now.
when she woke, it was not to roll toward her sisters but to seek a drink of water and then begin for the day.
with autumn's brisk breath came small changes to her coat, longer limbs, sharper teeth. 
heda, who by now had told mahler, @Sequoia, @Druid, and @Witch of her intentions to be called this new name, now crouched at the edge of brookblind.
a small bird was one thing. these had stalklike limbs and hard, pointed bills. but she was undeterred, and slipped like a crocodile into the water.

she stirred briefly as heda woke, blearily watching as her densister left the rendezvous site, before turning over to slumber just a bit more. but the deep sleep was gone, and the pale child become more and more aware of the sensation in her bladder. with a groan, protesting the day, witch arose. as she left her mother and druid, she stretched the sleep from her body with each step and sweep of her dark tail.

she relieved herself at a marker, then replenished the lost fluid with a long drink from the lagoon. each of the children were growing more independent by the day, and so she felt no guilt leaving druid behind to walk along the creek, through the pharmacy, and then along the earthen rivulet. witch took her time, making notes of the territory markers and signs of the changing season. even taking her time, it wasn't long before she spotted her densister, crouching down on the shore of brookblind.

witch kept her distance, not wanting to scare away heda's prey, and watched.

she was a child, and had a child's unearned confidence. heda told herself she would grab hold of the waterfowl. she however had misjudged the depth of the water. the slimy stones cut out from underfoot, and the girl gasped as she suddenly dipped low enough to be submerged.
heda broke the surface, gasping — she grit her teeth and snorted like an angry bull-calf, whirling in the water. the birds were already taking to the air.
with a desperate, furious lunge of her young frame, the jägerin snapped into thin air once and then upon the very last inches of a fleeing foot. she snarled in surprise and fought to drag the bird back, straining against the slick foothold beneath the water that would not long hold if her determination did not break first.

witch held her breath as heda slipped into the water, then disappeared beneath it's surface. a concerned step forward— but then her densister's head reappeared as the birds began to take to the skies, and the pale witchling paused. she admired heda's tenacity and skill in the hunt. witch did not consider herself anything above average for wolves her age.

before witch could even think to herself that the hunt was lost, however, her densister managed to secure the leg of a bird— and at that, witch began to run towards her, knowing the danger that heda may be dragged by the bird into deeper waters. if she made it in time, she would latch on to help drag the bird to shore— and if not, well, she would be there to do whatever she could to pull her densister from the waters.

just before heda felt she must release the bird or be dragged into the water, witch was there. renewed, the girl yanked back a solid step. with two of them towing and drawing the fowl along, it was soon ripped from the air, and flapped in terror upon the surface of the water.
heda let it do, darting forward with gaped jaws for a clumsy hold on its throat. her teeth closed on flesh, though not windpipe, and the bird began to struggle again, hitting her with the edge of a limb.

as her teeth caught a frenzied wing, the pair stepped abruptly backwards together— instinct driving their synchronization more than anything, but witch thought it to be their magickal link as densisters. almost as strong as the link she shared with druid. as the fowl's beak met her brow (her hold on its wing proved to be far too close to its head), the pale child released it from her jaws as she yelped, tasting its dusty, oily feathers on her tongue.

it mattered not; heda let it go, too, and as it floundered on the water's surface to regain its bearing, the hunter lunged and found purchase once more. this time, it was not so easy to see where her densister gripped it, amidst flapping wings and scrambling limbs. witch watched it hesitantly, not wanting to open herself to its beak again.

after a moment's consideration, wing seemed to be the best option, beak or not— and witch lunged, too, seeking to break a wing between her fresh molars.

she shook the bird to and fro. water arced in glittering spirals around she and witch. it felt as though they were only dancing. beneath the renewed onslaught of the two young skill-builders, the fowl began to weaken, its cries becoming more plaintive the more it only flailed.
heda chose that moment to readjust her aching jaws, and this time she caught the sinuous next just below the chin. instinct told her to bear down and so she did, pushing her entire water-logged weight against the animal's body and using witch's nearness to finish the kill.
she rocked backward on shaking legs and nearly slipped into the water again. but heda was proud, and it showed in every line of her astonished figure.

her back twitched, cat-like, as the water droplets cascaded into the water around them and on their fur. she did not release the broken wing until she felt heda readjust her grasp and pull the bird downwards. she grinned, bloodied feathers caught in her teeth, and witch moved to nose beneath heda's chin— you did this, you!— an acknowledgement of her densister's strength. the pale child had assisted, but it was heda that had caught the bird and killed.

witch wanted that wing, to stow away as a token of their first kill, but she waited in deference to heda.

heda was truly joyous now, and she laughed, leaning into witch. but she had not done this alone. her sister appeared to be waiting for something; the girl paused and listened to the inner voice. it guided her to gesture toward the wing. "take some!" she exclaimed.
the bird should have been towed to shore. an older wolf might have done that first. but she was exuberant. she fell upon the waterfowl and ripped out a mouthful of feathers, spitting them hilariously into the air so that she and witch were suddenly doused in falling, dampened down.

her grin split wider, seeing her sister's joy, and at the urging— permission— to take some of the bird, witch licked heda's face excitedly in gratitude. witch caught the dead bird's wing in her jaws once more, instinctively pressing a paw into its body for more leverage. one tug, two, three... and...

she pulled back, victoriously holding the fan-like wing in her jaws. the momentum carried her backwards, and the child slipped on the stones beneath her feet. witch fell in the shallows as heda rained feathers down upon them both, and she cackle-giggled around her trophy. this continued as she tried, and failed, to gain footing on the slippery stones.

they were laughing together, splashed and damp and triumphant. heda returned the kisses and then went back to her kill. the exposed flesh, featherless and bare, invited the snapping of her teeth.
it was not long before the waters were bloodied and with it the girl. she towed their bird back to the rocky shore, shaking pink droplets in all directions.
"that was fun!" she exulted to witch. "i want to catch more of them!"
heda nuzzled the catch almost lovingly. only in the act of hunting did her spirit find equilibrium, though she would not have those words for some time, if ever.

witch regained her footing, following heda to the shore— her trophy wing in tow, tail aloft and triumphant. they were both soaking wet, washing the dappled child in a bloodied pink, her gray muzzle still slick and dark with the bird's blood. feathers caught there, but the child felt no need to clean it just yet.

you're good, she offered her densister as she dropped the wing, stepping a gray paw atop of it, protectively. not from heda, who cradled the remaining kill, but from others that might wish to take it from her. she was eager to return to her private den in the rendezvous site— to store it there, where it would be safe— but she and heda had not had a private moment like this.

do you and dru practice? she wanted to know, though there was no trace of jealousy there.

heda shook her head. "i hunt alone." she had come to prefer it. birds were easily scared, and unlike other creatures, they could take to the air. it was not uncommon to never spot the same fowl twice. "i spend time around the water, here. and other places. sometimes i just watch."
her ears flicked. "maybe you and i could practice? you knew what to do," she praised back, albeit a bit more lamely. "or, what do you like to hunt, witch?" she asked.
heda had her birds. druid had bracelet. what had their sister come to do in her own time?

witch nodded quietly, in awe of her densister. she imagined heda as a wild god, sleek and powerful as she moved along the forest, blood crowned and surrounded by bones. if this were druid, the pale child might have shared that imagery with her— but she still was not as close to heda as she was to druid, or as druid was to heda. she didn't want to be weird.

maybe, witch said lamely. she didn't want to intrude on what sounded like a sacred ritual, nor did she find a particular joy in hunting. thankfully, heda offered her a way to politely decline... if only she had something to respond with. it was a question that had burned at witch, too. what was hers?

a soft frowned graced her features as she thought a moment, then finally offered, i explore places and collect interesting things i find. like this wing, or sparkling stones.

wings. sparkling stones. "i know where some blue rocks are," she said softly to her sister, tail stirring at her hips. they did not have to share hunting, or even gem-searches. but heda wished for witch to know that her love for both sisters was equally strong.
"the giant tree," she whispered to witch. "you can go under it!" 
the girl's eyes danced with intrigue. "we can go now if you want!"

blue stones! she crowed, unable to contain her enthusiasm, i've never seen blue stones before. most of her collection was earth-toned. most were polished stones from the rivers, patterned in layers or forming interesting shapes. her prized stone was one with a perfect circle of empty space formed through it— she often wondered what had caused that. but that stones could come in more colors than browns, reds, and grays... how delightful! i bet they have magic powers, too.

let's go, she agreed easily, nosing heda's cheek in appreciation. what would the world look like under the great tree? what creatures lived there, and what treasures would there be to find? witch grasped her trophy wing back in her teeth, tail held high and sweeping with excitement.

can fade or keep going, up to u <333 im cool either way!

heda was delighted. "okay!" she exulted. witch would be so happy to see them! they were in all colors, she'd discovered, all shades of blue. it would be hard for her sister to choose just one or two or three.
witch prepared to leave. heda nodded and started a swift path for them, one direct but filled with color.
the great tree rose overhead. 
each time that heda approached, she forgot how truly large the grandfather branches were.
her grin toward witch was exuberant.