Redtail Rise Obey your master

He found the nearest patch of shade outside the den and slumped to the ground, jaws parted and his tongue dangling from his mouth. Atreus found the July heat oppressive, particularly the direct sunlight. And the air inside the den was too stale and stuffy. There wasn’t much reprieve here, either, though at least there was a small breeze.

His constant panting made him thirsty, so eventually little Atreus pushed back onto his feet. He didn’t know that running would make him hotter faster, he just desperately wanted a drink. He broke into a fumbling run across the den’s dooryard, making a beeline toward the puddle he knew to be on the far side.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the squirrel, daydreaming of that moment when Avicus had laid it open for her pups so that they might understand the connection between live prey and dead meat. Masquerade reminisced about the stench of blood and the surprising heat of a fresh kill. More than anything, she couldn’t stop thinking about how bright its insides looked, shining wetly in the summer sunlight…

With these macabre fantasies dancing in her head, she lost track of her mother and siblings as they made a routine trip across the territory. Masquerade paused and tried to orient herself, believing she knew the way. But she wasn’t much of a navigator, as soon she found herself even more lost than before, the terrain utterly unfamiliar.

Masque found herself at the edge of a clearing. She was about to call out for help when she saw something small dart across it. She reacted instinctively, giving chase. Although she nearly tripped over one of her own gangly forelegs, she managed to catch up quite quickly and knock it off its feet. Thrilling at her success, she mimicked what her mother had done to the squirrel, jaws going for its throat.

When it went limp, then would come her favorite part. Just as the Wealda had shown her, she would slice it open with her fangs, turning it inside out and consuming the spoils of her first kill. Avicus would be so proud.

the day was oppressive. ancelin found that nothing he did stifled the heat. not lying on his back, not slumped on his belly, nothing.
disgusted, when he saw atreus streaking off, he considered that his brother had found a better climate than his. and so the boy roused himself and trotted after.
he was not expecting the larger red pup, nor the way their teeth glinted. ancelin whined and then she struck for atreus.
the sound of consternation bubbled into a true and challenging snarl. he bounded across the small space and tried to sink his milk teeth into the base of her tail, growling and sawing his head to and fro.

He saw an entirely unexpected flash of red out of the corner of his eye and then Atreus found his feet swept out from underneath him. The impact knocked the wind out of him, choking off his cry of surprise. Soon after that, his assailant literally throttled him, the sharp points of teeth digging brutally into the exposed side of his throat.

His attacker made no sound, though someone did. Atreus registered a snarl coming from a few feet away even as he began to struggle for his life, his entire body twitching and writhing. His forepaws struck relentlessly at his would-be killer’s face, his toenails digging into any flesh he could reach. His hind legs kicked too, though they hit nothing but empty air.

He let out a strangled gasp when she—a small wolf, he saw as she backed away from him—released him and then spun out of his view. Atreus’s eyes rolled in his head as he lay limp in the summer grass, trying to catch his breath.

The instant she really began to apply pressure in an attempt to strangle her prey, a snarl ripped through the air behind her. Masque’s ears drew back, though she maintained her grip until she felt the sting of teeth on her overlong tail. Her jaws began to loosen, then she dropped her victim completely when she felt the fangs grind into her flesh and begin to saw.

With a muted yip, Masquerade pivoted, defending herself with an attempted bite of her own. She wrenched free with an excruciating tearing sensation, instinctively leaping a few feet clear. This afforded her a view of both her assailant and her victim and she realized, with a sharp hitch of breath, that they were tiny wolves.

She did not need someone to explicitly explain to her that her own kind was not to be eaten. Masque understood it on an instinctive and visceral level. Realizing her egregious error, she whined, her long and bloodied tail scooping between her legs as she crouched in abject apology.

Let me know if any of this is not okay! I'm also skippable since I'm not positive I can keep up with this, but wanted to get in for a reaction anyway!

It happened so quickly.

One minute, Aventus was watching from an unseen perch as one of his sister's children — his niece, he supposed — approached the den all on her own. He lifted his eyes to scan the mountainside for a sign of Avicus or whichever pack wolf was attending her, and that was just enough time for her to grab hold of his son.

There was a strangled cry and a snarl. Aventus wrenched his head back around to see Masquerade standing over Atreus with his throat in her jaws, and then panic and protective instinct seized him completely.

Aventus flew down from his perch just as Ancelin bit Masquerade's tail and she leaped away. That was not enough. He closed the distance between them at breakneck speed. She crouched down and whined, seeming to acknowledge her mistake. It still was not enough.

Aventus seized his niece by the neck and pressed her to the ground, straddling her, snarling into her fur and clamping his jaws. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to pinch. Hard enough to harshly correct. He would remain this way, pinning her, until he was certain he had put the fear of god into her and she would never, ever dare touch a hair upon his sons' heads again, and only then would he let her up, and then he would loom nearby in case she sought to test her luck.

Avicus would have, in her shoes. He was surprised at the surge of distaste he felt looking at his niece, knowing she would attack his sons in that fashion, and a low warning growl thrummed in his throat.

first blood. it was the first blood he had drawn, and the taste of it woke something dark and ancestral in the boy. his pupils dilated, and when the girl's teeth snapped defensively for him, he ripped away from where her teeth had nicked his ear and lunged with a bleaker intent than mere posturing in a puppy hierarchy.
regardless of her submission.
then his jetstone father was between them and around them and on top of her. ancelin scrambled backward. he stood stiffly, tail flared and tiny hackles quivering, cheering aventus on with soft hard wuffing.
atreus! the boy whirled around and scooted closer to his sibling. the other gasped for breath. ancelin whined and licked his brother's forehead, at a loss for what else to do.

Blood had slipped away. of course. the long-tailed miscreant had been growing quicker with each day, and with two other rugrats to wrangle, Avicus had lost track of her. by the time the mother noticed, the girl's scent was trailing farther and farther away.

feeling more peeved than alarmed, she barks for her other children to stay put, then trots down the path Blood had trod, pushing through trees and brush.

only the sound of growls and whimpers sends her hackles up and her heart racing.

she bursts onto the scene, having seen none of the preliminaries and all of the present, in its tense, frightened form. the two boys, her nephews, hunched together. Aventus, looming over her daughter, who crouched on the ground and—was that blood?!

the Wealda thunders down the slope and gestures fiercely toward her daughter's tail, which indeed was painted with a little crimson. who didh' ihh'? she barks, eyes cutting into her brother's dark face. you? you hurhh' her?

His breathing evened and slowed, even as a wild commotion broke out nearby. Atreus’s tiny ears flickered and he tried to raise his head, though he quickly rested his cheek on the bristling grass again when the movement pulled on his neck wounds. They were shallow—more a bruise than a puncture—and there was very little blood, but they still stung.

The noise died down quickly. Ancelin approached, his small features creased with worry before he bent to lick at Atreus’s forehead. In response, the wounded pup pressed a leg to his brother’s face and shoved him away, the look on his own face insisting, I’m okay.

Wincing at the ache in the side of his neck, he sat up with a grunt. He nipped at Ancelin’s nose, then shifted his gaze beyond his brother to see their father standing over a prostrate figure on the ground. Atreus blinked as his gaze fixed on his attacker, who remained momentary motionless.

Eyes narrowing into a squint, Atreus marched over toward her, fully prepared to hike a leg and take a piss right in her face. He was only stopped by the sudden appearance of his aunt, the rapid flash of red causing Atreus to freeze where he stood.

Her horror with herself intensified when someone much larger charged onto the scene and immediately snatched her by the scruff. Masquerade didn’t put up a fight, her eyes screwing shut and her body going limp as he put her in her place. She couldn’t stifle the thin whine that escaped her, nor suppress the trembling in her muscles. Even when he eventually released his hold on her, Masque remained cowed, the picture of repentant submission.

She didn’t even see her victim—her own cousin—marching toward her. Masque only lifted her gaze infinitesimally when she heard Avicus arrive on the scene, a flurry of furious words pouring from her tongue. Fearing the Wealda’s wrath, she didn’t think so much as act out of sheer self-preservation. She rolled onto her side, then her back, her belly exposed except where her bleeding tail tucked against it.

The low, constant hum of his growl built in volume when his sister came crashing onto the scene, wielding her ignorance like a blade that she turned immediately upon him. His hackles flared. How dare you accuse me of harming my own kin! he snapped at her, hunching his shoulders with affront and dangerous intent both.

He should never have believed Avicus would be anything more than the stupid, slobbering, blood-obsessed barbarian that she was, and he should never have thought she would train her cubs to be anything more than that. If he was smart, he would pack his family up and leave. He would give one chance — exactly one — for her to prove she was not just a mindless savage with no care for anything but bones and blood.

I did not. If one of my sons did, it's the least she deserves for trying to strangle one of them! He drew himself to his full height. Avicus was his leader, and he respected her, but not if she was going to treat him and his family this way. Count yourself lucky she is not dead for that, Avicus! If Masquerade belonged to anyone but his sister, Aventus would not have chosen restraint. He would have laid her throat open and flung her corpse down the mountainside for hunting his son.

How dare she accuse him, of anyone, of hurting her vile, rabid brat. His sons moved at the edge of his periphery; Aventus shot them a sharp look to stay put.

atreus was fine. ancelin nipped at the air as his brother turned away and stalked toward the attacker. she herself was completely limp and submissive as their dad put her in the place she should have stayed. cousin or not, ancelin could not forgive the slight to his brother.
bristling, he made as if to follow, only to stop short of bumping into atreus. uh oh. their scarlet aunt was on the scene, and as he watched, her voice rose in a loud, accusing tone.
ancelin's ears folded as his father rounded on the red leader. his own voice was angry. the gist was clear. but the boy's eyes were very wide. avicus was the alpha. instinctively he expected a punishment of some kind for his own father, and folded against his sibling, huddled a bit but unable to look away from the hierarchal conflict that was happening.

strangling him.

Aventus was angry, and rightfully so. she couldn't be faulted for not having the whole picture, instead finding her brother looming over Blood and her on the ground, ironically befitting her name. one of the boys had fought back.

that bade well for them as future warriors.

and as for her daughter. . .

you didh whahh'? Avicus snaps, the final 't' replaced instead by a glottal grunt. she glances down at the pathetic girl, who's rolled over like a dead, squashed bug.

hypocrite. they were both hypocrites. hadn't they picked on the runts in the Valley? but this is different. they are family. and Avicus had buried the hatchet with her brother long ago.

or so she thought. she isn't so sure now, seeing the look in his eyes, hearing the fury in his voice. she turns to Aventus again. not submissive, not cowering, her chin still held high. but her own gaze has stopped burning.

i did'nh know, she says, her own tone cool, trying to calm the both of them down. for their own sake, and for the sake of Blood's foolish hide. it will nohh' happen again. i will make 'hhure.

she needs the lot of them. without Aventus and his family, their numbers drop precipitously.

no more wan'ering away from me, an' don' come near 'em again, she says gravely to Blood, dipping her head toward the boys in illustration. now gehh' up. now.

Skipping myself with permission (lol), I’ll post with Atreus next.

The adults began shouting at one another, leaving Masquerade to flinch before slowly rolling onto her side. She remained hunched close to the ground, listening to the exchange with widening eyes. They went particularly round as her uncle shouted that she was lucky she wasn’t dead.

Avicus turned on her now, accusatory. Masquerade could only shrink, wilting like a flower under the heat of her mother’s anger. She had every intention of following the Wealda’s command to the letter, fearing both Avicus’s wrath and now Aventus’s as well. “Count yourself lucky she is not dead for that…!”

No one asked for an explanation. It did not occur to Masque to serendipitously find her voice to try to defend her actions. She could’ve told them all it was an accident, a horrible mistake but a mistake all the same. The whelp just rolled onto her feet and slouched close to Avicus, her bleeding tail still tucked up against her belly, now the poster child for obedience.

He stood very still as the adults raised their voices. Why were they shouting at one another, when they should be shouting at the culprit? Eventually, Avicus did round on her bloodthirsty daughter with several angry commands.

Atreus snorted his approval, though the Wealda’s barked orders were not enough. His cousin’s contrite crouch wasn’t enough. His father’s indignant shouts were not enough. Only Ancelin had done his part sufficiently, making his brother’s attacker bleed.

He couldn’t help himself. Seeing Masquerade slink pitifully toward her mother, Atreus charged. His tail thrust upward and he snarled as he ran. When he reached her, he did not attack with his teeth or claws. He drew his weapon of choice as originally intended, hiking a leg and urinating all over her.

Dominance asserted, he then trotted back toward Aventus and Ancelin with another, final snort.

All at once, Aventus felt guilty for his nasty thoughts about his sister and niece. He had half expected her to seize the hatchet buried in the earth and swing it at his face, but Avicus did indeed prove she was changed, and he felt terrible for his snap judgment.

She was no savage. She was his family, and she took his side, in a manner of speaking. She would protect his sons even from her own daughter. A worthy leader. Aventus let his head fall deferentially and gratefully below his shoulders and wagged his tail as though to say all was forgiven.

He was still marveling over Avicus when Atreus darted after Masquerade. Aventus lurched to yank him back, but he was a touch too slow. Urine arced upward as he hauled Atreus back with a rough tug, spraying not only Masquerade, but Avicus and himself as well.

With a harsh barking growl of displeasure, Aventus dropped his whole weight on his son and dug his teeth into the boy's flank. Once more, he drew no blood, but he nipped harder even than he had his niece. Some way to behave in front of his alpha!

No, he snarled to his son, who had disobeyed his silent command to stay where he was. Maybe Atreus had deserved his strangling after all. She is your family!

His eyes were apologetic, his growl forming a whine, as he looked up to Masquerade and Avicus. Forgive me, Avicus, he asked. He will not do that again. It was as much a threat for Atreus' ears as a promise for Avicus.

Maybe they should meet formally in a more... Controlled environment. After he beat his son's tendency to piss on everything out of him, of course. Aventus had no qualms with getting physical about it if needbe. There was no greater affront in wolf language than this; Aventus would not be able to protect his son forever from Avicus' wrath if he continued to be so insolent and disrespectful. Better that he resent his dad for tanning his hide than getting himself chased out of his home for it.

so many formative parts of an altogether formative moment happened at one time that ancelin almost sickened.
first, his aunt redirected her anger immediately toward the sharp-toothed cousin. ancelin goggled at this change of events. her tone changed and he watched intently as her posture did not submit, only accepted.
awed by that, his eyes moved to his brother. ancelin took a reflexive step forward. he was used to following atreus but his hesitation this time spared him what came next.
his sibling doused the sad girl in yellow. atreus snickered a little because she deserved it. in the next second however, his eyes bulged out of his head.
atreus' welcome back was to soar through the air wet with his own piss and be sharply, roughly punished by their dad. in a second atreus took their cousin's spot as the downed wolf of the moment. he watched his dad squish his brother and swallowed hard. it was very scary to watch and enforced both adults as parents who were not to be fucked with.
it was father's turn to be contrite. 
ancelin listened. but his eyes were on the girl, and his nose reached again for the scent of her blood in the air.
he could still taste it.
and what he felt was hunger.

if Aventus hadn't lunged at his son, she would've gotten to him first. how dare he piss upon a princess of the Rise! her lips curl upward without her volition; only her brother's words soothe her, and she breathes deep, an inhale, another inhale, trying to calm herself.

he's dealt out justice. as has she. all is well between them. it matters.

she gives a brusque nod to his suggestion, agreeing. her teeth are still clenched. she shoves Masquerade in the direction of the trail she'd traversed, a harsh growl in her throat bidding her daughter to return to her siblings.

every muscle in her body is vibrating.

she wants to hurt the boy. and now she knows where Aventus had been coming from.

when dhey're old'her, Avicus agrees, and begins to turn back. she stops, and looks at her dark sibling. another nod. i am 'hhorry, she slurs, and then begins to work her way up the path,

and gods help Masquerade if she hadn't gotten going already.

Her eyes remained lowered, so once again she didn’t notice Atreus marching purposefully her way. Masque only looked up when she heard her uncle’s furious growl. Something pungent and warm doused her face, causing her to recoil instinctively. She could only blink and watch dumbly as Aventus dominated his son, then exchanged a few words with her mother.

Reeking urine still dripping from her face, Masquerade remained motionless until Avicus began to retreat from the scene. She slunk after her mother, the adults’ words echoing dimly in her head as they left. Along with the other events of the day, they sunk deeper and deeper into Masquerade’s young, impressionable psyche.

He only partly accomplished his goal when his father intervened with violence so unexpected, it stunned Atreus into silent compliance. The touch of Aventus’s teeth at his nape caused him to go limp and he remained that way when the full weight of his father’s body crushed him to the ground. Something sharp dug into him for the second time that day and the boy let out a wholly uncharacteristic yelp of pain.

He was too shocked to process Aventus’s verbal rebuke. He let out an uncomfortable grunt and began to squirm, not out of defiance but out of a sheer need to breathe. His father’s weight pressed into him without mercy, however, and by the time he relented somewhat, black was creeping up on the edges of Atreus’s vision.

He let out a gasp, the shallow wounds on his throat throbbing as he let out several barking coughs. His eyes tracked up to his father, his expression quickly darkening angrily. Why had Aventus punished him, when he was the victim? Atreus truly didn’t understand what he’d done to deserve such treatment. Black hatred rolled through his small body, aimed not just at Aventus but Avicus and his attacker.

He wanted to lash out, of course, and his own futility and weakness made him even more furious. All Atreus could do was prowl over to Ancelin, the only wolf he didn’t resent with every fiber of his being, and slump down beside him with a grunt of utmost displeasure.

Last post for me!

As am I, he said lowly, getting up from where he had pressed his son to the ground. Aventus loomed nearby until Avicus and Masquerade were well out of sight. Atreus' coughs elicited little more than a twitch of the father's ear now. Before, he would have attended his son swiftly.

Now? Now he saw that Atreus was going to be a problem, and his sympathy had run dry. Ancelin was lumped in by proxy; the boy had done nothing wrong, but Aventus had no patience in him now. He turned steely eyes upon his sons, then left them there to think about this whole exchange (or stew, as seemed more likely), retreating back to his perch above the den where he spent much of his time keeping lookout.

same!

wolfblood and urine and the scent of earth. he pressed his chin to atreus' shoulder in a show of support before he looked back at their father.
and when the bitan led them away, he would follow at once.
his stomach reached for the scent of red in the air.
his heart ached for his brother.