Redtail Rise cutting

@Relic :O might send augur in here to break it up we will seeee~

at eight months of age, ancelin had reached his full height. like his parents he sported an athletic build and had become hard-muscled from the endless hunting and traveling and tracking.
today he searched for @Lilia, carrying a stoat with him. ancelin was a decent hunter but what he wished to do was spar.
what he found, however, was the scent of his cousin mingled powerfully with that of the huntress. 
ancelin was too young to be possessive over her in certain senses. but the strike of that co-mixed fragrance hit the part of him left most sore by the disappearance of all his natal family save for avicus.
and that territoriality emerged in the flick of his teeth, bristling as he searched along relic's trail for the other boy.
ancelin needed to reestablish himself.

Relic had yet to intercept the newly returned Ancelin. Today their paths would cross.

He was not yet sure how he felt about his cousin being back at the Rise. Garnering favor from his Welda. Hanging around with Lilia, whom he had bonded too. Relic was still a little too young to have any sexual feelings towards her, but he was certainly possessive.

He had shared little time together with his cousin while growing up. His opinion of him was neither positive nor negative. He gave the other his space and let him go about his business. But there was plenty of room for the seed of jealousy to grow.

Fresh blood dropped yet again from his jaws. If asked, the prize he carried, rivaled the stoat Ancelin had caught. A fully intact Elk liver. One of the choicest selection from any kill. Rich in fat and nutrients, full of flavor. He intended to deliver it either to Avicus or New Snow, who were expecting. Or Lilia, if he came across her first. His unwavering loyalty and dedication to the Rise oozed in his every step.

All Ancelin had to do was follow the blood, accented by pungent yellow droplets.

yellow in the snow. red in the air. almost ancelin cut his path away but forced himself to keep focused to the task at hand.
his auntie would have a large problem with an attack outright, and so he tempered as much of his anger as he was able.
ancelin flung his stoat into the drifts as the droplets thickened and he caught sight of relic ahead. for a long moment he only stood in stiff observation, and then he licked his lips, approaching with lowered head and a tail that flagged higher the closer he came.

A scent on the wind. Masculine, like him. There was no mistaking it was Ancelin. Relic spotted him easily, watching calmly.

In seconds he dissected his body language. A low head and high flagging tail. Hardly a warm welcome. What did he want? Was he jealous over his haul? He dropped the liver in the snow. Hearty, long scrapes kicked the white powder over it. Effectively marking it as his, while brandishing his claim and confidence.

He then addressed Ancelin by facing him directly. Teeth were kept sheathed, but his muzzle was taut. Red eyes intense and un-averting. Serrated tail  flagging to line with his backbone. He let Ancelin approach, watching cooly.

the shadow of what another year might bring danced between the boys. ancelin didn't give a shit about the liver and arched a mocking brow at relic's possessive antics.
the other wolf was larger. powerful. but ancelin had spent months outside redtail rise, and he felt this gave him an advantage.
tongue snaked between white fangs. he rumbled in imitation of a grown adult male and advanced on stiff legs, lifting his muzzle above that of relic's in silent challenge, hips set, stance wide, chin tucked as his tail threatened to claim his cousin's rank.

Relic's response to his cousins challenge was immediate. He had been willing to give him the chance to play nice and back down. Now, that was out the window.

Up close, he was an intimidating beast. The two shallow crescent marks from the coyotes teeth showed beneath the pale fur of his cheek. Badges he wore proudly. His proof of bloodshed was right there. Where then, was Ancelin's?

The razored fur of his nape flared into full blown hackles. His tail lifted, standing stiff and lashing with pent up male aggression. As far as he was concerned, he was superior. He had seen the battle field. He was older, and ranked as an adult. And, he was Avicus's first born, true blood son.

Like hell some absent cousin of his would come waltzing in and push him around! His snarl boomed, refined fangs brandished with strings of saliva stretched from tooth to gum. His corded body was tense, legs stiff and his throat protected. Relic stood tall, rolling his shoulders forward. Jaws snapped, clacking harshly on empty air. It was all show, for now. He would be the bigger man and not initiate first contact. Avicus would not be pleased if he did. His message was clear; back down.

the reaction was instantaneous, and for a moment ancelin quailed inside himself. this was a direct warning and he could smell relic's breath, see the power of the other male's body.
the wolfish part of him shouted for submission.
the hurting part of ancelin wanted revenge, a scapegoat.
a reason.
and the scent of lilia was enough to spark that low ache of abandonment again. 
ancelin heard himself snarl, the sound of a panther-cub coming into his own. eyes locked to relic's own, tail matching the slashing in the heated air.
what if she was watching?
what if she saw him lose?
ancelin decided then it would be better to lose than heed the warning. his own body ached for the same scars.
the indigo eyes he shared with avicus blazed with some unhinged flame.
come on. hit me.

please skip Lilia as much as you'd like!

It could have been the scent of the blood, or the scent of either of the posturing boys that drew her. Regardless of what drove her to that exact location, it was the sound of snarls that caught her attention and drew her closer. She recognized the sound of Relic's growling, but Ancelin's voice had changed since she'd last heard him utter such tones; it was deeper, and much more hostile. She hastened her step as one would to catch a glimpse of a street fight; the sort of wreckage one couldn't help but gawk at.

Their frames dared one another to make a move; and with glistening eyes, she watched, licking her lips. Whatever had transpired between the two to egg on a fight was well over her head. At first, she figured it might be a simple means of establishing Ancelin's place in the pack- but there was real malice in their eyes. 

Seeing that, she did nothing to stop whatever was about to take place, but uttered instead an encouraging rumble of her own.

He had to admit, a small part of him admired Ancelin for not backing down just yet. He did not expect him to. Red eyes set ablaze, he let loose another snarl that would make your eardrums hurt. Stiff legged, he took two measured steps closer towards his challenger.

He was being goaded. Baited. And he knew it. But he would not fall for it and give Ancelin what he wanted. There were ways other than violent force to settle a dominance dispute between wolves. Being largely accustomed to letting his body do the talking, Relic was comfortable resorting to primal body cues.

When Lilia stepped on the scene, albeit only as a spectator, one might think the Redtail would be distracted by her. She went unacknowledged and would remain so until she stepped in, or the spat between the males was over. But he did posture a little taller, as if showing off while she watched.

With Ancelin trying to push buttons and not giving ground, Relic upped his intensity. Head carried high, ears pricked forward in aggression, he moved slightly to the others right side. From there he would attempt to place his chin over the nape of Ancelin's neck. A classic move called a chin rest. One of the more passive tactics to assert dominance. If he was allowed to do that much, he would apply firm pressure to force Ancelin to lower his head.

lilia arrived and ancelin felt all his edges grow sharper. relic advanced, not in swift violence but in crowding. the other took possession of the situation and the boy found himself responsive to the tactic.
that was, until he caught sight of lilia just as relic's chin touched the back of his neck. he remembered how she had spoken to him, spoken in solidarity.
and his belly clenched horrifically to consider she would see him shamed. what was more embarassing? losing or recognizing relic as his superior?
the only boy who had ever held the title of equal had been atreus. and atreus wasn't fucking here. ancelin flinched away, snarl rising in volume. the ground beneath their paws he felt was his. the trees, his, the sky, his.
teeth skinning back from teeth, ears quivering, eyes finally at last finding a malevolent release in assigning all of his fury to relic. his pupils darkened hatefully.
put me in my place.
you don't have one for me.

redtail rise worked well because each wolf therein understood their place inside the hierarchy. each wolf thus was given a role to fulfill.

the hunt-leader knew that boys came to blows. was that not why he had been run from his family pack? perhaps one day even his son bobcat might challenge his father's rank.

but today it was the son of red woman not yet named and the boy newly returned. cloud eyes.

a spar augur would have ignored. it was the open, flippant challenge in the latter juvenile for an established member of the pack which drew his ire. 

ignoring wolverine, augur advanced stiffly on the pair. his height and muscular build demanded submission from both of them.

the light caught the glint of the rise son's teeth and so to augur he became sun jaw.

the huntsman snarled with hackles sharp; he commanded both of them to stand down by shoving his figure between them.

there was little pause. when he was heeded, augur would whirl on cloud eyes, grabbing hard enough for the insolent muzzle to draw pinpricks of blood.

seasons ago, Avicus had challenged Aventus for his rank. she hadn't thought he deserved it. and before they could come to many blows—before a suitable conclusion could be reached—her parents had sided with the brother.

and the sister—aggrieved, incensed, embarrassed—departed. she sought the head of Nyra, to slay the beast that had nearly killed her brother. to prove her worth.

the bad blood had festered, and only time and grievous change had healed those wounds.

the heady smell of violence brought her to the scene, appearing with rounded sides in sharp contrast to her angular form. she sees the two young men squaring off, Lilia to the side, a blur of white that is Augur rushing past to break up the quarrel—

'hhtop, Avicus barks, ambling down the slope and heading toward the impending melee. lehh' him go, she commands Augur, stretching her neck to lift her chin higher even than the huge white wolf.

even before he desists, her eyes are darting between the boys. fighh', she tells them. prove your worhh'.

seasons ago, she may have been true princess of the valley, forged in blood and honor. but this season, she is queen of the Rise, and she will not let the enmity between her brother and herself spill over into the next generation.

you have ehh'perienhhe, she tells Relic, looking at him first. he'd fought bravely against the white woman's pack. do whahh' i've 'hhaughh' you.

next, her gaze shifts to Ancelin. fighh', she says again, nodding. if you win, you're a man. you are Bjern.

buhh', Avicus adds, the final sound clipped as if she still could bite those consonants away with the tip of a tongue, you bohh' are mine. an' you bohh' will be loyal. mmm?

the murmur is not a question. it's an order.

she steps back, one, two, three paces, then stops, and glances at Augur to do the same.

might makes right. no other law of mind or matter is superior within her soul.

In Relic's mind, this was a simple matter of dominance. Nothing personal, other than their shared obsession of Lilia. Neither boy knew much of the other, and therefore, should have no justified reason to be at odds on a personal level. As far as he was concerned, when the matter was settled, all could be forgotten. If, Ancelin would let it.

He nearly had reached his neck, to gain the upper hand and execute his move. Not surprisingly, Ancelin flinched out of reach. The challenges, the taunts kept coming. Relic's eyes gleamed with something feral and dangerous. Creeping towards un-hinged. 

Ancelin wanted to be put in his place? Fine then! Relic would teach him.

Before he could make a move, Augur arrived. Drawn to the scene by the commotion. Making his rank and his demands clear to both younger males. Relic looked up to the silver commander. A figure worthy of respect. His submission was almost immediate. While Ancelin was reprimanded with a harsh muzzle grab, Relic went in to lick at Augur's jaw in a show of appeasement.

That very second, things got interesting when his heavily pregnant Welda came to the ring. Surprisingly, she commanded Augur to back off. And the boys, to battle. He really should have expected nothing less from his warrior mother. As she addressed them both, any shred of savagery evaporated from his facade. Instead he looked at her as a son. Adoration with infinite loyalty. 

If she commanded him to submit to Ancelin, he would. To throw himself off a cliff; without question. To shed every last drop of his blood; gladly. Relic was the son who obeyed without question, putting the best interest of his Welda before his own.

He rumbled low, affectionately in complete understanding. He felt no additional pressure with Avicus, Augur and Lilia watching.

Before the adults stepped back to widen the arena, he skimmed over his options. He would love nothing more than to launch himself head first, fueled purely by adrenaline and testosterone at his opponent. His experience and training had taught him better than that. The tactical, decisive approach yielded greater results in the long run.

And just like that, a flip had been switched. Morphed back into the savage, hardened foot soldier. Immediately, he tucked his chin towards his throat, pinning his ears back. Limbs stiff, when he hurled himself at Ancelin, it was sharp and sudden. Aiming his bulk at their slightly smaller form, hoping to bowl him over. Exposed teeth prompted to bite and lock onto any fur and flesh within reach.

The silence shattered by the boom of Sun Jaw. Today he would earn his name.

the world devolved.
augur, who had never punished him before, now pierced the flesh atop his muzzle. ancelin yelped, and then his aunt was there, calling off her wardog and speaking.
he was to fight. to earn a rank.
fight her son. fight his cousin.
this was what he had wanted, right?
the boy's indigo eyes shifted for one solemn moment to his aunt and then relic was on top of him, hard and gnashing. the other's first blow opened a wound along his left cheek, immediately brilliant with blood.
pain and shock was a clubbing blow to his gut, and fear arrived next.
and then pride, pride finally sundering its last chains. ancelin kept his footing out of sheer luck; he took two more clips of relic's teeth as he tucked chin and turned his shoulder hard into the other's chest.
there was no strategy but to step, to slash, to absorb as many blows as he was able while cutting toward lip and jaw and shoulder and cheek, each strike toward a different area.
ancelin kept himself close to relic, refusing to give ground or allow his cousin to draw away. his spittle turned bloody from his own split lips, but his eyes had gone hard and blackened with something avicus perhaps would recognize.
merrick, laughing as his grandson turned pride and agony into a knifeblade of focus.

skippable till end!

augur stood down at once.

red woman spoke. the intention was clear.

sun jaw descended on cloud eyes with a warrior's ferocity. augur approved of this.

he watched as cloud eyes grew bloody. approval too, for the boy to try and reach beyond sun jaw's blows by not avoiding them.

he watched in silence.

His blood surged, boiling. Flames danced in his eyes while he tasted blood, and not for the first time. His teeth struck and carved open fresh wounds. Ancelin, he thought was attacking blindly, leaving his face unprotected. Relic did the same. Only, he would proudly flaunt each new battlescar bestowed on him this day.

Let Ancelin's strikes hit. He knew not of the fateful day when he and Lilia rendered a coyote to shreds, bathing in its blood. Of the spark ignited in the Redtail that day, which turned the flicker of that flame into an inferno.

He would let his own pain fuel his drive, exploiting it only in the way an unhinged hellhound knew how. 

He slitted his eyes. Drove towards an indigo set, trying to snag a tooth under an eyelid. His breath left him, while he, winded, felt the force of Ancelin's shoulder. Coughing, he spat up foamy blood, but did not give ground. His own shoulder swung, aiming to take out a few ribs.

they clashed, and it was terrible.
they clashed and ancelin felt the horrendous pain down to his very marrow. his cousin's blood filled his mouth; dripped; mingled with his own.
both boys rained crushing blows against one another until relic's final gambit; ancelin's feet could keep no purchase in the red-stained and churned snow, the mud; his gangly limbs tangled and dumped him to the ground.
and though he growled, the boy at last lay stiffly still in acceptance of his loss.
ancelin bearclaw had gained no manhood today, and in front of lilia!
his only comfort was the racking cough of relic.

Through sheer force of ferocity, experience and will, Sun Jaw emerged victorious. A deep ache settled in his chest, which would take much time to subside. Covered in cuts and blood, it was Ancelin who gave ground, collapsing in a heap, defeated.

Relic held his head and tail high. He could have gloated. He could have reached down and clamped his muzzle over his cousin's in a final display of his supremacy. But he did not. Instead, he opted to step over and stand tall over his challenger, his reverberating growl soon dying in his throat.

Licking his lips, his eyes first found Avicus. Then Lilia. And Augur. Proud to have proven his mettle in the eyes of his pack mates. Once again Relic bathed in blood and emerged, transformed.

The game would continue- and Lilia was a ravenous fan, watching as Avicus coached the boys to spar and establish themselves with the power of their strength. Her teeth chattered with anticipation; spittle gathered at the edges of her lips as Augur drew out of the way, and the boys faced off.

No longer boys, then, though she’d known them first as children. But these weren’t the boys who she’d met when she’d been a starving waif; these were warriors.

She watched, wide-eyed, for every snap and shove, her own stance a crouch as though prepared to enter the fray herself. In part, she wanted to- but she sensed as well that she was already at the centre of the battle.

She did not show a bias. Lilia wanted what was best for her- and that, in her eyes, was the winner. 

Still- she couldn’t deny the light disappointment she felt when Ancelin was vanquished. She would have felt the same for Relic, had he been defeated. 

Ancelin’s worth shone when he hunted- and Relic proved himself as a warrior. Both valued roles, the roles that should have brought them together in some form of brotherhood. They’d played in Relic’s arena, and he’d emerged as the victor. 

When Relic’s gaze found her, she rumbled a growl of approval. She took note of his skill- and weighed that against the skill Ancelin showed when he hunted. She looked upon them both, and found herself consoled to know she would not be left wanting when the time came for her to pick her match.