Bonesplinter Ravine pack it up

for @Envy and @Elowen

the dawn breaks softly over the hinterlands.

lorcan stirs first (or so he thought), his golden eyes cracking open to the sight of elowen curled beside him, her chest rising and falling. the corners of his mouth twitch faintly—something resembling a smile—but it fades quickly as he leans down, nudging her cheek gently with his nose.

time to go, dove, he whispers to her. his breath brushes against her ear as he lingers for a moment, watching her stir before he pulls back.

he rises to his feet, shaking out his dark coat. the chill of morning clings to the air, and he huffs softly, his gaze scanning the surroundings. envy’s absence doesn’t go unnoticed, though he’s hardly concerned. his eyes catch the faint trail she left behind—pawprints winding down the dusty mountainside and into the ravine they had set up camp before.

his gaze lifts, and there she is, perched on a ledge not far off. her crooked tail swaying lazily as she gnaws on a bone. as elowen gets to her paws, her mate begins a slow walk towards envy, chuffing loud enough for it to carry off through the ravine. we're up, envy.

She kept her distance from them. Sleeping alone in a sheltered crag through the night, wondering if Dreven was following. Surely they'd have met up by now if he was.

A strange feeling hovered over her as of late. Her importance slipping.

She knew the girl and she knew Lorcan harboured his affections for her, but to come out of the bramble with a spontaneous wife prompted a feeling of unease within. Not jealousy, per say, monogamy was not a beacon of importance in her life, but just...

Inadequate. Her importance waned and it gave her mind little rest.

Even beyond them, it was this journey itself. For what use was she, without herbs in her corner, without thralls at her beck and call? Dead weight, that was what. it was a feeling that made her wish to crawl out of her own skin, uneasy, uneasy, anxious.

And so, she returned to her old haunts, slinking off in the night, having mangled a fox and left its body to bake under the morning sun; a nice meal for any hungering vultures. It was in this dance of mutilation that she found a sort of expression. Tendons snapping, muscles tearing away, like opening a gift, she liked to peer inside and see every gear that worked a silent labour beneath the surface; a kaleidoscope of beautiful inner machinations, her eyes and her brain soaked it all in. There was study, in this macabre tango.

But sometimes, sometimes she just liked to hurt them. Made her own problems seem a little smaller, it gave some respite for feelings she didn't quite know what to do with, how to face.

Lorcan's voice on the breeze gained a flick of an ear from her, she ceased gnawing on the fox bone, a leg, and shuffled it gently off the cliff ledge before rising. Let's go then. She muttered, taking a few paces ahead.

elowen stirred at lorcan’s nudge, her ears twitching as his breath warmed the cusp of her fur. a soft murmur escaped her as she blinked her eyes open, bleary and slow. for a moment, she stayed there, nestled against him, reluctant to move from the comfort of his warmth.

“already?” she whispered, her voice still heavy with sleep. she rolled onto her side, watching as he stretched and shook himself free of the night’s chill. there was a certain beauty in how he moved, so sure and strong, even in the early light of morning. her lips curved faintly upward, a flicker of fondness slipping through the haze of waking.

she rose to her paws soon after, the cold biting at her as she shook out her pale fur. her gaze followed his to envy, perched high and distant, her shape a sharp silhouette against the lightening sky. something in the way the other wolf carried herself—aloof and far away, but not quite detached—stirred an unease in elowen. she pressed closer to lorcan, as if his presence alone could steady her.

as he chuffed to envy, elowen cast her gaze toward the fox's mangled remains at the base of the ledge, her stomach twisting faintly at the sight. she said nothing, though her eyes lingered on the uneaten carcass for a moment too long. fascinating.

she walked close to lorcan’s side as they began their descent, her shoulder brushing his every few steps, as if tethering herself to him to edge away her discomfort.

lorcan glances toward envy, her sharp frame silhouetted against the morning light as she strides ahead, keeping her distance. something that draws a vague quirk of his brow from the bastard. his lips twitch, a faint smirk tugging at the corner as he raises his voice just enough to reach her.

so, what’s it today, envy? foxes? rabbits? or are you finally aiming higher—badgers, maybe? his tone is light, teasing, laced with the kind of rough humor he knows she’ll bristle at just enough to make it fun.

as they move, he presses closer to elowen, enjoying the warmth of her next to him. every so often, he nudges her gently, a soft brush of his nose against her cheek or a fleeting touch to her shoulder. she belongs here, next to him.

maybe we'll find a herd o' something to hunt along the way. could be fun.

he doesn't know why he's trying to lighten the mood. he really, honestly, shouldn't care.

She did indeed bristle, a response borne of habit, the anxiety of which quickly faded as she knew her little escapades were a safe topic, among them.

I don' like things with claws. She shrugged as he suggested she broaden her horizons, Envy was plenty content with the smaller canids; their biology was similar to wolves, far easier to apply what she could gleam from their bodies since, well, she wasn't a badger doctor.

He suggested a hunt and Envy made a conscious decision not to acknowledge it, as if it were a simple whisper on the wind. Her legs hurt too much from skulking about the cliffs through the night. I caught a scent last night. She'd announce, halting and sharply turning her gaze to the southwest. Down the cliffs, I think there's more than one but- She paused with a puzzled look. S'hard to tell...

She was no scout, but she had an herbalist's nose, fine-tuned to the feintest of scents.

elowen stayed quiet as lorcan’s tease carried through the crisp morning air, her pale gaze following his to envy’s sharp silhouette. the air between them all felt taut, as though stretched thin by something unspoken. it was awkward, she realized, in a way she was quite familiar with. had she known how to quell it? well, no, but she could certainly distract from it!

when envy bristled at his remark, elowen’s ears twitched faintly, catching the subtle shift in her tone. It wasn’t anger—at least she didn't think so, not entirely. there was something in the way envy spoke that felt heavier than the words themselves. 

she glanced up at lorcan as he mentioned a hunt, the warmth in his voice doing little to chase away the awkwardness that lingered. her heart warmed faintly at his attempts to lift the mood, even if they felt misplaced. 

as envy halted and turned her gaze to the southwest, elowen paused as well, her soft breaths visible in the morning chill. she tilted her head, listening intently as the she-wolf spoke of the scent she’d picked up. a flicker of curiosity stirred in her chest.

“i could check,” she suggested softly, her voice barely above a whisper, as though unwilling to disrupt the tenuous quiet between them. her eyes flicked back to envy, her expression searching. "m' quiet enough, at least."

lorcan watches envy with a flicker of amusement, her bristling at his words predictable but no less entertaining. her dismissal of the hunt earns a quiet huff from him, though he doesn’t press. she’s stubborn—he’s learned to let her have her way when it suits her, and today isn’t the day to prod too deeply.

claws, huh? he repeats, his tone light, teasing. could’ve fooled me with the way you tore up that fox.

her mention of a scent pulls his attention, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as he follows her gaze to the southwest. he listens, silent, as she speaks, the faintest hint of intrigue flickering across his features. her puzzled tone doesn’t escape him, and he tilts his head thoughtfully.

as elowen’s voice cuts softly through the quiet, he glances down at her, his gaze warming at her suggestion. quiet enough, sure, he murmurs, brushing his nose against her ear. but we stick together. don’t need you wandering off on your own, dove.

the land beyond the cliffs is unfamiliar, and while lorcan thrives on the unpredictable, he’s not about to risk elowen or envy over something frivolous. his voice drops, quieter now, directed at both of them. let’s see what’s down there. but stay close.

a comment moreso directed at envy.

Envy could agree with that at least, they would be better off sticking together in unfamiliar places, though even despite the logical choice, she found herself disappointed that Elowen's suggestion went dismissed; she wanted to see what the other girl was capable of and yet she had seen nothing beyond a dove with clipped wings, kept in a nice little cage of safety.

Fear. Did he feel it now? As Elowen's paws followed in the same, dark, polluted tracks that Envy and Lorcan left behind; a shared, bone-deep depravity whose tendrils would choke out anything too good for it.

stay close.

Yeah, yeah. She remarked with an air of dismissal, carrying on a few paces ahead as she had been, overconfidence a nasty affliction she would never be rid of. If they are a pack, I wanna stay. She says, huffing. She was eager to be done travelling.

elowen blinked up at lorcan as his voice brushed low against her ear, his words sinking in like cold water. Don’t need you wandering off on your own, dove. there was nothing sharp in his tone, nothing outright dismissive, but it coiled tightly in her chest all the same. her ears twitched, and she offered him a small nod as though she understood before lowering her gaze again.

was it her suggestion? did he think it wasn’t good enough? or worse—did he think she wasn’t good enough? was she too fragile, too soft to venture off even for a moment?

the flicker of warmth in his gaze only made it harder to reconcile, her heart tugging between gratitude and a quiet ache. she wanted to believe he said it out of care, out of protectiveness, but a tiny voice gnawed at the edges of her mind, whispering that maybe he simply didn’t trust her instincts, didn’t think she could handle herself.

she stayed close to his side, but her thoughts churned in the stillness between their steps. she glanced at envy ahead, the other wolf’s stride filled with a confidence that seemed so effortless, so sure. it made elowen shrink further into herself, questioning if she would ever seem so capable in his eyes—or her’s.

a pack, huh? he drawls. and what if they don’t take to your charming personality?

his gaze narrows slightly as he watches envy pace ahead; always just a little too eager, a little too sure of herself. he doesn’t bother calling her back—he knows she’ll bristle at the suggestion, and besides, her nose might lead them to something worthwhile.

the ravine stretches before them like a jagged scar in the earth, its steep walls rising high on either side, streaked with moss and crumbling stone. the air here is damp, heavy with the scent of wet rock and faintly metallic from the minerals in the soil. water trickles somewhere in the distance, its sound echoing softly off the canyon walls, mingling with the crunch of paws against gravel as the trio navigates the uneven terrain.

the path narrows further, forcing them to move in single file. above, the sky is a mere sliver of light, pale and distant, offering little warmth in the shadowed depths.

Course they will. Everybody likes me. She huffs as if it were a nonsensical question, bony shoulders rolling in an easy shrug.

Scrawny figure made traversing the ravine an easy feat, even as its walls closed in on them, narrowing the path down.

Further still, the scent tells her, though it's stronger on the breeze as they reach an opening in the rock walls, the rest of their descent marked merely by a small gravel slope, disappearing into the depths of a dark forest below. She hoped there was something to catch in there, despite brushing off Lorcan's earlier attempt.

Still further. Through there. Envy alerted with a perked stance, red eyes pinned ahead.