Wild Berry Meadow animus vox

Raven stared, electric-yellow eyes wide and face frozen in shock. She took in the lanky black physique, the lines of Tytonidae's face and shoulders, and something clicked. A cold little coil of horror slithered in her stomach as the memories of her father tearing the head off her older half-sister replayed in her mind. The phantom scent of death -- blood and offal, so thick in the air it almost hung around them like a mist -- tickled her senses as images of white bone and torn flesh danced across her vision. As an adult, the death of an animal didn't bother her at all. But that particular death, witnessed at such a tender young age, had almost been her complete undoing. And she would never forget the sight of those jaws around Wildfire's throat, her sister's vibrant eyes full of panic and pain as her windpipe was being crushed by a deranged psychopath.

All of this passed within the space of a few seconds, but the effect on Raven was clear. She closed her eyes, taking a breath to steady herself and generally just trying to get her shit together. "I'm sorry," she said softly, no doubt in her mind that she was probably making Tytonidae extremely uncomfortable. "It's just....a long time ago, another...half-sister...tried to murder us. When we were puppies. Her name was Junior." Her eyes lingered warily on the black she-wolf. She didn't have to ask if they were of the same litter, as her dad had only had one mate before Fox. She knew there had been children from that union, but the details were unclear. Peregrine had never talked about them much. She had no desire to judge Tytonidae for the sins of her sister, but a dark and unpleasant idea had surfaced in her thoughts: was she here to finish the job that Junior had left undone? Without even thinking about it, she took a step backward, suddenly aware of how far she was from her pack as the irrational fear of a terrorized child wrapped its icy fingers around her heart and squeezed.