the sorting hat

Cas was tall enough to pass for a grown wolf, if not for the skinny gangliness of his young form. perhaps he would not have Constantine's power, or Eilidh's grace, but he made up for that with brazen curiosity. It carried him over the borders into a new place, rife with a variety of scents. A whisper into his sister's pale ear had told of his adventure; if @Eilidh wished to come, she would.

"Whoa," the boy muttered to himself, scuffing his paws in the dirt. He snuck a look behind him; no one was there, and so he pressed on with gently shaking steps.

TAKES A THOUSAND LIBERTIES.

She and her mate had found reprieve from the sun within the cool depths of this place and had decided it was well hidden enough that they would be safe in their rest. Up until the afternoon fell in its temperature they would linger. Tonravik rest with her muzzle over the neck of her mate presently, but rose when she felt a dryness in her throat. She nudged him, so he would know she stirred, and then moved toward a low, echoing noise that spoke of water coming from somewhere close.

Tonravik was in the cavern Casmir dwelt outside of in the present moment, not so far from the entrance to be unable to hear the sound of him in the hollow place that seemed to amplify sound. The entrance was covered with gnarled roots and shrubs among other things, well-hidden. She sniffed at the air, but was unable to detect anything but the sound of one coming closer. The stark black woman blended well with the darkness, and stepped deeper into it, ears pricked alertly and earthy eyes staring hard at the mouth that they had come in.

He slept lightly. His primal presence lingered even as he turned off his mind and lost himself to rest. He noticed when his mate stirred. His eyes fluttered open, his head rising to watch as she quietly slipped away. A yawn touched his lips before he joined her, rising to his feet with a stretch as he succumbed to the fact that their sleeping was over and their journey would continue from here.

She followed the trial of water and paused, her ears on high alert. Had she heard something? How own ears were filled with the clicking of their nails, but as he lifted his head while they were still the shuffling of something else made itself known. He pressed himself into deeper shadows as his pelt was not near so accommodating of the darkness as his mate. They stepped forward, cautiously, waiting for the owner of the sounds to reveal their presence.

*bombards!*

Eilidh may have pretended to be asleep, to not hear her brother's words, but she heard. She let him slip away from her without responding, but as soon as he was out of earshot, she stood and followed him, slipping between the branches of their glen, and traipsing behind him happily. She was trying for stealthy, and with her slim stature, it was working...mostly. Thank goodness for the windy day, otherwise he would have heard her immediately.

When he paused and whispered in awe, Eilidh decided it was time. She crouched low, her butt swayed side to side, and she coiled her muscles until ready...and POUNCE! She laughed, barreled into him and they both went tumbling. She was unaware of the presence of any others, and simply enjoyed her brother's presence. They were much bigger now and while they could be misconstrued as young adults, they were still very much children.

thanks for joining, all!

Cas drew in his breath, gasping as Eilidh's pale form darted suddenly at him, bowling him over. growling lowly, he swiped at her shoulder with a lanky forepaw. he would not admit that she had scared him; instead he flashed his teeth in a welcoming grin. "you came!" the boy exclaimed excitedly in a stage whisper, gathering himself back to his paws. peering about them in the darkness, he bumped her with his shoulder. "ready to explore, Eeeee-laaay?" he chortled, drawing out the syllables of her name.

pressing forward, the boy checked to see that she followed. too delighted to scent for danger as he had been taught, he gave a small chuckle to himself, quite unaware that potential injury lurked just ahead in the darkness.

Tonravik felt her mate come beside her, and they both pressed close to the cool stone wall within the interior of the place. There was the sound of two bodies colliding, and then the sound of excitement. Not battle, then. The voice, too, sounded young... but as two figures entered the darkness, her adjusted eyes took in the form of two large wolves, larger than she expected. By their smell, young... but also, another familiar scent was upon them. Taltos. Tonravik was ready to slip away from her cover, nosing Iqniqs foreleg to move aside with her and present themselves.

As it stood, the others were no threat, sounding young and playful. This way, she and her mate could simply leave now. It felt significantly cooler, even inside; it was a good time as any to begin their journey home.

Puppies. Sort of. Juveniles. Past that ball of fluff stage and in that awkward, gangly stage where they were beginning to flesh out their adult bodies. And playful. A grin slipped over his muzzle as he watched them playfully tackle each other. He remembered those days. The playful ones where there wasn't a worry in the world except for wondering when the next tackle would come out of no where from one of his litter-mates. Good ol' days. Damn. He was getting old.

"Ready to play, Tooooonnn-iiii?" He whispered in he ear, nudging his mate back as he echoed the puppy's earlier words. He was still uncertain as to whether or not the wolf at his side had any idea what the concept of "play" was, but this was as good a time as any to see if she had it in her. Children always brought a little bit of that innocence back.

Eilidh smiled and bumped her brother's cheek with her nose. "Course I came, Cas. I'd 'venture with you any day." She giggled and followed him, bouncing slightly as she went. Today was going to be fun, even if they were being a little bit naughty. "Ready to explore Caaaas!" She followed him happily, also unaware of the danger within the surrounding land. However, when a sound echoed forth from a nearby cave, Eilidh stopped to listen. "Did ya hear that?"

he grinned but the smile fell as a sound echoed ahead of them. "yeah," he stage-whispered to his sister. instinctual fear prickled at his nape; his hackles rose but his curiosity did also. "let's go see!" he laughed, darting ahead of her toward the source of the sound. 

a fearful gasp came forth from the boy as the scent of an unknown wolf -- no, two! -- entered his nostrils; he tried to check his charge, and instead of slamming into tonravik he hit the stone wall instead. "Eilidh!" he cried, frozen with fear as he stared at the massive strangers.

Her mates words hummed into her ears. She had little interest in playing, but she was in a giving mood. So her tail waved, hitting against the wall and likely causing an echo, looking at her mate. She did not so much as growl as she launched at him, wanting to pin him down from the get go. Only if she touched him would she let out a playful snarl (that hardly sounded playful), hoping to shift him beneath her in her "surprise" attack.

It never occurred to her she might scar the kids for life in thinking that a true battle was ensuing, and that Tonravik was some evil sort of monster (and she looked the part). Her long, stained canine gleamed in the ray of light that spilled on her, only that monstrous mouth illuminating as her muzzle parted to attempt to grip him gently in that shove, so the movement would be controlled.

Haha! His mate was a fiery little devil now wasn't she? She'd passed the point of play and moved in the direction of a more friendly spar with a level of aggression that was more natural for her. That, and she'd had the jump on him. He'd been expecting something far less sudden and a little more... controlled? Restrained? Hmm... he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but he found himself suddenly beneath her and a set of snarls.

If he'd not heard the true terror of her real snarl, it would have been easy to mistake this for the real thing. As he'd had such an experience, he took it for what it was, considered her more primal nature, and was able to recognize this behavior as her version of play. He snarled back, snapping at her teeth as she moved them to seek purchase on him somewhere with hopes to dissuade her. If that wasn't enough, he followed the gestures with his paws, kicking at her face and chest as he fought to flip from his back to his feet.

Eilidh had never seen a fight like this! Sure, she and her brothers tussled now and again, but the snarls and snaps of teeth were never this brutal. Maybe it came with age or experience. Whatever the case, Eilidh bolted for Casmir and bumped her head against his chest, his shoulders, his own head, anywhere to get him out of harm's way. "Move!" she hollered, standing between him and the angry wolves behind her. "We gotta go!" She didn't know what they were doing or why they were fighting, but Eilidh didn't intend on sticking around to find out.

he watched in horror as the titans began to grapple with one another. they were killing each other! terrified, he pressed against the wall of the cavern, until his sister's frightened cries assaulted his ears. Her frantic aggression bruised his shoulder, but brought him out of his shocked reverie. later he would come to appreciate her bravery in standing between him and the fighting monsters, but for now he merely screamed and followed his sister in a helter-skelter flurry of oversized paws and dinner-plate eyes in the dubious direction of freedom.

Tonravik continued to snarl and snap, and when her mate was beneath her, she did what she could to keep him there. One leg cuffed her, and as the other came, she went to make a grab for it to disable him from rising by keeping this as her own. Whether or not she grabbed it or not, she did not know; a shriek of terror could be heard, a young wolf came near, and if she did have hold of his leg it would have been released to snarl in a truly menacing manner toward the young cub she thought would try to intervene... but she had not.

The woman shifted off of her mate, in case one cub made a move for her, ears twitching and grimacing at their sounds of fear. She could smell it, but not understand it. The young wolf moved deeper into the cave, toward another ray of light that was deceptive; it came from the roof, but danced against the rocks as though some sort of doorway. The young girl had not moved yet, and Tonravik looked to her mate.

One paw hit. The other was caught between her teeth. He lifted his head and shoulders then, using her claim on his leg as a distraction to reach for her scruff between his own teeth in attempt to pull her back down to his level. As much as he could appreciate a woman like his mate on top, it was definitely a position he far preferred for himself.

Nevertheless, a pair of shrieks and screams shook them from their own version of play. Tornavik moved off of him. He rolled back to his belly and glanced towards the retreating adolescent figures before he turned to share a look with his dark lover. "I think we might have scared them," he said quietly, stating the obvious as he pushed himself up to his feet. Then he raised his voice, as he nudged her playfully with his shoulder and spoke so all could hear. "Fe fi fo fum!" he bellowed. "I hunger for the little ones!"

Not seriously. He'd never dream to eat another wolf. But for the sake of play and pretending and crafting a good old-fashion sense of fear in the minds of younger wolves who could speak of how these caves were haunted by giants, why not? Oh right. Because his mate was the most literal wolf alive. At which point, he lowered his ears for a moment, realizing his mistake, and whispered lowly to her once more. "I'd never eat them. It's all pretend. Playing." Words she might not understand at all. "Be the boogey monster, but not really." Worth a shot.

As they scrambled toward the exit, paws and claws clicking on the cave floor, Eilidh sensed a fear growing in her belly. They ran. Eilidh made sure she was behind her brother, so he could be first out into safety, the first out into the light. They hadn't gone far into the cave, but far enough to seek the light that would be their salvation. Eilidh barked at Casmir's tail to go, go, go! and raced toward the exit, smelling the sweet freedom of the cool air outside. As they burst into the light, she heard the ominous sounds of the giant behind her, "Fe fi fo fum! I hunger for the little ones!" It was all she needed to spur her brother onward, away from these monsters, toward the safety of their pack.

as the ruddy man's voice echoed after them, Casmir pounded desperately upon his sister's heels, breath coming shallowly. the light widened, then enveloped them, and he veered to run at Eilidh's side. "What were they!?" he shouted in terror at her, though curiosity demanded he slow his pace to a stop and turn to look back at the frightening cave with its odd wolf-monsters. 

what were they? what had they been doing? why did they threaten -- "were they really gonna eat us?" He turned wide eyes to his sister; what did she think? and should they tell their parents?

The woman listened to her mate, an ear flicking. Scare them? They had only been playing. "Weak," she judged, her head lifted high as she glanced to him to see if he echoed his sentiments. But when he spoke next, she snarled—the cubs would perhaps think that someone within agreed, but it was just the opposite. When he clarified he was joking, she relaxed, but eyed him speculatively. They were having cubs, after all, and if he was keen on eating children Tonravik would never let him near their cubs until they were older and able to fend for themselves fairly. If the cubs were sickly or broken, she would be for putting them out of their misery. But the one thing she did understand was that children took practice. They needed to become strong. If by their first year they were weak, they had their fair chance; it was only a matter of time before they passed.

And if natural events took them, she could even understand that.

But eating cubs?

The hormonal beast in her reared its head. He had clarified, and she checked herself.

"I do not understand the joke," she admitted to him, ears perked. In any case, it did not matter; it had been a joke, he said he would never truly do it, and he had never given her cause to mistrust him before. She moved to nudge his shoulder with her scarred muzzle.

Weak. "They're kids," he shot back, excusing them for not understanding everything in this world. Surely she could remember a day when she too was afraid of the dark or the things she could not see nor understand. Or maybe not. She seemed more alarmed that he would provoke their fear by threatening to eat them. His ears flattened as he stared at her blankly. Really? They'd have to work on her sense of humor. Or lack there of. Her sarcasm sensor needed some serious repair.

"Erm..." He huffed, even as he nudged her, unsure as to how to explain these things to her. Playing. Pretending. Fun. All of those words seemed beyond her level of comprehension, but he hoped she might learn of them before their pups came. "Sometimes adults say things that aren't true to keep children from doing things they shouldn't do." It was his best attempt at this. "If they are afraid something that lives in caves might eat them, maybe those kids won't come back, get lost, and die in here." He was trying. He had no idea how to explain to her what part of that was the joke.

He stared blankly to her as he listened to the scramble of paws scurry away in the distance. Had the children officially left? Either way, it was probably past time for them to get a move on. Their home was still quite a way aways and they'd not get there any faster by lingering.