Blackfeather Woods ash and dust

She hadn't seen Vaati in days. Though, truly, she had no idea how many days had passed; enough for her to become slimmer, near skeletal, limbs weakened from disuse. Had she been stronger, she would have made a break for it; but after only a short attempt one time, attempting to bring the boy with her, she found that she couldn't possibly drag him through the wood and keep her bearings at the same time. Her limbs had burned with the effort of dragging the bulky Cyron, and she knew that if she was discovered things would end badly. 

She couldn't leave the boy, though, would never forgive herself. Each day she weakened, hope for rescue lost long ago, hope for her own escape faded soon after. She sat beside the boy, a thin black shadow, staring out towards the exit of the cave and thinking of absolutely nothing.

The boy lifted himself, teetering on stick-thin limbs. He blinked down at himself, not quite understanding what had happened to him; the knowledge that his weakness stemmed from his refusal to eat did not occur to him. He teetered over to the girl, leaning against her and staring up at her, amber gaze huge against his gaunt skull. His growth had been arrested by his predicament, and the top of his uplifted muzzle just touched the girl's shoulder. He resettled himself beside her, mirroring her as she gazed into the wood wordlessly.

just a quick camo

He had not ventured into the caves ever since he found his brother's little secret sequestered away. With the distraction of the birth of his new siblings, and the constant eyes on his mother, he took the time to find her once more. He wondered what exactly Vaati wanted with her; he had warned that she would be found out, and that she would cause trouble with her presence. It had yet to come into fruition, but the telltale smell of a foreign man on their borders told him that something was brewing.

He slipped through the tunnels, feeling a bit safer now that Damien was showing himself, venturing to Wolfskull Cave. His eyes search for her, focusing on the black shadow facing the entrance of the den. He strides over to her, a lazy smile on his lips as he readies himself to question her, but he sees something else, something brown and small and utterly wolf-like. It startles him, his voice raising and echoing in the cave. What is that? He was honestly bewildered, staring down at the small bundle with confusion. A pup? You're too young to be pregnant... Ganon looks her up and down, knowing her to be about their age.

Her gaze does not find the blankness she expects, instead a fiery face she cannot quite put a name too appears. Her lobes flick back, wary, she feels that this one is threatening, somehow. She senses, his gait is arrogant and self-assured, something that seems dangerous in this place. However, his reaction at Cyron is so unexpected that she scoffs, the tension that presses down on her lightning. 

"It's a child. Surely you're not that dull?"  The remark is made in a flatter, weaker tone than intended, the girl alternating between rousing fire, fear and exhaustion. Replying with little regard for the pup; she has to admit he does seem a little dull. "Vaati believes that children constitute as gifts." Her voice holds a tint of sarcasm as she regards the boy, tail shifting behind her uneasily. Suddenly feeling unsettled, she stands, her protectiveness over the child obvious as she regards him, gaining strength from the interaction. Yet she is hardly threatening, dull and lackluster pelt coupled with thin weakness. She can do little to truly protect the child, and she is aware of it. 

He wants to snap back with the cliched reverse statement: "I am not dull," but he is better than that. His face is stoic for a brief moment as he contains his anger, but he Ganon's eyes flare though, in a way similar to his mother and grandmother before him, belying the anger trapped behind his mask. The last place I would expect to see a child his age is in this place, He says, looking down at @Cyron. He sees no similarities between the boy and the captive, or even to Vaati himself. Her next words make the situation clear to him. He scowls, shaking his head at his brother's actions. Idiot, He mumbles to himself as he moves forward to sweep him up and away from the Cave and to the Glen. He belongs with Mother, He says this more to himself than the girl, not expecting her to know who his or Vaati's mother is.

The boy claims Vaati is an idiot, a term she sharply agrees with. Though, she can't help but feel, surmountable intellect hides beneath his blunders. Her skin prickles when he steps towards the pair, and she slips in front of the boy, cutting him off. Her gaze sparks with some of the fire that has been suppressed for so long and her next words come low and louder than her past ones. "what are you doing?"  Fear sparks beneath her pelt, not just for the safety of the boy. He is her companion and escape for the silent dark, and she can not allow him to be taken. He refers to a mother, but she reasons quickly that whatever spawned beings like this boy and others, in this place, can not be trusted with the fragile boy. She wavers in her resolve, swaying on her paws, the effort of interaction and protection a drain.

The boy shivers, fear obvious in him. He slinks back under the girl's stomach, huge eye turned to the male. He is silent, though his body language displays his fear aptly enough. His innocence is not yet lost, however, and he peers at the male between the girl's thin forelimbs, bat-like ears cocked atop his skull

He expects her to intervene, and does not nip her away or snarl. Ganon stares at her cooly, warning her to back down with his eyes, threatening violence if she does not move. Taking him to my mother, He says it matter-of-factly. Out of them all his mother is the least dangerous — though that was a danger in itself — with far more empathy than most of them combined. He had no doubts that she would ask questions, but he would simply deflect them to Vaati. Vaati, who despite his "loyalities" to the pack has been getting himself in an awful lot of trouble lately. He will be better cared for there than here, than by you, The young witch-boy doesn't know why Vaati thought to bring him here instead of where he can be properly nourished and taken care of by a healthy, mature woman. As a gift, like she had said? Ridiculous. No doubt Vaati found him, or worst yet, stole him and brought him to his little pet — a pet for a pet. My mother just gave birth. She is not fond of the pups, but I think she will take care of him at least, He had not been present, sensing his mother's animosity towards his younger siblings. It was bad enough that she had grown to despise him over the coming moons; he didn't need to be present in such a personal, perhaps painful experience for him. And this, he supposes, will raise his status in her eyes, if by a little bit. She will be kind to him. Feed him and play with him. He steps forward again, pushing blatantly against her but not roughly. He looks her in the eyes. He needs that more than wasting away in a cave like you, hm? He deserves that.

The girl growls lowly, the sound one of pure frustration. The boy speaks, and his words make sense, and she knows that to allow the boy to be taken by this one would be a kindness. She can not think them capable of infanticide, and her gaze shifts to the boy cowering at her feet. In this cave awaits only death for him; fragile as he is. And yet she is selfish,  for he is what keeps her sane in the dark and silent stone. Her hackles prickle and her tail lashes once, but her decision is already made. At his final words, she felt a flash of shame and anger; he deserved life outside this cave. And yet, she did not? Was she to fade away here, too old to claim the sanctity of youth but too young to be a threat to anyone here, to make her own escape?

Swiftly, she ducks her head, scruffing the pup and dragging him towards the boy, the movement brisk. There is wet anger in her eyes, the kind that teeters on the brink of self-pity and misery, as she tells him, "go with the boy, Cyron. he'll take care of you,"  How swift events unfold, and yet how can she refuse the boy with the threat of violence and her own angry emotions turned against her?  "if you, or she, hurts him, I'll kill you. I don't know how, but I will." Her words reek of desperation as she tries to ensure his fate, but as things stand the threat is empty. She steps back, oddly enough, wishing Vaati was here, for what purpose she does not know.

Words are exchanged, and the boy grows more alarmed by the minute. Liquid trickles down his haunch as the boy draws near, and quite suddenly he is wrenched from relative safety and presented to the stranger. He whirls, curled in on himself much like a spider after death, gaze flashing from Cassiopeia to the stranger. Betrayal! He squeezes his eyes shut, as a child might do to hide from the world, offering no resistance to whatever action taken upon him.

The rancid smell of urine filled the air as the child wet himself. Ganon's lips turned in a sneer, but he shakes his head. He readies himself to touch the child, already dreading having to be that close to the culprit organ.

C'mon, kid, He mutters to the child, unsure how to exactly be "nice" or paternal. His nose nudges the boy gently. My mom's gonna keep an eye on you. She's nice, ok? You'll be able to get out of this hellhole, He grabs the boy's scruff — it isn't hard. The boy is small and thin allowing for Ganon to raise his head with ease once he gets a good grip on Cyron. He looks to Cassiopeia, attempting to nod then thinking better of it, before turning and making his way out of the Cave to Spiderlings' Glen.