Dragoncrest Cliffs It's over when it's over

The Branwoda made his way through forests and fields - tried his very best to find pleasure in being alone, even though he had his shadow. But days were getting darker - the sun did not dare shine light upon a wretched earth like the one they had anymore, and therefore the visits of his shadow were few and far between. Luckily he had found solace in watching bugs move about with a real purpose and in the way plants swayed in the wind. They were like him, but not really, and they presented perfectly what had happened to him. He had once been a bug with dreams and a true purpose - helping mother with healing. He had barely seen her since a few moons ago. Perhaps that was his fault, but he truly felt like a swaying plant now. Still kind of steady at the base, but moving with the hardships bestowed upon him.

He cared little for decency as he made his way to a ridge, raising a leg so he could lick his privates in peace. Perhaps swimming had not been a great idea to begin with, for now he tasted as salty as he truly was about the whole situation.

as distant as she's grown from her brothers, she's further distanced from her cousins - although she'd never been close with them to start with, had she? the gona catches sight of dahlia here and there, though never more than fleeting glances (a shame, she's always been slightly enamored of her), and sirio... well. she hasn't talked to sirio since they could barely form sentences, but she knows he must have done something bad. 

of course that means she's very curious as to what, so when she catches scent of him the redhead beelines. the idea of one of her own flesh and blood having put himself in bushhadraku annoys her (unlike artaax, she is not blind - they may have never been explicitly told their lineague but her brother may as well be dio in miniature). actually, any member of drageda in bushhadraku annoys her, but she's on a thing about family right now.

"hei," the girl calls as he comes into view, tastefully ignoring what he's grooming, and adds bluntly, "what did you do?"

just gonna scoot Sirio on out ;)

Artaax hadn't spent too much time with his sister since returning to Drageda. Truth be told, she was a little temperamental and angry for him to feel compelled to seek her out regularly. It didn't mean he didn't love her, just that he had more important things to do than deal with her drama. At the end of the day, however, she was his sister, and he loved her in spite of how often he disagreed with the way she behaved herself in emotionally charged situations.

And so, the pale young wolf trekked near-silently along in her footsteps. His nose was to the ground as he moved, smoothly gliding across the forest floor like a duck across water or a bird through the sky - the latter being the far prettier metaphor, though it was the former he so often was conscious of trying to emulate. His ears perked when he heard her voice, and he lifted his head finally as he began to follow sound rather than scent. He arrived as Sirio departed with a shy, anxious frown, stepping to Blixen's side upon quiet paws.

"I'm guessing he did not want to confess his crimes to you," Artaax said in his soft voice, glancing sidelong as his sister with amusement glimmering in his eyes.

sirio doesn't answer and she frowns, opening her mouth to press the issue, only for him to walk away, tight-lipped. part of her wants to go after him but thankfully she's stopped by the arrival of artaax. she snorts at his statement, then sighs, a little sadly. "i wasn't going to be mad at him about it," blix tells her brother, "i just wanted to know." sirio had always been the weird one of the bunch... but she still has a lingering soft spot for her cousins. 

well, nothing she can do for it now. blix turns fully toward her brother, realising this is the first time in - months, really, that they've been together without the pretense of some sort of family drama. it isn't that the ginger is avoiding him otherwise - she's just been pretty wrapped up in training and in furi (hanging out with her, that is, obviously). conspiratorially she dips her head, smiling as she leans closer. "what do you think it was?" the gona whispers. it's probably rude to gossip about family, branwonda or not, but whatever, no one's here to scold them.

Blixen gave him a look and a retort. He smirked at her contention that she wasn't going to be mad at him, quirking a brow as if to say "oh really?" because she was always so even-tempered these days. He kept his comment to himself, however, looking after where Sirio had vanished thoughtfully. He didn't feel one way or the other about the other boy. In all honesty, he thought him a bit of a weakling and always had. Dalia was a different story, for though she was also a softer sort than the heda's own flesh and blood (lol), he found he could appreciate it in her more, for whatever reason. He didn't often question his motives when it came to who he liked and who he didn't. He'd probably have more friends if he did.

Artaax glanced back at Blixen as she whispered a question to him. His brows furrowed with thought, and he began to smirk again as he considered. "Maybe he saw a mouse and wet himself from fright," the young wolf answered, not especially kindly. It was a good thing he didn't often voice his thoughts and opinions.

tactfully blix chooses to ignore artaax's raised eyebrow - what did he know, anyway, boys - instead looking after the spot where sirio disappeard. she half expects her brother to scold her for being uncouth, since he's so caught up on acting proper these days. instead he goes along with it and she can't help bursting into laughter, glad their cousin is far enough away to be out of earshot. "artie!" she wheezes, mock-reproachful, her grin undermining her, "really!"

she wants to contribute to the theme, but honestly, witty repartee is not her strongest suit. instead the gona shakes her head and sits, tilting her head sideways. "he's always been a bit of a coward, huh?" she says, thinking back to their childhood, and shakes her head, turning towards artaax fully. "anyway, what's up? were you looking for me?" it's said teasingly - but maybe slightly strained if you squint, given how tense things have been between them since they left for the caldera. she doubts that's actually what he was doing though she can't say she isn't glad to see him, despite everything. maybe because of everything - the incident at the borders still doesn't sit well with her (but she has no intention of digging that back up again. not now, anyway).

Blixen burst out laughing at his comment, and Artaax found his grin broadening as he chuckled gently. He gave her an innocent glance as she attempted to reproach him. He was feeling oddly playful, and it was such a nice change of pace to get to laugh with his sister rather than frown at her disapprovingly. He dipped his muzzle slightly to show his agreement with her naming Sirio a coward, resisting the urge to continue mocking the poor boy. He knew that it was wrong to have a laugh at his expense, but it seemed a fine trade off for getting a moment of fun with his sister.

He let the topic drop with Blixen's forward push of the conversation with a pair of questions - the former of which he dismissed as rhetoric. "Of course not," Artaax replied, a wry look upon his face that hinted of his lie, "I was thinking of heading down to the beach to practice hunting seagulls." He bowed backwards in a stretch, his limbs tensing briefly before he stood upright again with a shake of his pale, fluffy coat. Without further ado, he headed off along the ridge, following the path in the rocks that would lead him down to the sands and the waves of the sea. He didn't pause or even glance over his shoulder as he called out a friendly, "Come along," in his soft, strong voice - tail wagging in his wake to give away his good humor.

sorry, short!

she snorts and bumps into his shoulder playfully, letting him walk ahead a little. "wanna race?" blix asks, eyeing the rocky path toward the sea - and then, without waiting for an answer, takes off at full speed toward the shore, blowing past the pale-furred boy like a flash of orange lightning.

Artaax didn't expect that it would take his sister long to join him. Temperamental as she was, she did always seem up for an adventure. He did not anticipate her proposal of turning it into a race, however. He'd just barely glanced at her to his side after she'd bumped against him before she was off in a flash of red. Artaax hesitated briefly, blinking in surprise for about half a second before darting forward as quickly as his ruddy white paws could carry him.

By the time they reached the sands of the shoreline, Artaax wasn't paying much attention to who had won and who hadn't. The running felt good in itself - good enough that it had distracted him from thoughts of winning or losing. There was something very liberating in running. It was the same sense of freedom he got from hunting. He focused his entire self on it, and everything else just... fell away. In that short spanse of time, his mom was not injured, nomi wasn't away with her, he hadn't taken the life of anyone. There was nothing but the hunt, nothing but the run. And it felt wonderful.

Plus, he'd managed a few solid nips at Blixen's haunch and shoulder as they went. That was always pretty gratifying.

And that's why it was just so great that one flowed right into the other the way that it did. His paws smooshed into sand as he leaped from the final crags, sending sprays of wet earth in little waves behind him. He looked around for Blixen with laughter in his dual-toned eyes, stopping suddenly as he spotted instead a large gathering of seagulls further down the shore. He dropped into a prowling stance almost instantly, eyes wide and focused on his prey. He'd intended for chasing them to be mostly just for fun, but with so many gathered, it wouldn't be all too difficult to actually pick one off, if they handled this appropriately.

sorry for the big wait!! :( <3

she laughs as they run, giving up on the premise of winning fairly quickly (she's busy, after all, trying to return tit-for-tat on artaax's nips). when they reach the sand the gona whoops and throws herself onto her side, stretching out and enjoying the well-earned ache in her limbs, the rush of adrenaline. it's a moment of respite in this never-ending ocean of worry and fear and blix latches onto it gladly, rolling onto her side to watch as her brother catches sight of some seagulls. of course, she thinks, amused, and gets back on her paws to follow alongside him. 

she watches artaax's expression change, the way his posture shifts as he moves into hunting mode. it's interesting, for sure, but blix herself isn't too interested in catching something. instead she follows alongside him cautiously, careful to keep her footfalls light lest she chase them off too soon, and waits for the hompleia to make eye contact with a potential catch before darting forward into the flock with a boisterous cry, sending the birds into the air as they release a serious of indignant squawks.

Blixen did not take quite the same care that he had attempted upon spotting the flock. She slipped visibly into hunt mode and hesitated to size the situation up, but ultimately darted forward far quicker than Artaax was prepared for. The pale boy rolled his eyes, but sprang ahead only a few seconds after, swinging to the left to burst into the fray from the opposite side of his sister.

The birds sprang into the air in a flurry of beating wings and raucous cries. Artaax leaped at them with bared teeth, managing to catch a flailing orange foot of a startled bird that had taken too long to get into the air. He shook his head with the bird dangling from his jaws, snapping the delicate leg right off. The gull shot from his grasp, smashing into the sand and bouncing once before rolling to a stop. Artaax wasted no time in leaping after it, swallowing the foot whole as he sprang. The bird flapped against the sand and did a good job of battering the boy's face with its wings, but in the end was powerless to stop him from tearing into its belly with a single snap of his teeth.

ahjkdhfk sorry i keep missing this in my threadlog!! wanna wrap up soon?

she lets out a breathless whoop that dissolves into laughter as the birds crash into the sky around her, casting about to catch glimpse of artaax as he flings himself into the sky. she'd been trying to thwart him, in an affectionate sisterly way, but he's a damn good hunter despite her interventions and she watches as he grabs a fleeing gull by the leg. it's impressive, blix has to give it to him. "good catch," she says with a low whistle, moving closer to admire the kill. "guess you are pretty good," she adds teasingly and bumps his shoulder gently with her snout, glad for the simple pleasure of his company right now.

lol that's fine! Last post for me!

Artaax breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath while the seagull still dangled from his jaws. He heard Blixen speak and looked towards her, grinning through the feathers and blood. With a flick of his head, he tossed the carcass over to Blixen, smirking. "Here, kiddo," he said teasingly, "You can have this one. I can just grab another for myself." His tail swished playfully for a beat before he turned and loped further down along the beach towards where some of the gulls had begun to settle again with Blixen hot on his tail, ready to give him a beating for his cheek.