Moonspear from the dusty mesa, a looming shadow grows

Hydra moved through the thick sheet of rain, her eyes on the borders and her hackles lifted as she, past squinted eyes, observed the interruption before her—the way the rain did not hit against the earth—and Hydra wasted not a moment more before she surged forward to throw herself into whatever had thought that nothing would be there to intervene. She was met with a startled yelp, and bowled into the old coyote. Hydra made quick work of it, and when she had finished she stood over the thing and observed its eyes that were clouded over not in a way that indicated death (though the glassy sheen that had overtaken it did so), and she sniffed the thing again. Hydra lost her interest relatively quickly and, stepping over it, rolled against the earth. Mud caked her shoulderblades once she was finished, and Hydra then picked up the body and moved into the depths of Moonspear. 

Hydra's long-legged strides soon brought her to the den of her new brothers and sisters. Now that they were able to do more than just squeal, shit, piss, and eat, she found the familiar vague interest in them, as she had with Vela, Jarilo, and Galaxy. By the time she arrived, the rain no longer came down in droves; she dropped the body at their proverbial doorstep, and as she lowered her head Hydra's blue eyes caught a flash of green as she peered within and invited her siblings out with a low chuff. 

bros? sisturs?

✴        It was not uncommon for the youngest brood of star-children to be sequestered in the den, much as they protested and tried to push the boundaries of the void-mother. Today it was Revui who was wide awake and staring, filled with mystified interest in the sounds emanating from outside. There was light; yet the light was cold, and intermittent. There was roaring and sweeping, and sometimes if he got too close to the den's mouth he would feel the spray of the rain. The typhoon rolled across the mountain and filled the den with a cacophony, and out of all the things the child could experience — he was not afraid. He was, honestly, quite content to watch the torrential rain; at least, until a dark figure materialized within the depths of it. The torrential downpour came and went in infrequent bouts but to the child, it was an endless array of entertainment - and the figure only made him more curious.

As the figure approached, Revui's first thought was to step out in to the wetness and to face-off against the fearsoe silhouette; then, thinking they were familiar (and perhaps the mother) he realized his innate hunger, and yipped in to the moody light as he pressed forwards, eager to meet the figure and discern a value in it. Was it here to feed him? Was it here for another purpose? His tiny brain could not fathom the dangerous of wandering too close, or letting a stranger near to his sleepy brothers and sisters — he was hungry, and could feel only a greedy need to be satiated.

So Revui made the plunge. He stepped out of the den and felt the immediate chill of the rain soaking through his thin fur, turning the plush puppy coat in to layers of slick darkness. His silver coat darkened considerably with the saturation of the cold rain, but he did not relent - and came at the looming figure of his biggest sister with the intent to bare his teeth and demand satisfaction with the gnashing of his grin, and probing of his nose.

The silver one came out, though when the rain struck him more than a dozen times over his complexion became less fair. She preferred this look to him, and as he moved toward her muzzle and pressed against it she felt her stomach lurch. Moments later, there was a steaming pile of delectable seconds—they had never been sloppier. Hydra nipped his haunch in greeting and stepped aside to let him eat as she moved over to her kill.

✴        Certainly the children of the moon and stars were used to this display by now, but perhaps it was the fact that this was not the void-mother giving food, but another body, that made Revui pause and stare. The steaming pile of half-eaten, bile-stewed meats was glanced at furtively; the boy was more interested in the carrier of the food - the delivery system, so to speak. He clambored over the warm pile and stumbled before Hydra, slipping on the wet and cold ground as he took shelter underneath her broad figure.

She wrinkled her muzzle as he ignored what he had asked for moments ago, instead seeking shelter beneath her. Did he fear the rain? Hydra, not at all maternal in nature and not carrying those instincts within her, did not yet know that he did not have the protective coat his elders had that protected them from the chill, among other things. So the Beta stepped away from him, revealing him to the elements once more to test her thoughts, her blue eyes hard upon Revui as she licked her chops.

✴        The shadow shifted backwards, and Revui was once again left out in the cold. It didn't bother him too much at first. The rain left dark marks across his top line, mottling his coat until he became a saturated version of himself. The streaks of intermittent silver melded with the rest of his plush coat until he was one consistent shade of slate. Then, he began to shiver. His body demanded to be warm but the boy was too distracted by his sister to notice or care about his well-being; no doubt a hint towards the familial connection he would one day hold so dear. He yipped and crawled after her, scurrying to get under Hydra, but if she continued to evade him then he would be putting himself further and further away from the safety of the den.

Were it not for the shivering, she would have thought it was fear; but he stood, and watched, and then shivered prior to moving beneath her. Hydra snorted water from her own nose, and observed the food she had produced for him slipping away. Hydra determined that she could harass Revui another day, shifting to nose him closer toward the den so he could receive appropriate shelter and warmth.

✴        As soon as the mighty head of the vicious hydra had lowered to his level, he did what came naturally and jumped at it. There was a lack of finesse due to age no doubt, and the slick nature of the wet earth did not aid him in any way. The tiny beast refused to be cowed; he took her swift proximity in stride and began a game, leaping for her nose with tiny teeth bared. The taste of the rain was new - there was a chill, a minerality, as the terroir of the mountain wad imbibed - but Revui was fixated on the pleasurable consistency of Hydra's leathery nose and took very little notice of everything else.