Boartusk Heights ours is to smile at your passing, friend

he followed a thin and bare trail, mindless until it evened out to a cheerless summit. here the rocks tumbled in split faces and disarray, arranged careless and crumbled by the fist of lightning and the ruthless assault of time. around him the zenith of the mountain climbed ever upward, grey face on drab snow on bare stone - a desolate view to behold, if any eyes cared to behold it.

iliksis was not there for scenery. he paused at the lip of a rough hewn slab of gneiss, and peered down the promontory where granite and andesite alike spat forth a frothy vision of foamy red and white. the barrier mountains flanked him like teeth and night was quick to to close in, yet iliksis' eyes were trained on the expanse below, unhurried by the rapid descent of duskfall.

PP permission given!

Somehow, someway, the boy had been talked into accompanying his brother for a scouting trip. @Tegan was a little rough around the edges but what he was lacking in bulk he made up for in...charm ^{[citation needed]}. Not that Lucca was all that hard to convince, really, but any sort of physical exertion required of him meant a little bit of extra effort was needed. The promise of help with chasing down the Plateau's grouse later on gave him the push he needed and, with that, the two Blackthorns were off, heading eastwards towards the great, towering mountains beyond.

Dusk was beginning to set in as they reached the outskirts of the Hinterlands and, where he could, Lucca rolled back onto his haunches to catch his breath. How did his brother do this scouting thing? His lungs hurt, his feet hurt, and all they had found was this dull, dreary mountain. He scaled it alongside his leaner sibling, though quickly lagged behind while hiding his laboured breathing by pretending to be completely intrigued by the sparse greenery that grew here. Lifting his head from an admittedly uninteresting patch of grass springing up from a rock, Lucca sighed at the path that led higher up the mountain. Did it ever end?

Slowly, he made his way up, up, until reached the top, letting out an exhausted, "Tegannn...where the heck did yo—" But his complaint was stopped short as, instead of his brother, he saw a man standing before the view over their homeland; a dark spidery form that caused a shiver to race down his spine. A pit of dread formed in his stomach as fear suddenly rooted him in place. He had seen this man before.

lucca was, admittedly, kind of lame. i mean, family forever and all that shit, but dude was sorta chubby and quiet and way more interested in like-- well, i don't know, but tegan was trying to make him cooler and more interested in things that he liked. like scouting and babes. and all that aside, it was pretty easy to get lucca to do anything. he wasn't necessarily a pushover but... well, tegan totally thought he was a pushover. it worked in his advantage though so, he never really made fun of his brother for it. 

so getting him to come scouting was easy peasy lemon squeezy, but actually scouting with him turned out to be difficult difficult lemon difficult. lucca lagged behind constantly. especially at this territory, where the dude kept getting caught up to look at rocks. fuckin rocks!!! seriously. they had rocks back at the plateau, they weren't any fuckin different... but... whatever... 

tegan reached the top of the mountain. the scent of a wolf was nearby but not immediately in view, along with the scent of a hare which was way more interesting. maybe he'd feed it to lucca and get the guy moving a little more. or maybe it'd just make him wanna nap... ugh, who knows. but so tegan scouted around a large boulder, making note of a burrow at it's base. bingo, hell yeah motherfucker. maybe he could get lucca to help him draw it out somehow, there was probably another entrance... ah fuck, speak of the devil. tegan heard him start calling for him-- dude must've finally caught up-- only to be cut short.

the fuck? 

he poked his head out from around the boulder, spotting lucca first and beginning to trot towards him. he slowed and, rather quickly when he noticed the other wolf, froze, staring. tegan wasn't one to be intimidated by strangers. cause like, who was? smh, lame asses. but staring at this burly mountain of a wolf was... unsettling. tegan was immediately uncomfortable the moment he set eyes on him. it didn't help that lucca looked like he was about to piss himself. tegan acted fast. "hey, dude let's head back down," he muttered as he began back towards his brother, nudging his shoulder. they didn't need to be getting in trouble right now. towhee would prolly shit herself. 

in the fading light two figures came to iliksis' attention, their shadows long as they traveled along the rock-splattered expanse. iliksis peered down at their forms, interested yet subdued -- two outnumbered one, and he would make no motion lest he was discovered.

yet, discovered he was -- his dull gaze settled on the wolf that was familiar -- a past victim. there was no attachment in his gaze, yet he hungrily sought lucca's eyes with a knowing, smug expression -- i had you -- it seemed to convey -- i own you.


but the presence of another was troubling, however juvenile. iliksis made no motion besides the trail, though he looked upon both plainly with a savage's thirst, awaiting their next move.

Tegan was quick to reappear, but he too slowed when he saw the dark stranger. The two Blackthorns froze as they stared, Lucca unable to tear his eyes away from the greedy, knowing gaze of the man. He scarcely remembered the exact details of his last encounter, but Lucca could vividly recall the absolute terror he felt, the pain he had inflicted. He didn't even realise how lucky he had been to escape being so young, that Lagan and the others had been close enough that only some scratches on his face had been the worst of the damage this stranger had dealt.

But the boy was naive and sheltered, and even that had been enough to sear a lasting memory into his mind.

Tegan suggested they should go in an uncharacteristically hushed tone, and while he felt his brother's nudge, he scarcely reacted, all senses trained upon the stranger in a state of shock. The tips of his ears — which were pushed as far forward as they could go — quivered, and his tail was wrapped nervously around a hind leg. "T-Teg...he-he..." he stammered, although he wasn't sure what he was even trying to say. He never had told his siblings about the incident, nor the eerie man who now stood before them...watching and waiting.

oh my fuckin god, he fuckin dumb. tegan silently screamed. the guy was just staring. it was fuckin creepy-- like dude come on, there's way hotter properties to be eyein down than a brick and a beanpole. tegan looked between the two-- not fearfully, mind you, but his brows her knitted together so fiercely that this incident alone might've given him wrinkles forever.

lucca stayed glued to where he stood, beginning to stammer some dumbass garbo that they didn't have time for. this guy was seriously making tegan's skin crawl. "tell me later, dumbass! let's fuckin' GO," he said with another nudge. although, this time the nudge was actually a rather forceful headbutt right to the shoulder. lucca was studier than tegan, but tegan had sheer willpower and obnoxiousness on his side, so he was pretty confident his headbutt would get the ball rolling.

all of iliksis' hunger and raw contempt of the world seemed to channel into his sullen gaze; as if lucca were being swept up in some all-seeing torrent, or swallowed by an embracing void. around him the world tapered off until his only focus was the stuttering grey -- it was the brusque headbutt of lucca's companion that seemed to snap iliksis from his prowling reverie.

he did not make any move to halt their retreat. often, iliksis enjoyed pursuit, particularly if the object he was pursuing knew they were being, well, pursued. it gave iliksis great power to know of the fear he instilled in the hearts of his victims, and he chased that fleeting high evermore.

languidly the abhorrent creature unfurled from the rock he stood upon, and slowly picked his way after the duo.

Despite his overwhelming fear, Lucca just couldn't break his gaze away from the ghoulish creature and his unrelenting stare that seemed to pin him in place. His bottom lip quivered after his attempt to warn Tegan, mouth partially hanging open as barely audible whimpers escaped from it. He had never felt fear as acute as this before, and the shock had left him nearly defenceless.

Thankfully, Tegan still had his wits about him. His brother's second, rougher shove finally snapped him out of his stupor, and Lucca gave a sharp yelp as he stumbled sideways from the sheer force. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the man step off his perch with the fluidity of a snake. There was a lack of urgency to his movements, but instead of relief, Lucca's blood ran ice cold. They had to get back to the Plateau.

With his muscles working again, the boy finally managed to lumber after his brother back down the path they had come from, ears flat against his skull in sheer terror.

though there wasn't like... any real reason to move away so urgently, tegan felt like there were 5000. this man was fuckin creepyville. and he gave the situation a 0 out of 10. a whole ass Z E R O. if he could, he'd give it a -10, maybe. or, well, should he save his -10/10 for something else? what else would warrant a -10/10? tegan couldn't think of anything right now-- whatever, he'd contemplate it deeply tonight.

lucca was finally fuckin moving, thank  go d. the thinner blackthorn gave his brother a look before glancing over his shoulder, spotting the stranger padding towards them. the pair had been fast walking but... the guy was coming towards them. FUCK! towards them?! he wasn't moving fast at all but-- ah god damn tegan had the fuckin heebie-jeebies again. he nudged lucca again in the rump-- urgency sounding from a quick yip. they needed to start moving faster.

iliksis' dull, ophidian gaze trailed the two wolves as they bumbled, and fumbled -- and then quickly made their leave.

he did not slacken in his pace. all the same, his manner of chase was poised and subdued, as if he were indeed some trappist or ambush predator, seeking to drive their stamina to its limits before he closed in.

in spidery gait, the male pursued - but as the two put distance under their heated paws, iliksis gradually drifted. for a while he would entertain the sport of pressing on hideously when they occasionally glanced back, but eventually he too faded into the backdrop, and was seen no more.