Blackfeather Woods tolling on the iron bell

Who had been the last to be born, here? Averna and Astara? It had been some time since pups had graced Spiderlings' Glen (Maegi had left before the Ateneq brood, biological and adopted, had been whelped). She wondered how long it would be before it happened again.

For now, she sniffed at the walls of the den, trying to find deficiencies in the structure. It was entirely possible that pregnant women could come here; Maegi wouldn't be prone to turning them away, in most circumstances. Children were special, unsullied by the ugliness of life. The children born here would be spiderlings, if not in name then in spirit, and they deserved the best.

If Mou wanted children, she was unaware. He'd have to be verbally forthright with the desire, and even then. . .how? How did it happen? Maegi didn't know; she hadn't had the benefit of sex education. She'd have to be taught.

All she knew, when it came to pups, was that she wanted to be better than her own mother. Which, honestly, wasn't a very high bar, anyway.

Ramsay had none of the same thoughts in mind as he ventured through the tunnels, eventually reaching the place where he and his siblings had been born. He half expected Maegi, Titmouse and he would take over the glen as a private sanctum and whelping would occur elsewhere. A selfish thought, admittedly; there was nowhere better in Blackfeather Woods for pups than Spiderling's Glen, but he was reluctant to let go of it, and wasn't driven by any thought toward the future.

He didn't expect there would be pups for a long time, anyway. So when he found Maegi inspecting the den, he assumed it was because she wished it for herself, and thought nothing of it. He had other things in mind to discuss. So he settled himself back on his haunches somewhere in a shadowy corner, then said, I've found our mysterious shadow.

He paused a moment, then said, I do not know how to put into words how I feel about him.

She turned at the sound of Ramsay's pawsteps and raised her brows at his remark. Oh? she said lightly, then her mouth quirked as her brother continued. Putting it mildly, she thought. The dark man was an enigma to beat all enigmas; where had he even come from?

I ran into him the other day, too, Maegi said. He, uh, he had collected poisons, which I thought was interesting. Like he knew I was interested in them. . .or maybe he's interested, himself? Like Cicero.

Her ears flattened slightly. He's strange, but I don't think he's a threat, she assessed, hoping she was right. I think he would have killed us by now if he were a threat. The shadow had been given ample opportunity, anyway. Ramsay had brawn, but Maegi could be snapped like a twig, should one desire.

Well, that was certainly interesting. Definitely less cryptic and creepy than Ramsay's interaction with Abraxas. He agreed with Maegi's assessment at least at face value, but there was something really unsettling about the silent woods dweller. He wished he could understand what was going on in that brain.

What are the poisons for? he wondered, having never had an interest in the subject himself. Cicero had, and Euron might have picked it up along the way, but Ramsay was more about physical pursuits than clever stuff like that. No, poison was for more subtle wolves than he. Strange is an understatement, he remarked, frowning. I watched him spread out a dead crow's wings, drop it over a cliff, then he ate a feather off his own face. Paraphrased like that it was real fuckin' weird.

None of which is threatening, he agreed, I just don't know what to think of these antics.

She was a little confused by the question. Like, what are they for in general, or why he was collecting them? Maegi asked. I have no idea on that second one. He tested one of them; I did, too, she admitted, a little shyly. It was strange, unlike anything I've experienced before. Most like the poison tree, but stronger. More hallucinations—I saw our father, Euron, Miraak. . .

Maegi trailed off, unsure of how Ramsay would take her tales of hedonistic indulgence. Instead, she focused on the macabre story offered, wrinkling her muzzle. He could just be odd, for no reason, she replied, shrugging. There have been some oddballs here, but no one as much as him. Still, yeah, it's not been threatening so far.

That so far hung between them, precarious. They couldn't predict the future, after all.

The strange ritual with the crow was exactly that: strange. What Maegi admitted ventured more closely to dangerous, and Ramsay felt the slow simmer of uncertainty beginning in his belly. Could they trust Abraxas to keep his strange behaviours to himself, or would they need to constantly be worried about him? That was the real question. Of her experimentation, he said nothing. He didn't necessarily disapprove, for the only one she could hurt with such things was herself. He didn't like it, but he didn't disapprove.

I worry that his... unique attributes could be prelude to something worse, Ramsay admitted. Because what she said was true. Abraxas was not threatening yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't become a threat to the members of the woods. Did the more bloodthirsty of our line exhibit strange proclivities like that? They hadn't that he could recall, but it would be a good baseline for whether they should expect worse or not.

Is he a Melonii? she asked, canting her head. I mean, it seems the most likely, but I don't know. There were others that lived here, too—Relmyna, Kove. . . But I'm not sure, to answer your question. I do remember Cicero being a bit strange.

Here she was testing the waters a bit; Ramsay was more fond of their father than she. That being said, he would be more qualified to speak on the man, right? Maegi blinked at him in gentle question, meaning no offense. She was curious to learn more about her father, too. She had hardly known him—

Her fault for that.

I don't know, was his honest answer. Abraxas seemed to have an affinity for the woods, something Ramsay thought only Melonii wolves had, so it made sense. But he couldn't place the man. Maegi brought up others though and she made a good point. He couldn't argue that Relmyna and Kove had as much an affinity for the place as any Melonii did. So maybe Abraxas was from elsewhere. Did that make him more or less trustworthy?

Cicero was unusual, Ramsay agreed, not at all offended by it. It was true, after all. Euron takes after him. I suppose we're all a little strange in our way. He smacked his lips thoughtfully. That man is disquieting, though. Do you think he will bring us unwanted attention? Or did he seem inclined to keep to himself? I didn't get much of a sense of him while he was doing... whatever it was he was doing. That alone would decide his fate.

Unusual. Not much of an answer, but then, maybe Cicero was hard to pin down. (And he was.) She smiled at the mention of Euron, and then it faded as the conversation continued. If he was going to bring trouble to the woods, to Mou, then he wasn't worth keeping around. Getting rid of him, though, might be a challenge in and of itself.

We'll keep an eye on him, Maegi suggested. I think that's all we can do. If we start noticing things are getting worse, or something happens, he's gone. Which. . . How did one even do that, kick someone out? This pack leadership thing wasn't as easy as it looked at first blush.

She shook her head with another gusty sigh. I think we'll have to wait and see, she concluded lamely. I hope he's just weird like Cicero, and not dangerous. As if to say Cicero, who'd kidnapped and tortured Relmyna, hadn't been dangerous. Ha!

We'll keep an eye on him. All right, Ramsay agreed. He didn't think the shadow-cloaked wolf would be easy to follow around and keep tabs on, but he was prepared to try until they better understood his motives. Of all the wolves now residing in the woods, Abraxas was the only one Ramsay felt unsure about. He was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, for someone to turn around and betray Maegi again, but it seemed most of them were genuine. For now.

I hope so, too. It was... really unbelievably weird. He stood and stretched, cracking his mutated spine, then turned around. I'm off to survey the borders again. I'll let you know if he does anything else... questionable. He would take the tunnels up toward the territory's edge, pay the borders a quick visit, then spend the rest of the day trying and failing to track down the elusive ghoul of the woods.

Because he was a little intrigued, as well; he'd always wanted to be the monster haunting the shadows, and Abraxas had that on point.

She gave a little snort of laughter in response. Good, Maegi responded. See you, Rams. She watched him leave for a moment, then turned back to the wall she had been inspecting, finding herself soon lost in thought. It was true that the woods tended to birth some strange creatures, in mind or body (or both).

What demons could be whelped here next? Maegi found herself more intrigued than anything at the prospect.