Lost Creek Hollow I'm telling you, it's a real animal!

Spook had started picking up a bad habit.  Well, sort of.  It depends on your definition of bad habit, but he more frequently seemed to be waking up in the middle of the night.  Not for any particular reason, but the world always seemed to be weird then, even though his parents and siblings were always nearby which should make him feel safe, he was still left with his own mind going out of its way to make things creepier.  Who knew what was out there in the darkness.

However, this time he had wandered away.  Not too far, of course, but far enough that he could go get a drink, assuming he didn't get turned around and freaked out in the darkness.  Spook was doing his best to stay low and quiet, unobserved in the darkness -- whether he actually was successful at that is up to you.  But he finally poked his wiggling nose out along the clear bank of the river, sniffing around before creeping up to the water and lowering his head to lap at the water.

And then there was a crunch.  He jumped back from the waters edge more like a wildebeest than a wolf, wildly searching for whatever monster had to be approaching.

Warlock was not the only creature of the night, prowling in the woods. Quiet Sarah walked among the trees, blending with the shadows. She was careful not to make a sound herself, but let the music of the hours of the darkness fill her, until she became part of the melody. There were rare moments, when she managed to achieve this sense of invisibility from the rest of the world and feeling of utmost power, but she enjoyed them immensely.

Warlock's thread towards the river was a sharp discord strewn across all the carefully written note-sheets. Sarah snapped out of her trance and searched for the intruder with a deep-set frown in her features. She did not know yet of, whether this canine was hollow's to protect or an intruder, therefore as she appraoched the location of the cub, she too was less carefuly about the noise she made along the way.

This was different, however, if it was a trespasser, Sarah considered it a bit of a courtesy to let them know that they were noticed and she was coming. To give them a head-start, before she engaged in a chase and gave their skins a good shake, rip and lacerations. A twig snapped under her feet and the next moment she emerged from the undergrowth, looking down at the scared cub. 

"Going somewhere?" she asked with a hint of smile in her voice, but not a particularly friendly expression to go along with it.

Yeah, nighttime was kind of freaky.  There was that brief moment where he wondered if maybe he'd heard something and he was literally jumping at nothing.  And then there came the ominous shadow, swirling out of the darkness like some demon unfurling its wings.  At least until she moved far enough forward that the open sky above the water allowed what little light came from the night sky to demystify her.  Spook had been gawking in horror, but now recognizing her, he wheezed and fell back on his rump.  Given who his mother was, it was unsurprising he wasn't too put off by her lack of matching expression but he still did feel a bit accosted by the whole thing, I was gonna get a drink!  He was big enough now that he shouldn't be in trouble!  ... Right?

Sarah saw fear in the cub's eyes and felt odd, exhilarating satisfaction for this. The balance of power was uneven, she was winning and for the time being she was glad for it. There were not many occasions nowadays, where she could vividly reminisce, what it meant to be feared and respected, and - naturally - the joy was short-lived, because her object of attention was only a cub. Stealing lollipops from little children only brought you so much fun.

"Fine and well," she shrugged, her gaze still scrutinizing the child's expression. "Woods are dangerous place during the nights. Would not wish you to run into any trouble," she added nonchalantly, though it was not clear from her tone, whether she would truly be sad, if Warlock did end up as a late dinner to a bear, for example.

For a moment, his eyes widened again, Bu--but.  It's not far!  And this is home -- and mom keeps all the trouble away.  Which was true, his mom was super big and could thwomp him and his siblings pretty well to make a point, usually about hunting or fighting or whatever.  Is there.. something else?  Some sort of freaky monster that even Arbiter couldn't scare off.  That was a pretty scary thought.  At least right now the monster had turned out to be far more familiar figure of his aunt.

Spook had been sitting kind of awkwardly this whole time but now he finally stood up, looking around in case something was gonna pop out of the woodwork.  He was definitely not built of the same stuff as his other two siblings who were bold beasts.

Warlock appeared less bold as his siblings - either because of the circumstances or his general disposition leaned towards nervosity and him being easily influenced. A little mystery to crack and here Sarah thought that night-time did not offer much entertainment other than her lurking in the shadows and waiting for the right moment to jump out of the bushes and scream "BOOO!"

"Safety of a home is an illusion," Sarah explained. "You would have to have a tall rock wall surrounding the territory to keep everyone out. And yet... you still can't be sure that all of the danger is kept outside." She paused to let Warlock swallow this and hoped that he would ruminate it later. "And mom won't always be there to protect you," she added. "There could be a bear or a cougar prowling these territories at the night-time and no one would ever find out," she said.

He took a step back, his ears flat on his head.  Bu--t...!  Dad goes off and looks at stars and stuff at night all the time!  An' I went with him an' he said nothin'! he squawked, words devolving a bit as he mentally did his best to be all "lalalala not listening" about it all.  Night time was already scary enough because it was all dark and felt creepy, he didn't need to be told his fear was rational, that'd just make it all worse.

We mark th' borders and then things stay out and then it's safe and home!  He really hadn't put two and two together with the whole "stay away from these scents" with the fact that actually meant they came in.  Spook wasn't always the sharpest critter around, but maybe that's because he didn't want to think about all the bad stuff.  Tha's how it work!

"Interesting..." Sarah murmured, while listening to Warlock's speech and felt rather humoured by his blind trust in his parents' ability to keep him safe and sound. She toyed with the idea of, whether she should crush that naive belief early, or should she let him believe the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus a little longer. Because the very idea that anything could be constant was just the same children's story. 

"Alright - fair enough - but let's say I was not a packmate, but a trespasser that was talking to you, what would stop me from attacking you now, hm?" she asked him. "Mummy and daddy are not around. Neither is anyone else. Just you and me."

POP QUIZ, KID.  He froze again, stagefright.  Um!  Well if you were some trezpasser or something really big an' scary I woulda run away!  Like way long time ago!  And then we're supposed ta find an adult in the pack and stuff.  It was very rehearsed, because Spook was apparently a good little student even if he was unlikely to live up to his mother's dream of having a whole army of warriors -- he'd be the odd one out, at least so far.

He started wagging his tail a bit, because he was sure that was the right answer! Then suddenly stopped.  That was right, right?

The kid was good at reciting theory. Practical experience was something he lacked entirely. Or the fact that all theory was flexible according to the situation at hand. He would learn eventually. Perhaps the hard way - not nice, traumatic, but highly educational and effective. 

"Why don't we see, how fast you can run," Sarah suggested, getting in a crouch and fixing a predatory gaze at the boy. "Just to find out, whether you are right about it," she added ready to pounce any moment now.

Night did always seem to make things just a little bit more sinister, whether she was trying or not.  It sent an electric shiver down his spine, and he scooted up, backwards a few steps.  Pause.  Um.  His ears folded back again, but he had nothing really to say.  She wanted him to run, and it seemed his paws were keen to agree.   Another step back, then he turned and sprinted away from her.

It wasn't exactly the way he'd come, and it would be several degrees away from the direction of the den but as long as he kept his wits about him, he'd find it.  But uh.  Not right now, right now he was just sprinting off in a direction and once his brain caught up maybe he'd figure it out. And, chicken he was, he wasn't gonna look back and see if Sarah was actually chasing -- if he could hear her, that was good enough. Or he could just run. You know, whichever.

Sarah let the boy have a good head-start, before she began to follow him. Rather than taking the same path he did (for a good reason too - there was a size difference between the two), she chose a shortcut. Part of her mind paid attention to the sound of pounding footsteps, the other part was fully focused on plotting her next move. 

Battle tactics were like playing chess, if she had known the expression. By a set of well-thought and carefully considered moves she had soon caught up with the boy, running now in paralell. And in the right moment she made an abrupt turn and jumped in his path in attempt to stop him in his tracks.

The more he run, the more the night made things take on a wild and monstrous life of its own.  It pushed him on until he heard his thudding heart in his ears.  When his aunt appeared in his vision alongside, she had morphed into some demonic creature made of shadows and wisps of moonlight.  When she jumped into his path, he screamed and skid-flailed, trying to change directions and sprint off in a different direction at top speed.  A direction that was who-knows-where other than away from the monster in front of him.

Unless of course she grabbed him, at which point more screaming would probably ensue.  He was way too caught up in whatever world had been created via the adrenaline-fueled chase to think too hard right now.

The kid had taken the game too seriously. Sarah knew that she was in trouble the moment Warlock did not stop, when she had cut his path off, but veered away in an entirely random direction. He reeked of adrenalin and fear - she had accomplished her goal of being on top of the power-game. But this was no longer funny or exciting. This began to look more like an actual work. 

She swore under her breath and took after the boy, catching up with him at some point and attempting to tackle him so that he lost his balance and stopped long enough for her to pin him down.

Hit. Then suddenly he felt like he was flying.  Okay, he wasn't flying but it was a different sensation in that half second where he was out of control and hadn't fallen -- like time had frozen.  Then suddenly the Matrix effect ended and he toppled, tumbled, and almost immediately started flailing wildly to try to get his feet back under him, though they were making more purchase with air than anything solid.  Oh yeah, and pair this with an earsplitting shrieking in terror. Everything was, after all, getting worse and worse.  The demons of the night had managed to catch up somehow -- he was lost, alone, disoriented... All of it.  All he could hope was to get away.

However, if she managed to get a leg or something somehow in front of his muzzle, there was every chance that in his panic he'd chomp without thinking.

In the chaos that ensued after Sarah had managed to effectively throw Warlock of the rails, she was torn between a question - how did Terance and Treason end up with such a nervous wreck of the kid - and the firm resolution - never, ever, ever having kids of her own. As she tried to find the boy's scruff to pin him down and especially, when he bit her hard in her leg, the memory of this incident made a deep imprint in her brain. Proving - in fact - what she had known before - kids were nuisances.

"Shut. The. Hell. Up!" she snarled at the kid, barely resisting an urge to bite him hard on the muzzle and thus give a good reason for him to scream and - perhaps - let go of her leg.

Sorry, was kinda stumped on how he'd react for a while.  Hope the post is clear!

He let go not because she said, but because of the eventual tug on his scruff caused his grip to slip -- he was still a kid, so not exactly going to be the toughest out there yet.  His jaws clicked in the air, and now instead of yelping he switched to a venomous snarl, trying to kick and wriggle or do anything to get free of whatever monster had hold of him.  Rationality had been left on the wayside, and he was just reacting rather than being reasonable. Bite, escape, something, just as long as it meant he was gone from here.

It might have been better to just let him run off a while back...

That very same thought entered Sarah's mind as well, as she continued to keep a steady hold on the boy's scruff. Letting him go now was very tempting, but she knew that if she did so, then the little idiot would scram god-knows-where and then, how was she going to find him? Lost Creek Hollow was a big place, of course, but there were no fences to prevent the boy going off in the wilds. So - the best option was to hold the kicking, spitting, snarling ball of panicked fur and muscle, until he exhausted himself and returned to his senses. 

Eventually Sarah would try to increase the pressure and push the boy firmly against the ground and keep him there. 

Maybe we can finish this in one - two posts?

Sounds good to me! I def need to cut down on threads so I can catch up, haha.

All things considered, he still wasn't that big.  And though he fought and fought, it wasn't like he had much hope of really escaping at this point.  Again he snapped at the air, but he seemed to be getting nowhere, tail lashing like an angry cat.  He sort of calmed, but his eyes were still wild and angry, and he tried to keep his legs splayed stiffly out in case they would get purchase.

As she pressed him down, for a moment he played possum -- he resisted, sure, but waited a moment or two to thrash and try once more to escape.  This was pretty much his last chance, even he knew that.  After that if she was gonna kill him or something, he was out of luck -- his mind wasn't listening to anything else at this point.

Last one from me. Thanks!

Minutes ticked by and Sarah kept her hold steady, all the while resisting the boy's inclination to run off and do something more stupid. She wanted to blame the weak-nerved kid for this outcome, but she knew that she was also to blame. For overestimating the kid's mental ability to collect himself under stressful conditions. Perhaps, it was not fair to challenge him such, if he was so afraid of dark. 

If and when the fellow calmed down, she would herd him back to the safety of Treason's and Terance's den, and would avoid him completely for the rest of her stay in Lost Creek Hollow.

His face was still wild and contorted and didn't seem to be fading from that expression.  Vicious smoldering aside, once he was freed, he skittered a few feet away as best he could, his fur on end.  He might be tired, but he wasn't going to become food or a toy or whatever.  She started him moving again not too long after, and he kept looking over his shoulder as he walked along.

It wasn't like he was going to follow her.  He didn't trust her at all now, that was for sure.  Once things were clear and familiar, he took off away from her and back home.  He'd say nothing -- for now at least -- though his change in attitude over the next few days would be obvious.

It wouldn't be forgotten.