Ravensblood Forest I ran all night and day.

Things were fine after his talk with Rosalyn. He told himself that hours after, days, and sometimes at night when he felt an itch in his skin and the sense of irritaiton that prevented sleep. He could make it through this plague of memory. Learn from his experience, put it behind him — all without bringing the truth to light. He could do this. He had to put it behind him.

Sleep did not come to him readily; Reyes paced some nights, tossed and turned another, lay awake and growing frustrated by the tumult of emotions his mother had managed to dredge up. If only he hadn't asked after her own experiences, he thought. If only he had kept to himself and pretended things were alright - that he was his usual self - for a little while longer. Now he felt exposed (despite being so tight-lipped on the subject) and as the days wore on, he grew flustered, incised, as if the very memory of his experience was a cancer growing stronger inside of himself.

So he escaped from it all. Reyes did not choose to go far, but he had to escape the claustrophobic forest and feel the wind in his fur, maybe even head as far north as the oceanside and taste the salt in the air; a part of him would find that flavor vile, and that part would drive him home again. For a few hours he had a taste of freedom though. An expanse of wilderness all his own, with no dark thoughts, no nagging sense of disillusionment, no homesickness. By morning he had come to another forest and he knew he ought to turn around; however, the brine-scent was stronger here than at the plateau.

For a while he would linger — nobody would care if he took a day to himself, he reasoned.

Days had rolled by. Nothing. No sign of the gunner Kingsley, barely a whiff of the old merc's stench on the sands. No sign of his work anywhere. Pity that. More disheartening to her was the lack of signs. Nothing to indicate where the mutineer had gone. She knew little of the boy's life, no stories muttered of home. Not even a lie. The boy had stayed with them for barely a few months after all. That had been her driving point, what made her finally pull up and bring herself to this land in the first place when Kingsley failed to report back, but it turned out to be her faltering point. 

She was a stubborn woman, though. She couldn't well return to Tortuga without her target and expect to maintain her position. More important than that, she had a code to upkeep, for herself and for her crew. She would find him. Find him and drag him back screaming to Tortuga. Let Lynford have his fun — take his tongue, then something else. To show Alizarin and everyone else what happens to those who break their word to her and her crew. 

She'd paced the Coast north and south, constantly telling herself that there was some chance that the boy was here somewhere. She had said it to herself before — he could've gone inland. Definitely would — pirates would scour the coast for days, too dimwitted to think that there was anything worthwhile away from the sea. Eartha wasn't a pirate. She was better than a pirate. She turned her eye inland, following a river towards the land beyond the ocean. The forest that she found herself in was dark and cool. She appreciated the shade upon her sun-kissed fur. Though the air tasted of brine it was silent, far from the constant din that the ocean created with its waves and its raucous gulls. She felt as if she could hear every sound as if they bounced off the tree trunks. She thought she saw something moving off in the trees. She stepped towards it, getting closer and closer until the shape solidified and brightened in her sight. Eartha gaped for a moment.

The boy.

The traitor.

Alizarin, Eartha snarled, her chest rumbling, the storm of frustration and anger bubbling to the surface as she stared down the boy. You mutinous little bastard, she began to charge towards him, cursing herself for not bringing backup, for not finding Kingsley first. Then she could corner the little shit. No, she'd had to rush him. And even if she lost him now, she had his scent.

Everything came to a screeching halt when the deep-voiced command sounded through the trees; at first, he didn't think it was real, that voice. The way it snarled around a name he'd only briefly assumed, launching it at him like an armed grenade. He flinched away from the sound of it at first, not knowing exactly where it came from - or who might be there waiting for him, only that no, they cannot be here. The charging body came next, flashing red to brown to gold to black so quickly as the slanting light caught upon a fulvous coat.

You mutinous little bastard, wormed that voice from every direction as the body barrelled straight for him. There wasn't time to escape whoever came for him, and so he was forced in to a defensive - submissive - crescent that lasted a breath, maybe two. Reyes should have tried to run, he knew that. Objectively, he knew that a moving target would be harder for the crew to corral, but he was locked in place firstly by shock, but chiefly by a trauma-fueled fear that overruled every semblance of logic he might have held.

So, she came for him. All teeth, trying to close the distance and wind their way through the forest before he could control that same fear and find a different answer to it. Fight, flight, freeze — alas, Reyes wasn't going anywhere, so if and when the raging woman reached his position, she would easily bowl him over in to the dirt. All he could do was snarl in return and briefly stare, wild-eyed, in search of the others -- for these wolves never acted alone.

Oh hAI

Eartha was right in her thinking that a pirate would never leave the coast, for Kingsley had not strayed far from the shoreline in his search — too infatuated he was with the crashing waves, the screeching gulls and the gritty, coarse sand. Why, how could anyone ever leave? Of course, it was quite possible Alizarin resided much further inland than this, but Kingsley wanted to make properly sure that the young scoundrel was not hiding out somewhere here amongst the shore.

However, it seemed he wouldn't have to head too far from the ocean after all.

A woman's voice rose above the crowing calls of the woods — what did that little feisty girl call it? The Ravenswood? — all loud and angry and so very familiar. Kingsley immediately turned from what he was doing and took off towards where it had come from. Was that...Eartha? He hadn't expected to run into her again so soon, much less at all. Not to mention that name she called out sounded awfully like...

"Well, what a surprise this is!" he crowed, leaping onto the scene just as Eartha launched herself towards the auburn-haired boy. There he was, cowering before her, his back turned to the gunner who came up behind him, his scarred lips pulled into a gleeful smirk. What a lucky day this was, to find not only one traitorous fiend but two! He stopped at a distance from the lad so as not to get bowled over by Eartha as well, but after she had done her part, Kingsley would waste no time in surging forward to help pin the boy in place.

He would get all that was coming to him.

Sorry for the wait!!!

Eartha's vision tunneled. She saw little else but the boy, his sniveling body twisting on the ground, his lips parted in a pathetic snarl. Her self-righteous fury spurred her onward onto the male. He provided no resistance, and she bowled him over. 
Did you think that you could just leave? Eartha pulled herself upward and placed a paw on the boy's face, pushing it further into the dirt. That we would just let you leave? That I would? She never considered herself a selfless woman. Her purpose for sending Kingsley out here, for tracking Alizarin all the way here, was for her personal benefit. To uphold her code. The boy was a potential break, a sign of her weakness within her own vision. She could not forgive herself if the boy went without justice, her justice. 

If it weren't for his boisterous voice, she doubted that she would have noticed that Kingsley was there at all. Questions began to flood her mind, but she pushed them away. No time for that. Hold him, she commanded. His punishment would be long and the scars would remain on his skin for the rest of his life. No doubt Lynford had something else in mind, but until then Eartha would dole out her punishment. Mutiny was treason. Betrayal to her and her code, one that all those who joined with her had to adhere to. Lest she chase them down and tear them apart, as she proved now.

He did not have to look far.

Kingsley — the mountain, his face sneering despite the squint of one eye — came barrelling forth as if summoned from the ether, shoving himself to the rear of Reyes' hunched body to block him in. If this were a bar room brawl, he'd have Reyes pinned to a table or maybe wrench his arms behind his back, giving Eartha a few clear shots. She came for him with bared teeth and a tongue laced with venom. All he could do, initially, was cower.

He felt the pinch of Kingsley's grip upon him and that's when he saw red. It was happening again. He squirmed, kicked, snapped his teeth at the air towards the man, then towards the woman as she got closer, utterly losing his mind. Unable to watch them both at once, Reyes focused on the pressure at his flank and snarled at the beastly man, knowing full-well that he could do nothing against him - much less against them both - but he was reacting like a caged animal, which sent some of his sanity out the proverbial window.

No, no, no this wasn't happening again — he had been free! How the fuck did they find him? Where the fuck did they come from? No -- no, don't -- he managed, turning to flash his yellowed fangs towards Eartha finally, his entire body wrought with tension and straining against Kingsley's hold. Is he -- is he here too? Did you bring him? He practically frothed at the mouth as he spat those words, unable to name the man in question, not that it was necessary.

not the reaction i thought she would have..but alright!

The small girl had started her day like any other, her new routine had become habit and she found she enjoyed every minute of it. The sea witch had added a new step to her ritual, a way of protection to make sure those that bit her would gain an unpleasant surprise. This time it was in the form of a pretty flower known as Oleander, flicks of dried red petals seemed to disappear into her similar colored fur but she placed a few fresh ones along her tail with a few pieces of seaweed as a way of decoration.

She had wandered from the safety of pack but this did not weigh on her, she was lost for so long and safety had been such a fleeting thing during those long months. It was the scent of her brother that she had followed without realizing it, wandering the ravensblood trees while she looked out for new herbs to use and play with. She was running low on several things. A growl, a shout, snarling. It bounced off of the woods as she moved to pinpoint the sound, what was going on?

A voice she recognized, Reyes, though deeper with age. Two others she did not know, angry and harsh in their tones. Immediately she went on high alert, her hackles raising as the smell of blood reached her. Had they hurt him, hurt her brother? He was hers and you did not harm what was hers. A growl rumbled deep in the sea witch's chest as she moved closer, using the shadows to her advantage until she spoke with a voice that seemed smooth despite the thunderous noise following it.

"Let go of him."

He heeded Eartha's command with a snap of his jaws down upon the hindquarters of the cowering boy, holding him in place. Although his allegiance was wholly to Lynford, Eartha had gained some amount of respect from the gunner during her time running with their crew — she was a stern, harsh woman, but a true born leader. He couldn't think of anyone else who demanded respect from just presence alone aside from her. Still, he had some questions for her once this was dealt with.

It seemed the boy wasn't willing to go down without a fight, however. He squirmed and writhed against his grip, thrashing in vain as he tried to get away. He felt sharp pricks upon his face as young Alizarin's teeth managed to snag the skin there, but Kingsley's hold remained firm; he had endured much worse than this, after all. The boy's panicked words brought a twisted smile to his lips. What Lynford had in store for him was not particularly to the merc's tastes, but who was he to judge?

"Aw, y'missing 'im already, boy?" he laughed gruffly, voice muffled by the fur he held in his mouth. He almost went to continue his taunt, but the sound of another caught his attention. Releasing his hold, Kingsley quickly moved forward so as to tower over Alizarin, chest pressed against his back and forelegs on either side of his hindquarters. With Eartha in front of him and he behind, there would be little place else to run.

He then looked to where the sudden demand had come from, withholding a throaty laugh as he spied the small girl standing before them with all the presence of a pirate herself. Cute. "Move along, lass," he spoke, though dared her closer with a quirk of his brow and a crooked smile. "This ain't none of yer business."

She knew that she would have to leave the tongue-taking to Lynford — it was his specialty after all, and she would not rob that from him — but she wanted an end to his gibbering. She fastened her teeth into his muzzle, attempting to forcibly clamp his jaws shut and push the boy's head back down in the dirt. She was going to have to wrestle the resistance out of him, leave him so exhausted that he couldn't fight back. 

Eartha looked up from the boy's body towards the new voice that joined the fray. Another ally? How many did Alizarin have? Leave. Eartha commanded, the word muffled as she kept her jaws around Alizarin's muzzle. She had Kingsley with her now, and with Alizarin in her grasp she wouldn't be cowed into fleeing by any who were foolish enough to support the boy.

Hope this makes sense / is ok? I can edit it if not!

They both goaded him in different ways. Kingsley with his muffled voice and overbearing presence, pinning Reyes in place despite all his protests and wild, fear-soaked attempts to fight back; Eartha with the clamp of teeth across his snout, which probably hurt but Reyes was too overwhelmed by everything to feel things. Sensation retreated from him. Later, if he were to survive, he would find relief in the fact he had emptied his bladder. He'd feel the sting of those teeth and smell the abundance of blood-scent, the sweetness of pheromones -- but first came the strange, disembodied voice of one of his siblings. It shocked him to be present, at least for a moment.

Eartha twisted her grip and spoke around the bridge of Reyes' nose, and he felt her saliva soaking the fur there, the hot breath radiating from inside. At just the right angle he could spy the ruddy coat of Marisol; at first, he thought it was his mother and he shuddered against both his captors, bracing against Kingsley's weight with such force that he might've escaped had there not been two bodies on top of him.

St-- stop! Stay back! He might've managed through Eartha's grip, but who knows how that sounded, in truth. All that Reyes could think was that Lynford was coming, that these pirate henchmen were keeping him subdued for the real punishment — and with that in mind the boy's eyes roved from body to body, the whites briefly visible, and then with a violent duck he tried to tear himself free.

Eartha's teeth scored across his lips, tearing flesh from all around his muzzle; he thought he heard the dull click of her teeth but maybe that was something else, it didn't matter, it hurt, it burned — but with his face briefly loosened he rammed his snout as forcefully as he could in to the woman's jaw, right at lymph-node level and shouted: RUN, NOW.

Better the pirates take him back than let them target anyone in his family. This was a hell he had discovered, and he would not wish it on another.

They had hurt him, they had hurt him! She looked as her brother cowered, as he acted submissive to the pirates that seemed to know him. He was. It a submissive creature, not a wallflower that would back against the wall and watch. What had they put him through, how dare they put him through this!

Her growl only deepened as the older man spoke, he dare say this waa none of her business? Of course it was her business, she loved the boy they held down, the boy they injured. Not her business, ha! Oh then the girl spoke, commanding. The sea witch gave a soft chuckle that accented her growl, she was not the boss of her.

Her tail climbed, arcing over her hips in a challenge. "he is mine, so ya' see.. this is mah business." her voice came out just as smooth as before but it would seem her golden mother's accent came to play within her voice.

Then he spoke, screaming for her to run, run? How could he let her leave him, no, that waa not going to happen. She ignored his pleas, hoping he would not let on they were brother and sister. Maybe they would think they were lovers, this she could use and make sure they would not think to use their actual tie against them. please, dont tell them! she wished for telepathy, maybe he would hear her. Her two tone eyes hardening she stepped closer, baring her teeth as she demanded again. "Let go of him.

*screams* @Kingsley @Marisol PPC granted for @Reyes

She made a point of ripping her teeth through Alizarin's muzzle as she pulled away, her eyes fixed on the impertinent girl. She stepped forward, expecting Kingsley to hold the boy down as she confronted this interruption. She had been so close to bringing him to justice. To Lynford. He is mine. The words rumbled in her chest, guttural and near-feral in her rage. And you, girl, will make no demands of me. She lunged forward, fangs flashing. No more interruptions. She'd either kill or break this girl.

doc rolled for dodge, rolled 1. No dodge, lunge it

"Reyes.."

A growl rumbles in her chest as she watched the unknown man hold her brother down. How dare they, just, how dare they but a laugh soon came from her lips. It rumbled as it took an almost manic quality, this woman thought he was hers? How rich, how did she have a claim over her blood? 

"yer wrong missy." she spoke just as she went to dodge but must have judged wrong. Teeth sank into her furs she screamed but lowered her ears and turned her tail as she snapped back at the woman with feral abandon.

Rolled to hold bite, rolled a 3, Eartha's grip slips. Attempted bite again.

Her teeth struck true, and she could taste fur and flesh in her mouth, rewarded with a scream to match. She pressed harder, determined to keep her grasp tight around the piece of flesh that she had. Inexplicably, her hold slips, the woman's movement knocking her teeth loose from her body. In that moment when her mouth is empty she can feel the sting of teeth in her own body from the girl's flurry of bites. Eartha lunged forward again, aiming at the girl's throat to end the fight. Her prize was so close in her grasp, after all. She wasn't going to lose him.

Bite hit: 6. Severity roll: 4. Passed out: 4. No killing please.

She tasted blood in her mouth, metallic and sharp but llshe was not doing much damage. She was never a fighter, never a girl that could throw her weight. She was a healer like her pale mother, she was a witch not a pirate. This was useless, she knew that but she had to save her brother. She had to! The grip of the woman slipped and she almost laughed in triumph but that would have been a bad idea so she didn't, instead pain came again and she gave another yelp but no sound came. She felt the flesh tear at her throat, her air being cut off. No, she did not want to die. This could not be the end for her, she had just reunited with her mothers again. Her vision began to spot she wheezed as she stopped fighting, she looked over at her brother's liquid gold eyes one last time before she dropped. Her own eyes slipping closed as she passed out for the lack of oxygen.

Her teeth catch on the girl's bare throat. She squeezes, sinking her fangs within the girl's throat, choking the fight from her. Eartha holds her grip there until she feels the girl fighting no more, her body slumping against Eartha's. Eartha lets go. As far as she was concerned, this was over. 

She turns to Kingsley and Alizarin, her prize. Let's go, she commanded.

The life felt as though it was leaving her but that was just an illusion. Blood pooled on the ground but it was only enough to make her dizzy when her two toned eyes opened, when she tried to stand the world tilted. She didn't care about that, all she knew was that she failed. Her brother was gone, she had failed him.