Shadewood I ain't plastic, call me classic

The river moved swiftly, aided by the surplus of water that threatened to break the banks. Minutes in its clutches felt like eons to Alyx, who struggled valiantly to keep her head above the rushing current. Multiple times, she slipped under, dragged either by an undercurrent or the faltering of her tiring legs, but while she swallowed a lot of water in her panic, she managed to snatch enough breath to keep from drowning.

It was a while before the river lulled enough to bring her close to shore. It slowed in a sharp bend with thick forest on one side, allowing Alyx to get her paws under her and drag herself to land. She stood shakily for just long enough to vomit up a considerable amount of water before she collapsed, trembling and sobbing, but relieved to be alive.

She was far too preoccupied to notice the scent of wolves.

undeterred by the incessant rain, Val set to exploring the arching river’s fresh laid banks. a fresh layer of silt coated the riverbend’s edge, drawing curious Valravn close enough to the water that he watched wide eyed as something sodden pulled itself up-shore.

his fur was on end as he watched, his muscles tensed and tail halfway curled up. he was ready to bark, or chase this thing — when it hunched over and released a projectile spew of river water. Val’s ears flew back in surprise and he jolted, head tilting to the side as sobs wracked out from the river-logged creature.

Valravn took a tentative step forward, and then another — when he realized this was a wolf almost his age, his tail began to wag playfully. unaware Alyx was probably in no mood to play, Valravn stretched his thin legs in the sand before him and issued a single, excited yap.

Some potential for Chacal to be skipped if the two of ye get into a spree :)

While there were limits on Chacal's permitted wanderings, she'd begun to test those boundaries simply out of curiosity, and whenever she did drift too far from the safe interior of the Shadewood, it was without her noticing that she'd done something wrong rather than deliberate disobedience. She'd begun relying on her nose to guide her, and more often than not she meandered along tracking down a familiar scent until she was able to find whoever it was that she'd been tracking. It was almost a little game of hers, and brought her a good deal of joy when she acheived her goal. 

She'd been traling along well behind Valravn, though her anxiery levels began to rise when she found she could hear the sound of the river. That was almost too far, and she'd been warned against getting too close to the rushing waters. There were safer places to drink, and this was too close to the borders of their established, temporary territory.

She could see his tail waving beyond the bullrushes and heard his excited bark- so she quietly, carefully, picked her way forward, peering past his flank to see the dark form of a girl marked similarily to her- though obviously some months older, and with much more beautiful, golden fur trailing along her ribcage. She shyly drew close to Valravn's side, now a clingy and insecure child seeking comfort as she pressed her nose into the fur near his flank, but peered out at the stranger with one wary, yet curious eye.

It was alarming how quickly exhaustion's mallet swung down on her. Now that she was prone, Alyx wasn't sure she'd be able to stand again. One brief effort found her legs shaking too badly to support her weight. She slumped forward, defeated. Falling asleep seemed like a great idea. With a sniffle and a cough, Alyx let her eyelids drift down. Maybe just a few minutes, then she'd be able to walk again...

Her eyes flew open when a bark sounded way too close by. Scanning the trees in the manner of a frightened fawn, she spotted first the dark figure of Valravn with his arms stretched toward her, complete with a pair of soft green eyes that made her stomach do weird flip-flops. Next to him was an even smaller pup with a similar cowl of gold. The sight of her tickled some weird part of Alyx’s brain that, in better circumstances, might’ve vainly began justifying all the ways she was beautiful and this other kid was supremely ugly.

But these weren’t better circumstances. She was soggy and dog-tired and had all manner of dirt and debris clinging to her wet fur. She felt uglier than rocks. Uglier than mud monsters. It wouldn’t have mattered, only there was a boy there. She’d never really noticed boys before, with only relatives around, but now that one was standing right there staring at her, she felt self-conscious and disgusting and pathetic. Even moreso when she opened her mouth to speak and spit up another mouthful of river water.

Where am I?! she wailed at the two pups before shoving her face into her arms, ashamed of her entire existence.

whenever was possible, solaire liked to try and serve a dual sitter-guardian role, whether that meant watching her younger siblings directly or quietly tracking them from afar when they wandered. today valravn and chacal made their way to the waters, and sol followed- meaning to catch up to them soon enough. an unfamiliar wail from just ahead caught her attention, and her pace increased as she scampered onto the scene, coming to a halt beside her family. 

there lie a girl just older than solaire herself, a mess of water pooled at her chin. sol eyed her suspiciously for a moment- was this what a trespasser looked like? though the sunbeam longed to try a real battle for the first time, this girl didn't look dangerous. she just looked pathetic. 

rusalka, solaire explained in a slight huff. nevermind that this was only temporary land, she wanted to guard it just the same. who are you? she demanded then, tail flicking impatiently as she tried to take charge.

one ear back for chacal, who pressed along his nape -- one ear forward, for the suntorched girl on the banks he was about to yap a second time when alyx heaved a new offering of spittle and riverwater onto the banks.

ew, but valravn's sensibilities weren't in the least offended. he aimed a gentle nip at chacal's cheeks and then turned back to alyx with his tail wagging -- about to answer her question when solaire arrived and quickly took charge.

no matter, they could still play! now there were enough of them for a suitable game of stick-tag, or hide-and-go-seek -- already valravn was counting the different games they could play, not even the least concerned about trespassing or territoriality. in his book any wolf his age was a friend he just hadn't met yet.

however, alyx didn't seem in the mood for play. she looked anguished, and then buried her head into her paws with a wail. approaching her with his tail tentatively wagging, valravn tried to nose her forehead with a clumsy lick before he roared "TAG!!" and darted to the side with an excessively clumsy playbow.

She hovered near her brother's flank, gazing with innocent curiosity at the female who regarded them with guarded confusion. When Solaire strode up to them, she answered with a tone that wasn't terribly friendly, causing Chacal's tail to stop swaying. Were they not supposed to be friendly with this other girl? While Chacal was painfully shy, she was inherently a friendly wolf, and found it somewhat discouraging that Solaire sought to fulfill the role of guardian. She was the eldest of the Rusalka children, though the other girl looked to be somewhere about the same age. In their youth, even the difference of a month or two made a surprising difference. As the youngest present, Chacal was quick to defer to the others. 

But despite Solaire's trepidation, Valravn moved forward to reach out, causing Chacal to stiffen. She wanted to stay by his side- but didn't really want to get too close to the stranger. All of that changed, though, when her brother broke the tension and began a game of tag. Chacal's eyes widened and with all the grace of a fledgeling leaving the nest for the first time, she scrambled back at the sudden punctuation, bounding awkwardly away in hopes of avoiding retaliation, a tentative smile returning to her features.

No answer forthcoming from the first two, but a third cub arrived, around Alyx’s own age, and supplied an answer. That wasn’t a word Alyx had heard before. The name of the pack who lived here, she supposed, though it could just as easily be the name of the brightly coloured speaker. Solaire was more intense than the other cubs. Her sharp voice made Alyx flinch.

She sucked in a slow breath to prevent any coughing, then answered, my name is Alyx, my mom’s name is Niamh, my dad’s name is Phox. I’m from the Firebirds pack in Sun Mote Copse. This was delivered with the wooden quality of a memorized script rather than her own genuine voice. When she was younger than she was now, she’d been taught all these things in the event she ever got lost. She was most assuredly lost now.

When Valravn rushed forward to tag her, Alyx winced at the atmospheric whiplash of the situation she found herself in. On one side, Solaire with her grumpy-looking face and impatient manner. On the other, two pups scampering away, inviting her to play. In the end, Alyx was still a kid, and despite her soggy and very dirty appearance, their invitation ignited a child-like wonder in her heart. She was drawn to them. They weren't judging her for how she looked and they weren't being harsh toward her. Even Chacal, whose mere appearance made Alyx feel indignant about her own.

But when she got up on shaky legs, she chose Solaire as her target, lifting a trembling forepaw to try to tag the red-brushed juvenile and pull her into the game as well, maybe shake some of that ugly sourness from her face.

promptly the girl introduced herself as alyx- and even went to recite the names of her parents and pack. unfortunately, none of them rang a bell- but solaire thought maybe mama would know, if they asked her. solaire liked to imagine she knew much, but in truth she knew very little, and was often pushed into awe by the wisdom of the adults in her life. just as the sunspot was about to recommend a more productive course of action, valravn invited them into a game of tag, which alyx and chacal immediately gave into. was it not this girl's puddle of riverwater below her chin? didn't she need help getting home? nevermind the briefly flashing idea that maybe alyx didn't want to go home- that was a scary thing. sol knew the adults could take care of this! but ultimately she did not want to stop the play of her little siblings, as cautious as she was. the stranger touching her caused her hackles to flare slightly for a moment but she calmed them, realizing there was no violent intent behind her approach. solaire had a stand-offish side, and a worrisome side, but she had a playful side too- and in the end, when tagged by alyx she would excitedly make her way towards chacal to pass the role onto someone else.

even as an adult, valravn would never be adept at reading the room. the dark boy darted off in crow-bird hops, bounding away with a grin on his face. he'd managed to startle chacal (oops) and alyx (extra oops), but seeing the game dawn slowly across both of their faces caused a wide and charming grin to spark like winsome sunlight across the raven boy's face.

next to be won over was solaire. she was older, more mature -- and possessed with a sense of responsibility valravn would never acquire. he froze, watching wide-eyed in anticipation as alyx tagged the elder. how would she react?

on tenterhooks the boy waited with his tail held to the side in uncertainty. when solaire responded by giving in to the game, there was a roar of approval from the boy that shook nearby birds from their roost in the trees.

he wasted no time speeding off, splitting towards alyx and away from chacal. should chacal be tagged, he would taunt her by bounding in and out of reach -- otherwise, he would excitedly romp around the group, exhilarated to toe the dangerous line that was getting close to the tagger.

Chacal felt her throat tighten and relax, as though in spasmatic hiccoughs which would have been laughter had she lent her voval chords to be used. As it was, the quiet clicking of her breath hitching and relasing and chattering of her teeth indicated how happy and excited she was. Like a little bird with fledgeling wings she scampered away from Alyx, only to realize that Solaire had been tagged a moment later. Valravn, her silent protector, was much quicker on his feet, and Chacal was the smallest and youngest of the batch. She turned to bolt away, but her older sister easily caught up with her and gave her a soft tag. 

A whirlwind of excitement, Chacal whipped in a couple fast circles, as though undecided as to where she should run- but her decision was one that came simply out of attachmant more than chance- so when she stopped spinning, she was pointed directly toward Valravn. She got so close!- But then he would bound backwards, and out of reach. Still making her excited chattering noises with her throat and her teeth, she tried a few times to catch up with him- but their difference in size, age and mobility made Chacal practically the toddler of the group. So she made attempts at Alyx and Solaire- but didn't commit to either chase- before she finally made an unexpected move and circled- to try and intercept the path of the newcomer, Alyx, and return the tag to her.

Alyx visibly winced after touching Solaire, as if she expected to be slapped across the muzzle for her audacity. Instead, Solaire joined in, earning Valravn’s raucous approval. She peeled off to the left at a drunken tilt. Turns out involuntary river rafting took more of a toll on the body than she realized.

Alyx was out of breath in seconds, and ended up swooning before sitting heavily on her rump. By now, Chacal had been tagged and was feinting between her and Valravn. She tried to regain her paws as the girl came for her, but only succeeded in swaying tiredly and getting tagged again. A breathless laugh was all she could manage. She made for Valravn next, painfully slowly, but he was much too fast for her to hope to catch him. She tried anyway, staggering pathetically after him.

Damn. She’d never been so tired in her life, and at such an inopportune moment! Luckily, the Rusalkan youth were plenty capable of making up for Alyx's failings. At some point, he must've let her catch him for the sake of the game; just as quickly, she reeled away and ran, and the game continued for some time until finally they burnt out their energy reserves and decided it would be best to take their Firebirds stowaway to the adults.