Wapun Meadow road shimmer wigglin' the vision

snuff snuff

dirt. frost. clouds.

lick

blood.

they licked the ground a few more times. it was the only taste of nutrients they had felt in ages. a few more times, desperate. but there was nothing to be found. an empty stomach, caving. buggish eyes, bugging.

sariel licked until all they tasted was dirt, and licked more, until they were rubbing their tongue raw against grass. until blood dripped into their mouth, and they swallowed it, because that’s all they had.

a part of ancelin was still vitally fearful that one day avicus and her children would come for him after all he had said. his aunt was not forgiving, or at least had not been in the past.
it meant anyone new was a threat. 
the single entrance in and out of the valley was some comfort, but the meadow beyond remained a wildcard. the green was latticed with tracks, that of prey and wolf alike.
it was the latter watched with a burning indigo gaze from his perch on the sentinel boulder; at length, ancelin dropped silently as a panther and stalked with stiff shoulders out into the territory he had already begun to feel possessive about.
he said nothing, but his posture was not friendly.

no more blood flowed.

sariel could not afford to lose more. aggressively they scraped their tongue against the ground, again and again, until the nerves went dull. nothing, nothing, their stomach cried, roared, raged.

their eyes bulged. a whirl, twist, a turn to snag the remnants of a wildflower, grass, whatever they could fit between their jaws. their stomach churned, but sariel was desperate, and this was all they had.

the approach was noted with the whites of their eyes, and faster snapping of grasses, but beyond an anxious stamping, they did not move.

their mouth was bleeding. they scrabbled pathetically in the meadow, trying to swallow as much grass as they could before ancelin came close. his nostrils searched for sickness in their scent, but all he could see was how hungry they acted.
by contrast, he and ameline were fine hunters and had kept themselves fed. they were a pair perfectly primed for winter's challenges.
his body relented its tension. ancelin licked his jaws, tail waving once to signal no attack. the figure was ailing fur racked over bones standing in complete relief, their eyes only a pair of scared bruises in their face. "stop eating that shit," he grunted, though in a friendly tone. "i can help you find meat."

stop eating that shit

they stopped. immediately, dropping the grass and dead flowers in their mouth with a pitiful, saliva-filled plop. they didn’t even lick at their mouth to clean the remnants. anxiety coursed through their body language, tremors wracking up and down their legs, the fur across their back spiking up then laying flat, over and over again.

sariel’s spittle and grass-stained lips twitched, though their anxious frown did not deepen anymore than it already had. slow, they lowered their head towards the ground, tail tight to one of their back legs.

acceptance in the presence of a stronger huntmaster.

they weren't in any condition to hunt, ancelin saw that much. their submissive body language eased that part of the former redtail struggling to be born; he cleared his throat. "stay here."
they were starving and spooked, bad combination for stealth hunting and patience. "wait." he gestured. "i'll come back."
whether or not the stranger would stay put while he was gone was another story.
he came back in near an hour later, having hunted near a glade reeking of foxpiss and catching a rabbit too foolish to live if it was anywhere near that place. it hung warm and limp in his teeth as he trotted back to where he had left the scrawny thing.

stay here.
wait.
i’ll come back.

two of those were commands.

obedience was holy.

sariel tucked their front limbs beneath them as the rest of their body succumbed to gravity, landing on the ground with a too-quiet thud. their neck, too long, slithered to a halt against the ground. and they stared, watching the distance. the sun tracked the minutes, which came to near an hour. that’s when they heard footsteps, getting near.

they did not raise their head, just waited for a new command to replace the last.

this appeased ancelin on a level he could not explain. he dropped the animal near their feet, wondering if they'd wait to tear into it. just to see, he said nothing for a little while, then grunted, "eat."
the young hunter turned his gaze back toward the valley, wondering. with just the single entrance, he wasn't sure if deer would enter, especially if it was clearly claimed by wolves. however, this meadow could serve them well, an extension of their territory.
theirs. he smirked quickly to himself, amused at his own apparent wants. another moment. ancelin looked back at the stranger.

blood.

hanging in the air like a delicate thread of spider silk.

and yet sariel did not raise their head. they made no eye contact. they just stared blank, seeing and knowing nothing until their next command.

drool.

it wobbled at the corners of their mouth, rapidly spilling over and dripping down their jaw to the ground beneath them. a small pool formed.

eat.

they lunged, up into a half sit, wrenching meat from bone and near sobbing with relief. their breath came in great hitches, blood drenched their dark snout. bloodlust painted their eyes, but only for the food.

to the one who gave it, their savior, the commander, they just gave a teary eyed grateful look, and thankful whines between snarls at the food.

the creature moved only when ancelin commanded. the locking mechanism he had snapped around the sensation of blood-taste roused powerfully in the young bearclaw; his eyes darkened as he watched the stranger fall on the prey and devour every bite in whimpering gratitude.
no one had ever been this grovelingly grateful to ancelin for anything before, anything at all.
a small smile unfurled slowly across his mouth, as cold as it was warm.
"do you want more?"
his heart; leaping; his pulse galloping as hot blood stirred over his spine.

gone, gone, gone.

their honeyed frame shook, stomach protesting the delay. sariel licked at their mouth absently, pupils wide.

longingly, for a mere moment, they reached out to try and grab one of the bones, before they cringed back.

eat was not chew. it was devour. for substance, not for the pleasure of grinding their teeth into it.

sariel’s head snapped up at an uncomfortable angle at the Commander’s question, though they notably kept their gaze away from his eyes. father had not wanted them to look at divinity, it was disrespectful to have their wild-eyed gaze on anyone but the ground beneath them.

slowly, then very fast, they began to nod, spittle and blood flying from their still messy jaws.

a stronger yes had never come, which deepened ancelin's pleasure. "do you have a name?" he asked of the creature, considering for a moment how nice it might be to have a minion of sorts, someone eternally loyal to whatever he and ameline were going to build.
"come," the young wolf said, issuing another order as his long legs set a pace back toward the the valley for them. what would his mate make of them, ancelin wondered.

bug eyed. shaking framed. sariel was quick to move to their feet.

commander leading the way, they came ambling along. sheepdog, loyal companion, though they stayed at his right heel. commander asked for a name.

s ari el.

their voice was rasping, rough hewn, and oddly whispering, pronouncing oddly, placing emphasis unduly.

gonna start a new one! <3

sariel, sibilant. not for the first time did ancelin wonder what had happened to them, but their obedience outweighed any past. as the meadow shifted from autumn grass to the red dirt leading into the valley, ancelin looked at the other.
"you'll meet my mate, ameline, first. and we have kind of a theme going on with names and the others who are here. id call you asariel for that reason," he grinned, but fell into silence as the trees billowed before he and they, and would stay silent until he had called for ameline.

<3!

asariel, given to them by the commander. sariel, accepting. sariel, yielding. angel with no voice.

silence fell over them with sariel’s acceptance of the given name, the air filled only with crunching leaves, and the occasional bird. no words from commander, or from supplicant.