Blackfeather Woods injustice

@Cicero set after Grimnir escapes Wolfskull, which is supposed to happen OOCly

Beaten and ashamed, Damien forced himself up as he watched Grimnir's back quickly moving away from him. Their plan, although brilliant, had not been enough to get what they wanted, and now Cicero and Damien had nothing left in their hands but blood, and it wasn't all Grimnir's.

It had happened too fast. Grimnir, who hadn't been showing any signs of recovery from the effects of the Willow suddenly attacked the brothers in an attempt to escape. Damien fought back with all he had, but Grimnir was too strong for two teenagers to hold him back.

Damien whined as pain rippled through his face. There was a long gash going from his forehead down to the right side of his muzzle until it touched his lip, and it was bleeding heavily. But he couldn't let the bastard escape. Even when his left paw was hurting badly, the eldest brother took off to sprint after his prisoner, but for as hard as he tried, Grimnir's silhouette kept gaining distance.

In pain, Damien slowed down until his body moved no more. There he growled a curse at Grimnir, and frustrated he turned around to see how his brother had taken the blow. His tongue ran up his cheek to his forehead, and with a nudge, Damien usheres his brother up.

"We need to get back to mother," he said in what was a hybrid between a growl and a whine, "Make sure she knows who Grimnir really is."

Grimnir's illness from the spores had been much different than Cicero's had been. It frustrated him that he had failed in the part he played. Perhaps he should have done more experimenting before using the spores on Grimnir, or fed him extra poison. Perhaps they should just have killed him right away. They both knew what he really was, after all.

When Damien sprinted after Grimnir, Cicero followed suit. They had both gotten wounded -- and so had Grimnir, faced with two opponents; Cicero imagined he was running on adrenaline alone and would collapse, perhaps even die, not long after -- although it seemed that Damien had sustained the worst one. Cicero wished to take care of the wound, but Damien seemed very set upon returning to Meldresi first once they had lost track of Grimnir's trace, although Cicero was not sure how they had ever managed to lose the heavily wounded wolf.

"Damien's face wound should be looked at," Cicero pointed out, ignoring Damien's request to go see their mother. "Cicero knows where herbs grow nearby." Cicero waited briefly for his brother, indicating which way they should go, and hoping he would follow. After how long they'd been gone, it would not matter if they took one hour to care for their wounds.

Did I ever tell you Damien is a bag of scum?
You probably noticed already... :P

Probably the reason for Grimnir's enhanced healing from the spores was his bigger size compared to that of Cicero. The patchworked Melonii was several pounds lighter than the Bolverk beast, and the expossure he'd gotten to the spores of the willow had been significantly smaller. He had the odds on his favor, and Damien had been too blinded by his desire of revenge to see.

Cicero oposed to going straight back to Meldresi, and instead suggested Damien to follow him to some herbs to take care of his wound. "There's no time for that!" Damien shouted, almost growled, for the first time in his life at his dear brother. "He's escaping! He must die!" he explained, although at this point it was improbable that either would have a chance to catch up with the bastard. Damien believed, that if he got to Burke with the information he'd gotten quickly there would be a chance for him to track the beast down and end Damien's revenge at last, but his mind was too clouded to see he'd already lost his battle.

Damien refused to follow his brother, and instead  he went around him to push him in the direction he knew the pack had relocated after the storm. "There will be time for healing later, brother. I must tell them the truth. Make them see the real Grimnir before it's too late. He could be on Potema at this very second, we must protect our family!"

Cicero's not that great a dude either, haha :P

Damien remained blinded by his rage, willing nothing but for Grimnir to get what he deserved. Cicero had learned, in his life, that justice did not exist, and life was not always fair. It seemed a lesson Damien had yet to learn, Cicero realised, while he watched his brother reduce himself to a juvenile level by screaming at him. Cicero did not take the screams personally; he knew it was only misplaced anger, and it was Damien who had the biggest gashes, anyway. If he wanted his wounds to fester and his pain to last longer for a shot at catching Grimnir — a feat he nor anyone else would ever accomplish — then Cicero would let him.

"Grimnir will be long gone," Cicero said to Damien, voice calm and calculated, as though Damien hadn't just yelled at him. Cicero expected one of two things: Either for Grimnir to have reached Burke and Meldresi before the boys to tell them of the cruel injustice that had been bestowed upon him. If that was not the case, then he would have fled Blackfeather Woods, unwanting to live here any longer (and who could blame him?).

Cicero allowed Damien to herd him without a word of objection, not taken aback by his brother's abrassive behaviour. He was used to it. It was his own face he was ruining in the process, anyway. It wasn't like Cicero liked Damien for his ruggish good looks anyway, so he did not care if Damien did this.

Truth be told, Cicero didn't even know if Burke and Meldresi would believe them. Cicero had felt detached from most of the wolves in Blackfeather, bar Damien, even before the storm hit it. He had no idea what went on inside the heads of his mother and her mate. Cicero purposely didn't say this, nor the fact he considered the option that Grimnir might have headed in the same direction as they, and had convinced Burke and Meldresi of the boys' wrongdoing. He did not share it, for it would only agitate Damien. He would not wish to believe it as an option, even though Cicero considered it a very real one. But if it would happen and if the boys would be out on their asses because they had crossed too many lines, Cicero would be there to pick up the pieces of Damien. Always.

And so they set off towards Meldresi and Burke's den through the healing shambles of their Woods, their future on the line depending on Grimnir's actions as well as their mother and her mate's.

haha I love the spiderlings' perfect imperfection <3 Can't wait to see the 2.0 upgrade :D
btw,, I think this thread is ready for the family... We're finally back :P
@Burke @Meldresi

Cicero's reaction, as always, was cold and calculated. It often intrigued Damien, knowing how his mind worked. He'd seemed so independent and detatched from such a young age, and there was this darkness and mystery lingering around him that probably not even Damien nor Meldresi herself did. Cicero was unique. A piece of artwork. Damien stared at him for a moment, trying to see through his eyes without success.

The road back home was both quick and silent. Damien was pushing his body to the limit to make the least time back to his family, to make sure Grimnir had been smart enough this time to take his chance to flee rather than finish his filthy job with Potema. Damien's mind was racing. He cared little about what other members of the pack thought of him or his brother, but he needed his mother's approval and Burke's support. Without them, the leaders of the pack and Dark Brotherhood, Grimnir would remain a problem.

It was obvious they were approaching the pack. Marking scents grew stronger as the brothers trotted northbound. But as it was a good sign just as it became a problem. Both Cicero and Damien had been so long separated from their pack that their scents were nothing like it. For as far as scents went, the brothers would be strangers to new noses in the pack.

Burke happened to be patrolling, if he wasn't with Meldresi or out for food the male was usually trotting around the territory to make sure everything was secured. He hadn't seen Grimnir in a long time, and also the pups hadn't been around. Burke did a different route this time. He never really patrolled the web since it was quite confusing on it self, which was also the reason why he hadn't checked Wolfskull Cave. The large male trotted through the woods, unknowingly towards the two brothers. Burke was worried about them. Where were they!?

Burke then caught a scent, but it was different somehow. Instantly he chased after it. His nose low to the ground as he was running, it was clear that there were some strangers in their woods. Burke grew more agitated and sped up more. It didn't take long for the scent to become stronger and for Burke to recognize it. He howled for them and started running until he spotted the two. "HEY!," he called out, stopping my them. "Where have you been!?," he growled, though the growl was more out of his own worry rather than he was mad. It was clear that there was worry in his voice. Then he saw the state of Damien and Cicero and frowned. At first he thought a cougar attack but he knew for sure he killed that last one. "What happened?"

I don't think Meldresi will make it over since she's so close to giving birth, but if you want we could have them go to her den later in this thread.

She hadn't seen her brothers in what seemed like moons. She missed them. While they were now adults in the pack, she missed the nights curled up with them, sometimes in what seemed like a dog-pile of sibling rivalry and affection. She loved them; they were her brothers, the only ones of her litter that had survived with her.

It was then they she began to realize she hadn't been to the southwestern edge of the pack in a while, and, secretly hoping they would be there, she heading south from her Redgrove den, pass Melonii's Entrance, where she and her brothers had lived for a year, princess and prince of Blackfeather Woods, where the new princes and princesses of the Woods grew and prepared for their arrival in their mother's womb.

Potema kept going south, to a place she rarely visited, but had heard of murmured in half-heard conversations between her mother and Burke. Wolfskull Cave. The torture room and prison of the pack. Her mother talked about placing charms and curses onto the cave, though the opportunity never came. She would do it on her own someday, when her mother taught her charms to use herself. That was, what she knew would be her goal over the winter, as her mother lay in her den nursing her new pups, to be taught spells and medicinal tricks that would help their own pack.

As she thought of the different spells she could place on the Cave, and on the rest of the borders, the princess paused as she heard her father's voice, excited and filled with relief. It can't be...right? Without a second thought, she followed after the sound, running towards her father, only to be greeted with two sights for sore eyes. Potema stopped in front of her brothers, blinking at them with disbelief, then anger. "Where did you two idiots go?" She put her nose in front of Damien's face, diagnosing her brother's injuries with record speed. "Do you know how much of the store this is going to take up?" She snarled, beginning to clean Damien's facial scar, using her anger to hide how close she was to crying with joy. "Idiots." She muttered again, softer, her voice raspy in that tell tale sign that someone was about to cry.

The two brothers walked in silence then, continuing towards their mother's den. It was Burke that greeted them first, although he seemed displeased. Cicero could imagine so, since they had been gone since the start of the storm. Burke must have thought to have lost them to the unrelenting storm. Burke demanded to know what happened, though before Cicero could respond Potema came towards them, instantly fitting into her role of healer. Where Cicero had given Damien space, Potema left no opportunity for an opinion.

Much to Cicero's relief, he did not smell Grimnir's scent anywhere here. That must have meant that Grimnir had departed. "Grimnir." Cicero looked at Burke as he said this, his face stoic as always. He looked towards Damien, for it was truly Damien's story to tell. Cicero had helped and they had put the plan into practise together, but it was Damien who was so very set upon revenge and confessions, and so it should be him who would tell about the true reason they had brought Grimnir to Wolfskull.

Not another word left Cicero's mouth as they approached the core of Blackfeather Woods. Damien was grateful for that because his own mind wouldn't shut up. So many things raced past his mind, and so much pain cluttered his neuronal receptors that he was about to collapse. His face was a mess, his neck and chest a bloody hell, but he kept trotting at a steady pace. He needed to get back home.

Damien's worry grew stronger as the ride home seemed to stretch out for hours, but it was just his own body adding more pain to his suffering. He tried to ignore it, putting up a straight face and growling at his own wounds at random moments. Then he started hearing voices, but he was not crazy. Burke rushed into them with a growl, demanding explanations, which Damien was more than prepared to give. Until his sister showed up. Potema was not only Damien's sister. She, like cicero, was a part of him. The girl had lost an eye to a beast, and Damien had struggled to give her a well deserved revenge, but the news that came with him weren't pleasing at all.

Potema, in an effort to hide her joy and watering eyes, had taken upon Damien's facial wound before he could say anything. 'Idiots' she kept calling her brothers, but Damien didn't hold back and embraced his sister for the first time in moons. He held her hard for a couple seconds, giving no space for refusals, and then he stepped back to finally do what he was there to do.

Cicero had said it all in one word. But there were details Burke needed to know that only Damien could give. He looked at Potema, knowing that his next words would probably be hurtful for her even though deep inside she already knew. Then his eyes moved back to Burke, stoic.

"I don't know how you didn't see this before..." he started with disappointment. "Grimnir is the one that took Potema's eye. I've always known it. So I decided to do what you should have done too long ago. I wanted to make him confess and give him what he deserved. We used Baldur as bait, and we took Grimnir to Wolfskull... But he escaped." he stopped, rage and decepton clear in his eyes as his lips curled up to let out a frustrated growl.

"He must die. Lusa must die. Their bastards must die..." he growled with determination.

Burke looked from Cicero to Damien. Even as Damien insulted him in a way Burke stayed calm. Damien didn't understand that as a leader he had to play a certain role. He did suspect Grimnir doing what he didn't. He wasn't even surprised but their statement. "I knew it," Burke spoke with a growl. "I suspected it a long time but as a leader, surprisingly, I couldn't do much about it," he explained. "I had a conversation with grimnir about pack violence and that I would kick him out if anything happened again. Naturally I couldn't avenge Potema's injury nor did I have any proof. I am glad you guys could do something about it. Don't worry, they will be the highest on our traitor list. If I see them again it will be their death," Burke assured. 

He looked at all their stoic faces, there was nothing childish about it. Burke let out a long sigh and then embraced Damien followed by Cicero. "I'm glad you guys are back. Your mother and I worried," he was about to say Potema too but he would publicly embarrass her since she was clearly trying to hold her head high.

Potema gasped as Damien embraced her, pouting to hide her joy once more. "Alright, that's enough." She pulled away, but smiled slightly at Damien, then at Cicero. She was glad to have her brothers back.

As to the manner of their injuries, Potema cocked her head at the mention of this wolf: Grimnir. She had heard the name faintly, though she could not recall ever meeting him. Was he a member of the pack? She couldn't remember. But any questions she had in her mind were silenced by Damien's words: "Grimnir is the one that took Potema's eye."  Potema blinked with her remaining one, then spoke once more. "This...Grimnir..." She spoke, her voice uncertain. "What color are his eyes?"

Cicero listened stoically as Damien explained what had happened. He turned to look at Burke, whose words were surprising. He said that he had known all along and that he could do nothing about it, words with which Cicero did not agree. A growl rumbled in his throat as he looked at his Alpha, mismatched eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He did not wish to challenge — only to educate — for Burke was a good leader, but there was one thing he apparently did not yet realise. He was always right, and always had a right to do whatever he wished; proof or not.

"Burke leads the pack, so Burke makes the decisions to keep it safe. Proof or not." It apalled Cicero that his family, who would go to great lengths to do what was needed, who would kill, necessary or not, would decidedly not throw out one of their own even if they knew that wolf to be a danger. That he was allowed to breed, even. Grimnir's neck should have been snapped a long time ago, and while Cicero understood where Burke came from, he could not approve of it.

Potema -just like Damien was expecting- took the news badly. She questioned with vivid fear in her eyes what color Grimnir's eyes were, which was a bit surprising for Damien. Grimnir had been roaming the darkness of Blackfeather just as long as the spiderlings had. However, the beast had been secretive at best, and little was known about him. Besides, Potema herself had explained that hurting or traumatic memories were easy to be repressed.

Damien looked at his sister with cold eyes. She needed to know.

"Gold." he revealed, hoping that his sister could handle it.

And then Burke spoke.

Silence. Damien's lips pressed hard together as Burke spoke, so pretentiously, that he knew of Grimnir's involvement in Potema's attack. His stare, cold and hard, locked with Burke's eyes. He couldn't believe what his ears were hearing, and he couldn't believe that it was Burke, of all wolves in the world, who was saying it.

His father embraced him and his siblings, and for a moment Damien moved not, trying to organize his thoughts. And when he did, he pulled away aggressively. Guard hairs on end, tail above even Burke himself.

"You knew it? All this time?" he growled, taken aback. "And you didn't do anything!?" he raged. In that moment, the image he had of his father crumbled to the ground in pieces. All the respect he had for him became questionable, and he stopped feeling safe around him.

"You are our Alpha! Our father! You should have killed that savage immediately!" the boy snarled even louder, not weighing the concequences. "I should have seen it before. You don't care about us! We aren't your children, are we!?" he hissed. But in tha moment his tail lowered back. He nudged Potema towards the heart of Blackfeather Woods, and started walking.

"Let's go back to mother, Cicero." he called, dismissing himself, and ignoring whatever Bruke's reaction would be.

._______.

Burke looked at Damien with a calm expression when he freaked out. Cicero seemed to share that point with is brother. They were too young to understand politics. He would explain it to him later, though he hated that Grimnir was also fucking up his relationship with his children. He saw them as his own. "I am your father, yes," he spoke, not sure if they would even listen. "And this is all far bigger than just punishing someone. I had a suspicion and you confirmed it. But as an alpha I can't act on suspicion." 

A sigh left his lips because they were probably not listening. If it was any subordinate he would push them back into place but he really didn't feel like being the bad guy even more and ruining the relationship with any of his children. He would probably follow them to Meldresi, a heavily pregnant Meldresi. That was going to be a shock too. 

T.T ....  You guysssss. Burke would be the first in line to murder Grim if he wasn't stopped by the Grimnir's player from finding out. tsk meannn :P

Oh wow I thought amber meant orange. Whoops.

Potema paid attention to nothing when Damien answered her, her mind going into space as she thought and thought about what he said, what this meant to her. Those eyes that had haunted her dreams and waking nightmares had a face, a name. They were not some shapeless monster, a Daedra perhaps, sent by another God. But perhaps in all honesty, this Grimnir was some Daedric monster sent by, who knows, Mehrunes? Potema shuddered, but the voice, the Night Mother, spoke once more, a smile on its nonexistent lips. If he has a name, a face, a body...then that body can die. That body could suffer until it is broken a thousand times, and suffer again.


"Burke it was him, it must have been, he must have done it." She spoke quickly without pause, the revelation giving her a morbid joy and sudden dread that she had lived in the same territory as this wolf for her whole life.

Although Cicero in the past had felt cast away by Burke, less loved than his siblings, he felt a pang of sympathy for him now as Damien shouted at him. It was however not Cicero's place to step in. Not when Damien was like this. Later perhaps he would talk to Damien to see if he would calm down, but for now he would side with Damien and depart.

Cicero cast Burke a brief glance before he took off after Damien without another word spoken. He silently agreed to Damien's words by doing so, even though he did not agree to their intensity. Damien needed him most right now.

Since Damien, felt and Cicero followed there wasn't much to have a conversation. He turned to Potema and gave her a short lick over her cheek. "We will get him," he returned. One day Grimnir would pay for what he did to their family, disloyal shit that he was. Burke then nudged her. 

"Lets go back to Meldresi too she will be happy so see al her children," Burke pointed out. He started walking to the alpha den, knowing Meldresi was there. He would finish his patrol later. He wasn't in a hurry as Damien was so he quietly followed after them.

-fade end! -