Bramblepoint Leave this blue neighbourhood

Lagan ran and ran, unable to shake the vision of Whip leaping for Kaizer with the intent of throttling the life from him out of his mind. It was a pack meeting and he was expected to be there, but he just couldn't, not after seeing that. His memory of the monster that stole Lucy from them had gone latent in the time between, but now it was re-awoken, and he felt dread heavy in his stomach as he passed the borders of the pack and kept on going. That Whip could be so violent deeply disturbed young Lagan.

Thankfully, even though he left the territory, he would be easy to follow thanks to the heavily trampled trail he left in his wake.

He stopped in the tangled mess of wood that was Bramblepoint to catch his breath, and found he felt rather dizzy. He sat down heavily, peering about the woods with shiny green eyes whose pupils were pinpricks, betraying his fear. What was he to do, now? He couldn't possibly face Whip again knowing he could fly off the handle and try to kill other wolves just because he didn't agree with them, but he also had to go home eventually. He couldn't worry his parents, brother, or sister. For now, Lagan tried his best to slow his breathing and regain some composure.

@Seff and @Hvitserk please hop in if you have time!

With Blackfeather behind the young trio, they were set to their own devices for exploration. In this newfound sense of freedom, the children headed southwest with no particular destination in mind. Though their goals were to see as much out there as possible, Freyja knew that she would want to settle somewhere that they could call their own. Having brought this up to her travel companions, and receiving generally positive feedback in the matter, Freyja made that her goal. She would find somewhere that they all could all thrive under the scrutiny of overhanging customs.

Bramblepoint seemed to be their next destination and with a rumbling stomach, Freyja had decided that she needed some food. Promising the others that she would not be long, and inviting them along if they so wished, Freyja slunk off from the group in an attempt to catch the scent. If they did not decide to come along, she’d make sure that she caught enough for all of them.

Her silently-falling paws soon brought her across the path of another and to this, Freyja stiffened. With the temptation of prey, she had found herself ignoring the foreign wolf-scent in favor of a meal. Frowning, she pulled herself to full height and tilted her head softly. He did not seem threatening in the least and rather seemed to be attempting to calm-- at least this was how the former Fleima perceived him.

Hesitantly, she woofed in his direction and cupped her ears forward. “Are you okay?” Was all she offered, but despite her hesitance, her face twisted to show her concern.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Lagan's mental instructions came right from his father, the levelheaded and collected Elwood. Lagan adored both of his parents equally, but while he admired Finley's penchant for adventure, he idolized Elwood for his sagely manner. Lagan was a mix of them, but was shaping up to be more Elwood than Finley, with an explorative curiosity that could only come from mommy dearest.

So he was beginning to slow his heart rate just in time for it to spike again when a greyscale wolf—about his age—snuck out of the trees and straightened in front of him. His breath hitched in his chest. Where did she come from? This wasn't Liffey, and it certainly wasn't the long missing Lucy (though he wouldn't know if he did see her, honestly), so she made no sense to him.

He knew nothing of the outside world and children from other packs were unheard of for him. He pricked his dark ears up and snuffled, supremely curious about where she came from, but there was still an aura of fear around him, and before he knew it, he was blurting out in his characteristic mild lisp, "someone in my pack tried to kill someone else and he's a monster like the one that took Lucy!"

The more that Freyja observed the other, the more evident his fear became. She felt rather caught off guard by this, she surveyed their surroundings for any impending thread. As she should have suspected, they were safe where they were. As the other explained the trouble, Freyja turned her attention to Lagan and suddenly felt bewildered by that he had to offer.

“But, you’re okay now, right?” she asked, drawing forward a step closer to him. “The monster didn’t follow you?” Her eyes drew past the wolf of the Caldera once more, as if expecting this monster to burst onto the scene at any given moment.

Lagan's breathing was ragged again by the time he finished his account, and he was staring warily through the trees when Freyja spoke again. The darker lines at the sides of his face crinkled up as he squeezed his eyelids shut, took another deep breath, then nodded and opened them again. It'd been a long time since he felt this hysterical, even though the situation was very different. He was 6 months old and ought to be well beyond this, developmentally, but the memory of Lucy being snatched by a red-eyed beast right in front of him kept him from behaving more maturely about it.

"I don't think so," he said, more to assure himself than Freyja, who seemed perfectly levelheaded despite his claim that there was a monster. But even Lagan in his panic knew the difference. Whip was not the same as the monster that stole Lucy, but Lagan was nevertheless deeply troubled by his adoptive cousin's rash behaviour. What if that was him next, or Elwood, or Liffey? His heart plummeted in his chest. Whip had never shown any violent tendencies toward the Blackthorn twins before, but suddenly Lagan felt terribly guilty about leaving Liffey behind with him. Elwood, Finley, and Eljay could all probably hold their own against the unpredictable Redhawk, but little Liffey...?

"My sister," Lagan said weakly, peering back in the direction of the Caldera, but feeling too weak at the knees to go back for her now. He had to go back, he knew, for his parents and his brother and sister would be waiting for him... but how could he sleep at night, knowing what Whip was capable of doing, and fearing that his family would be next? "He attacked a pack mate just 'cause he said he wanted to be the leader! My dad's a leader, what if he attacks him next?" he wondered aloud, paralyzed, as if Freyja somehow had the answers. Lagan didn't want to leave Elwood or Finley to Whip and his murderous intent, but he also didn't feel strong enough to face the wolf again.

Had she know just what a monster was, perhaps Freyja would have been more scared. Even with the news of this monster bringing death, Freyja hadn’t fully grasped the situation. It was only with the actions and words that were spoken next that Freyja finally felt the gravity of the situation. It crashed upon her, shaking her suddenly as he mentioned his sibling. Her eyes widened to this, her heart began to drum, and, suddenly, she felt as though she could relate to him.

This very well could have been how she looked to Seff when she felt the need to find Hvitserk when the Dragon awoke. Finding a true connection in these feelings, and suddenly feeling all the more alarmed, Freyja stiffened and looked to him with a worried expression.

“It doesn’t sound safe where you came from,” she said, voicing her thoughts in that moment as she attempted to think of something she could do to help. She floundered there, her worry evident as she pushed towards him another step, and remained silent for a moment. She did not want to be overbearing, yet, it seemed that was all that she could provide in that moment.

“How can I help you? Do we need to go get your sister?” She offered, a light quiver in her voice as she flattened her ears. “And what is this monster like? I-I don’t really know what that is…” There was embarrassment in this statement and she did very little to mask it.

Forgive the length, I'm having one hell of a time articulating where Lagan's mind is atm because him being a fraidycat is really uncharacteristic for him but I wanted to shake him up, lol

Panicked though he was, Lagan was beginning to calm down, and in his rising calm, he knew he had to go home, whether or not he could stand the thought of running into Whip. He knew the Redhawk wasn't an evil wolf, but he could never really look at him the same way again, either. He didn't know what anxiety was, but that was the closest thing to what he felt at the notion of looking into Whip's eyes and being unable to separate him from the notion of a monster. Whip probably hadn't meant it, but that just didn't justify it.

Freyja seemed willing to help, and Lagan nodded his head dumbly because he did need to get to Liffey, but then he froze. He was willing to employ this wolf's help in finding Liffey and making sure she was okay, but he didn't even know who she was. Or why she was here. He believed in fate to some extent, of course, and didn't think lightly of the fact that someone his age had shown up right when he most needed an escape from what he'd just witnessed, but they were perfect strangers. So he gulped down some more air, and started by answering, "black, red eyes... when I was younger I watched it come and take my sister Lucy away, and she hasn't come home. I think... I-I think it ate her." But even if she was eaten, he never forgot her, even if he could barely remember what she looked like.

"This wolf... he's not the same as that, he never did anything like that, but it's still wrong to attack your own, and when he did I just... saw the monster," he vehemently claimed, fully believing in that, "and so I... he's family but he's not... not..." Lagan's words faded off as he stumped even himself. "He's not right, and the monster was like that, too, so isn't he a monster as well? I... I'm afraid he'll do it again." The longer he thought about it and the calmer he became, the more he understood that Whip and the monster were not one and the same. But there was a sense of wrongness about the entire situation, and an inability to cope after witnessing it, that kept Lagan rooted to the spot. Whip probably wouldn't do anything to him or his family, but did he really want to be there to find out?

But did he have a choice? Not really. He had to go home eventually, his parents would worry. Anxious to change the subject and take his mind off going home and having to face not only Whip, but the fact he had run instead of staying like he was supposed to as a pack member, Lagan finally voiced the question that was nestled in his head from the moment he saw Freyja: "where did you come from? I've never met any other kids."

No need to apologize at all! I'm sorry this post might be worded weird, haha.

The tale of the monster was one that truly unsettled the young girl. Listening to the tale unfold, Freyja felt her heart flutter with every horror-stricken word that Lagan provided. She could not even  begin to imagine the fear of seeing one’s sibling get plucked away by some red-eyed beast. Putting herself in that position mentally for a moment, and Hvitserk in place of Lucy, Freyja felt a pang for that fear and shivered because of it. Freyja was a wolf that did not get scared too often, the only times being when she was attacked by a coyote and when Sleeping Dragon had woken, and such emotions were a rarity for the silver-haired girl. Frankly, she wasn’t quite sure how to handle such feelings.

So, as she had done in the past, Freyja merely remained silent and looked to the stranger as her fear coiled her being. It prevented any further actions on her behalf and instead of speaking, she merely listened to what he said. “H-He sounds like a monster,” she agreed finally with an uncharacteristic stutter to her voice. “We have to save your sister,” came her next thought quickly, her voice gaining confidence. She looked to Lagan, her head bobbing as if to affirm her own thoughts.

In that moment she was ready to rally the men, Lagan’s question brought all those ambitions to a sudden half. Blinking to what he said, Freyja halted her previous thoughts in favor of answering what he had asked.

“I came from a far off place called Sleeping Dragon-- a mountain a few days travel away,” she began, gesturing over her shoulder in the direction which she had come. “The mountain was not happy with my pack and growled and made the earth shake-- we had to flee.” This aspect of her tale still didn’t feel real to her, especially now as she retold it. “I’m now traveling with my brother, Hvitserk and my…” she hesitated momentarily, her face scrunching up for a lack of a better word, “... friend, Seff. We’re looking for somewhere to settled where we can live peacefully without any worries-- somewhere where we can live by our own means.” Her words were as ambitious as the trio’s hopes of their pilgrimage. Wrapped up in the moement, Freyja forgot to introduce herself.

O HAI PALS :3 hope it's okay if I crash the party

Liffey had never been skilled at tracking. As much as her father had tried to work with her, she had never really had any interest in succeeding at it, and so she had never really tried too hard. Now that she was out beyond the borders of the Caldera, searching for her twin, the young Blackthorn was quickly realizing the error of her ways. Lagan had left an obvious trail for anyone with any actual experience in hunting, but Liffey was frought with doubt and worry as she followed, not realizing that she was actually managing the task just fine. The scene kept playing over and over in her head. Whip's attack, Kaizer's retaliation, and her father's final blow.

Kaizer was dead. Elwood had killed him. And as much as she told herself that he'd done it to save Whip's life - that Kaizer would have killed her cousin if her father hadn't stepped in - she still felt sick from the thought.

The six month old paused to peer at her surroundings, trying to see them instead of the image of her daddy with blood upon his muzzle. She could smell her twin faintly in the area, but his scent didn't linger on the brush or the trees as though he'd actually touched them. It was a scent on the air that barely breezed through this woods, and Liffey was uncertain of how to follow it. She roamed around for what felt like hours before she got her next clue - the sound of voices just out of reach. Liffey's ears pricked as she heard them, and soon she was racing through the undergrowth until her eyes set upon the pair. One face she did not recognize, but the other she knew in an instant. She did have the same one, after all.

"Lagan!" The Blackthorn cried as she leaped towards him, her tail wagging with joy and anxiety. She whined as she licked his chin and nosed his cheeks affectionately, ignoring the other wolf's presence as she held tight to the relief of having successfully found her brother.

It was obvious from his reaction that Lagan too was happy to be reunited with his sister. They took a moment to sniff happily at each other's noses before the other girl finally caught Liffey's eye. She was mistrustful when she finally turned her attention to the pale girl, but there was still curiosity in her tone when she asked, "Who're you?"

Yus!

Just as she had explained what she was all about, another figure burst onto the scene unexpectedly. At this surprise, Freyja's eyes grew wide, and her fur spiked as the other advanced on Lagan. She watched on in silence, soon realizing that the gray flash was not a thread and, instead, knew the apple-eyed child. At least, that was what she presumed from the stranger's actions. 

Soon enough, Freyja became the subject matter. Cupping her ears forward, she stayed in place and offered a smile to match the other's look is distrust as if attempting to convince Liffey otherwise. 

"I'm Freyja. I just ran into Lagan, and he told me about the monster. He said he needed to go and rescue his sister," she explained, looking between the two wolves. At that moment, as she observed, Freyja's mind clicked, and she realized that the two looked very similar. "Are you the sister?" she asked in light of her rationalization, her head tilting as she looked to Liffey.

The girl replied, and her words caused the caution to melt right off of Liffey's shoulders. She turned to look at her brother, confused. Why was he talking about the monster? Had he seen the monster? He didn't seem to be interested in talking anymore. He had dropped to her haunches and begun to shrink in on himself instead. Liffey hated seeing him like this. She leaned over and planted a few comforting licks upon his nose before looking back at Freyja, tuning in on the question that was posed.

"I'm Liffey," she said, a question in her voice that spoke of her confusion over the situation, "I'm a sister. but it was our sister, Lucy, that was kidnapped by the monster." Liffey looked back at Lagan and found him looking mournfully at her, whining. She pressed herself closer to him, understanding without a word why he was so upset. She wasn't about to tell him what had happened after he'd left. He was shook up enough about monsters - he didn't need to know that their own father had killed one of them.

When Freyja was informed that Liffey was a sister, she nodded in reply as her smile faded. "When did you see her last?" she asked, curious. From what Lagan had said, it seemed as though it had happened very recently. She waited then, ready to help if needed.

I think we can wrap up here. Thank you for helping me conclude this! <3

The girl asked when they had last seen Lucy. Liffey frowned thoughtfully. It had been so long, she wasn't sure how old she'd even been at the time. "I can't remember," Liffey admitted, offering a slight shrug, "We were real little when it happened. It was before the leaves changed colors." Liffey glanced at her brother again who was looking more exhausted than anything else.

"I think Lagan and I need to go back home," Liffey said, then paused as his green eyes shot up to hers, "Or.. just somewhere to rest for a little while." He softened, and the girl knew then that it was what her twin needed. "Thanks for looking out for him," she added, her ears falling back sheepishly, "I think we'll be okay."  Her tail waved, but she felt uncertain about up and leaving someone who had been so nice to them. It would've felt impertinent to ask if she had somewhere safe to stay the night, so she bit merely her lip and nudged her twin into motion towards the trees.