Firefly Glen The more I see I understand

I'm vague and I like to assume things~

She knew that Elwood knew where he was, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to find him the morning she went out to see for herself. If there was anything Sassafras could have done to bring Peregrine and Fox back from the dead she would have done it without a second thought, but @Shrike had gone of his own accord. She knew she had no right to sway fate and cross his path on purpose, but she hadn’t quite decided if she cared that she hadn’t a right to do it. And it might not matter, because she had no intention at all of coming close to the pack he called home.

Giving her legs a good stretch by allowing a lengthy, bounding stride, she traversed the glen with ease despite the great accumulation of snow. Kicking up a dusting of snow behind her, she zigged and zagged where she pleased. There was no mistaking her joy at being free from the alcove of the mountain and the icy grip winter had held during the month of January even if she felt the slightest twinge of anxiety. While she might inevitably miss being suffocated by stale air and the squashy confines of being shoved into a tight space with a throng of Redhawks and Blackthorns, she had taken the opportunity to stray as soon as physically possible. This particular brand of Stockholm syndrome had taken shallow roots indeed.

With the half-truth of scouting held close, she roamed where hints of prey or previously unseen landmarks led, and it was quite some time before she flopped herself to a worn scent-path and rubbed her pitch body in the snow. She committed to the action with a roll before heaving herself to her feet, giving her bladed hackles a shake, and bounding off in search of the animals that had passed through before her... straight in the northerly direction of Neverwinter Forest.

Charon had promised @Alya to take her exploring for a while. He'd gone off with Aria alone during the storm, which had doubtlessly drawn pouty faces from his daughter. After returning he had taken his time to rest up but now he was ready to explore. The weather seemed to have calmed down at least a little bit, so Charon decided to take her into the near vicinity of the pack.

He loved the Glen, even if it was better at night, because he had so many fond memories of times spent there and the lights were a spectacle at night. "Come on Alya, don't be a slowpoke," he called out over his shoulder as he continued to step forward. Looking over his shoulder, it wasn't until they were nearing each other — one from the west, one from the south — that he saw the stranger.

Or... He thought so at first. Hackles bristled instinctively at the sight of her and then he suddenly remembered with a jolt — "You!" He had momentarily forgotten about his daughter's possible nearness when he hissed, "You have some nerve coming so close to my lands again." He had nearly killed her that time, and he felt his lips peel from his teeth and tail wave in the air like a banner as he felt the urge to lunge again — though he did not, for now, giving her a chance to explain herself.

mix, if you want me to take out alya, let me know - i owed you an exploration thread and figured her presence would make the situation more interesting!
manda, hope you don't mind me rolling in, i couldn't resist the drama <3

Alya couldn't help but be a slow-poke. "It's so flat," she said again, still gazing around with wide blue eyes. The Great White was probably getting tired of hearing those words by then, but Alya was incapable of getting past that fact. Her whole life, she'd looked down on flat places and imagined she knew what it was like... but it was different being surrounded by the flatness. It was different when she was on it, and the newness of it all was making the dark princess a bit dizzy.

Having not yet noticed the stranger nearby, Alya assumed her father was speaking to her - she jumped at the sharp sound of his voice, wondering what she'd done this time to warrant such a scolding. Probably, she deserved it.

But he wasn't talking to her, and Alya stepped eagerly toward the dark wolf, a name on the tip of her tongue. But it wasn't Cypress, either, and the girl receded somewhat, feeling tense and anxious, now.

It was difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when the back of her neck had begun to prickle with the pull of awareness that someone, somewhere, was drawing nearer. Her nerves took a heady spike as some sort of awkward social anxiety came over her, tilting her radar ears to locate the source of her discomfort so as not to look so obvious about it. She had thought the encroacher could have been Shrike, but that was such an unreasonable suspicion to her mind that she felt a fool for thinking it. A stranger, then. Except this wolf… there was something about this wolf… why was that scent so increasingly familiar?

Whomever she thought it might have been, it certainly wasn’t, and there was not a shred of her being that was prepared for the kind of confrontation this particular wolf had brought with him. Social anxiety was quickly replaced by returned hostility as she skittered away, only to turn and face him head-on at a distance she felt marginally better about. She drew herself up to level her gaze with his, and while she didn’t curl her lip or even make a sound, her guard-hairs etched inky jagged lines as they stood on end. It took her a few seconds to process what the freckled male had spat at her because her eyes had drifted to the earnest-looking child with him. She was dark as the night sky, and after a moment seemed less certain of the situation. If not for the uncanny eyes the two shared, Sassafras might have wondered who she belonged to.

Her emotions flailed and for a split second she thought she might not be able to keep her questionable cool. She clenched her jaw to steady a slight tremble that threatened to give her away, but she found the hate she’d had for the words he’d hurled that day to be missing from the place she’d left it. Whether because of his young daughter or any one of a dozen other reasons, Sassafras wanted to turn and be on her way. It was only instinct that stopped her.

“I’ve kept my distance,” she corrected icily, “and if you’d like to go your way, I’ll continue on mine.” She reeked of false diplomacy, but she couldn’t imagine finding the strength to turn her back in his presence regardless of anything else that might happen.

Charon had completely forgotten that Alya was there until the moment she was suddenly by his side, staring at the wolf that he had just spat his words at. He wasn't sure if he should pretend to be nice and diplomatic — nor if he wanted to — or if he should just do what he would do without her there. Or maybe he should consider he had an extra body if it was needed in a fight; although, last time he remembered that he had gained the upper hand quickly, so his arrogance demanded the thought he would likely win again now.

The Redhawk wolf's answer was irritating for sure. There was something different about her scent, he noticed now that he stood closer in her presence; she did not reek so much of Peregrine and Fox, or whatever their names were, so much. But before he could address it she started to speak and it instantly ruined any rational thought he had left. The way she spoke, as though she was the civil one here — how dare she. His stance remained hostile while he stared at her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he spat at her. He considered saying that he bet she'd never found that child she was looking for and that it was dead now, but swallowed those words when he remembered that Alya stood beside him. Able to get himself under control he turned to look at his daughter and said with passive-aggressive gentle tones, "This is a wolf that was at our pack's borders a few months ago, when you were little. When I told her to fuck off she didn't and I had to almost rip her head off to prove my point, so now we hate her 'cause she's a dumb piece of shit and her pack is lead by morons. But it seems she hasn't learned her lesson yet, because here she is, on the flats near our mountain. What do you say we do with her?" He then turned his icy gaze back to the Caldera wolf, truthfully prepared to do whatever horrible thing his daughter might suggest they do (and completely unprepared for any non-horrible suggestions).

Lyra needed very little tempting to join in on Hydra's latest scheme, which was to follow their twin and their father. Why shouldn't we go on the adventure, too? Alya would want us there, what if something bad were to happen and we weren't? That thought alone was enough for Hydra to decide, and spoken aloud only solidified her conviction. She was sure she had spoken what Lyra thought, though only because she was certain that Lyra and Alya both echoed the sentiment of their collective safety. 

Their following was, by and by, pretty boring. Alya's observations, each and every time, were right. Outside of the mountain everything was flat, and Hydra could not help but feel the overwhelming desire to just go back. Still, Hydra was diligent and dutiful in her distant stalk. She and Lyra both were honing their ability as a hunter... and there was an ever present thrill of being caught. Hydra was sure Alya must have some sort of feeling... but if she did, she did not act on it to turn them away or invite them nearer. Hydra smirked in the shadows. 

They went on like this for a while, she and Lyra, until something interesting did happen. There was a wolf Hydra did not know, and it seemed for a moment Alya might know of them... no, she did not, judging by the way Alya fell back the way she had. Hydra's ears cupped and she peered through the woods, trying to get a better look... but seeing was not half so good as hearing, Hydra observed. 

This is a wolf that was at our pack's borders a few months ago, when you were little. When I told her to fuck off she didn't and I had to almost rip her head off to prove my point, so now we hate her 'cause she's a dumb piece of shit and her pack is lead by morons. But it seems she hasn't learned her lesson yet, because here she is, on the flats near our mountain. What do you say we do with her? Her fathers outburst was all Hydra really needed. Her pale eyes turned toward Lyra in a, I told you so, thank gosh we have come!—before Hydra emerged from where she hid, moving to slide alongside Alya and took one more emboldened step forward. Her fathers hatred was all the justification she needed for her feeling of disdain of this stranger. What did you do to someone, when they could not learn? Rip her head off, maybe, Hydra suggested with a lash of her tail. This was but a game to Hydra, and it was not the first time their father had encouraged, or condoned, their violent side. The consequences, and that the other might feel pain or anything of that sort, was not something Hydra considered. She peered toward Alya, blinking slowly, a question present in her eyes: what do you think? Her tail waved, encouraging. Up until their joint arrival, Alya had seemed uncertain—but she saw, now, that this was no longer so, and Hydra nipped her fondly. We're here for you, always, and one ear cupped to the side, listening for Lyra.

All she could do was gawk at the stranger. She wasn't a little puppy anymore, but she'd still only met a few wolves outside of Moonspear, at it was jarring to meet on that her father apparently didn't approve of. She listened with a quirked ear and a hard stare as The Great White expanded on the stranger's transgressions. Her dark brow furrowed, and she looked to the side as Hydra stepped forward, not really surprised to see the identical girl standing there.

At her words, Ayla's tail twitched in agreement, and after a quick flick-flick-flick glance between the three heads, she stepped forward, in front of her father.

"Don't worry, Daddy. Let us handle this fucker," she suggested, feeling confident that, between the three of them, they could run this interloper off. And if they couldn't, The Great White would be there to finish the job.

She stared incredulously as Charon reacted like a loose cannon and went on to impart exactly what he thought of Sassafras to his impressionable young daughter. The more she listened to what he said and recalled what he had said the last time they’d met, the more she felt there was no choice of words that would appeal to his seemingly unhinged instability. He’d proven himself threat and foe by turning a simple question about a puppy’s whereabouts into a full-fledged verbal attack on Peregrine, and Sassafras would not have readily returned to that mountain’s foothills for anything. It was a distressing feeling to realize that it didn’t matter if she was at his doorstep, too close by his standards, or heading in the opposite direction of his lands entirely; Charon would forever be an opposing force wherever and whenever they might meet.

Even so, the Redhawk was of the mind that the situation was ultimately in her favour up until that point. Although there were two wolves against one, all she really had to do was exploit the protectiveness Charon surely felt over his small and inexperienced daughter. As her calculating eyes drifted to Alya, however, two more dark figures appeared at Charon’s heels and Sassafras curled her lips as one of the arrivals answered her father’s question with sickeningly thoughtful readiness. They're eerie little triplets, she realized as her gaze shifted to each of them in turn.
 
“Oh, come on,” she snarled in exasperated disbelief. She’d been uneasy to begin with, but confident in the fact that she had at least one advantage. Now, she had nothing if not genuine fear. Charon might not have intended to kill her the first time, but Sassafras had never actually considered the idea that he might have let her live if she’d given in. It was a possibility that was even further from her mind as the three-headed hell-hound looked at her as though she was a carcass meant to be ripped to shreds for practice. They were bolstered by each other, judging by the way the previously wary child was suddenly so eager, as well as their dear daddy’s encouragement, but they were even younger than Liffey and Lagan. Their words were surprisingly virulent and disturbing for ones so young.
 
She lowered her head in the face of the four of them and growled a deeply severe warning she was sure would fall on deaf-ears. Sassafras didn’t stand a chance. She thought of her formidable mother and wondered what she would do in the same situation, searching her subconscious for anything she could cling to that would allow her to survive what faced her. If Charon only wanted to see her tuck her tail and flee, she could do that, but she wasn’t sure anything less than the sadistic entertainment of watching his offspring tear his enemy to pieces would be acceptable.

He was surprised to see Hydra and Lyra suddenly by his side, and truthfully, he would've scolded them if the Redhawk wolf wasn't here. They weren't allowed outside alone, not yet, and he had offered that he would take them places if that's what they wanted for that very reason. Hydra and Lyra were off doing something else when he'd picked Alya off for exploration, but now they were suddenly by her side. Were they hiding somewhere the whole time?

What Alya said was creepy as fuck, even to him, the wolf who wasn't the fucker about to be 'handled' by his children. But he remembered fighting when he was that young. He remembered the monster that he had fought when he'd been on his way to Duskfire Glacier to find Kevlyn; a thing he had only survived because of a mysterious stranger's help. And he remembered how much it had hurt every time he had gotten hurt because he was young and inexperienced in battle.

So he wasn't really going to let the Redhawk wolf have any chance of harming his daughters, even if they'd win, hands down, with the four of them. He was intending to teach them that if you acted like you'd win anyway, you didn't have to fight. He nosed Alya's head lovingly and in the process said in a low voice, with intent for the Redhawk not to hear is, "Winning is all about intimidation by words rather than actual fighting." He winked at his girls then before turning back to face Sassafras, his body puffed up with dominance to show his daughters, in part, what he meant. "Maybe we should use you to send a message to that fucker Peregrine," he said in a low, dangerous voice as he stared straight at the Redhawk wolf. He hoped his girls would actually decipher that they shouldn't go kill'n'attack mode (yet) but that they should just play along the game; the only thing he'd let them actually fight was the Redhawk's retreating butt.

Hydra shifted her weight, grinning pleasantly in response to her siblings words. The other seemed uneasy, not unlike the rabbits Hydra attempted to race after with little success in catching them at her age. An ear swiveled toward her father as he spoke, and her head turned toward Charon. What he meant, exactly, she was not sure—using someone as a message? Hydra was given pause for the moment. Her father had not outright agreed with either of his daughters suggestions, which could only mean he had something else in mind... she awaited his direction, head swinging back toward her fathers enemy. Hydra hadn't any idea who Peregrine was, either, but specifics didn't really matter to her. At this age, Hydra was blissfully unaware that the devil was in the details.

For Alya, this was nothing more than yet another game to play with her siblings. She'd never seen Hydra rip another wolf's head off, but often heard her threaten it when she played the dragon in Rescue the Princess. Alya assumed this was the same concept, and that they would chase off this new dragon and had a grand old time.

It irritated her to hear that this would not immediately be the case. Apparently, they were going to bandy more words, which was a nice enough passtime, she supposed, but really more of a means to an end - and that end was a rousing game of Chase.

"But we wanna chase her," Alya protested, in the way of a child pointing out a very obvious fact that she doesn't realize her parent already know. "Hydra hates this part and we already said the scary things." She turned her attention away from Charon to appeal to the stranger. "It was scary, right? Can't we just play chase now?"

Pouting, but unwilling to act (in his presence) without her father's permission, Alya waited for all parties to agree to the new terms of the game.

She was still a bag of nerves when Charon leaned in to whisper something in the first cub’s ear, then gave a wink to all three of his daughters that turned her gut. She was beginning to feel like she might be lucky just to refrain from vomiting in front of them when suddenly the freckled male mentioned Peregrine again. She clenched her jaw in an effort to keep a lid on the grief that bubbled to the surface and caused her to visibly wilt as she nearly forgot herself and her distressing situation. Sassafras had nothing to say as she stood there and tried to collect herself and focus on the situation at hand.
 
Meanwhile, the younger wolves were concerned with the plight of their current standstill and its tedious details, such as the when and the how of resuming their game. When one of the triplets looked to her to verify that she had indeed been scared, as if it might sway their father into setting them loose, Sassafras simply nodded solemnly and said, “very,” with tellingly grave inflection. She had every reason to fear in present company, but playing along could hardly dig a deeper pit of despair.
 
Looking back to Charon when it was clear that the others meant to remain quietly obedient, she was suddenly overcome by a need to know why the Alpha male was so intent on clinging to his grudge and sulking over a bruised ego. “What did Peregrine say to you?” she suddenly burst in an annoyingly earnest and emphatic tone.

And so Charon found out that wielding a switch blade and not-so-subtly threatening your enemies didn't really work when you had your kids along. Alya suddenly burst into whiny I-want-it-all-and-I-want-it-now mode, which drew forth a bubbling growl from his throat as he looked at her with a look that explained he was not happy. He rolled his eyes, feeling mocked when Sassafras went into interaction with the girls and the moment was just gone. He'd need to teach them about intimidation later.

At her question, he narrowed his eyes, turned his gaze to her and said, "I wouldn't even know where to start. During last summer's famine he interupted a pack hunt and almost got us all killed. His children are dim-witted idiots who can't deal with their shit in any normal way, and when I was looking for —" He glanced briefly at the children before turning back "— for someone, that fucker told me to get the fuck lost." He turned narrowed eyes back to Sassafras, as though challenging her to talk all of that straight.

Skipping Hydra this round, with her permission.

Alya felt her heart sink when her father shot her a look and a growl. Oh, she thought, exchanging a long-suffering look with her sisters. This was not a game, but a lesson. And while Charon was usually the fun parent, that was when they were playing. At least they still got to chase in Mama's lessons.

With a soft, melancholy sigh, Alya fell into line with her sisters and put on Hydra's mein. In the blink of an eye, there were no longer three sisters, but three Hydras standing beside Charon, all with indentical looks of studied indifference on their faces. Doubtlessly, there would be punishment later for both sneaking out and whining. This day just gets better and better, Alya thought, saying as much with a flippant glance toward her mirror-sisters.

The adults continued to argue while the three Hydras continued to wait for something exciting to happen. It looked like they'd be in for the long haul.

She skittishly looked to each side of herself and shifted her weight on small, black paws while Charon warned his kids to pipe down, presumably, and behave themselves. Maybe they were just kids being kids after all, although she couldn’t shake the foreboding image of the menacing “little” triplets giving chase, getting carried away, becoming far too pleased with themselves, and bringing her down for the slaughter. Maybe she was getting just a little carried away herself, though, because even Sassafras had felt the tension of their surroundings sag. It was only that she was hesitant to believe in it.
 
The trio of dark shadows fell into silence about their father’s feet as he unexpectedly explained his contempt for her former Alpha. She came up with Peregrine’s defense each time a new point was raised, but in the end… she’d never known Peregrine well, which allowed her a twinge of sympathy for Charon even if she would never be able to verify his story. Defending a ghost to her death was harder to justify than her outburst at Charon’s words when Peregrine had still been alive.
 
“Peregrine’s dead,” she said flatly after a long pause of consideration. She wasn’t sure why, but saying it aloud seemed to make her grief easier to deal with, and Charon was the first wolf she’d actually said the words to. Said words only left her mouth because she was willing to exchange honesty for what she thought was probably the truth, or at least some likeness of perception, but she still set her jaw in anticipation of Charon’s reaction to the information. There was no way he wouldn’t figure it out.

The children grew silent, and Charon's attention turned mostly towards Sassafras as the situation had turned more serious now. They were at a standstill of sorts, ironically caused mostly by the three girls that wanted the chase so badly. Charon would've happily gone on being a snarky passive-aggressive fucker if they hadn't diffused his momentum of the threat. He didn't doubt that Sassafras was no longer scared at all.

There were many reactions that he had anticipated her to give, but not that one. Dead? He thought of Dhole and wondered if she already knew. Where did she live now, anyway? He'd run into her that day with Floki... So it had to be close enough. He tried shaking her from his thoughts. "Good;" he had said it before he knew it, but when he reached into his heart he could find nothing but happiness for Peregrine's death now. "Who leads now?" As that would fully determine whether he could one day stop hating Redhawk Caldera.

He glanced at his girls, wondering if he should let them have the joy of the chase. Just tell 'em to kill'n'attack because it wasn't like Sassafras was suddenly a friend just because they exchanged some information. And it'd be hilarious to see.

She kept her mouth shut and attempted to reign in her obviously flighty emotions when he reacted in the expected fashion, feeling there was no reason to give him any further cause for aggression against her. Her grief, she supposed, was tied to the regret that she hadn’t really known Peregrine and now never would, but she managed to take some semblance of comfort in the fact that the caldera still felt like home even with the absence of the founding Alpha pair. She wasn’t even certain how it had happened, particularly where her disappearances were concerned, but realization crept upon her, ever so subtly and carefully, that she had not properly thanked the Blackthorns for all they had given her.
 
Shouldering the blatant insult and reminding herself that the true fight had always been between Peregrine and Charon, she was able to reply with a point-blank answer: “Finley and Elwood lead.”
 
And that was that — all the information she had to share was laid unceremoniously on the table, and she assumed that their discussion, however brief, had reached its end. She chanced a glance toward the direction she had intended, but thought better of her original pursuit and decided that if she was going anywhere that day it ought to be straight back home so long as Charon and his minions would allow it.

'Finley and Elwood' meant nothing to Charon. He didn't even know them at all (or thought he didn't, anyway, already having forgotten Barf Face's real name, if ever he received it). He guessed they were Dhole's siblings maybe, but truthfully, he had no idea whatsoever of the consistency of Redhawk besides Peregrine and Fox. And it sounded like neither were around anymore. He wasn't too sure if that changed his view on Redhawk.

He thought on it for a moment and considered that he should maybe visit Redhawk Caldera sometime to see for himself who these new leaders were. But right now, he didn't want this to end boring or lame for his girls (or they'd skip out of town without him next time), so even though two thirds of them had snuck out illegally he made a decision.

"Better turn back to lick their butts some, then, now that your big hero's dead." His physique indicated what he meant — that she should turn back where she came from and get the fuck out — and he shared a meaningful glance with @Alya , @Hydra and @Lyra . He didn't think they'd rip the Redhawk wolf apart, anyway, so it couldn't hurt to send in the hounds. Probably. After giving her about five seconds to react, Charon snapped his teeth and then he would start the chase.

Had he been alone he would've unlikely chanced it, since he didn't actually like taking the risk of fighting, but with his girls there he needed to show them how tough their dad was and also teach them about chasing away people who got in your face.

Hydra watched, dutiful and silent and composed, interested in this exchange. Her father dealt with his enemy in a way Hydra assumed was appropriate, though the exchange had grown a little dull. Still she was patient and still, practicing her stillness and her patience. She noted Alya's transformation, and Lyra held herself well. Intuitively, Hydra watched her father for any cues of right or wrong... but he only addressed this stranger. 

But as her father next spoke, Hydra could not help but grin at his words—her age, betrayed by her immature humor—and his movements inspired a ripple effect. Hydra, who had been cold and indifferent otherwise, moved to rigid attention. And when his father moved, Hydra sprung forward, ahead of her two sisters and snarling that they hurry up!, though the wave of her plume expressed that they were playing, as ever.

Alya was lucky that Hydra had been paying attention; the girl had been in danger of dozing off by the time Charon decided to unleash his hellhounds upon the stranger. Their father's meaningful look had been missed entirely, and it was only at Hydra's playful growl that Alya realized their Time to Shine had finally come.

Leaping forth, Alya moved into formation with her sisters, with Hydra in the lead and Lyra taking the Middle Head's opposite flank. They raced toward the stranger on whip-like legs, never pausing to worry that the other might not run - that she might stand and fight.

Because, no matter what the three believed, this was not a game.

What is this guy’s problem? she thought with a creased brow in response to her bully’s clear-cut derision, yet still managing to find herself wondering if she actually deserved what he was dishing out.

There was too little time for self-reflection once Charon essentially gave his children the green light and Sassafras a click of his jaws for good measure, so she sprang quite apathetically into action. She intended to put on as much of a show as she could muster in order to placate her aggressors as she fled back towards the caldera, but her heart and legs felt filled with a strange leaden indifference. Even when the trio charged, Sassafras merely flicked an ear before snarling the last warning she would give.

She didn’t plan to stick around, in any case. The Redhawk kicked up her heels and bounded straight into her previously trodden path so as not to needlessly slow her route home. She pinned her tall ears back as she sped away to listen for their breathing, footfalls, and attempts to close in.

It pleased him that the Redhawk wolf would run away because if she had stayed and fought he would've had to throw himself in front of his children. But she ran and so he decided to simply keep up the rear; staying close enough so that he could join the fight if it were needed, but staying far enough so they could feel confident about chasing her off themselves.

"Good job girls, get 'er!" he shouted with a grin, and he would keep up with the girls until either the Redhawk wolf would put enough distance between them so they'd give up, or until they'd grow tired and stop running eventually.

The three of them were lean, and swift. And the three of them knew how to utilize one another. They had watched their parents and pack hunt often enough, and practiced themselves upon spry and swift rabbits. They would separate from one another, and reappear front, left, and center—confusing the prey, startling it. But their youthful excitement prevented them from actually catching the creature; they'd glee over their near-triumph, and distract one another while their rabbit escaped. 

Not this time, though. Father was watching! And he encouraged them, which encouraged her further. Hydra chuffed to Lyra, and then to Alya: divide, then unite, and conquer! And Lyra moved one way, and Alya would likely move the other, while Hydra would stay her course and gallop onward. Most unexpectedly (and unfortunately) for their runaway "prey", her sisters would reappear to dive into their attack. 

Hydra gained on the raven woman, striding headlong and with intent. She was quiet, and her tail waved whilst she sprinted. And when she felt Sassafrass was close enough, she made a bid for the others leg, snapping hellishly at the others heels—she was the perfect distraction! She then began to bark sharply, the sound eager and excited—the cue for her sisters to join her.

Hydra's sisters knew this tactic well. It did not work well on rabbits, as they could never hope to be as fast as those, but they could sometimes manage to surprise their father with this formation. Alya hoped it would work even better on the woman, who had never seen them do it before. Distantly, she also hoped that Charon was watching, and that he would be mightily impressed by their sneakiness when it was not being used to hunt him or pester their sister.

At the dominant sister's command, her identical fellows swooped in like a pair of ravens, Alya swooping quite a bit closer than the naturally more wary (and naturally more intelligent) Lyra. "Gotchya!" she yipped, attempting to ram her shoulder against the woman's like she would with one of her sisters when they wrestled.

Exit Sassface. Sorry I couldn't make good on promises to spur character development! ♥

Suddenly, one out of the trio gained enough ground to nip at her heels and another very quickly sidled up to slam shoulders with her. She thought about how she was almost certain she would have done something stupid if Charon hadn’t given her even a running start, then counted her blessings, such as they were, and grit her teeth against a violent urge to jam on the brakes and tear one of them a sense of respect.

Of course, it would have been a pointless and perilous endeavor, and instead Sassafras dug in to her own momentum and bolted ahead, putting distance between herself and Charon’s daughters with everything that their youth lacked. She pushed on with what quickly became a thoughtless drive to be well away from them before finally slipping into a tangled swath of trees just beyond the glen.