Fairspell Meadow and i run from wolves.

Liffey had never gone this far from home before. She had done her best to stay within the vicinity of the Caldera on all of her previous excursions. As much as she wanted to defy her mother, she had still been a relatively well behaved pup. But now, she was an adult. She was theta - lowest in the pack, but still higher than what she'd been before. It made her feel more bold, and also more free from her mother's more strict rules, even if said mother would likely not agree.

But whatever. Liffey pushed her mother as far from her mind as possible as she ran across the plains. The wind rustled the deep black fur along her spine. A smile was stretched across her muzzle as a laugh fluttered in her lungs. There was no reason to be running. She wasn't hunting, being chased or running late for an appointment. She was simply running, carefree and happy, with the stars glittering overhead.

She then tripped over the wolverine she hadn't known was there and went sprawling as it hissed wildly, whipped about, and set upon her in a rage.

They were far from the proper bounds that The Great White had indicated they were to stay within, but none of the three were too concerned about rule-breaking - and, if they were, Alya was unconcerned enough to make up for it. Besides, she thought of this as one of her father's softer rules (if he had any hard ones), and something that her mother might even approve of. They three, after all, we're match enough for any one wolf.

On this day, Alya padded ahead of her mirror sisters - leading with the express (though unspoken) permission of Hydra. Though only Alya had a true and burning interest in scouting, the three never did anything apart that could be done together. After all, if they were to continue to emulate each other, they would also have to be able to reliably display each other's skills.

So Alya scouted and tracked and marked their way, so they might return home unscathed, while @Hydra and @Lyra paced behind her and took note of these actions, occasionally stopping to 'practice' the motions in a less than dignified manner.

"I do not look like that!" she exclaimed, scandalized by the dopey way her testing of the breeze had been mimmicked. "... do I?"

But before either sister could answer, Alya heard a commotion nearby. The wolverine they'd been tracking was just ahead!

Wordlessly, the girl took up her position at Hydra's side, knowing that she was the one best suited to leading them into battle.

Hydra had an interest in tracking as much as she did guarding, though certainly not for her sisters own reasons. Hydra enjoyed hunting as much as she did fighting, and tracking was in line with her interests. It brought her all the closer to Alya, her right hand, though she was no less close to Lyra for it. Hydra wanted to see that Lyra's abilities grew with her own passions... she simply had to figure out how, first. In the meantime, the three tracked the scent of a wolverine—a creature whose reputation was fierce, but who the girls wanted to test their prowess upon.

Now and then, Hydra morphed into Alya. She was better at being Alya than she was the sweet Lyra, though that did not mean she was great at it. Still, she was subject to being questioned by Alya (though no other would note her errors), and when her sister inquired: ...do I? Hydra echoed the words in an equally scandalized tone: ...do I? her eyes hardening before she squinted playfully at her mirror image. 

But the sound interrupted both of their train of thought, and Lyra too, likely. Hydra's head swung in the direction it came from, and Hydra rushed toward the sound of the fray. She appeared in time to see the wolverine set itself upon a girl with a striped back, and Hydra moved toward the chaos with eyes only upon the weasel creature, her ears thrust forward in an unmistakable LET'S GET IT, TO MY LEFT AND RIGHT! for her sisters. Hydra didn't know this other girl, and didn't do this out of the kindness of her heart—the wolverine was theirs, for all intents and purposes... but she felt the odds shifted in favor of population: wolves with an unexpected +1 (Liffey). Though, who could be sure?

[throws Cypress in here and ruins everything]

Tagging for reference.

It was strange to Cypress — the sheer number of others @Rannoch and @Rian had come across. The unfamiliar names drummed absently through the raven’s memory without faces to match: Liffey-Keoni-Rose-Tryp-Kaori-Redshank-Liffey-Keoni-Rose-Tryp-Kaori-Liffey-Keoni-Rose-Tryp-Kaori-Redshank —

— and Cypress? He had met only two of them. His mind was occupied with one name — a name with a face that he feared he wouldn’t recognize the next time he saw it. He didn’t have Rannoch’s sunny personality or Rian’s quiet decisiveness, and the comparisons he drew between himself, his littermate, and his cousin never seemed to come out in his favor. The eidolon was trying to distance himself again — not exactly deliberately but perhaps instinctively — but fortunately for him, Rannoch and Rian wouldn’t quit.

Today the darkling Frostfur was wandering, and his long, rangy limbs had brought him further south than he’d ever been. It was against his nature to leave his traveling companions for long, but there was an acrid, bitter tang in the air that he couldn’t identify, and it strengthened the further he went.

At the sound of a scuffle, the raven quickened his pace — and when he spotted a silvern blur in the distance that vaguely resembled a wolf tangling roughly with a brown-and-black blur with scythe-like claws and an evidently terrible attitude, he didn’t stop. A slight stutter in his stride betrayed his unease, but he barreled forward with an infuriated roar unlike any sound he’d ever made before —

— because the gray was Eshe and the brown was bear and this time he could save her —

— and, instinctually mindful of the gray blur and only vaguely aware of the three-headed beast of ink and nightmare, he sought to use his weight to ram into the quickhatch with little care to his own personal safety. It was his goal to knock the beast away from the girl who was not his mother — but everything was a mess of sound and sensation. He collided with something — he thought it felt bearlike, but it could very well have been Liffey herself — and furiously attempted to snap at the nearest clump of reddish-brown fur.

FRANDS! <3

Liffey was completely unaware that others of her kind were about. She hadn't noticed any scents on the air while she was running, and her awareness narrowed drastically further shortly after she fell. Her mind seemed to slow until it could grasp only one thing at a time. Pain came first. She felt her shoulder scream as it collided sharply with the earth and her legs tangled beneath her. Shock followed quickly, and this was one of the more interesting emotions for while it was inherently the same, it morphed as different aspects of the moment blinked quickly in and out of her head. Shock at the sudden collision was replaced with shock at the fall before shock at the sound of anger took over, only to be replaced by shock at the sight that came to her eyes when she turned to see the creature.

From that point on, fear reigned, and everything sped up wildly.

Liffey scrambled away as quickly as her aching limbs would allow, which was not at all quickly enough. She felt claws digging into her back haunches almost the moment she found her footing and attempted to spring away. She cried out as her back legs collapsed under the weight of the animal that was shrieking at her with sharp-toothed jaws parted unnaturally wide and eyes spilling over with a rage far too big for how absurdly small and beady were the black orbs that held them.

Instinct drove her to continue to throw herself forward, even as teeth began to sink into her leg. She had barely begun to panic about that fact when a black shape bloomed in the corner of her eye. Her head turned to get a look at this new horror, but suddenly she was tumbling again as it crashed into her and her assailant. Liffey couldn't even tell if there were teeth and claws holding her back when she finally managed to pull her feet beneath. She simply leaped forward, and was overwhelmed with relief when she shot free of the tangle.

HI!

Every day, they seemed to be allowed more and more free reign. To be honest, Lyra didn't think their parents would even mind if they made a trek to the distant, shimmering body of water one could see from the very top of Moonspear. They were near full grown now and, while not completely matured, all of Charon and Amekaze's spawn were more than capable of handling themselves. That didn't stop the triplets from staying together as a single unit, however.

Do I? Lyra laughed along as Hydra mimicked their sister. She had been keeping behind them, checking each marker Alya left as they walked...just in case. She trusted Alya but sometimes she could be a little distracted. Especially when the subject of a certain boy came up. Lyra's own heart fluttered at the thought but she had barely enough time to dwell on it — an urgent nearby sound interrupted their hunt.

Immediately Hydra was at the forefront, Alya at her right and Lyra at her left. The girl's ears pricked upright, a lump forming in her throat as she saw the beastly creature tangling with a small, grey-furred form. Feral hissing and snarling emitted from the scuffle and Lyra hung back as her two sisters surged forward, letting out a gasp as yet another dark wolf rushed onto the scene. He seemed familiar somehow, but the girl couldn't waste any time on that!

She raced around the enraged wolverine, dodging out of the way of a swipe of razor sharp claws, blue eyes set on the grey female that shot from the mess of black fur and savage snarls. The unmistakeable metallic scent of blood tinged the air, and Lyra tried to get to the girl's side to help her get further away from the fight, her tender instincts taking over her usual shyness.

Though the dark blur could have been anyone in the split-second before she caught his scent, Alya never once thought it was one of her sisters breaking formation. Hydra was too stubborn, and Lyra was too smart. A snarled ripped out of the girl's throat as the stranger stole their hunt - but it soon bubbled into a gasp as she realize who it really was.

"Cypress," she said, mostly for Hydra and Lyra's benefit, but also in a manner of greeting. They would have time for a proper 'hello' when they finished dealing with the overgrown squirrel between them.

Alya surged forward with more zeal than ever before, eager to show off in front of her mysterious friend. Briefly, she considered taking hold of it where Hydra would have, wanting to have a bigger part than she usually played, but it was best to stick to their usual plan of attack. Hydra was far more vicious than she could ever be - unless one of her mirror-sisters was in danger, of course.

With a growl, she grabbed on of the beast's powerful back legs and yanked, though she'd learned from her mistakes in the past and did not hang on for very long. Hydra would stp it before it got to her, but she still danced out of the way and began circling - both to distract the creature and to figure out where next to strike.

The name was heard, though it and its meaning did not click until many moments later. For Cypress had made a bid for what she and her sisters had been tracking... and after chaotic seconds, he had removed the critter from Liffey. Cypress, Hydra thought irately—before she realized who Cypress was to Alya. Cypress... they could include him within this moment between them, Hydra decided, and with an excited snarl she moved to assist Cypress, alongside her sisters, dispatch Liffey's attackers. Hydra managed to grab hold of whatever end Cypress did not, and Alya had made a bid for its rear legs. Though wolverines were vicious indeed, it was no match when in the grip of four young savages—and in the moment, that was what they were! Her intent, as she signified to her sisters with lobes that snapped aggressively forward, was to have this beast drawn and quartered.

The air was thick with blood, and although Cypress had never seen or even heard of such a creature, his bloodlust was a shark’s bloodlust. Heavy, scythelike claws found purchase in the flesh at the juncture of humerus and scapula where his fur was slightly thinner and he threw up his head in shock and pain before plunging his muzzle deep into the fray to make a grab at the fleshy hollow of the wolverine’s collarbone. He couldn’t hold it, though — not unless he wanted his eyes gouged out. The next time the quickhatch swiped, though, he lashed out, snakebite-swift. Between his jaws he gripped the enraged beast’s left forelimb, and he grit his teeth with a vengeance, sulphureous eyes sliding to meet Alya’s — and other Alya’s — blu —

— wait a minute, Alya?!

“Rr-yrrr!”

The name was shocked out of him, but he didn’t know where to look and nobody had any leaves because everybody had a mouthful of really disgusting whatever-it-was. He knew, though, that one of the two black-furred, blue-eyed wolves was Alya — Liffey and the third Alya were out of his immediate line of sight — and he wanted to impress her with his prowess. It helped that the wolverine was trying desperately to get free using any means possible, and his sharp fangs were tattooing Cypress’ wild-furred nape. He pinned his ears to keep them from being lacerated or torn clean off, using Alya One and Alya Two’s cues as much as his own to know when to yank — and managed just barely to avoid being bitten at the corner of his jaw. He was forced to twist his head at an uncomfortable angle to keep the column of his throat protected but his efforts paid off when a sickening snap! and the creature’s scream of agony reached his ears.

Liffey scrambled away from the struggle, the open wounds on her flanks screaming with pain. She glanced back at the wolverine, but was distracted at another flash of black coming toward her. She froze and nearly tried to leap away before recognizing that this was another wolf. A girl, who moved to help Liffey get even further away from the fray. She was in no position to reject the assistance, but found it difficult to continue to follow as even more black wolves dashed past and Liffey shortly found herself surrounded.

The Blackthorn could barely understand what was happening, but she followed Lyra to a safe distance where she stood and turned to see what was happening. There were four wolves in all, three of them nearly identical while the fourth was more rough and rangy. The others swarmed the wolverine in an impressive display of strength and fearlessness until Liffey could barely even see the beast anymore. She didn't need to see it however to hear the wicked snap of its bones and know what that meant.

Liffey slid to the ground, trembling and staring.

Cypress. So this was the Cypress Alya had spoken of! Lyra turned to look for a moment at the roguish boy, his long, dark hackles standing on end, swaying back and forth as he fought off the wolverine. She shook her head to refocus, turning her attention back to the bleeding girl who now lay on the ground, shivers racking her spine. She gently nudged her on the shoulder reassuringly before turning to look at the gashes on her flank.

She only just managed to size up the wound before there was the sharp snap of bone and a blood-curdling shriek from the creature. Lyra pinned back her ears and grit her teeth, though she knew what had to be done. It's fate had been sealed the moment her sisters had laid eyes upon it. Trying not to look at the bloody scene, the girl looked to the equally messy leg of the stranger, feeling worry rise up her chest due to her lack of experience in this situation. What was she meant to do here?

Tentatively, she began to carefully lick at the other girl's injury, keeping an eye both on her — in case she reacted as violently as the wolverine — as well as the fight unfolding before them.

Ah, thought Alya, her tail lashing happily. Tug-of-war, then. With a happy growl, she clamped her jaws even more tightly over the limb she'd taken hold of. The wolverine was a sturdy creature, but it was no match for the three of them, when they'd caught it on unawares. Alya yanked along with Cypress and Hydra - at first being dragged by the combined force of their own teeth - and soon found enough purchase to complete her part of the attack. The wovlerine's limb was not pulled clean off, but it was certainly now mangled beyond use or repair.

After checking to make sure neither of her companions would be hurt if she did, Alya released the creature and surged forward to set herself upon it's belly, ripping and snapping and jumping away in turn.

Hope it's okay if I wrap this one up since it's a little old :) Thanks friends!

Liffey's gaze blurred as she stared at the carnage. All sound seemed to disappear with the exception of the throbbing beat of her heart, which pulsed through every inch of her body. She couldn't feel the pain of her wound - she couldn't feel anything except an overwhelming sense of panic. The girl that had pulled her away from the fight was attempting to clean her wound, but Liffey failed to notice as suddenly, she couldn't take being there anymore. She stood suddenly, spun and darted away from the scene as quickly as her shaking legs would take her. Running away like this was cowardly, but the whole incident had filled her with such shame and guilt that it didn't matter to her to add a little more. She wanted to be home, she wanted to be safe, and so she escaped.