Blackfeather Woods I'm coming back to you like a bullet, and I'm not gonna miss this time

Open to anyone, would love an @Abraxas or a @Flicker if they're still hangin' around though!

He'd always held nothing but disdain for the way the Dark Brotherhood garnished their borders. The bones and flesh littered around the edge of the forest didn't, in Ramsay's opinion, serve as any sort of warning to anyone. All they did was draw unwanted attention from lesser predators and wolves alike. As a kid he'd found it interesting but ultimately counterproductive. As an adult he found it utterly childish.

He was presently picking along the woodland's edge in the dim dusk light, searching for any remaining trash to dispose of. Much of it had been reclaimed by nature in the time since he was a child, which was for the best, he thought. It seemed the most recent residents hadn't continued with this useless practice. Here and there Ramsay would find a bone or two, which he took care to bury at the roots of trees. He was no naturalist but it was the most logical place to put them in his mind.

It was tedious work, but keeping them all safe was one thing he felt very strongly about. For as long as his sister wanted to linger in the woods, Ramsay wanted to be sure they weren't associated with the woods' past bloodlust. That meant removing grisly reminders of the former pack.

She wanted to be on Ramsey's good side. The side on which she could use him to convince Maegi.
Bringing home two of Damien's relatives would prove her better. Surely would give her sway in joining. In being able to work. 
She wanted what she thought would be best for Maegi. 

As much as Maegi clearly hated the idea of going to the Melonii, it was logical to Flicker. If Damien wanted her badly, he would seek her. He wouldn't be gentle about it either - she knew his type. She also knew that if they were hell-bent on resurrecting the remains of the Blackfeather Woods Empire, they'd have to create a reputation. That would mean doing heinous work. 
Flicker knew which side she wanted to be on. A Priestess such as Maegi would be safer, wouldn't be forced to conduct the felonies the pack would seek to enact. The fire-licked woman would make sure of it.

But if that was to happen, she needed Maegi there. Not loitering in the remnants of a past home. Picking up bones. Her golden gaze glared at the disfigured man, following him blatantly. He seemed wrong. It was probably just his appearance but she could help it. It was like Aries. Perhaps they were under the guise of the same mentor.
"Whatcha doin' there bud?" She greeted, drifting closer. Perhaps she'd get an insight on what he was actually trying to achieve. It seemed pointless -- bones were bones to her.

Ramsay picked up his ears at Flicker's greeting and straightened to fix her with an impassive stare. What a disrespectful way to address someone. He didn't make mention of it, if only to spare himself the trouble of, he assumed, hasty apologies for thinking his brain was as screwed up as his body was. Instead, he set his jaw in a firm line that clearly conveyed his displeasure with the way she'd spoken and answered, tidying up. We don't need these.

He remembered her from his reunion with Maegi. He remembered her pressing forward as if she sought to protect his white-furred sibling from him. A laughable thought, really, but it told him she was likely one of Maegi's guard, and he appreciated Flicker for that. To him she was just a stranger in the woods, and that would need to change if she was staying to protect his sister. He wasn't keen on anyone close to Maegi that he didn't approve of, and so far, she wasn't winning many points with him. You are? he prompted, cocking a brow at her before turning to search for more bones in the undergrowth with his ears at attention toward the cream-and-crimson woman.

She quirked a brow at his radiating...disgust, perhaps. At what she'd said probably. His face seemed a set in stone as a fossil. She'd sneer at him if she didn't need him. 

"I offer you my help, of course."
She half supposed Maegi got off lightly when it came to her figuration. She'd only had a paw screwed up -- literally. This guy wasn't even all there. In mind as well as body, she supposed she'd find out. She swallowed, her tail low. She didn't stare at him, she needed him to think her weak. She needed to manipulate them.

"I'm Flicker Vaidya. I serve Maegi as her protector." She wouldn't outright tell him that she served Melonii's, Damian and his pack in that. If he had the same reaction to his relatives as Maegi, he wouldn't persuade her. "I am yours, too, if you ever need the support." She wasn't stupid enough to say he couldn't fight. Likely could with an expression so sour, but an offer of support seemed harmless enough; like a pack. 

Ramsay emerged from the undergrowth with nothing to show for it; the bones in this area were already reclaimed, it seemed. So he was left to entertain Flicker. He fixed her with an impassive gaze all through her introduction. As suspected, she served as a sort of protector to Maegi. She offered the same to him, which he declined with merely an expression. He was a trained fighter, and far too suspicious to allow someone to enter the fray with him whom he hardly knew. Flicker would need to earn his trust a whole lot more before he would consider her a guardian for the woods.

Ramsay, he said shortly, though she no doubt had already picked that up from their first meeting. He always observed formalities, however, at least on his terms. How is it you came to guard my sister, Flicker? he asked, gesturing for her to follow if she so wished. There might be other bones to bury elsewhere, and he wasn't a wolf to just stand and chat. He needed to be doing something productive at the same time or it all felt like a waste.

She nodded, taking to walking beside the man. She dismissed his momentarily contorted face at her suggestion of helping. Whatever. It would make her life easier she supposed. Especially if he was prone to biting random wolves. 

She thought back to the time just before summer, "Maegi asked me to join Blackfeather and brought me here. Relmyna accepted me and I did everything I could to help." It wasn't enough, something seemed to whisper to her. Once, these woods gave her some mysterious comfort but now there was nothing. It was a cold shell. "I vowed myself to protecting Maegi when she asked me into the Brotherhood." She dared a glance to Ramsey, half wondering if she'd see the dismissive, impassive glare pointed right at her. She had the right mind to roll her eyes and quit his company yet she couldn't. She had to get him on her side too. Even if it just meant getting them to the borders.

She concealed her serpent well. She'd practiced often enough.

I see, Ramsay mused as he paused to root around the base of a tree. No bones there, either. For good measure he pressed his shoulder against the trunk and scraped along its side, leaving several tufts of fur tangled into the rough wood. It wasn't as obtrustive as urinating to mark a spot, but served nonetheless so he would know later that he'd already checked here. Any attention given to Flicker at this point was in the form of brief, polite glances and perked ears; he didn't bother to watch closely any longer. There was no need; he was on edge enough that if she had some other designs or sought to attack him, he was ready for it.

And you stayed with her ever since? he assumed, for Blackfeather Woods showed signs of having been wild land for quite some time. How long ago had the pack dissolved? Longer than a month, he surmised. Perhaps Flicker knew all the details, but he would rather ask Maegi about it later than ask about it now. It truly made no difference.

She swallowed thickly. She should've stayed with her. Followed her. Yet her loyalty to the pack meant she wouldn't -- the pack came before all else. That much was etched into her mind.
"If I had, I wouldn't've been apart from 'er. She left 'n' I stayed until the demise and then some." Her teeth ground together, her tongue snaking over the snapped tooth that was becoming loose now. She supposed the whole thing would come out soon enough, much to her distaste. She should find that Siqsa wolf, perhaps the kind-hearted Arana too. 

"The Melonii, th' others of yer blood-family 'ave formed 'nother pack. I seek teh join 'em. Damien wants to talk with both you an' Maegi." She hoped this would work. Her voice kept level, her gaze trailing from the depths of the woods to the ground as if she were merely talking of the weather. If Ramsey had the same reaction to the Melonii, Flicker would have to think up of a new tactic pretty quickly.

Flicker seemed to think Ramsay was a mind reader, responding in a fashion suggesting impatience with his question, a conclusion he drew from the sound of her teeth grating together (or maybe it was her poor word choice); now he really did roll his eyes and wondered, how was I to know you parted from her? He hadn't seen his sister in months, a fact easily gleaned from the way they'd reunited, which Flicker herself had witnessed. Oh well. It was all about to not matter anyway.

He froze when she spoke again, uttering the traitorous name of his blood family. He continued using it mostly ironically, partly because it conferred advantages among the various brotherhood branches, and had no love for most of his blood. Least of all his deranged uncle who would gladly have killed him or his littermates if given the chance. He had no memories of it, but knew it from the way Damien had regarded them throughout their childhood, at least whenever he emerged from his crazy cave, which was almost never. If there was any wolf Ramsay was more unwilling to follow or barter with than Vaati, it was Damien Melonii.

Well, you'd best get going then, he said with a low warning growl; this wasn't a suggestion. Tell Damien we thank him for the invitation, but we humbly decline. Maegi and I will not have words with that lowly dog. His stare was cold now, and he turned away from Flicker with a dismissive flick of his snout. Their insane uncle would be getting nothing whatsoever from him or his sister.

She shrugged, "Per'aps she told you,"  she murmured. Quickly dropping it. He seemed aggravated at her words; for whatever reason, she couldn't figure. 

He froze at her next, words. She turned to come about before him, gazing at him levelly, almost challenging. She almost dared him to say no but kept her trap shut. It seemed there would seem there would be no convincing the pair. She splayed her ears at his words -- the growl. She flashed her teeth at him, "Then you'd be tellin' Maegi where I'm goin. I'll be back, Ramsey, whether you like it or not."  Her voice was as cold as his stare, her fur prickling.
 She debated snapping at him as he turned yet decided losing her temper at him would not do wonders for her. It would make it worse and perhaps make Magi hate her.
Flicker turned from the borders, again leaving the clasp of the dead woodland.
She didn't know if she'd return alone or with company. She didn't know what she preferred as she started into a lope towards The Melonii.

He kept his face expressionless and his gaze level as Flicker... threatened him? She was welcome to return. He didn't for a second doubt that Maegi would approve of his sending her off here and now. Unless something had changed drastically in the time since their parting, he was willing to bet that his sister was just as against meeting with their uncle as he was. There was no need to point out that she wouldn't get a second chance to leave unscathed.

He watched her go without a word or further motion, and when she was sufficiently far from Blackfeather's edge, the dwarf turned and sank back into the shadows, keen on reporting back to his sibling.