Moonsong Glacier the wayward weeping voices that you will hear

Dirge hadn't planned on going out so far, but the weather was far too inviting. Clouds were moving in again and he didn't dare squander fleeting rays of sunshine, though admittedly leaving was a task in itself. He found the absence of @Hydra to pick at him when they had been so inseparable, yet the thick cord of tension that circled Moonspear gave him plenty of reasons to wander a smidge. A short day trip, nothing out of the ordinary. With the beginning of the end in regards to Hydra's estrus, he did not worry that she would stray. Of course, if she did... well, then she did, but he doubted such a thing would happen.

Still, it was left to nag at him, somewhere at the back of his mind as he began to work his way along the fine edge of the old glacier. A herd he had been tracking had gotten away from him, plunging towards the weald which proved curious in itself, and claimed. Whoever had set up shop there seemed to be having a better go of things than he had ever had there and it too in part drove him eastward away from its fringes.

Curious yet was the slab of old ice and snow left to linger, a constant that had once served a backdrop to his wanderings a year ago. It was warmer now but the nights still dipped, the dampness a burden more than friend as he scaled onto the flow with the aid of stones. His nose crossed over loose hairs left behind by another, but any trace of who it had been was lost; the fur was old and weathered, and of little consequence. He turned a semi-circle on his vantage point, eyes squinting against the contrast of greening earth and vivid sky, and tried to see the coast.

It seemed to Yami that Moonspear's shadow had haunted her steps even before she'd ever walked away from its borders. As the days of her life shifted from one chapter to the next, the weight of the mountain's presence had ebbed and flowed like the tide upon the shore. Sometimes it was heavy, other times it was barely a whisper on her back. The times she'd spent wandering with Tru and Ripley had been the furthest her childhood home had ever been from his mind. But it had been growing again, ever since she'd returned to the Wilds. And it seemed no matter how far she tried to run from it, it was always there. Watching her. Judging her.

Waiting for her.

The yearling was determined to ignore it. She remembered vividly that moment on the Ridge where she'd gazed at the mountain and adamantly insisted they go away from it. She didn't want to be found. She didn't want to think about the mountain or her former family at all. So, she'd come North that day to spend some time on her own, exploring the territories nearby the river where she and Firefly had found temporary shelter. When she came across the stranger exploring the glacier just like her, Yami approached thinking she'd found a kindred spirit to chat with for a time. And after the massive disappointment she’s experienced with Firefly, she was so ready to find a real friend.

"Hey!" Yami called as she made her way towards him, her tail wagging innocently at her haunches. He was upwind of her just then. It wouldn't be until she got closer and the wind so conveniently shifted just a bit that she'd catch his scent and she'd know what a terrible error she'd just made.

EDITED hi sis

Once driven off from Speedy's side, the boy had not returned to the mountain. He'd only stopped to rest when he was striding along the undulating hills of the Spine; yet even then he could not stop, driven further north by the itch in his skin and the scene of his father commanding that they disperse. He had dropped the ball — saying he would protect Speedy only to leave her with Charon — but what could he do? She had refused him; she had fled from him in to the waiting graces of his father, and there was nothing Revui could do about it.

So, he sulked. He roamed with thoughts of Speedy and her intoxicating scent on his mind. Even though the boy's distance from home grew by the hour, he couldn't stop himself from mentally drifting back to Speedy. To the gathering, and to moments before that - gathering bark, defending her from danger, being the danger. Maybe his father was right to take her away, but it didn't sit well with him. The petulance of puberty won out. That, and the incessant desire within Revui to find himself a Speedy-shaped log or something to take the edge off.

He wasn't so lucky; the trees thinned the further north he traveled, and the air became bitterly cold, as if winter had sprung up to surprise him. Revui found this intriguing even though it did not prevent his simmering horomones from bothering him. He roamed until his steps crunched through thin snow and the mountainside became slick with familiar - but oddly timed - ice. He slowed and then stopped abruptly when a figure materialized further up the glacial path and the boy bristled for a few seconds, only to recognize the burnished wolf as Dirge. But he was silent, prowling on as if he was oblivious.

A few moments later, he heard a voice — shockingly familiar, light-hearted, coming from somewhere to his right. He snapped his attention towards the sound with a sneer only to have the expression melt from his otherwise surly face, because he saw Yama there — — wait no, they were similiar to Yama, but thinner and more defined, as if they hadn't eaten a proper amount of red meat in months. It struck him how very different this wolf looked to the sister that was still on the mountain, and suddenly Revui was deviating his path away from Dirge, heading for the ridge where his sister — his missing sister — was standing.

His vantage point only afforded him so much, for the words of another were swift to steal his attention away. Wherever the spry she-wolf had come from was lost on him—there were many cracks and crevices along this particular ridge of ice and he presumed it was there that she had come from. He hadn't planned on encountering anyone so soon, least of all on some ice slab nestled against the mountain.

But he wasn't alone in this trek either; he heard the crunch of snow and ice behind him, his head turning just in time to see Revui slip into his field of view. The boy had a purposeful stride and it took no rocket science to follow where exactly he was heading. Dirge was torn for a moment, half-inclined to follow him just as much as he wanted to call out to him and stop for however futile it would have been. The season had him riled, but how much? How much of his father existed in the boy? He couldn't help but wonder this to himself as he moved to follow him. Perhaps the girl hadn't meant to call for Dirge, but rather Revui; perhaps things were not so dark as they seemed, or felt.

Many things happened at once then. That shift in the wind I mentioned before was the first. Nostalgia smacked Yami in the face like a brick wall as Moonspear's scent crept into her awareness. She didn't miss a beat in her steps, though, and have every intention of just nodding her head and continuing on by as though she was just saying hello along the way, but then there was another set of pawsteps, and another stranger. Only this one wasn't a stranger. This one made her stop dead in her tracks.

Revui.

Yami stood staring at him in complete shock, unable to move, unable to breathe. It was simple inconceivable that he was here right now. So far from the Spear. So far from home. Or what had once been home... The scent of her pack made it hard to remember that she hated them. It being Revui made it hard to remember too. If it had been any of her older siblings, or even one of her parents, she wouldn't have had as much trouble (though Charon and Ame would've still been a bit difficult). But it wasn't them. It was her littermate, and she had missed him terribly.

Still, she didn't move. Yami shook her head slowly, uncertain if she was trying to tell him not to come any nearer, or just trying to tell herself not to go to him.

He didn't care about what she was doing there, what she was thinking, what she might want of herself, as he put her in his sights and closed the distance. It did not take long for the hulking, now-adult-sized Revui to reach his lost sister; not so lost now, and not to be lost ever again. This was one aspect of his exultation he had thought was impossible: the task of hunting down a sister that even his all-powerful father could not find. She was a means to an end; they had been split up for so long that Revui did not see her as family now, and likely never would. If he could get her back to the mountain then his father would be singing his praises — and Revui would be one step closer to his rightful place as the Beta of the mountain.

Yami was shaking her head and trying to convey something to the gargoyle, but he was not having any of it. There was no getting through to him. Revui had one goal in mind and that was to reach Yami, get her home — and he was still intoxicated by his own horomones, eager for that contact that had been denied when Charon stole Speedy away from him. Hurting, too, because of her escape. He would not let Yami escape from him now. The first thing he did as he reached her was lunge, hard and fast, to try and knock her down and to grasp her with his fangs, eager to pin her to the dirt before she could slip away and become lost again.

Not again, came the coherent thought, never again.

There was something about the subtle hitch that picked up in his gait, something in how much more streamlined every step became. Maybe it was the less than subtle pull back of his lips that made Dirge realize that this was to be no ordinary crossing of paths. Even the girl's reaction bred unease. The guard hairs along his spine prickled as he came to realizations uneasily—Revui was not just running up to pass on greetings. Maybe he should not have been surprised by the brutish display the yearling was set on offering, as after all he too had gotten the same treatment.

”Revui!” he called after him, his tone sharp as stones. Ever the outsider in this situation, he was unaware of just who it was that the boy faced. He knew of his missing sister—knew quite a lot about his family, in reality—but the connections were far from being made. No, it was the reaching maw that forced his hand and sent him towards the hulking side of the yearling. Revui's distraction was the perfect, if not the only opportunity he saw to give the poor girl a chance to breathe. Whatever happened in the wake of that, well...

arcturus had not returned to moonspear either. he felt used by all of his family members — the only wolf who accepted him for what he was (and didn’t just bark out orders or expect him to be everyone’s bitch) had left, and Arcturus was damned if he was going to revui disappear again. 

so he followed his brother as he was accustomed to doing, coming in rather late to a scene that frankly, seemed like more of the same drama he had JUST tried to leave behind. he sighed, ears slicking back as he watched revui swing for something — someone — someone who looked startlingly like - YAMI!


arcturus roared; for a wolf soft spoken his voice sounded with unnecessary strength — it was truly her, his eyes did not deceive him. which meant revui wasn’t attacking... he was.. dragging?

but dirge did not know; understandably he tried to intervene and as much as arcturus liked the male, he could not help the prohibitive growl that edged out his throat. leave him alone, arcturus intoned darkly, his head lowering as he beggingly looked to yami. yami, please come home.

There was just the one moment. Only one, singular moment when Yami had believed her brother was coming to her out of love and longing, while she stood frozen, simultaneously both yearning and resenting. There was a part of her that was desperate to let herself believe she’d been wrong. That her family had loved her and cherished her all her life and she’d just been too selfish and dramatic to see it. But that part had been rejected so fully up until this moment, with her litter mate rushing to hold her and welcome her back into the fold with open arms.

Except for that look in his eyes.

Oh fuck.

Yami didn’t realize how wrong she was until that moment when it was suddenly too late to protect herself. She fell beneath his weight, in a way that reminded her of when she’d been a small child, tussling with him and the rest in their den, only there was this sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that was not at all familiar. She scrambled beneath him as other bodies joined and more shouts sounded. She scrambled, trying to find purchase on the ground so she could get away, her breath gasping as panic threatened to take her.

He heard Dirge shout but that wouldn't stop the leviathan from lurching for the girl; he was not loyal to the man who had captured his older sister's horomones; he was loyal, adamant even, to bring Yami back to the mountain so that he could be praised by his father. His efforts were almost complete — if he could bring her back, force her back if he must, then Charon was bound by his word to anoint Revui as the Beta. He had earned it, and the proof was standing right there, struggling against his weight and his teeth as he grappled with Yami and forced her to the dirt.

Before he could do much else, he heard one of the few voices that could curb his enthusiasm. Arcturus' shout was deafening in comparison to how he typically sounded, and as he came thundering close, he came to Revui's aid and blocked Dirge from stopping the boy. Revui was overjoyed at the additional help; with his dear brother beside him, they could both earn favor with their father by bringing Yami home.

Although it was Revui who used his physicality versus Arcturus who tried to use reason and words. Either way, she would not be escaping the two of them. As if to punctuate what Arcturus pled, Revui rumbled a warning deep in his chest and made a point to pull her - struggling or not - along the icy ledge, proving that he'd drag her the entire way if need be.

Arcturus seemed to almost materialize from nowhere, but that was the misfortune of an unfamiliar setting. The terrain had as many rises and as it did dips and somewhere in the scramble and struggle of poor traction pockets did Dirge find himself barred from going further. And it was there that confusion set in for several long moments as the other two were a tangle of limbs and fur—and then the lights came on, and everyone came home.

Her name rang a bell—Yami.

In spite of the frustration he felt in wanting to separate them, it would have been foolish to try and get past and commit to what he had set out to do. He wasn't out there looking to cause trouble in what should have been a reunion, but it was by far the weirdest reunion he had ever seen. At least Yami seemed well enough, for now, and he continued to stay. A sigh pierced through his silence crisply, his gaze falling upon Arcturus.

"Is the dragging really that necessary then?" Stupid question—this was Revui he was talking about. Revui, who had introduced himself not with words but teeth first; Revui, who had left a headache worth reconsidering even now. "At least let her get her breath back," he implored, feeling his words were no doubt to fall on deaf ears. Her gasps did not fall deaf on his.

as usual, things escalated out of arcturus' control. he had stopped when he had first seen yami, but now he was flanking her -- meanwhile his brother did not abate in his attempts to haul their wayward sister back to moonspear.

if arcturus was just a little rougher around the edges, he might have partaken in hauling too. the last time they had let yami out of their sights, she had disappeared for months; frankly, he was still awestruck that she was here in the flesh, none the worse for wear.

dirge was probably accustomed in some way to the batshit-crazy that the family harbored in spades; arcturus met his gaze for a second before he fell in-step behind yami, noticing the panic in her gaze. "yami, it's us - don't freak out. we're here, we're going to bring you home."

Somewhere in the shuffle of bodies, Yami found her ability to breathe again. And with her ability to breathe, came her ability to think more clearly. Unfortunately, thinking clearly just gave room for anger to sprout. And as the words of these stupid asshole boys filled the air, her anger bloomed.

"No you're fucking NOT," Yami snarled as she found her footing and shoved herself hard into Revui's face, which he'd conveniently kept by her shoulder as he attempted to drag her. She had zero intention of returning to Moonspear and was more than willing to fuck all of them up to keep hold of her freedom.

Unfortunately, she was smaller than they were, so the likelihood of them being able to overpower her was pretty high even if it had just been Revui on his own. But Yami would be damned if she didn't fight them as hard as she was able every single inch of the way.

He wouldn't let her walk out on them again. Whatever was said, whatever hurt he felt springing to life at her refusal and struggle, Revui would put everything aside in order to force her to submit to his will. He was doing this for their father - for their family - and if Revui lost her now he knew he would not be worthy of the mountain home. That couldn't happen. Whatever her reluctance, the leviathan would not cease as he fought with her. If he had to bludgeon her to sleep first then so be it; Arcturus would help him, and once she was safely returned home the rest of their family would keep her secure until she realized her own mistake.

Yami didn't want to go with her brothers and that was not surprising.

And it was uncomfortable.

Dirge lingered on the fringes of the enusing fray, his jaw set in an even line that betrayed how laxly he trailed them, how difficult it was not to intervene. He didn't have the reasoning to intervene and knew it, soon aware of how easily it was to be caught in the violent, rolling tide of emotions. It caused him to back off further if for nothing else than to observe and continue to fight with every signal to pry Revui from his sister. He thought he could handle the shark-toothed yearling, but certainly wasn't willing to find out if he could handle two of them.

Instead he wondered what it was that had made her disappear in the first place, and why she was not so overjoyed to be reunited with her siblings. It was the stir of emotion there, at least for himself, that he considered quitting the scene altogether to let them squabble over it themselves. He didn't have to watch something he didn't agree with, though perhaps it was those very actions that had set her loose from them to begin with.

arcturus hadn't meant to lend to yami's panic, but as the girl caught her breath, she also caught her cruelty. unwittingly, her snap towards her brothers ("no you're fucking not!") laid bare on the table how she felt about her family.

arcturus stopped.

he could not, he would not, fathom how she was thinking. how could she care so little for her family that had mourned and grieved her for months? searched through coast and mountains for her, coming home at last road-worn and emptyhanded with nothing but sorrow to keep them company?

and how could she care so little for him?"

arcturus felt his throat catch, suddenly aflame with burning hurt. "let her go," he commanded of revui, his voice strung with emotional pain. what was the use of fighting her, of possibly getting hurt in the process of subduing her? she didn't care about them; she would sooner fuck off than stick with the family that would have done anything for her, including hauling her kicking and screaming back to the spear.

summoning what little composure arcturus could manage (and still feeling so heartbroken in the process), arcturus looked down upon yami. there were tears threatening to well in his eyes, but he remained strong. "if she doesn't want to be with the family, she's not part of the family anymore." he stood by dirge, noticing how the older man had smartly removed himself from the shitstorm about to follow. "she's no more use to us than korei julia." he could not help that last snipe slip scathingly from his mouth -- yami had speared him where it hurt, and he could not leave that wound unaddressed.

Yami backpedaled to put some distance between herself and her brothers the moment she was released (which I assume she was but I could be wrong lololol). She bared her teeth at them as she tried to catch her breath, her lips stretched back in nervous aggression. She was angrier than she had ever been, and deeply hurt as well. Had they really just tried to kidnap her? What the fucking fuck?

Arcturus’s words sliced like a knife into her heart, which immediately made her blood boil even hotter. Those words shouldn’t have hurt in the least—She had disowned them first after all. But somehow, they still did, and the gaze she returned to her littermate was just as full of angry hurt as his was for her.

”I decided that for myself months ago,” Yami spat at him, trying to hurt him now because it was the only defense she could come up with as she spiraled out of control, ”I don’t want to be one of those judgmental, elitist snobs who would apparently kidnap their own sister just to make daddy happy.” 

She didn’t really know that’s what that had been about, but she had a hunch. Charon had probably sent them out as headhunters for her, because she was his property. Not because she was his daughter. Or maybe it had been Hydra or Vela, because her bailing on them had been an affront to their precious pride. Yami scowled, but didn’t turn her back yet to go. She didn’t trust them enough now to take her eyes off of them.

He was aghast, appalled at the decree of his brother. It didn't hurt him as much as one might anticipate when Yami refused them - he didn't hear her, didn't care for her opinion - but when Arcturus commanded that he stop his assault and let her go free, he was stunned. The orders of their father were clear: Yami was to be brought back to the mountain and only after that would Revui be worthy of his desired role. It was selfish of him to continue despite what Arcturus was saying, but --- what would father think? What would happen if he went against those orders? He did not want to lose his shot at ascension; he deserved it.

The boy was conflicted. In that lapse was an opportunity for Yami to escape his grasp and so she did, slinging sharp remarks as her only form of retaliation. While she had been off exploring the world the two brothers had followed in their father's footsteps and become proper warriors; they could still take her down with ease, far out-matching her physically. But it depended on Arcturus now. The shadow had called for Revui to hold back and he did, impatient and concerned at first, then hurt and vengeful as the reunion soured further.

He flashed his teeth and growled a low bestial sound towards his coward of a sister - but he didn't lunge for her again.

Of the two, he was quickly making the distinction that Arcturus was better spoken than his brother. Not just in the wordy sense either; there was something rather resolute that rippled through the boy, something that flinched as much as it did burn to hear such an accusation. A truthful accusation, if Dirge had to guess. Given Charon's demeanor come into full bloom with the season, he was not left reeling but disappointed. Leave it to the children to be rein in their wayward siblings or better yet, make it so they scarcely thought enough of themselves to carry independent thought.

He shook his head at the scene unfolding, but also because the last thought was too harsh. No, they were all capable of that, smarter than that. It echoed and called to him too, a certain playback to childhood and every wanting to appease and be thought of well. Somewhere, he had forgotten this or otherwise buried it in a mire to rot only for it to reach beyond its grave, and sympathy replaced the discomfort. He couldn't imagine his siblings harboring hatred for one another. Disappointment, perhaps, but never to lash out enough to hurt.

His gaze leveled off somewhere in thought then—Korei Julia? Right. The other sister that had managed to wander off and never be seen again. Except he knew this to be untrue too, as Hydra and her lot had. The pale one. He'd only seen her that once, when the other had died and her name eluded him. His attention then caught the flash of Revui's teeth and he wondered, if only for a second, somehow they could all come to an accord.

"Well if you've gotten that out of your respective systems," he announced to no one in particular, half anticipating that they'd all scatter in different directions and leave him there, alone. "You all have a very strange way of expressing joy and relief in these parts. A simple 'I missed you' seems to go a bit further from my experience." Not that he knew when he'd see his sisters again.

no sooner had those words fallen from arcturus' lips did regret seep into him, dark and as deep as blackened water upturned from a shattered well. he kept his composure, refusing to bend his neck or look away: he had said it, he might as well own it.

part of him wished he had come across yami alone -- maybe then things would have been different.. but this scenario, unflattering as it painted them all, showed each of them in their true light. yami's true light was she wanted nothing to do with the ostregas.

arcturus did not look away as revui pulled off; he was grateful, impressed even, that the leviathan had deemed it appropriate to listen to the rare command of his brother. never before had arcturus bossed anyone around, not in that way -- but in that moment he was resolute his decision was justified.

yami's words still encircled his head, but unlike the first, these did not hurt him the way her initial reaction had. maybe, the first cut had been so cruel that this seemed but a thorn-prick in comparison. the boy delivered a leveled, cold stare to yami, feeling the last of his affection slowly ebb away. "so you only care about making yourself happy." he spoke between revui's reverberating growls. "you're supposed to care about us, too."

he did not mention how much it had hurt to lose a sister. how miserable it had felt to march to the grey keep alone, empty-handed and unsuccessful. the hard hours he and charon had spent away from home, ceaselessly searching.

he said nothing else, pulling his gaze away from yami only to acknowledge dirge's quip. in another situation, the boy might have a response or counterpoint; for now he only acknowledged the elder by giving him his full attention. once dirge had finished speaking, arcturus flicked an ear; the situation was too tense (for him) to humor dirge's attempt at lightening the mood, but he did not wish to come across as ignoring the male's words. dipping his head towards dirge as if to thank him for his attempt to help, arcturus arced his tail over his lean hips, nudged the flank of his brother, and turned away, completely ignoring yami.

he did not look back.

Yami has kept her glares reserved for her brothers. The other guy had been forgotten as soon as Revui had appeared, but only now that he was speaking did she give him a sidelong glance. His words bounced off of her as they were fairly inconsequential in the shadow of Arcturus’s, but that didn’t mean his condescending tone didn’t sting her right in one of the many places she was vulnerable. ”Who the fuck even are you?” she hissed, taking the mature approach to addressing her concerns regarding his manner. But she was forgetting him again in the next moment as her brother stole back the show with another swing and a direct hit.

There was no saying for her which of his comments or their actions had hurt more than the other. It all hurt, and it fucking sucked. But Yami was young and full of teenage emotions that left her unequipped to deal with her pain in any way other than to lash out in anger at everything around her. Even when those around her didn’t necessarily deserve it. Even when she was aware of that fact.

”Oh because any of you ever cared about me!” she shouted after him as he turned and walked away. Tears were in her eyes now, angry ones, but it was a toss up as to who exactly she was angriest with. It could’ve been Arcturus for not seeing through her words and her actions to understand how she was truly feeling. It could’ve been at Revui for treating her like a rabbit he was trying to capture and take home as a prize instead of like his sister, or he’ll, even a person. Maybe it was at the rest of her family still back at Moonspear who had neglected her and treated her like she didn’t matter.

Or maybe, and mostly, it was just at herself for being such a useless waste of breath that all she seemed capable of doing was wrecking everything good she’d had in her life.

Probably that.

Yami spun then and took off in the opposite direction. She didn’t look back either, but not because she had slammed closed any doors. Only because she couldn’t stand seeing the light that came from the one she was too weak to stop from remaining open.

exit Yam ;____; <333

Sisterrrr <3 Good thread tho.

The words they launched were sharp pebbles and the way they delivered them was the sling, slicing in to the hearts of the boys as they tried to corral their sister, slicing right back through her as they felt their emotions run defiantly through their hot blood. Revui could barely hear what was being said above his surly growling and while he was aware the words were the dangerous things, the vital things, he could not contain his rage enough to listen. It was enough to watch as Arcturus turned and fled; Revui would always support his brother and feed their unnatural affinity for one another - but he lingered for a moment longer by his sister, watching as her eyes grew thick and blurry with tears, and even after - as she took off in the opposite direction - the boy was tempted to pursue her. Arcturus was gone, and he was hurting wherever he was. Without that order Revui stayed his hand. He felt his own kind of stinging deep down, the hurt of Yami's betrayal and the loss of the last piece of the puzzle he hoped to complete in the name of his father; but he turned, wordless and brooding, to chase after his shadow.

And his thoughts were proven right when silence dwindled. He may have garnered their attention for only the briefest of moments but true to the fashion he was becoming so steadily familiar with, none of Charon's children paused for more than a second. Had his ears been more keen, perhaps he would have heard emotions come back to a rolling boil. Instead it was an eruption of three separate categories, one after the other, and at least one that he did not escape the purview of entirely.

Yami's churlish gestures did little to change his expression if they did at all—he was well aware that he was of little consequence to any of them. Arcturus seemed only to humor him in so far as to acknowledge him before he made a swift exit. That seemed to be all it took for the rest of the scene to draw to a close as the wayward girl took her own hasty leave and then Revui to stalk after his brother. Which left Dirge on the ice alone with very much the same expression he had retained over the span of fleeting moments.

He considered for a moment following her but thought better of it—the lads were hopefully headed back towards the mountain and he thought it best that he did as well. There was enough chaos for one day already done, hardly any need to try and see what else could have been stirred up, or try and reason while tempers and other assorted emotions flared. So he too left the glacier, following in the trail forged by the Ostrega yearlings.