Phantom Hollow you know nothing's too low for me

jōnetsu was alone.

but to be honest, wasn't she always? her mother had pawned her off to some shadowy mentor who never even tried. sensei kage always said that she was too much. too loud, too angry, too stupid. he didn't understand her, he didn't care enough to. he didn't see the potential that she knew she had. jonetsu grumbled as she crunched through the foliage that littered phantom hollow. she was making so much noise that it was almost easy to forget the deafening silence that was supposed to overwhelm this foggy haven. she hadn't been unnerved by it in the slightest when she'd waded through the river and into the barren wood in search of the great lake she'd seen in the distance. it would be a good place for her to start looking... for something. she wasn't sure what yet. a new home to latch onto, someone to bully, her mother. ha, tough luck ever getting her to admit to that last one. kuma was worse than her sensei. speaking of...

maybe he just wasn't enough, jōnetsu finally thought with a chuff. that would explain why in the bloody aftermath of the war that overtook their home of poncle wood, she was still standing and he was being picked apart by vultures. a coarse laugh escaped her, but it was quickly drowned and turned into a squeak when she walked straight into a low hanging bushel of moss. ears pinned back and she let loose a screech; "holy shit!!!" her massive head shook violently until most of the dense strands had fallen from her messy fur her and onto the ground below. a growl stirred in her and she'd snap angrily in the direction of the ground. "who the fuck do you think you are..." sure, it was silly to snarl at an inanimate clump of greenery, but it had been a while since she'd actually spoken to someone and she was bored out of her mind.

for a while jonetsu was alone -- but when a second soul joined her, it could not be easily determined. all that was evident was that a dark sprite followed after, nimble as an elusive shadow.

astara kept her eyes on the wolf, a powerful she-wolf of formidable energy. there were voices that pulled her closer, hissing in excitement the closer astara drifted to the matron. they were silenced as a clatter sounded from the shade, followed by an unidentifiable curse. astara's ears lifted and she halted, vorpal indigo gaze resting on the woman with impish amusement.

There was someone in their little Hollow. Though only recently having settled here, Phantom Hollow was home to The Melonii for however long it took their spawn to get ready for the journey back to the Weald. They would be protected, their borders had been marked with the blood of their meals and she knew Midar, the more mobile of the leading ranks, would look out for them. And yet someone had snuck past.

Nyx didn't leave her children regularly. Getting someone else to look after them felt like being a bad mother, but she was more than a mother around here. She had her duties, like patrolling and catching meals for the family. It was when she heard the cursing that the Consort became alert. Stalking through their home she found the loudmouth, unaware of her shadow.

Her speckled tail curled over her back. What do you think you are doing in our home? She questioned coldly. If the woman had wanted to join, she would've called out. Now it was too late for excuses.

---

 

There was nowhere left to go, nowhere left to run. Panic crept up my throat as I ran into yet another dead end, and realized he had led me here. Turning around, I found him...

---

Moath had dwelled quiet as of late, as Mother had no use for him. And with the sounds of Young now within the Hollow, @Megara had commanded him to stay Home for the watching of the Young. He was then showed where the edges of Home were, and the direction was made clear for him. There was to be no wandering. She had even added that he could eat whoever crossed into Home's lands-
These directions were punctual and succient, clear and made specifically for him. 

These directions echoed a repeat through the cold and empty halls of what maze was his endless labyrinth of a mind. And they crawled such a slow repeat, claws craddling the thoughts and pressing with tight squeezes into his throat, rasping his already terrifying rumble of breathing into a nightmarish roll. It was not as definite as thunder, nor swift as a avalanche. But it held your ears, and once you heard him breathing his hunger out to you, Moath could not simply be forgotten.

The rumble neared this situation even now, crossing through the scarce woods but bouncing a decrepit deception through the land as he lumbered near. 
His sway ever so slow as he ate land with a lethargic shuffle...
But that rumble came closer-

And not a moment after Nyx had finished her demand of the stranger did her mindless guardian come to watch from behind on her left, near obsidian amethysts honing in on whom she questioned.
With the growling hurl of breathing soon came drips, drips of not only saliva, but the dark garnet gleam of leftover blood from the last intruder who had not escaped Moath's damning embrace.

A slow tilt of his dome indicated his curiousity of this circumstance as he halted. Watching as slime slipped through ragged lips, past slavering jowls, thin streams of orange fur, meat shreds and ruby beginning their pool at his forepaws. He watched this newcomer wolf, hunger evident in his ceaseless gaze. 

How long would this take...?
How far would this one go...?

And how long would it take to eat them, too?...

---

 

And in silence, he waited.

---

astara was used to being overlooked; she tittered to herself as the wolf was confronted by strangers, who seemingly were unaware of her presence. in that moment she might have slipped off, for neither wolf looked friendly — but a distinct scent clung to the air, one that seemed distinctly familiar. 

damien. 

the dark sprite might have approached nocturnal to investigate further, were it not for the hellish guard that slavered at her side. astara had seen enough of the world to know trouble where it presided; she had no intention to lose her hide today, and knew she would be no match for his keen teeth. skirting the group on the quietest feet the little shadow could manage, astara sought to quit their company undetected.

Soft pping Jonetsu since she fell inactive to get her out of the territory

She narrowed in on the intruder, her little shadow going undetected. The woman froze in presumed fear, but as soon as Moath joined her side, reeking of destructive tendencies, she started moving. The two chased the intruder out of the territory with some quick nips at the stranger's heels and Nyx stopped Moath from outright jumping the other and killing her. They were above that if enemies fled. The woman had recognized her mistake and returned to the outside world where she belonged, Nyx was satisfied with that.

This all gave Astara plenty of time to get away, but if she stuck around she was sure to be found.