Blackfeather Woods bloodied feet across the hallowed ground

she's walking the border when she sees him clearly for the first time - he peels himself from the shadows to set himself into her path, though in the fading light the edges of him still seem to bleed into the forest. he's staring directly at her in a way that has her fur prickle, and the suddenness of his appearance has her doubt he's entirely real. 

he drops something - something pale and slender. then he's gone, and a long moment later, she moves to inspect what he's left. for the first time, she catches his scent, and realizes then that it's all too familiar - it is a part of her background, found oft by the tunnels and ravine, and all over Blackfeather. her attention is stolen by the bone, for that's immidiately what she recognizes it to be. it's old, but polished clean, and belonging to no prey animal she can recognize. despite the prickle of apprehension, she pulls it into her maw and turns deeper into the territory, hoping to find some better place to inspect it.

he lingers near blackfeather, rebuilding his strength from forgotten caches and small prey. vaati is in no shape to travel further, or risk exposing a weakened self to not only the elements but awaiting rivals. though he has not taken an official residence under the wood's dominion, he sees no reason why anyone should protest to his presence under its shadow haven. despite the fact that he had no wish to pursue any claim to the dark woods, it was his birthright, after all. 

as he walks through the territory, a dart of silver graces his peripherals and he snaps his head towards it as the figure disappears into the underbrush. vaati's eyes narrow a fraction, unable to see the creature beneath the shadows and haze, but his nostrils flare and catch on to the scent of his child. following closely, he finds her dragging along a bone belonging not to prey, but likely, another of their kind killed on the borders of the territory. perhaps, killed by vaati himself. pushing through the bushes, he comes to stand in her path, blocking her course with his much larger frame. he nudges his head in the direction of the aged bone dangling in her teeth. "the remnants of your enemy?" he asks her, though he does not offer an amused smirk this time. the brute of a man is assessing her, attempting to figure out who she takes after -- her father or her mother?

she's hardly made it far from the borders before she's stopped in her path by the man from the borders. her father, though she doesn't see why she needs one of those. men are idiots - Rowan is proof of that, as is Venamis. she sees no reason to change her mind, and so stares up at the man with a glare, dropping to bone after a moment.

it falls to the earth with a dull thud, and she lifts her chin to regard him more carefully. he looks less gross, she supposes, which is a good thing. his question is stupid, and she responds with the same glare and, as if it should be obvious, "eyes gave it to me." and then, because eyes' gift has left her in a good mood, she adds, "can't kill my enemies yet, 'cause they live here. and they're big." just as soon as she caught up to Rowan she'd push him down the ravine, and she'd bit Venamis's face for glowering at her.

though he probably should have, he doesn't question who this 'eyes' individual is -- assuming it to be a nickname of another child or adult within the dark woods. it is hela's next statement that draws a surprised intrigue from him, yet not out of the taboo nature of her claim. "why should you let something such as size stop you? you are a melonii, are you not?" the man challenges her, narrowed eyes piercing her frigid gaze. however, he does not say it with the intent to push her towards an act such as murder, but consider the fact that she should demand greater respect from her peers. it was her right. the concept of his own offspring being pushed around in the lands of their ancestors -- lands that they owned by blood -- seemed like a severe miscarriage of justice. 

"however," he pauses, briefly wondering if this was information too volatile to be sharing with a child. though, had he not been exposed to such content at her age? in the end, it had served him well to grow up quickly, for the world did not shock him once he set out on his own. vaati goes on, "killing does not necessarily require brute force, but intelligence and skill." hydra had forced him to his knees once and while the titan had been much larger than her at the time, her combative skill had been unparalleled. ultimately, it was the reason he now bore a slash across his throat. size was a useful aid, but that alone was not enough to win. "and if these people have made an enemy out of my daughter, they must not be that smart." he cocks his head, matter-of-factly. perhaps if she would not deal with her foes, he would do it himself. that's what fathers did, right?

the fact that the target of her ill-wishes lied within the woods as kin remained of little consequence to him, nor did it change his viewpoint on the topic. at an equally young age, vaati had asserted that he was the most dominant of his peers and it did not change. it was something he wished for his own children, for within their lands and beyond was a cruel game of survival that preyed on the weak and spat out the cowardly. if there was anything he could assure about his kids, it was that his girls would be neither.

she meets his gaze, and only narrows her own. "I am melonii. I am not stupid." despite her training, all the cassiopeia and fighting scylla has taught her, the boys—especially venamis—have the advantage of not just size but experience. the odds are not tilted in her favour, not yet. but she is watching them, and she will know when they tip. rowan is lesser because he is not a melonii - she doesn't need the arrogance of her ancestors to tell her that. their leader is a melonii, and she knows from her mother that the family has lived in these woods for generations. her father had not given her much, but he had given her a birthright. 

she's silent as he explains, though she knows he's right - it's one of the first lessons cass gave them; be quick and smart and effective. "it's smart to wait. one day, Rowan will get too close to the edge of the ravine and Venamis will do something stupid." she'd tried the direct approach, and it had gone poorly. very, very poorly, in fact, but it had taught her a valuable lesson. and then, to her father's last statement, she answers only,  "they're boys." as if that explains everything. the other girl - moonshine, she thinks - has never gotten in their way. Hela has no interest in her, and would prefer to keep it that way. all she needs is her sister, anyway.