Moonspear meet at the crossroad of the divine

A cold chill greeted him as he hit the borders, his ventures out ceasing thereafter. The winds had picked up and the forest groaned as barer branches knocked together; the pine boughs twisted and hung tight to one another. But the earth did not tremble, only Dirge as his coat twisted and swayed and the same chill touched him.

He hated that summer had escaped them so soon, that the snows had come to the foothills and stony crevices of their little neck of the woods. He hated that he came back empty-handed yet again, that now they would have to utilize caches better left untouched until the height of the winter still yet to come. But there was some comfort in returning back to the homestead, the familiarity that greeted him warmer than the air temperature told.

His steps were direct to find @Hydra, making her the priority on his list.

Of course, he could have called for her and cut out the work in finding her. But the day was late and he knew there were only a handful of places she may have still been before turning in for the evening. If she wasn't there, then he knew that she would have been with the children and only he could imagine just what sort of antics their brood were up to. Would @Atlas be sinking his teeth into @Vega's tail yet again? Or would @Osiris or @Antares be toussling over a bone left out for their sake? The combinations were numerous and entertaining; there was little doubt he would stir them up before the moon crested the woodlands below.

tags are for reference and visibility, otherwise open!

Hydra romped with their children, exercising them physically with her rough brand of tag; @Lyra participated, eager to impart upon them this game which was not unlike hunting. It was fun, for their rough family—and at present her children still made for easy marks. But they had begun training now, and it was clear to see they were retaining some of their lessons as the days went on; Hydra could see it even now as her cubs thought of different ways to evade, or more aggressive tactics to be it no longer. 

At present, she was It; Hydra was never one to take it easy on any, least of all her own children. Still, though, her exercise of control was quite clear. It was more of a mind game she played with them, given they still had much to gain physically—would she go for them, or would she not? Hydra taunted, seemingly targeting one with a long look... at present, her gaze landed on @Vega... but it was a ruse as it then lingered on @Antares for even longer, and she strode toward him for a moment—

And in the end, Lyra was her victim, though she knew it. They had both scented Dirge, and Hydra elected to join him so that they could observe again for a time what they had made. She moved to find him, her gait a lightweight prance that would reveal to him exactly what she thought of his homecoming once he saw her. The cooler temperature was something she was grateful for after their collective bout of endurance training. Hydra was far from tired, but her tongue lolled from her mouth as her body worked to regulate its temperature. 

Hydra navigated the terrain, nose eventually leading her The Netherwoods. Beyond them, even lower, were trees stripped of greenery, but some still clung yet to their autumnal shades. Others were stripped bare—another sign of winters rapid approach. Here, though, the pines stood tall and proud—Hydra wandered mutely, on her way to him but still pressing her nose against the creeper vines that choked the forest floor for sign of stray prey. Like Dirge, she had yet to find anything—but Hydra was tenacious, and would never give up. All that could be done was to continue her search, high and low. Fern brushed against muzzle as she lifted her head, licking her chops to alleviate an itch as she pressed forward.

Several more minutes in and he thought he had spotted her—a shadow flickered to at the corner of his vision, somewhere higher up along the slope. There and gone in an instant; it could have been nothing, nothing at all. It could have been her, or it could have been her sister and it hardly mattered which one. Lyra would stalk after him through the eaves well here and there and Alya... well, he couldn't quite remember the last time he had crossed paths with Alya.

Either way, it hardly gave him pause as he continued upward.

Yet after a bit, it was there again; the glimmering wraith peering out through a mass of tangled vines and needled boughs. If not for the frost that clung unevenly in that tangle he may not have even caught sight of her, but this time he knew for certain. The first sighting may have just been a play on shadows, but ilk could not deny ilk so easily.

His lips tugged gently in a smirk as he continued on, playing fool to any sort of obvious placing she may have been taking so that he would spy her in fading light. Nonchalance was a very good ruse he could keep up, and the smirk faded away as he navigated a rather rocky stretch where one trailhead so rudely collided with another. A worn path it was, one that snaked through the evergreens reaching skyward, only to seemingly disappear beneath their arms like a natural archway. Or better yet, more suitable for the doings of Moonspear as of late—a gaping maw.

It was there he lingered, sure that Hydra would come.

*heavy breathing and tries 2 make this post pretty.... fails completely...*

 

She moved on, her quiet trek less for him and more for any prey that might emerge. Hydra's gaze swept left and right, ears swiveling to keep track of any new sounds. Nothing, and more nothing, here. The fog rolled about her person, draping itself loosely around her shoulders and seeming to hang suspended there for but a millisecond as it unfurled and moved to arc around the trees. It's pale tendrils seemed to beckon, but Hydra had caught onto the strengthened scent of her mate. She moved through the mists that collected and thickened in their lifeless congregation, none too perplexed by this. The Netherwoods and its aerosphere were well known to Hydra and their family. The vapours around them drifted and curled in thick and thin droves, but the Queen minded only Dirge's trail now. 

Even the absence of the singing thrush and and the mountain bluebird did not bother her. They had gone South, and the silence now was a natural thing that she could, for now, convince herself only the season had brought. There was a preternatural stillness that surrounded all of the wolves of the Teekons now, and Hydra for the moment—as she drifted as the mists did throughout the quiet woodland nestled within the Moonspear—was able to forget about what had suspended the world in such a state. 

And as she found her tawny partner before the fanged archway of scarred stones that were beyond and above them both, she was for a brief moment content to continue such a moment. Her tail waved behind her as she gayly darted toward him, happy, as ever, to see him. Moving to nestle herself beneath his chin, Hydra dragged herself away, circling to face him. Much as she wanted to enjoy this moment and pretend as though nothing in their world was awry, her discovery from several hours ago weighed on her. 

I had found another moose, Dirge; this one carried a sickness that made my stomach roll with the scent of it. A sort of sick that cannot be smelled beyond, she advised, frowning deeply. If they were starving perhaps that would not be so; good fortune saw to it that they were not, and had this wisdom. To eat it... I cannot be certain, but I feel as though we ourselves could become sick. It was delirious in its movements, and full of rage against nothing, she shook her head, having never seen prey act such a way. Her gaze searched his as she wondered if he had.

She found him at least, her footfalls light but easily heard off leaf litter and scattering stones. He turned to meet her with a faint smile and a wave of his tail, but there was already something in the way she greeted him that told him there was much to be said. It didn't take long either; Hydra was far from the sort to linger and dance around news to be shared, good or bad.

At first, such news started off good in his opinion—she had been successful where he had not—but then it took a grim turn quicker than a thunderstorm blotted out the afternoon sun. And what a hellacious storm it would have been, he thought, had she not the sense to discern that something ailed an otherwise promising meal. Any trace of warmth had left him as his mind set to working, though he couldn't have claimed what exactly was wrong with the creature; it was not hard for him to picture a certain stagger, a hoarse bellow from its throat, and the unbridled rage of a creature marching through the gates of an magnificent hell.

He need more details, and prompted her for such.

"Where did you see it?"

The forest rich in fruit and thorny brambles, she rejoined, speaking of Bramblepoint to which she had not known the name of. It was an apt name, though—and one she very well might have made up herself, had she the mind to. Her mind ran rampant with thoughts too, but she thought it best they investigate them. 

Time enough had passed where she was sure the moose had left the place and crashed through different territories... or perhaps it would simply be dead. I want to return to investigate further, but did not think it wise to do so while it was there and so... unpredictable, she said, thoughtful. Perhaps we might go together. Have you heard of anything like this? The woman had yet to meet a rabid creature, though had the good sense and instinct to avoid this one for that very reason. 

She was thoughtful; there may be another creature of its herd unafflicted that they could track instead. At the time, it had been alone... but perhaps a healthier companion might be found, she dared to hope; they had found fortune before, after all, with such a creature. In any case, all the same, I think it best to advise Moonspear to be cautious of what they hunt. To smell before they strike, her ear twitched and she wondered what Dirge might think of that, too.

With a shake of his head, Dirge admitted that he hadn't seen anything like what she described either. Whatever the haunting imagery of his imagination, it sounded unpleasant, and the location where she had found it did little but raise more questions. Had it been attacked? Or had it attacked something? Perhaps the smoky air and shift of the season had driven it mad because maybe it too hungered for things that were no longer there.

The options were too numerous and interchangeable—it could have been all of the above. The herds had fled with the shaking earth, the snows had come along with their bitter cold winds, and there was still the ominous cloak of ash and smoke that lingered in the air—so why just the one? And if there was another, or perhaps more to linger in that thorny wood...

He didn't know what to make of it, really.

"I think I would like to see it for myself," he decided. "If one acts that way, who isn't to say the others do as well. Seems strange the herds would be moving back so soon when we've endured quaking that drove them out for a time." He didn't like it, that was the other decision.

I JUST WANT TO WRITE AS PRETTY AS U!!! SCREAM !!!

 

Hydra nodded, thinking his request fair. More than that, Hydra wanted him to know the scent to be certain of what to avoid and to aid her in describing it to their children to boot. The day that Dragomir had spotted the healthy moose (that had been felled in the chaos) the creatures had came—and went, she now knew—in droves. Not to return so it seemed if they were still so difficult to find. 

I agree, she drawled in answer, tail twitching idly behind her as she considered things, I can take you to where I had last spotted it. That way if others of its kind have the same scent we can know if it is something that can be spread, she voiced her thoughts aloud. It was not something she was certain of, and yet there was a niggling thought in the back of her mind that begged of her to let the creature she had found be in its entirety. Such instinct combatting against any degree of hunger had to mean something.

He nodded to her suggestion—it would be best to witness the trail firsthand. Whatever the cause of malady, it was another notch along a list of problems that grew for all of them. Another thing to wonder and worry about in the depths of evening where rest should have claimed them.

"Let's not waste any time," he urged of her. He was ready to follow her lead out from the shadow of their mountain, and to whatever unsavory bits lingered in the woodland below.

Hydra nodded to him; howling to her sisters to mind the children, the matriarch turned on her heel to lead the way. He was right, they ought not to waste any time lest the scent become less prevalent than it had been and he come to miss it entirely. Accompanied by Dirge, Hydra wondered what else they might come to find that day—these days, anything seemed possible.