Wapun Meadow I'm young, scrappy and hungry
Everything lies within Emotion
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#1
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@Venamis come to me brother!

With the directions or the hunch to go over the mountains, Lumiya left the pack of the blind woman behind to find what she was looking for. What was she looking for? Good question. She didn't know, not really. She wanted a sign, a message that she had done the right thing by trying to find her own path and leaving her family behind. I mean, Venamis hadn't returned home after his disappearance so it must be great living out in the wild and doing whatever you wanted. Sure, the theory was that her brother had been kidnapped, but he was too much of a bother to make Lumi think anyone would keep him around, even as a hostage, for this long. No, her brother had found his own thing and wasn't planning on returning. For once in her life she could understand why he would do something.

She padded through a thin layer of snow, towards the mountains ahead. She was hoping home was on the other side, back into the dark woods, but nothing would be able to prepare her for the bitter truth that her family was split into pieces and everyone was waging war against each other. Just part of being a Melonii, I guess.
what is the colour of night?
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#2
He didn't like the meadow. It was too large, too open, and damn cold - but it was the quickest passage toward the free-flowing waters at the mountains' base. Venamis much preferred this source to licking at the snow when thirst dried his mouth, as Winter had saw fit to freeze the edges of most others he'd found. He could step across the ice, he supposed, but the spider wasn't sure that he trusted its strength.

When he spotted a lean figure crossing the plains, he took note of her bi-coloured coat. It was rare to see such bold markings, and too long had he been apart from his littermates that he did not at once think of the mysterious Lumiya. In fact, his first consideration was how to avoid interaction with this rogue, and he huffed a sigh as he deliberately slowed his stride with the hope that she would simply carry on her way.

sanguine, my brother
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#3
But the spirit was very aware of her surroundings. If Mother had taught her anything, it was to always worry about her safety. "The Teekon is very dangerous for a Melonii alone. Always watch your back!" is what she'd say whenever Lumiya mentioned her returning there. She didn't want to be paranoid about it, really, but somehow her Mother's words always stuck with her. They were like a growth in her brain, feeding off negativity and worry. Every now and then she cut a piece away, but it just kept coming back faster. She hated being smothered even more than her brother's behavior when they were younger. And he was a dickhole.

When she felt like checking her surroundings, she did, spotting someone's dark frame. It wasn't the blind woman from before, and it wasn't anyone she recognized (yet). She halted, narrowing her gaze. Are you following me? She questioned loudly, her paranoia getting the better of her this time.
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#4
She turned his way, probably with judgement in the pierce of her stare. Venamis didn't bother to look up or assert himself, in large part because this rogue wasn't worth the effort but primarily because he didn't give a shit about her inevitable small talk that was sure to follow.

Her lips parted, and this was enough to make him roll his pallid eyes.

Instead of some bullshit about the snow being cold or an expression of how she longed the longer days or Summer sunshine, the bi-toned stranger deemed it appropriate to spit a very unexpected question his way. "What?" Ven bit back, appalled at the suggestion that he was some sort of creep. "No. Don't fucking flatter yourself." A snort through flared nostrils then, and he shifted his weight enough to veer around her so he could continue on his way.

sanguine, my brother
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#5
But he was a creep - and a very insolent young fellow. But his voice, his way of stringing insults together with just a dirty look... It reminded her of someone. Her eyes caught a flash of his spider-like markings and, even though his eyes had been blue for the most part of their history together, carried the same disrespect for everyone and everything as... Venamis?

Her words got out as he passed her, the only thing chasing him being the mist that came out of her mouth. Surely she was mistaken. If this was her long lost brother, she'd eat a hump of yellow snow - scratch that because the feeling she was getting was that she was right. Doubt lingered in the air, in her eyes and in her heart. For once in her life, she hoped to hear the words; "No, you fucking idiot.".
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#6
From her maw came his name, and he paused mid-stride. A raven ear swivelled her way, followed by the stark alabaster of his every eyes that bore into her own mismatche gaze. They had grown and changed in so many ways since last they saw one another in the Summertime, but Venamis recognised his sister as soon as he looked upon her delicate features.

For a moment, softness. Perhaps even a fleeting glimmer of warmth to see a familiar face, but it passed swiftly. His expression darkened and his upper lip quivered with the threat if revealing fangs. He had left their little band of misfits as a youngster, too little to make such a decision on his own yet old enough to know that he would never amount to anything among his Melonii family. For a time he was content that his father did not come to punish him for such insubordination, but it was Midar's arrival to Blackfeather months later that spurred the realisation that Damien's failure to find him spoke volumes: nobody had cared.

"What are you doing here?" Venamis asked of her, voice gruff as he fought back the urge to bombard her with questions that would undoubtedly make him appear much smaller than he wished to be.

sanguine, my brother
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#7
Of course Venamis didn't leap out of joy to find out his baby sister was safe and well. Lumi was of the strong belief that Venamis held hatred in his heart for her more than anything. She didn't know what had started their feud, perhaps their differences, but despite all this she was happy to see him. Whether or not he liked it, they were family and his disappearance had left them all in a state of worry. Mother seemed especially down and angry the first few months, blaming herself for Venamis' kidnapping.

Her brows knitted together in a frown. I could ask you the same thing. She answered. She looked around then, not spotting any potential kidnappers. It doesn't seem like you're still being held captive, hm? What happened? If it had been her that had been taken from the dragon nest, she would've done anything and everything to make her escape and return home. Venamis, on the other hand, didn't seem in a hurry to get anywhere at the moment.
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#8
"You could," the spider sneered in response, "but I'd tell you it was none of your business."

Lumiya looked around then, and what she said regarding being held captive confused him. The dark Melonii canted a raven lobe in quiet consideration of her words. "Captive?" Venamis barked, amused, for none had ever been able to tie him down. "You think someone stole me?" An amusing concept, for any who really knew Damien's loud-mouthed son - any kidnapper would be begging the boy's parents to have him back to save their sanity.

sanguine, my brother
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#9
The corner of her mouth raised to form the ghost of a smirk. Well, it's none of your business what I'm doing here either then. And it really wasn't, they were as estranged as two siblings could possibly be. In his eyes she saw their father, but the rest of him was undoubtedly just Venamis. She guessed they were both trying to become individuals here in the Teekon, and for that she could respect him just a little.

We all thought Aries kidnapped you in an act of treason. She informed with a soft expression. The dots of her eyebrows raised in worry. Is that not what happened? She couldn't imagine Venamis wanting to leave their family; he was accepted and loved and had even been slightly feared by the little Lumiya. If mother had had a favorite child, it would've been either Venamis or Revan, Lumi thought. But if Aries didn't kidnap him and he had just left... That meant Aries was innocent and Venamis the traitor.
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#10
@Lumiya sorry for the delay here, I've been so I'll with the flu.  D:

Her attitude toward this awkward encounter, so like his own, definitely rubbed him the wrong way. A whisker twitched in quiet contempt as he resisted the fleeting urge to reveal his fangs to her in warning, though his cool stare remained firm on her mismatched eyes.

So they'd assumed him kidnapped, stolen away by Aries. Confused as to how they'd conjured up such a bizarre excuse for his absence, he felt his dormant fury flicker to life. Venamis had been three months old when the courage to wander drew him from the Haunted Wood, too young to take responsibility for his actions; as far as he was aware, no one bothered to look for him. And when he finally found the spine to check in on them, he found the territory claimed by strangers.

They moved on. They left him behind.

He wasn't sure he could ever forgive them for it.

The dark yearling frowned deeply: "sure, let's say that's what happened." A roll of his shoulder then, to pretend he did not care. It was clear to him that nobody else did, so why should he?

sanguine, my brother
Everything lies within Emotion
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#11
Oh no! Hope you're feeling better <3 - Lumi is gonna join Sirensong btw, don't know if you knew, so she won't be joining Ursus or anything, sorry!

They weren't pups anymore, and Lumi was less scared of him now. He had left their family, not the other way around, no matter how it might've played out in his head. She wasn't on a rescue mission to find him, but Mother and father had been very worried. There hadn't been a day they hadn't missed Venamis... just not enough to go looking for him.

She returned his gaze, staring daggers at him for a change. She knew then how she was going to handle this situation. I'll tell mother and father you're alright then, when I go visit. She replied. I was sent here to find you. She lied. In a way, she was defending their parents for not starting a search party for their lost son. Whether this lie would come back to bite her in the ass later, she left up to higher powers. Right there, she just wanted to know what happened to her brother, no matter the cost.
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#12
For the first time in his life, anxiety at the mere mention of his parents did not cause his chest to tighten. He'd fretted over being found by them so many times as a youngster beneath Maegi's wing, fearful of the punishment they would be sure to issue as a result. Now, though, he remained grounded: cool, calm, collected.

Let them come.

If Lumiya made attempt at spooking him with her suggestion of informing their family of his location, she was about to be sorely disappointed. Their pack had been unable to claim territory in the Teekon and as far as he knew, had crumbled - considering Midar obviously no longer ran with them and Aries apparently took his leave when Ven did. 

The idea of her having been sent to find him, however, was a new level of hilarious. The spider laughed out loud in response, briefly threw his head back to accompany that amused bellow. "After all this time," he snorted then, amused, "they send you? I had no idea you wanted to be a comedian." He shifted his weight, moved to loop around his sister in a loose ring with a smug grin on his face: "good show!"

sanguine, my brother
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#13
She hadn't wanted to spook him. In a weird and selfish way, she just wanted to find out the truth. Out of their whole family, Lumiya felt like she had the strongest bond with Venamis - be it one built on mutual resentment. She cared for him like any other sibling would, but it was apparent all her concerns were for naught. Venamis didn't and would never care for her. He was a lightning storm, she was just a sprite - it wasn't like she ever stood a chance.

They miss you! At least now she was telling the truth. I did too... What a waste of time. She said as he looped around her, making a mockery out of her. She didn't move to chase or follow him. If he wanted to flee again, so be it. That was all he could do right; disappear.
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#14
She bit back with a sharp statement, one that burned him right at his very core. Venamis narrowed his alabaster eyes, thinking back on those lonely weeks following his dispersal: how he yearned to be close to his mother, to be buried in the warmth of littermates, to pad along proudly at his father's heel during border patrol. He'd missed them too, sorely, and thought fondly of them often - until Midar's mysterious appearance on Blackfeather outskirts.

His arrival, months after Ven had grown to accept he would never see them again, was not with the intention of retrieving him. Honestly, he still didn't know the reason behind his joining of their ranks, and supposed he didn't really care now. That had served a single purpose: to aid his realisation that his family hadn't cared enough to find him.

Venamis sneered. He continued his careful circling of Lumiya, scrutinising her lean and delicate frame with a firm stare. She'd grown - they both had. The spider towered over his littler sibling, "good thing nobody wasted any of that to actually look for me, hm?"

sanguine, my brother
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#15
She couldn't read her brother well, she never had been able to. She didn't know what was going on behind those silver eyes, but if she did she would've longed to hold him and tell him she was sorry - on their behalf. She'd been his age when he disappeared, was home-bound until a moon or so ago, and yet she'd been able to find him. She'd wished to leave for so long, but she - like any other child - had been dependent on some kind of parent figure. Had Venamis found one? Gods, she hoped he did. Or maybe he was so fucked up now because he hadn't been loved since their separation.

Well, I wasted that time now, haven't I? She bit back. She held her head up high. She felt like a piece of prey being circled like this, but she was a cow with her horns attached and ready to use them. Look, I'm sorry we - I didn't find you earlier, but it's hard to find something that's gone missing. She didn't know about Midar or Aries or anyone of the Melonii bloodline he had encountered. All she knew was that she was here and had found him at last.
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#16
All his rugged exterior, his arrogance and stubbornness, almost permanently bristled guard hairs. Pearl fangs that he always seemed so keen to expose, eager to put to use as a weapon against even his own species. A tail that maintained either its proud arch or frustrated lash. Eyes as pale as the moon, dangerous and sharp, enough to pierce.

Spiked. Fierce. Deadly, perhaps, if pushed too far.

But beneath it all? A boy. Just a boy.

A cub who thought he'd found his feet and wandered a little too far.

A youngster who thought he knew best, but didn't.

Venamis knew this, right at the heart of him, but it was always easier to turn the blame on someone else. He'd loved his family, of course he did. Maybe they had worried for him but from the outside looking in, he felt... forgotten. An afterthought. Lost to them, perhaps even considered dead.

He halted, a low rumble in his breast as he lifted his pale gaze to seek his sister's mismatched eyes. It was his aim to hold her stare for a time, search beyond the irritation she felt for him for something softer. If there was any tenderness for him, he failed to find it.

"I suppose we both did," he mustered, referring to their wasted time. Venamis blinked and turned away, ivory-tipped muzzle pointed in the direction he'd originally been headed. He heard her apology, but didn't want to look at her as she spoke it - because he didn't feel prepared to accept it. "It wasn't your responsibility to find me," the spider said, tone hushed as he pressed on and away from her, suddenly eager to leave this dreadful experience behind, "it was theirs." A pause. "Go home, Lumi."

sanguine, my brother
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#17
She didn't regret standing up to him. Her cruelty now was for all the times he had pushed her around. She felt so very different from him - from anyone she knew. She'd felt out of place, disregarded and... forgotten. She'd never worshiped her parents like other Meloniis did and knew they'd been in the wrong for not sending out someone to find Venamis. Everything had happened so very suddenly, the rumors about kidnapping and Aries just salt in her wounds. They'd lost a child, but they had three more - Lumiya had lost a brother, a rival, an annoying ass and she only knew one wolf that fit all of those criteria.

She looked into the pools of ashen gloom that were his eyes. She could've misread, but they spelled pain.

I am your sister. She stated as he turned away. It is my responsibility to be there for you. How can I do that, when you're not there? She wasn't chasing him, but her voice grew louder as he got farther. Her brows furrowed. I'm not ever going home again. She stated in truth. She had gotten her say off her chest. If this was the end of them, she'd gotten the last word in. At least she had gotten closure, and she wasn't about to share that with the parents who had ruined them both.
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#18
He repelled her words, which rolled like water from a duck's back. Lumiya was his sister only by relation, and it bothered him to see that she felt responsibility for him purely for the bloodline they shared. Maybe a little guiltily, it dawned on him that he'd felt no real drive to care for her throughout their lifetime. They'd been raised from birth to appreciate a strong sense of duty to family, to protect one another no matter what, yet he hadn't been worth such efforts. So why bother?

A rule for some but not others, he'd only recently come to learn.

It was sad, of course it was! Little Lumiya, tasting the real world for the first time when Venamis had been drowning in it for months. The raven gritted his teeth, tufted black ears slick against his nape while his littermate called after him. He shouldered the weight of his frustrations and grief to press on and on and on, far from her sight for what he hoped to be the last time.

And Venamis did not look back, for fear that he might falter.

sanguine, my brother
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#19
Thankchu for the thread <3 if you don't want to post anymore you can archive :)

Her lip quivered, but she - too - did not falter. She watched him take his leave, not even offering her a glance, a smile... - anything. Her eyes felt heavy and she looked down upon the fresh snow. The sprite had been defeated, but there hadn't been a chance for victory for either of them. Her ears draped over her petite head and, with a sigh, she plowed her way through the snow.

She'd wanted to shout mean things, thoughts that would haunt him - but why bother? It wasn't like she'd been worth such efforts. When he was far enough out of sight (if only he was out of mind, too), she continued her journey towards the mountains. She hoped they would never meet again, but who knew, fate had its cruel tendencies and a thirst for disaster.