Sawtooth Spire You were taught to kill, so you kill like a machine.
Moonglow
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#1
All Welcome 
Mother had stepped out for a time, leaving @Elke and Ciri alone in the den to run off a young fox who'd dared venture too close for her liking. The raven cub looked out beyond the threshold, watching with curious denim eyes as her dam disappeared out of view beyond the foliage and down the slopes at the heels of her enemy with a ferocious snarl.

Ears swivelling, Ciri listened to the fearful howling of the desperate creature, eager to evade a mother's wrath. She emitted soft rumblings of her own, mimicking Nyx' growl to lend her useless reinforcement, before she grew bored of waiting for something to happen.

CirI turned to her pale-furred sister and padded closer to her. She reached out with parted jaws in attempt to gather the loose hide of Elke's nape between her jaws, keen to initiate a play fight in the absence of adults.

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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#2
It was but a mere five weeks of life. Nothing compared to her parents. Nothing compared to the world around her - the plants, the trees, the earthen floor which she slept. Already she began to realize how much things were changing. She was changing. She first noticed in her sister - who's paws seemed to be so large now as she pawed and slammed her around. Ears once folded were uplifting. Elke could hear now much better too, understand the words. Words which now her sister began to try and speak, and Elke herself too however far less. 

 The most impressive had been her vision and often she would stare out the opening of their den and simply watch.  Like her sister she would watch her mother's retreat, keeping back as her sister crept to the opening. Ears perked, neck straining as though trying to hear better as her mother took off. 
 
Soon, however, her sister would be upon her, once more as she had time and time before, initiating the play. Elke rumbled in protest, falling down and trying to roll over, kicking out and pawing in protest.
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#3
thade was gone and he had been gone for three days.
mahler found himself unable to measure time without thinking of his son, without considering that he had not been there the night of the boy's disappearance.
if he was ragged before, mahler felt himself propelled now by only an empty, chaotic energy that kept him from sleep or satiation. he had spent the first day scouring sagtannet and the second the foothills below. the third he had been apart in the shared lands, stumbling home with swollen paws and brambles tangled in his pelt.
now he came upon the home of his little daughters, and found them alone. a swordblade's wrath toward nyx in his gut; how could she have left them here when only three days, three days, had gone by since thade had gone missing?
mahler quelled the ire and ducked inside, greeting the romping elke and ciri with an expression that could not quite smile.
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#4
Held firmly between her jaws, the russet pest who'd lingered too close to her densite. Nyx carried it proudly in the direction of her home, figuring she would set about stripping the carcass to make use of its meat and pelt.

The tawny Ostrega's hawkish gaze was swift to find the dark form of another as he slipped into the burrow where she'd told their children to remain, and the initial bristling of her fur smoothed on recognition. Pace lengthened, she dumped the dead fox some feet from the cave's entrance and moved inside, bloodied snout quick to prod at Ciri and Elke to check them over.

Satisfied that no harm had come to her cubs during the interval that she'd been off disposing of the beast who could easily have made attempt on her daughters' lives, Nyx turned her yellow gaze on the gargoyle. "You look like shit," she commented with an arch of her brow, confused as to why he appeared so unkempt.

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#5
skipping once to get this post up for continuity, plz PM me if not okay! <3

not long thereafter, the reek of bloodied fox heralded nyx' return to the den. mahler turned his face to her blankly, feeling the survey of the lioness' eyes. "thade has gone missing," he muttered heavily, somehow stung despite the knowledge she had meant it as a simple observation.
he turned his gaze upon their daughters; mahler would have spoken more were it not for a wave of exhaustion, one that bent him against the ground as he cooed them into his embrace and sighed with a great weight upon his chest.
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#6
Soon mother returned- no, this was not the familiar scent of mother. It was however the familiar scent of father. She knew now these to be her parents- mother and father, as the words would be relayed to her time and time again. When they spoke she would try and mimic, secretly practicing the words on her tongue but had not yet mastered any. 

She stared at her father, her tail then waving, shoving whatever part of her sister that was on her off and away with both front paws so she could greet the visitor. This time, mother did come again and when she nuzzled her children Elke licked at her mother's bloodied jaws. The taste was pleasant like milk was. 

Yet her attention would be pulled again back to father as he lowered and bent towards them. Something seemed...off, but the thoughtful little girl could not figure out what. Lifting a creamy paw, she would press it to father's cheek and let out a soft whine.
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#7
Her wrestling match with Elke was short-lived, as the arrival of another to their densite demanded the attention of both cubs. Ciri emitted a funny little rumbling growl at the sound of approaching paws, a poor attempt at mimicking her mother's warning when she suspected a threat beyond their cave. It ceased, however, on recognition of her father, and the furrowing of her brow smoothed in an instant.

Mahler ducked into the hollow and the little blackbird greeted him with enthusiasm, unable to read his rather empty stare and blank features. She simply felt safe to assume that he was as happy to see her as she was to have his company. Cheerfully, she wiggled and waggled about the grim adult's raven forepaws with a whirlwind tail, babbling nonsense to him.

Soon after, her mother returned, though Ciri barely acknowledged her. With Nyx being an almost permanent fixture in the den, she was eager to make the most out of time spent with the one who dropped by temporarily, and fit herself contently between his willing arms as he lowered to her level, keen to nibble affectionately at the dark furs beneath his throat.
"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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#8
Mahler turned his hollow gaze on her, and Nyx could've swore she saw him look right through her. A sable lobe smoothed back against her crown and her uncertainty flared to life, as plaguing thoughts tormented: whatever tragedy has brought him here in this state, it was all your doing.

The tawny Ostrega felt panic rise rapidly, though her fear of being to blame for the unknown was qusickly replaced by a whole different type of terror. Her other lobe fell back and she emitted a strained whine, a wordless apology for the situation and for her careless tease.

Her thoughts turned to Wylla. Despite their rocky past and even more uncertain future, Nyx could not help but feel sorry for what the coastal she-wolf undoubtedly felt in the absence of her little son. Yellow stare swept over her own brood as they placed themselves in their father's embrace, and felt emotion constrict her throat at the thought of losing either in such a way. Not knowing would destroy her, she was certain, and bit back tears that pricked her eyes.

She blinked, and breathed in deep. "Oh, Mahler," she sighed, knowing she wanted to reach for him, to comfort him, but unsure if he would reject her tenderness. After a moment of deafening silence, she sank to the den floor beside him and looked to him solemnly before she reached over Elke to press her nose to his dark forehead.

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#9
he wanted to go to nyx, to butt against her shoulder and take in the measure of the comfort she had been the only one to offer. yet mahler held himself back — he swallowed, brushing her cheek with a cursory affection before he shifted restlessly.
"i vill need to search for him outside sagtannet," the man went on, the words thick and bruised upon his tongue. for all the love he bore ciri and elke, for all the careful feeling he harbored toward their mother, he could leave no stone unturned while a child was missing.
"i vant a guard here and there," he muttered in the next, nonsensically, perhaps, but the words hung grim.
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#10
Ciri danced wildly at her father's legs, though Elke was a far less hyper child. Much more quiet and not as dominant and aggressive as her little crow sister. Even now, though she couldnt figure out what, her observant nature and desire to try and help showed through.There was a different air here. A weight and change in the tides she just could not place. The energy of the two elders completely wrong, different then it had ever been before. She just couldnt understand so just nuzzled into the dark and grimly wolf, trying all she could to make it right again.
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#11
last from me <3

he held elke as she curled against him; he breathed in and swept her closer, tighter. their sweet breath and tiny limbs sent a pang of sorrow through him, and at length mahler rose, stepping away from them as he cast a last pained glance to nyx. "i am sorry. i vill be back." 
he would not let the golden lioness see his tears, nor their cubs; mahler shouldered his way into the open light and was gone to be with the grief only he allowed himself to carry.
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Moonglow
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#12
He did not respond with the same enthusiasm as he usually did, so Ciri grumbled to herself with discontent. She withdrew from his touch to better observe the situation, attempt to understand the negativity he'd brought to their peaceful little hollow.

His visit was only brief, however, and Ciri watched his departure with curious stare until he disappeared into the daylight beyond. The dark tip of his drooped tail was the last thing she saw and, curious, the little blackbird looked expectantly to her mother for an explanation.

"And then the world started to exist again,
but it existed very differently."
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#13
Unlike her sister, Elke stayed within her father's embrace to until the very sudden moment when he let her go and pulled away. 

Ciri was grumbling but Elke was sighing, her puppy blue eyes seeking out her father through the forest as he made his way off. Soon then, she too like her sister would turn to her mother looking for answers.