Morningside Cuesta walk the nightmare terrain forever

set for 4am tomorrow. AW; tags for visibility <3

he was standing upon the crumbled u of the cuesta; his claws gripped the clayed soil. merrick, with his small paws and wiry body, merrick with his balmy walk,
merrick with his hateful eye.
if any followed, he did not know it, for he had left @Astara behind with her children, and shook in rage all the way to where he had last met the woman from his past.
and now he stood beneath the rawboned silk of nightfall frayed with a warm and gentle rain, and shouted a mockery toward the walls that @Arbiter had made gates to her Legion.

By roaming with Merrick he hoped to see more of the valley. Their own home was adequate, well fortified, filled with plenty of food for their entirety, but lacked other important details. He was bored, horny, and antagonistic as a result; thus the visit to Easthollow, and after that his first venture to this place where the golden boy found him. Revui wondered what business Merrick had this far north of their claim - while also being thankful for a chance to stretch his legs. Even though he had gotten himself wounded mere weeks ago he was eager for the adventure of it all. He followed diligently after Merrick's trail and huffed a deep sound, like a laugh or a grunt, when he heard the leader begin to yowl at the foot of the bypass.

revui. stonewolf near at hand. merrick thrilled, and cackled aloud toward his warrior. "can you fucking believe the nerve," he hissed, stalking toward the mountain bound in wolf-muscle. "on our fucking doorstep." 
legion was patently not, but merrick knew all the valley was his for the taking. from ursus to the meadow, to the glade, an beyond.
"they will know better." and here a long howl loosed into the air, commanding, mocking.

He has not told anyone of his own probing visits to the surrounding territories. The fight with the wolf of Easthollow is obvious based on his wounds but the only person to know if it was Skoll, as he was present. His venture north to this span of the horizon was something he did not mention to anyone, yet. It was not important. Except that Merrick held the same antagonism within himself. It was doubtful that any amount of hounding would cause enough upset in their neighbours but that didn't mean they couldn't have their fun with it.

Merrick was approaching him stiffly. —on our fucking doorstep. They will know better. And as he orbited Revui the dark man lifted his head to an outpouring of dissonance. It was loud, shrill, and reminded him of the shrieking of coyotes; it wasn't to his tastes but it looked entertaining to partake in, so he tipped back his chin and brayed his own sound, occasionally twinning his deep and booming voice with the shrill calls of his leader.

revui, his voice slicing between the syllables of merrick's own, aria spiraling, rising on foamwater winds toward arbiter and her canny pack. and yet the hate for her was new; it had not existed during his time beneath her. for arbiter he had slain a great stag and earned his place. it had not been her doing that laurel had dragged indra off, that tadec had faded, that nunataq had fled.
and yet for all those sins merrick held her very breath to be accountable, for the sight of her had spurred him back to those unhappy times.
and so he shattered the air with his voice, until tones threatened to crack and he swung back toward revui, panting, staring.

Their call fills the air, and Revui is certain they can be heard for miles. Whether their voices are heeded is another matter entirely; as the crescendo ebbs and the two pace upon the hillside, Revui is listening for a rejoinder... And looks at his leader, skeptical.

Were they not heard? Or perhaps they are being ignored. He does not know why they call out to the wolves of the bypass but he lifts his chin again, bellowing a fresh array of dissonance for them. Whether this receives a reply or not, he is out of breath and bored with this game.

His gaze says, what now?

they did not answer; they were silent. merrick did not know if he should be dismayed, or insulted, or pleased. revui's glance was expressive as it had ever been; he mused briefly on the idea, lopsided gaze shifting across the landscape. a small figure on it moved; and merrick cast his caution aside to pursue.
coyote, caught alone on a hunt.
the creature shrieked and streaked along the far edge of the rim, merrick fair flying after the figure, his own blood heated by the grace the quarry's lineage had given him. 
a scream. a murder. a message.
if they would not listen, they would see.

The beast did not take notice of the coyote until Merrick was already away; the bruin-witch streaked after the target as if he were a loosened shadow trying to find its host before the light could touch him. The winds were silent after their caterwauling to the mountain, which was fine for Revui—but he saw how incensed Merrick became in the absence of a response and trailed after him, protective.

He came upon Merrick again once the coyote had been caught. Perhaps it was young, or it had not expected to draw the attention of either wolf, but it was there, wrestling with the shadow boy, shrieking and dissonant. Revui prowled closer, watching as Merrick had his way.

revui's presence buoyed him; merrick tore and tore and tangled in a flurry of flash and fang and fur, until it was over, over,
over —
and he dropped the corpse to the earth, panting, breathing, murder as free and rapacious in him as it was boring these days, for he had wanted arbiter's throat in his teeth, not the stringy neck of this paltry scapegoat. a nudge to see that there was no breath, and then the madman fell to decapitation, cutting head from body and carrying it off with exerted breaths.
"now," he mumbled to no one in particular around his grisly burden, "a gift." and he began to descend, intending to throw the horrid talisman upon the very gates of the bitch.

The sickening crunch of bones and the tearing of flesh did not diminish Revui's interest in the matter; he was watching Merrick work like a child might watch their father rebuild the broken engine of a truck, except where that might require adding things, Merrick only stripped away the parts. Blood pooled beneath the coyote's body. The grass looked purple-black because of it.

When the head came away, Revui was further intrigued; he moved in close as Merrick took off with it, sniffing at the bodily remains, wanting to take a piece for himself. At most he lipped at a tattered flap of skin hanging from the creature's shoulder, tugged at it, and grew bored. Merrick was already moving closer to the bypass and the territory markers and so the beast turned and headed after him.

we can fade this if u like <3

with revui in tow, merrick carried the swinging head toward the borders of arbiter's camp. its trail of gore was satisfactory; he threw it against a tree, where it bounced off with loose-lipped jaw revealing the bloodied tongue.
sated, for now, as it crashed to earth, he looked slyly back toward the man he had come to think of as his second. 
"fuck them," he said glibly, scratching across the grass with his redstained paws. no need for further confrontation this evening; their message was clear, and merrick meant to crush them one day unknown as of yet.
brushing revui, he headed back into the night, though not to ursus. afire with his own machinations, the coywolf bared his teeth in a feral grin and embraced the elegant shadows.