Bearclaw Valley some kind of madness

tags for reference so y'all know what's going on :) feel free to pop in though! <3

@Astara had given her @Astyanax and @Glaucos, though Averna had not necessarily tended to them very much. She lived with one foot in the spirit realm, after all, so she took care of them about as well as she did of herself; her thin body was to show for that much. She took only what she needed and often forgot minor details such as eating and drinking enough until her body craved and cried for it. Much the same, she might not notice their cries were they hungry and they might be better off learning where the caches were and finding food for themselves.

What she did do was take them to her altar, where different offerings were often displayed: feathers, herbs, bones, meat. She did not necessarily explain anything to them, though they might know that the altar was dedicated to Sithis.

Today the pale ghost brought a dead rabbit to her altar; one that was perhaps better off being gifted to the children, but she did not even think of them as she placed the rabbit upon the altar, between some old, dried flowers and herbs, a few rocks, and a bone.

So he supposed this was his and Glaucos' new mother then. He was displeased with the situation; this new woman was even less attentive than the darker woman before, and she was much skinnier, not at all like the warm, overwhelming presence of his blood mother. However, Ikkalrok had become but a distant memory now to the young Astyanax, he was only able to recall pleasant feelings of warmth, darkness, and a time where his stomach didn't constantly grumble for food.

The boy's hunger and frustration emerged as a sort of destructive restlessness. He ripped up roots around the den out of boredom, dug deep trenches where they slept, relentlessly harassed his brother. He had no words to express his discomfort and so instead would growl and cry even when Averna was not there.

Today, like many others, the pale wraith was not near, but Astyanax had enough mental capacity at least to figure out she would be at that place she always took them to. The purpose of the strange place was lost to him, but he knew there was usually scraps of meat left there. So the cub made his way over, perking up as he caught the scent of blood and prey.

There he saw Averna, gently placing the food upon the rocks with an assortment of other items, though Astyanax had eyes only for the rabbit. He trudged forwards, oblivious to the deeper meaning to the offerings, and greedily aimed to close his puppy jaws around a leg of the carcass.

The destructiveness was interpreted as no more than fulfilling Sithis' desires to the priest. She praised him for it, even, laughed and said that Sithis would be so proud of him. The ways of mortals were so lost on the priest and especially never having birthed children herself she did not see -- perhaps did not care -- what they needed and that this behaviour was perhaps not an ode to her destructive chaotic spirits but a sign of worry. For any but her, anyway, as she did not care much for the mortal coil.

When he arrived she expected nothing less from him. It was in line with his earlier behaviours and on some level she could feel the madness of Sithis stream through her as she watched him to for it. Yet this was for Sithis and it was time they understood that he would not be endlessly patient with these pups stealing his things.

So unlike with the pup that had taken the intestines from the altar that time she did act this time. The priest lunged forward with a mad cackle and made to grab his neck. If she managed she would press him to the ground, nose in the dirt, bubbles of laughter still in her throat -- she would not be able to manage this for long as they grew.

The woman made his fur stand on edge. He wasn't quite sure why, but her demeanour was so very different to their previous darker-furred mothers; austere and distant at best. He was far more used to being bullied, treated with seeming disdain rather than indifference. She had let him take from the altar many times before, so the boy was surprised when, as his jaws closed around the leg of the rabbit, so too did the woman's teeth find his nape.

She easily overpowered him. Astyanax let out a loud, startled yelp as his face was suddenly pushed into the dirt, his body wiggling instinctively to break free from his aggressor's hold as whines turned into growls.

The surprise only further fueled her madness. She had not often been so overtaken by the spirits as now. It was all the sweeter that he did not expect it based on previous behaviour. Oh, the pitiful mortals and their whims; they would easily be convinced that just because something happened one, to, five times, that it would happen again in the exact same manner. How foolish he must feel now!

She pushed his nose into the dirt hard and only if he would let go of the rabbit she would let go of him -- and then she would wait to see what he would do, if he would go for the rabbit again (in which case she'd go for his scruff again), if he'd attack her, if he'd run or if there was anything else up his sleeve. The best part of it all was that she didn't know which of these options it would be.

She did not relent. Astyanax breathed in the dirt as his face was pressed into the earth, though he held firm onto his prize, not entirely connecting the dots that his attempted thievery was the cause of the woman's assault.

He scrabbled against her firm grip as he continued to helplessly try and break loose. When that did not work, the boy fell still for a few beats, huffing from exertion, before an idea came to him. He could not haul the entire leg with him should he be able to take off running, but he could still pilfer a few scraps of meat.

So he set to work grinding his teeth together, desperately working to break off whatever he could from the haunch he still had in his mouth before the wraith realised what he was up to.

The struggle continued and he did not seem to learn. The priest was patient and held him in place. However, as he had a lack of fight in him she realised he must be up to something. As soon as she realised what he was doing did the priest let go of his scruff and she moved towards his nose, fully aiming to sink her teeth around his nose and into the delicate flesh of his lips and mouth to force the prize out of it. She was not soft in this; she did not care if she drew blood to teach him a lesson.

She caught on quickly to his antics, and no sooner did her teeth leave his scruff than did they clamp down upon his muzzle. Astyanax had only managed to tear off a small sliver of meat which he greedily swallowed, before he let out a shrill yipe of pain. Averna's sharp incisors had pressed down upon his gums, forcing his jaws open.

The pup resumed his wriggling and awkwardly jerked his head back and forth while gripped by the maw, fully releasing his hold on the rabbit's leg now. The whole endeavour had proven fruitless, though he was still confused as to why the adult had attacked him so, seemingly unprovoked. Pleading whines escaped from his throat as Astyanax tried, once again, to free himself from Averna's hold.

He released the haunch at last and so then did the priest release her grip on his nose as he whined for mercy. There was a smirk on her face that some might see as cruel as she licked her lips and stepped forward to claim the rabbit back. Go, she said as her pale eyes bore into the child's face. Soon he would be too big to teach lessons such as this, unless he allowed it, but for now she would savour this moment. For the priest, life was not about winning or teaching, but it was truly about experiencing.

It was not teaching to stay off his offerings that pleased Sithis in this situation. It was not his priest winning, either. It was merely the chaos of the moment, the scuffle, whichever way it had gone, the violence that rippled from it. Sithis is pleased, she hissed after him as he presumably made to leave, and she leaned down to grab and retrieve the chunk of meat.

Thank you for the thread! <3

His pleading ceased as soon as Averna's jaws unlatched, releasing his muzzle in exchange for the rabbit's limb. She had not drawn blood, yet it had still hurt all the same. Instinctively, Astyanax's tail had curled up underneath him, his ears pressed flat against his skull. He stared up with wide eyes as she caught him in her spectral gaze for a moment, before she uttered a single word. Go.

Even with his limited vocabulary, it was clear he understood what she meant by the demand. With the haunch forgotten, he scrambled to his feet and made to hurry away from both the altar and his mad foster mother, fleeing the scene with his tail tucked firmly between his legs.