Tuktu Weir Engorge

@Jaganatha

Vex was hunting; the scent of a newborn elk fawn filled her nostrils. She could see it, there, beyond the trees — and not a mother in sight. Vex smirked to herself, rushed forth, and dispatched the poor creature with a violent shaking, breaking it's neck. The pelt would be the bedding for her and her whelps, once they were born; she skinned it with surprising accuracy using teeth and claws, then engorged herself. It was a magnificent meal. Once she was done, she moved to the water's edge, cleaning her muzzle of blood before letting loose a crooning call.

It had been a very long time since he had heard that call... His youngest, Vex, was not far off. Had he the inward decency to do something so trivial as smile, he might have - it seemed his old nose had not failed him yet. The same could not yet be said about his spawn. He had much reconnaissance to do to glean what the trio of disappointments had managed to stir up in the absence of the weight of his iron fist. He did not disgrace himself by rushing towards the sound  of his daughter's voice, no, Jaganatha did nothing at the behest of anyone save himself. When at last he found himself standing behind @Vex, only then did he make his presence known with a commanding growl that he knew would be all too familiar to her. "You've been..." he sneered, flicking his yellow gaze over her form, "Busy."

Though Jaganatha had been on her mind almost daily, Vex still could not believe it when he finally arrived. At the sound of his voice, Vex turned, shock clearly coloring her features. "Father!" she gasped softly, sinking into a small half-bow. Rising, her eyes narrowed, and she asked, "But where... where are the others? Visenya — Verran? The rest of the guard?" Had some unforeseen misfortune fallen upon them?

Then, she recalled how much she had to tell him. She met his gaze, a scowl darkening her features. "Vorilye has abandoned us. It is just myself and Vivaan — and a male we captured." She decided, for now, to not tell him about the pregnancy. Better to see how he handled this news first.

Shock colored his child's features and Jaganatha sneered slightly at her outburst. "At least you still have the sense to bow... Your surprise ill-suits a Cruor. We are always prepared - steadfast sentries. You were raised to know that, or have you forgotten?" he hissed, holding his head even higher to scowl down at his daughter. He growled deep in his chest at the mention of those who had once sworn their fealty to their kin, and gnashed his yellowed teeth as old fury again bubbled beneath the tightly stretched surface.

"The Blood proved heinously weak, diluted by too many years given to frivolity without the ordained bloodletting that befits a Cruor... They are dead, or dead to me," Jaganatha seethed, his hackles rising unbidden. It was clear in his tone that he would accept no more questions on the subject. His dark flecked brows twitched upwards a single stitch at the scowl that darkened his child's features, but the words that she uttered next raised a singular fury that burned like snake venom in his breast. His form bristled outwards, so that he seemed to grow further than his obscene bulk already permitted, and a roar escaped him like the death throes of a hurricane.

"What poison, what traitorous vitriol must have seeped into my bloodline, that a snake should wear the skin of my only son?! Has my example meant NOTHING TO HIM?! What fucking curse has been laid upon the name Cruor that my line should come to such a fate? Tell me, girl, what perversion has taken hold of his manhood that he would, nay COULD, utterly fail me so? Is my seed truly so weak?!" Jaganatha's unwavering baritone was one so wicked, it seemed likely to rend stone and soil and proud sequoia alike. His eyes had gone wildly alight with utter despisal of his son and the betrayal Vex had revealed to him.

She had forgotten, with his absence, how Jaganatha truly was. Her memories had painted him as benevolent — a father who had given everything for his children. But now, as she looked into his eyes and felt the weight of his scowl, she recalled a conversation she'd had with Vorilye. He had left, he claimed, to be free of Jaganatha. Vorilye had never been in Jaganatha's favor, not fully, and now she pondered one question: was she? Vex growled softly, her ears laying back against her skull as she rasped, "I've not forgotten, father." How could she? "I just did not expect you to turn up so... suddenly." But it was good, was it not, for him to be here? It meant their numbers had increased, but better yet, it meant more protection. Her father had always been intimidating.

As their conversation shifted, Jaganatha grew more angry; Vex, meanwhile, grew more tense, her fiery eyes narrowing warily. To learn that the rest of them, even her aunt and uncle, had abandoned... Vex's muzzle clenched down, and she hissed, "More names to add to my kill list. A pity," she sighed, shifting her weight, "I rather liked Auntie Visenya."

His anger became explosive as he learned of Vorilye's betrayal, and Vex could only listen, head bowed and ears tilted back as Jaganatha's voice grew progressively louder. When she could speak, Vex said quietly, fervently, "It was Violante! Her betrayal shattered our family! The black of her blood corrupted them all, it must be!" The Queen began to pace angrily, then, riled by her father. She shot him a swift gaze, then cried, half-joyous, half-hesitant, "But father, father, I bring the best news!" A slight pause, and she nearly panted in anxiety, "I — I am hopefully bearing true Cruor children! I thought... Vivaan was the most loyal — he was with me through the majority of my journey. He — he won the traditional fight to court me." She swallowed hard, heart pounding in her chest. Would he approve, or would he condemn her children as bastards, born out of wedlock, without his approval?

"It seems I didn't arrive soon enough... The fault is my own for leaving you all unsupervised and out of my grasp for so long. Rest assured, daughter, I will not make that dread oversight again," he sneered, managing to regain some semblance of his usual coolly stoic composure. While rage still festered deeply within him, he knew that giving into the throes of his emotions would get them no closer to reaching the Cruor lines former glory once more. He took a deep, furious breath and exhaled heavily through his nose as he flexed his claws into the soil, digesting Vex's words as she spoke once again.

He felt something close to pride that her voice did not falter in the face of his truly monstrous outburst. As a whelp, she had often been the first to flinch... He eyed his youngest with a newfound interest, considering her accusation of Violante... "It seems I've somehow managed to overlook your true promise these years, Vex... Your words betray wisdom I dared not give any of my children the credit to possess. Your sister is the snake in our midst, spreading her poisonous dissent like sap into furs... She must be dealt with, so that your brother, if he can still be counted as such, may be made to remember the reach of my vengeful strike."

The next bit of information she breathlessly gushed to him was truly something, and he felt his fury ebb in exchange for a glimmer of wicked hope. Was this the reason he had been drawn back now, of all times, in the wake of such iniquity? This time, a smile did creep into his features, though it was frightening to behold and fraught with wickedness, and he loosed a rasping cackle. In a nearly unprecedented show of genuine affection, Jaganatha closed the distance between himself and his daughter and placed his head across her shoulders to pull her unceremoniously into a cold embrace.

"My child... My beautiful girl... How could I have been so blind to the depths of your devotion before? For so long you went overlooked as I placed my faith undeservingly in your elder siblings - when all along, it was YOU who was meant to lead our family back into the glow of our former glory. It is you I shall see return our family to power, soaked in the blood of our enemies that our so-called FAMILY was too weak to break skin and draw. With me by your side, Vex... We will remind the plebian masses what a TRUE Cruor looks like. And your children shall grow up with you to guide them, as I have always tried to do you and... the others."

She'd done it — just the right words, and Jaganatha's entire disposition changed. Vex breathed a silent sigh of relief, and then she told him, "Already I have been making an example of the riffraff in the hinterlands. One male who showed his face a second time has been imprisoned, as I've mentioned — and there's the matter of Vorilye." She paused to meet her father's gaze, frowning.

"I found him once, but for the time being, I cannot go looking for him again. I think he lives in the area, I'm just not sure where. As For Violante..." Another sigh, heavy this time. "No one's seen or heard anything about her whereabouts." But, the wilds were a massive place, and she'd seen only a fraction of it.

Then, an easy smile. "Anyways, we call ourselves The Dominion, and it's an army I'm building. I will see retribution!"

Jaganatha slowly untangled himself from his daughter and sank to his haunches, his demeanor still somehow imposing despite the relaxed stance. He took in all his daughter had to say, both of the example she had already been setting, and of what she knew of her siblings and he hummed roughly, deep in thought. He finally met his daughter's smoldering gaze once more and snorted in thought, as if making up his mind with himself. He took a moment to study her face before finally sharing his thoughts with Vex.

"Leave thoughts of finding your siblings to me... It seems you've much to do, and much to plan, if you're to bring your whelps into a home befitting a Cruor. We are above a life of petty familial land claims - our numbers must grow. And we must make sure every creature that draws breath in these Wilds learns to fear the TRUE dark heralds that deserve to bear our family's name..." Jaganatha paused briefly, licking spittle almost mechanically from his scarred maw before continuing.

"Henceforth, your siblings are Cruors by false heraldry only. Their claim to it, and to either of our meager mercies, is null and void. I found you easily enough, when purpose bade it... I shan't fail now in finishing the job. It seems neither Violante nor Vorilye understand what it is to see a task through. Who better to remind them than I? I will have need to reacquaint myself with Vivaan, as well as any others you might have your eye on that might prove useful. Your... talents will be best applied to focusing on your whelps, and sowing the oats of your kingdom. You have managed the impossible task so far of impressing me - do not boast of yourself, however, lest you fall to the same folly the rest of our former ilk have... I will do everything in my power to ensure your success, and yours shall be the judgement day, should this deal please you... Queen Vex."

All she had ever wanted was recognition from her father — to be his true heir. He had guided her during her rise within their natal pack, and now he would guide her during her reign as Queen. When he had finished speaking, she told him fervently, "We will rise to greatness. Together." She needed him — but, she always had. Mouth dry, she dipped her head to her father, then said, "Call for me as soon as you have news, and travel as you see fit." She would then depart, and return to the forest.