The Sunspire double overtime

@Summer Guess who?!
Note: Although this is AW, I'd like for her not to be discovered by anybody from BDP just yet. Others are definitely welcome!

Tytonidae had not stopped running since she had told her sisters she had hated them. The more distance she put between herself and the plateau, the more she felt like one of them, and not in a good way. Guilt crept its way into her heart, and she felt too ashamed to turn back. Instead, she kept on running. Whether by choice or chance, she ran toward The Sunspire, though it wasn't until she smelled the thick scent of the pack that she realized where she had been running to.

There, she slowed. Was her mother really still here? She did not know. She wasn't even sure if she could face her after what she had done, and she knew she couldn't face her father (even if she had been standing up for him). She was just as bad as Saena and Osprey: a terrible, mean hypocrite. And she hated herself for it. Sobbing, Ty collapsed on the ground, completely unaware of the world around her.

Headed to trek up the mountain and back to Swiftcurrent Creek, Falwasi perceived a somewhat pathetic crying noise coming from a rather tall, charcoaled juvenile. Cringing at the thought of comforting the young wolf as it wasn't in her wing of skills, she hesitated before taking a small step towards the wolf. She paused again, deciding to wait a few moments to see if the she-wolf would turn around to face her. If she didn't, Falwasi would make her way past the sobbing creature and up the Sunspire.

Falwasi had never thought of pups, but although she would never admit it, as a juvenile herself she longed for a younger sister. The only wolf she lived in extreme proximity to was her brother, who was the closest to hearing about her feelings; if she even spoke about them at all. Settling down terrified her, and the thought of having pups herself one day made her ail.

Dear Maddy, I am ever so sorry that my characters keep having negative reactions to your toon D: I do hope you know that I wuv youuuu... :3

Also, BITE HIM FAL, BITE HIM! :D

Summer had not expected to ever see the sweet, green-eyed girl from the Plateau again after they'd parted ways at the borders. He had thought on her often, but like every girl he'd ever found himself thinking of, she likely was gone forever--disappearing off into the wilds without a trace. Even her being part of the Plateau didn't strike him as at all promising. After all, Magpie had been a part of Swiftcurrent. The angry girl had been a part of Ankyra Sound. And yet both of their scents were gone from those places, so soon after they had departed him. In Ty's case, he figured she would be gone in the continued search for her mother, for Summer was not completely convinced the fabled Hawkeye even remained amongst their ranks.

That was why the sudden presence of her scent, her voice struck the boy so powerfully. Rarely was the Ostrega far from the borders those days, so when he heard the muted sobs faintly and caught the taste of her scent, it took him only minutes to charge through the woods to her side. Little went through his mind as he ran, only two facts that he knew without a doubt to be true--It was Ty, and she was hurting. Those two facts were enough to drive him forth with a fever he had never before felt, only tasted when he and Jace had come across their former alpha's trail intertwined with that of the cougar that (Summer believed) had taken his life.

After what seemed like only seconds, the black wolf broke through the trees and froze, scanning the terrain until his blazing yellow eyes landed upon his friend. Barely had he taken a step before he saw the other, and again he paused to look upon her. Nothing about her posture or body language suggested that she was the cause of Tytonidae's distress, but the scent of Swiftcurrent Creek intoxicated his senses, and without even realizing it, his hackles raised and tail lifted and he was running again--not towards Ty, but towards the Creek Wolf, the one he had been trained since arriving at the Spire was his enemy.

No words were spoken as Summer thundered forward with a vicious snarl. The words were in his actions, which very clearly and violently demanded that the tawny wolf get as far away from the Sunspire as possible. That or face punishment for a crime she, in truth, hadn't committed, but that she was beyond a doubt guilty of in the eyes of the Ostrega.

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So lost in her own emotions, Tytonidae didn't even realize that anybody had approached. It wasn't until she heard a snarl that she looked up, paws still covering a portion of her face, that she noticed Summer defending her against... a stranger? Blinking, Ty looked on, confused, before she realized what was happening.

“Summer, no!” she pleaded, righting herself and rushing between the stranger and her friend. “She didn’t do anything!” Tytonidae immediately felt bad that she had caused Summer to act so terribly toward a wolf who was innocent... one that she didn't even know.

[size=x-small]It's okay!!! Fal needs to be hated on from time to time :P[/size]

A vicious snarl came from the earthen wolf's left, and she turned her head immediately flipped towards another dark wolf (this one darker than the one ahead of her), running towards her. She gasped quietly, until she realised it was another juvenile, who couldn't possibly cause much harm to her anyways. Rolling her eyes at the mess she'd gotten herself into with the budding wolves, and becoming slightly annoyed, she didn't care much to defend herself. When the male should reach her, her weight would overcome his in the end.

The male's pelt who'd just made an appearance smelled strongly of the Sunspire. Falwasi knew their packs hadn't been on great terms, even if she had no concept of what had transpired between them, but assumed the worst was over. Apparently, she hadn't been careful enough.

Before the black child could reach her, the sorrowful figure rushed between him and Falwasi, calling out to him. “Summer, no!” she begged, “She didn’t do anything!”. The she-wolf suddenly felt old, even though she couldn't have been much older than the two wolves. Musing whether the supposed 'Summer' would listen to his friend or not, Falwasi retained to show her fangs.

As Summer charged, there was nothing that could have stopped the fury that drove him forth. Nothing but that sweet, pleading voice, and the sudden sight of her face. He slid to a stop and searched for her as though waking from a dream. Suddenly, the world felt like it shifted violently beneath his feet, and the boy staggered slightly to find his footing, shutting his eyes for a few seconds until everything stopped spinning. He shook his head, his eyes popping open to find her again, near to him, and the stranger not so far on her other side.

Summer pulled himself back up to his full height, which was impressively tall as so near was he to adulthood. He stopped only when his chest pressed protectively against Ty's side, his eyes glaring dominantly into the Creek wolf's. For a moment, he nosed at the younger girl's fur, as though simply the feel of it was comfort enough that she was alright. But then, it was back to business. This trespasser perhaps hadn't harmed his friend, but that didn't mean she wasn't breaking the laws between their packs.

"Get out, Creek wolf," Summer growled at her, his temper more composed now that he knew there was nothing in dire need of protecting, "You know the laws between our packs as well as I do. You're violating our treaty by being here, something that neither of our alphas would be pleased to know, unless yours have forgotten. In which case, we'd be perfectly happy to remind them."

They were big words for the young wolf, but he had grown enough to at least look like they fit coming from his mouth. He was no longer the gawky pre-teen he had come to the mountain as.

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Tytonidae was glad that Summer had stopped, and even more glad that only words were being exchanged between the two. Still, she couldn't help but feel... humbled by Summer's rage and his desire to protect her. That was something nobody had ever really done for her. Was this the "cute" Saena had been talking about? Saena. The name hissed through her head and made her gut turn in her stomach. Terrible, terrible siblings she had. Why had they been so cruel?

And why had this stranger come here? Ty felt lost, wishing that the attention wasn't on the other, older female and that she would just go away. She wanted to be with Summer, alone, so he could fix things. Ty could not say how he would fix things, but she felt that he could—felt that he would.

[size=x-small]Last post from me![/size]

"Get out, Creek wolf," the male growled at her, "You know the laws between our packs as well as I do. You're violating our treaty by being here, something that neither of our alphas would be pleased to know, unless yours have forgotten. In which case, we'd be perfectly happy to remind them."

On normal circumstances, Falwasi would have stayed and bantered with the Sunspire wolf. She did not like to be disrespected, especially by a youngin'. She could easily show him who had the real power, but she wanted to get back to the Creek, remembering what Scimitar had told her. If she had anymore queries to ask a wolf called... Galileo, she thought.

Figuring although female who she hadn't had the opportunity to learn her name was in foolish, but clearly her friends' hands, she gave Summer a prolonged menacing stare before turning on her heel. She trotted off cooly, this time to the right of the Sunspire. Falwasi wasn't stupid enough to push her luck anymore than she already had.

The woman from the Creek left without a word of argument, and finally Summer was able to release the breath that he had held in his chest so tightly. His posture relaxed as she disappeared from sight. Her quiet departure made him feel relieved, but only because he had no desire to waste any more time dealing with her when he still needed to address the only thing of any actual importance to him in the situation.

"Are you alright, Ty?" Summer asked as he stepped back to give her more room. His eyes swept across her small frame. She didn't appear to be hurt at all, which was somewhat of a relief. But the Ostrega knew very well that not all pain was physical. In fact, the worst pain a creature could ever be in was the intangible sort, and thus the concern in his eyes didn't flinch in the least after he had assessed her physical state.

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And just like that, the older female disappeared. Ty let out a sigh of relief, turning to Summer when he spoke. For a moment, she had forgotten why she was here at all, but it all came rushing back to her in a heartbeat. “Saena and Osprey,” she said, breathlessly, “they are terrible!” The declaration was said with as much venom as she could conjure in her slow, sweet voice. “They said terrible things about Dad and Fox and how she was wicked, but she can’t be! Dad loves her!” And while there was often doubt in Tytonidae's voice, it was decidedly absent as she spoke these things.

“And I…” she trailed off, guilt washing over her face, “I’m just as bad, because I called them terrible. I’m terrible, too, Summer.” She didn't know why she had come here. Perhaps some part of her hoped for the embrace of her mother. Or maybe Summer really was cute with his little wolfish goatee. The Redleaf girl crumpled to the ground in a heap, feeling ashamed and angry all at once.

Ty was quick to begin spilling her story once asked, which startled him a little. He was not quite prepared for the anger in her voice. It struck him as sounding so unnatural, and it reminded him slightly of the girl he'd met near Ankyra Sound when she'd spit such angry words out at him. It sounded off--misplaced. It was there, but it didn't belong. Sympathy was quick to overtake the surprise and curiosity at her tone as he spied the shame and anguish in her eyes, particularly as it washed over her features and caused her to falter and drop.

"You're not as bad, Ty," he consoled. After a moment of awkward hesitation, he finally swept around her and set his sturdy form against her weak one, as though he could somehow lend his strength to her, "You said what was in your heart in the heat of the moment before your mind could reason with it, that's all. You're not terrible." Summer looked towards her face, watching to see if his words were helping her at all. He bit his lip, struggling to figure out how exactly to explain to her why she wasn't terrible, but he was having difficulty figuring out the words, especially since his tongue was starting to feel like play-dough in his mouth.

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Tytonidae pulled away from him as he moved closer, turning her face away from his to ensure he could not make eye contact. How could he say that she wasn't as bad? Clearly, she was the worst scum of the earth: a hypocrite. “But I am terrible,” she muttered glumly, pawing at her face. “I’m even worse than them.” She didn't even know where to go from here. She couldn't stand the thought of Summer all of the sudden, nor being around him.

“I have… I have to go away,” she said suddenly, “Don’t follow me, or… or else!” This demand was punctuated with a show of her teeth. She would come back; she knew that she would. But now, now was her turn to go away, just like her parents, siblings, and cousins had all done. With one last look of remorse and guilt to Summer, she fled away from The Sunspire.

The girl's response to his words took him completely by surprise. He stepped back even as she did, eyes widening in confusion as suddenly her words became angry. Her statement ended with a venomous threat, partnered with a show of her teeth. His mind suddenly was filled with a vision of the other girl near the coast who had been mad and drove him away. How peculiarly similar their faces now looked--both so filled with anger unbefitting either of them.

Summer felt his heart ache as she turned and sprinted away from him. His confusion made him hesitate long enough for him to reign in the desire to chase after her and to make sure that she would be alright. A feeling of rejection began to stir somewhere in his chest, but he would not find it in himself to dwell on that yet, nor would he till much later that night. Concern for the girl was all he held within his heart, even as he turned away from her and strode miserably back towards the Spire.