Ravensblood Forest rare is this love, keep it covered

AW - wouldnt mind someone who knew about the dogs? set for tonight.

After she had extolled early termination to the ermine burrow that had been strategically placed near Ankyra's cache, Caiaphas felt a sudden impulse to visit Ravensblood. It had been some time since she visited the shadowy province, and her mind hungered for isolation.

Prowling past her subordinates, she managed to elude any inquiries -- and adopting a swift canter, the little coywolf stole straight to the heart of Ravensblood. As she neared its darkened borders her gaze uplifted to the bare trees -- where were the ravens the gloomy forest was named after?

not a dog, but this looked lonely! i have a thread with a dog but i will keep vague what happens in that thread until it progresses, if the subject comes up. also, let me know if caiaphas would not let him finish all of his blabbing and let him approach this closely or if anything else in my post is off, and i can edit. :-)

Nearing five months of age, Charon had grown rapidly in size over the past months. He was now standing about as tall as an adult, but without the finesse of one; he was clearly still a child, with large, floppy ears, awkward lanky limbs and a thin, bony frame that needed filling out after having grown as fast as it had. Today the boy who lived in a fantasy world was visiting Ravensblood Forest. He liked to go here when he wanted to be alone or play with Drake in peace. Since nobody had ever denied Drake's existence thus far, he was still very much real to Charon.

The forest was quiet today, Charon noted as he moved through the trees. He hadn't gone quite this deep into the forest before, and to his surprise, the forest had an ending; soon, more light began to stream through the trees and there, he saw a silhouette. Upon nearing it out of curiosity, Charon noted that she looked really funny. He'd never seen anyone with a black head and a white body.

Charon neared the wolf with neutral, curious and open body language, his limitless curiosity commanding him to approach. "Hi! Who are you?" the boy asked curiously. "Do you live here? I didn't see you around before. You smell like the sea! Are you from the Bay too?" Engulfed in his curiosity, Charon trotted up to her, possibly getting all up in her personal space, completely unaware that might be a problem (or cause problems to him).

Had Charon been an adult, his approach would have elicited aggression -- but he was young, and Caiaphas' attention was fully upon him as he came closer. He seemed the loquacious type, but what most struck her about his outward aspect were the spots that populated his short muzzle. They reminded her of that other wolf -- the one that had announced a proclivity for eating juveniles. He had been peculiar, but amusing. She smiled openly and wondered if this one would have made the wolf's jaws slaver with hunger.

Charon's questions went unanswered as Caiaphas furtively looked about her, inspecting the vicinity for any adults that may have followed him. Despite the smile that had bloomed on her countenance moments before, her expression was neither warm nor welcoming. Wickedly she pulled close and skirted about the youth like a snake, her round yellow eyes fastened on his unique appearance. "Yes I am, little one. Newly appointed." She stole a glance about her again, testing the air for any would-be pupsitter. "Is it custom at the Bay for pups to wander unattended?" A beguiling shade of concern washed her features, but Caiaphas was neither concerned nor uneasy by Charon's lack of supervising.

This was, after all, the second babe in the woods the Bay had been so generous to provide her.

At first, the other wolf did not respond to Charon's queries. She just stared about, seemingly looking for something. Charon curiously stared at her, admiring the difference in colour between her head and the rest of her body. She looked sooo cool. Finally, she drew nearer, and Charon abrasively pushed his nose against her fur to sniff to confirm his conclusions. He did not smell Thistle Cloud nor Ragnar upon her fur, though; but he'd made the mistake of thinking that meant a wolf was not from the Bay before, simply because they had swum in the ocean.

"You don't smell like Thistle..." Charon suspiciously said and he stared at her face to see how she would reply to this. When she asked if the Bay let their pups wander around just like that, Charon straightened his posture to look bigger, tail curling over his back dominantly. He was nearly five months old, and considered himself to be pretty old and mature. "I'm not a pup," he indignantly said. "And if you're really from the Bay, I'm not unattended, am I? What's your name?" Charon was, for lack of Thistle-scent, not entirely convinced of the wolf's Bay-ness, but for now, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

This one was sharp -- as he turned to accost Caiaphas with disbelief in his voice she glanced at him sidelong, the smile but a remnant ghost on her stark countenance. "That's because I haven't met Thistle before." She omitted -- a lie -- she had met Thistle Cloud once? Or twice? She only recalled that the agouti was Ragnar's betrothed or something or other.

She sat in the sand simply, a patter of her tail issued as if admitting defeat. "I've only met Ragnar, and not for very long." Caiaphas was careful to remain attentive to her surroundings, lest a true Stavanger native arise. "I'm Blythe." Her second lie.

She studied Charon carefully, noting he was roughly the same age as both Larus and Kevlyn. A rush of panic fluttered in her heart as the startling realization overcame her -- was it possible this was one that Kevlyn had left behind? Charon did not bear any scent that Caiaphas recognized, but she could not possibly elect not to ask.. "I guess you're not alone. Are your siblings or mom about?"

The other wolf said she had only met Ragnar before, but Charon thought it was weird for two reasons. First, he didn't smell Ragnar on her (so he thought the theory that she had just taken a swim after meeting him was the most logical, but for some reason she didn't say she had), and second, Ragnar wasn't even Alpha anymore. He wasn't sure if Ragnar had some sort of agreement with Thistle, but Charon was pretty sure that Thistle did all the accepting of new wolves.

Suspiciously, the freckled boy squinted his eyes and stared at the stranger, but he decided not to say anything about his thoughts. She introduced herself as Blythe, and Charon said, "I'm..." He left a brief pause while he tried to think of a good name, not that skilled at it, ".. Peanut. No, wait, Kev. My real name's Kev." His brother was probably dead anyway, so what was the harm in using it? If Blythe really did end up being part of the Bay, he would tell her the truth later.

She asked about his mother and siblings, and Charon looked sad. "No... My mum was eaten by a bear right in front of my eyes," well, maybe not right in front of his eyes, but in Charon's experience, sadder stories brought more sympathy, ".. And my siblings, well, me and my one brother, uh, twin brother, we had two other siblings..." Charon left a suspenseful pause and looked up at Blythe with sad, watery eyes. "... But then one day, a giiiiant hawk came and swooped them away to be eaten by its baby chicks. It was super sad. I still miss them every day." Charon nodded sadly, and looked over his shoulder.

Deciding to check how she would respond and because he liked this game where he could pretend to be a detective, uncovering the mystery of why Blythe did not smell like Ragnar or Thistle, he added, "But Ragnar is usually not far away when I go exploring. He's like super duper protective and loves me super much." Charon looked back at Blythe, though he in fact had no clue if Ragnar was or wasn't anywhere nearby.

The pause Charon and Caiaphas both endured in which Charon selected an appropriate moniker caused Caiaphas to snigger inwardly -- not for his lack of readily dispensable lies, but for the name he had chosen. Kev. She found it most doubtful that a pack had two Kev wolves in their midst, and even more implausible that hawk had spirited the rest away.. but she offered only a fraudulently sympathetic smile.

Charon would not be appropriate for the Nereides, and so, Caiaphas did not pursue her original plan to abduct him. He was too inquisitive, too challenging to be worth dragging back to the Sound. And so, Caiaphas selected a different course.

"I know you're lying,and not because you paused." She lifted a paw and inspected it, the way a fierce soldier would inspect a honed blade. "Because I met a Kevlyn who was stolen from the Bay." She listened carefully for any audible sign of surprise, and slyly her sharp gaze fell upon him. "The Duskfire wolves kidnapped him." She shrugged as if unphased by the news. "They likely killed him, for they are a vicious lot." Her feral gaze flickered to the trees, and she frowned. "You should tell Ragnar if he is not far off. I have to finish looking for someone."

Charon's heart thudded in his chest as he waited to hear her reply. He knew his lie hadn't been super plausible since he had waited so long to choose a name, but hoped she'd catch on anyway. 'Peanut'... What was he thinking?!

It was disheartening that the first words out of her mouth were 'I know you're lying'. But then, she went on to explain that she met Kevlyn! Charon's heart jumped in his throat, since he hadn't expected that Kevlyn was alive at all. He thought that Kev would be long dead now, and even though Blythe suggested that he was, in fact, dead, Charon's hopes at finding his and Levi's brother flared. Duskfire wolves. "If you met him and he was still alive, why do you think they killed him by now?" asked Charon. He needed to know and hear that Kevlyn was still alive. It was so long that he had almost forgotten what Kevlyn was like, but he knew that it was Levi's twin and truthfully, Charon hoped that if he brought Kevlyn home, that Levi would become more lively and cheerful again and speak more, and grow up better. He wanted to bring Kev home not any longer because he missed his brother (as it'd been so long ago), but because Levi needed this.

"Where is Duskfire?" asked Charon. He'd forgotten all about the fact that he had previously established it was likely for Blythe to be lying, but now, finding Kevlyn was the only thing that he could think about. Duskfire, Duskfire... Hadn't Scarlett mentioned something with that in it? "Which way? Uhm - so I can tell Ragnar where to go?" He was pretty sure Ragnar and Thistle would march over to Duskfire, wherever that was, and demand Kevlyn back. And then Levi would be happy again and they could be a happy family; or, well, a slightly bigger part than they were now of a torn apart family. Whatever.

thank you for the thread!! fading phas out

The sea-crone listened as the youth prattled, his glib slowly eeking every vestige of endurance Caiaphas had for sprightly children. Her adoration for Kevlyn was indefatigable -- but he was a stark contrast from the industrious Charon.

His inquiry was followed by a darkening of her expression, one of menace and distaste. Her eyes hardened. A growl, cut short but throaty, briefly outpoured into the crisp air. She lowered her head, the parchment-thin skin that composed her gaunt countenance wrinkled with genuine resentment. "I know, because they stole something from me."

She spoke with conviction, but her passion fell short of an explanation, or even an answer to Charon's last inquiry. With a brisk flick of her tail the scrawny wretch turned on her haunches to quit Charon's bright company.

thank you for this interesting turn of events xD

Ever the child, Charon didn't stop to think that his chattering might be overwhelming for some. Perhaps because he was actually holding back on the full-out blabbering with Blythe; normally, he would talk at least three times as much, if he felt at ease with someone. But he didn't with Blythe, still wary of the truth of her words.

She said that Duskfire had stolen something from her, and Charon immediately countered with another question. "What did they —" Halfway through his sentence, however, it became evident she would not answer his questions (not this one, nor the ones about where Duskfire was located), and she slithered off. "Hey!" Charon shouted, "Wait, you still gotta tell me where —" But it was too late; she had disappeared. Charon considered running after her, but he didn't think that she would tell him any more if he did.

Turning his head, he glanced through the thick forest in the Bay's direction, then turned to where he'd been walking. Scarlett had mentioned Duskfire, and he remembered that she lived on a glacier because he had thought it sooo cool at the time. Could it be that Scarlett was the traitor that took his brother? It all made sense now; that time that he had caught Scarlett chatting up Levi at the borders, she had been intending to take Levi, after having already taking Kevlyn.

"I'll find that stupid glacier and kill her myself," Charon muttered under his breath, and he narrowed his eyes and took off beyond what was, to him, 'the known world'. His heart thudded in his chest as he began to run, further away from the Bay. If he'd been thinking more clearly than maybe he would have returned to the Bay first to inform, or at least howl, for Thistle and Ragnar, but there wasn't a part of Charon's mind that was thinking clearly right now.

All he could think about was revenge.