Post by Tyr on Feb 23, 2011 6:45:26 GMT -5
Players:
Tyr, male wolf
Anu, female wolf
Ari, male wolf
The light of the setting sun is intense as it reflects off the high walls of the mesa that spreads out to the north. Tyr had descended further into the valley as the sun progressively sank toward the horizon, squinting as he picked his way down the slope, hopping and bounding with his light, spry paws. He had no real destination in mind but his desire to move ever farther from his northern home was as strong as ever. When he reached the bottom, his paws sinking slightly into the fiery red sand, he paused and cast a reflective stare toward the horizon. The dark wolf rolls his shoulders in a series of sequential thoughts, his ears canting back against his skull once before rising again to attention. He clicks his teeth a few times, considering one direction over the other, and instead of moving on decides to lower himself to his haunches with a deep huff. "Aaaaaaah," he sighs for lack of something important to say, scratching at his side with a hind paw.
Anu lopes along a path, her senses dimly aware of small creatures scurrying for cover. If her nose is not mistaken - and it never is - Tyr is somewhere near. The two of them can take down something much more substantial than a hare, if they're lucky. The thought puts the she wolf in a good mood that only improves when her brother comes into view. "Tyr!" she barks, putting on a burst of speed to reach him all the more quickly. She skids to a halt near him, eyes glimmering with possibility. It feels like a good night ahead.
He would be remiss if he didn't hear her stumbling down the mesa, just as he did, or the startled chirps and irritated quips of the smaller creatures as they got out of both their paths. Then again, who cares? Tyr tilts one ear toward Anu and it is a moment later than he turns his head to look at her, as if he really had to consider greeting her today. But when he looks at her with those honey eyes, time allows a shimmering smile to grow behind them and then eventually crack his muzzle only slightly. "Anu," he replies, his desire to use her nickname subdued for the moment. Then he pauses, blinks, and asks, "Eh, wot?"
The autumn wind pushes forcefully around them, reminding every soul of the approaching winter. The she wolf seems thrilled nonetheless. Anu dips into a stretch, enjoying the tugging sensation on her muscles. "It's a great night for a hunt, brother," she suggests, straightening. She gives her fur a shake and her tail waves lightly at the thought of the meal they might catch. Her expression remains almost hopeful, practically begging him to come along with her.
He's been lucky so far. If his brother had really been trying hard to disguise his scent and keep his traveling much more secretive, tracking him down would have been a lot more difficult--if not impossible. It became a lot easier when his sister's scent became stronger and more intermingled; evidently Anu had found the runaway brother and was doing her best to convince or persuade him to return. Their trail continued south, so Ari is convinced that his sister needs just a bit of help to succeed in their mission. And that bit of help would be... him! The thrill of being out on his own is the only thing giving courage to his paw steps right now--that and the fear of returning without his brother--as the trail has led him to what would seem to be the greatest concentration of predatory felines he's ever encountered, let alone heard of. Amaranth. Quite well aware of the possibility of being attacked at any moment, he's been slinking along at a snail's pace, nearly jumping at shadows or yelping at anything sudden enough to startle him. But the scent grows stronger, and he knows he's getting close.
Watching Anu was like watching a flower bloom at midnight; the expression on her brother's face was difficult to read but her obvious contentment with either herself or her situation was almost so surprising as to be dumbfounding. But after a few moments of scrutiny, Tyr's muzzle evolves into a much warmer smile and he blinks against the sunset, nodding in agreement. "Aye, sky's clear an' wind's calm. Jest gotter find--" Then something causes the base of his neck to shiver, the thick ruff of fur at his shoulders popping. Tyr is on his paws in an instant, trotting forward a few paces before trying to shake off the sudden unease. "Ech," he spits in distaste, turning back toward Anu... "Y'feel that?" he asks, his smile wiped away and replaced by a wary seriousness.
A wave washes over Anu, putting her fur on edge and sweeping her good mood away in an instant. Her ears swivel nervously, and she scents the air, trying to pinpoint the cause of this distinct uneasiness. She walks a quick circle, but forces her paws to stop before she can turn it into pacing. Her eyes dart to Tyr. Do they run? They could be being spurred into something more dangerous - a threat from another pack, or maybe even the cougars. Or maybe it - whatever it is - is something the siblings can take down on their own, and be done with it. A thought strikes her, that maybe it is the vengeful spirit come to haunt her again. Her paws shift anxiously, and she growls, "I don't like this." Why can't she figure out what is putting her on edge?
Almost there. He can feel it. Feel /something/, anyway. It's a tingle in the back of his mind. Ari knows that he's about caught up to them, and a happy yip is barely suppressed. The tingle grows stronger, and his paw steps increase to almost a trot. That tingle... is suddenly recognized for what it is, and he stops abruptly, trying to look in all directions at once. It doesn't take but a moment to recognize... And suddenly, he's moving, at the fastest run his paws can manage, and it's more of the same luck that keeps him from tripping all over himself in the frantic effort to FLEE. "Tyyyyyyr!" he's calling out as he sprints. "Anuuuuuuu!"
It couldn't possibly be the Ute spirit; they're not even in Ute's lands... though he has no idea what the mountain cougars might haunt them with. Tyr considers for a moment that one of the cats had followed them to the southern edge of the territory but they've done nothing to antagonize the Amaranth and he can't imagine why, besides simply being hateful, they might have come after he or his sister. He shakes his head; a silent command to Anu. He doesn't like it either but they cannot panic. Panicked creatures make mistakes. Creatures who make mistakes often end up dead. But Tyr nearly jumps out of his fur when his name, followed immediately by Anu's, echos and bounces across the stone walls around them. Tyr responds with an uncharacteristic growl that rips from between his teeth as his eyes dart around, trying to pinpoint where-- Then the brother is frozen to the spot as suddenly he watches... he is watching his /brother/, watching in disbelief, as he scrambles down the side of the mesa just as they did moments before. Anu is forgotten in an instant as Tyr's paws spur him forward though instead of a joyous greeting of long lost brothers, he raises himself to his full height, bristling as he barks out a stern command. "ARI!" His panic can only mean one thing. "Wot, where are they? Who's followin' yer?" It's Akh. It has to be...
"Ari?!" Anu cries incredulously. There's no way he could have found them so far from home. Not little Ari. She used to be impressed the pup could find his own tail. And now he's here. She shudders. Is Ari alone? Did Father send him? Do they think she's dead, or just a failure? Is there a difference? Well, clearly their brother has not been sent to get rid of them, not with an entrance like that. Her brows knit with concern and she slowly steps to Tyr's side. The she wolf's senses are still on alert. What in the moon's name is he doing here, since he /clearly/ is incapable of bringing home anything more feisty than a dandelion. And what has him so excited?
And there, at long last, is the lupine that he's been chasing after all this time. Was it skill that brought Ari this far? Probably more luck than anything else, but he's not /completely/ incompetent. Only /mostly/. Big difference. His sister is here too, but it's Tyr that's been his objective. Ari doesn't have time to do more than instinctively wilt under the intimidating stare of his brother, as he can barely keep from falling all over himself trying to stop, turn around, explain what's happened, explain what's happen/ing/, and try and figure out what's /going/ to happen next. For as he skids to a rather awkward halt, there's a much more graceful entrance by the creature pursuing him. Sleek and deadly, with razor claws extended and ears slicked against its skull. A full-grown cougar, and one that doesn't look entirely pleased to find three wolves here in Amaranth territory. A fierce scream is given, and Ari finds himself cowering in a backwards direction, edging toward where he'd be hiding behind his brother. Or, perhaps as a better idea... "Let's leave before more come!" His gaze darts back to look at the cougar, and he gulps at the ferocity in those feline eyes. Hello, kitty.
While he never particularly treated Ari any worse than anyone else did, his temper is short at the sudden intrusion; he can only imagine that Akh's troupes would swarm the mesa in an instant. Feeling Anu nearby helps steel his will a little more (somehow) and he is about to placate his baby brother when-- Tyr's eyes dart to the top of the cliffs, cold and unyielding amber, though even he cringes and steps back at the fierce and angry creature above. "Of all the-- y'daft--" Tyr hardly gets more than that out from between clenched maw before unceremoniously he grabs at his brother's neck scruff with his teeth to drag him backwards, commanding both siblings, "Gerron, now!" He doesn't snap his teeth at Anu, knowing she is fully capable of moving her paws and, if not, the cougar will maul her and not him.
Anu curses loudly, taking one moment to drink in the very real, very deadly presence of the sleek cougar. It's only an instant, though, before she's turning on her heels and darting in the opposite direction. She noses Ari, urging, "Go! Go!!" Maybe, just maybe they'll be alright if they can haul tail. Her ears flick behind her, listening for sounds of pursuit. She was right, at least. It /is/ a beautiful night for a hunt, though she never intended to be prey.
It wasn't /his/ fault that a cougar just happened to be nearby and was able to detect him! He was trying to be stealthy, after all! Ari yelps at the sharp rebuke and subsequent grabbing of his scruff, and the slight unbalancing is enough to send him tripping over his own paws and nearly stumbling into a heap. Thankfully, he's got just enough agility to keep from making a complete fool of himself, though at the moment the only thing on his mind is getting as far away from here as quickly as possible. If that cougar catches and kills all three of them, he'll never forgive himself!
Tyr wouldn't forgive him, either. At this point, it's up to Anu and Ari to keep their own tails attached to their rear-ends as they haul paw out of Amaranth. The retreat is not graceful and solely fueled by adrenaline. Tyr spurs his paws just about as far as they will go, eventually when the scent of the cougars has washed away from his nose and the approaching night breeze brings to him nothing but emptiness does he begin to slow, circling back behind to make sure both wolves have come with him and that the cougar did not. Tyr snorts to himself, grimacing and trying not to take out his frustration on the sudden and easy target in front of him. Besides; he doesn't really know what's going on and isn't going to blame Ari for it... yet. With his breath huffing fiercely from his chest, it is some time before he can address the runt. "Wot'er y'doin', Ari?" You know, besides bringing cougars over for dinner. "Why're yer here?" /Surely/ their father couldn't have sent him here?! Unless Akh's gone senile...
After the initial nudge, Anu abandons any attempt to spur on little Ari. She is concerned only with the complete and total escape from a very real danger, brothers be damned. She does gradually halt, though, coming to a stop only seconds after Tyr. Panting, she rounds on Ari. "/What/ was that all about? Are you /trying/ to kill as many of your family as you can at once, or is there something we should know?" she barks. It seems she doesn't have any qualms blaming him. Really, she should be concerned about other pack mates nearby, but all she can think about is the cold gaze of the cougar.
He may be smaller than them, but with imminent death right behind them, he's able to muster plenty of speed to keep pace. It isn't until they slow down and eventually stop that relief washes over him. They made it. Safety! At least... from the cougar. Ari doesn't even get a moment to catch his breath or recover from the adrenaline rush before he's already being turned on by his siblings. "Err.." he stammers, looking from Anu to Tyr, then back toward Anu. "I.. I was trying to..." No, probably should look at Tyr. "I was following you because..." On second thought, maybe best /not/ to look at Tyr. "I thought that Anu might need some..." He wilts a little. "...help." Hey, he /did/ find them, after all! The smaller wolf manages a slight tail wag, trying to appear at least a little bit confident. If his luck holds out, he and Anu together can bring Tyr back and... Realizing that Anu looks anything but pleased with him at the moment, he decides hastily that he'd better amend his explanation. "I mean.. /if/ you need help." Erf.
The siblings have little Ari pinched between the two of them, and Tyr only briefly looks up at Anu during their brother's explanation long enough to give a lift of his brow before those stern eyes are back on the silver one. They narrow and his muzzle wrinkles with the effort of trying to keep his teeth from flashing in Ari's face. When he trails off, Tyr is on him in an instant with a verbal assault. "Where's Akh? 'Ow many troupes 'as he got for'ard? 'Ee thinks 'ee can trick me int'thinkin' yer on yer own, does 'ee?" He bristles as the questions fly, fur popping in his agitation. He has to think quickly if he is going to outwit or outrun his father's advance. There's no other reason why their little brother would be here on his own. Were he not so frantic about figuring out a solution, Tyr might just balk at the idea.
Anu realizes Tyr is right. Ari is not the threat, here. There is undoubtedly something worse waiting for them - be it the cougar in pursuit or a family ambush. She listens to the smaller wolf's explanation with a look of almost amusement on her muzzle. Help? Really? Well, that alibi is watery at best. She knows Ari can't even help himself, let alone her. "Nice try," she snorts, and she looks like she might smile at the absurdity. But she doesn't. Instead, she looks around them and swivels her ears, trying to detect any signs of danger. If it /is/ Akh, though, she has a feeling it's already too late.
Oh, come /on/! Is it really that hard to believe? Ari doesn't even know how to protest, how to explain that he really /did/ come here to help her. If he had done his best to look confident before, now he's relegated to just wilting under the scrutiny of both siblings. "Akh doesn't know where I went," he says meekly, averting his gaze. He's not sure if the disbelief in their eyes and expressions is more painful than the disdain. He may be weak and scrawny, but he doesn't /lie/... "Like I said, I just came here to.. /if/ Anu needed help." Caught himself, this time. Come on, sis.. a little help here? Ari doesn't want to sneak a glance over toward her, but he's wondering frantically why she isn't rushing to his defense and telling Tyr that he really is going home now. Not that he expected her to do it for HIS sake, but.. she really was pursuing their brother for the purpose of retrieving him... right?
It is a long, long, long and uncomfortable time that Tyr simply stares down at his younger brother. If either of his siblings looked close enough they might be able to see the uncharacteristic twitch of his eyes muscles, a tick that moved down to the edge of his mouth, and then finally a series of short, disbelieving... chuckles? That's what it seems like. Tyr glances around a moment or two, seeing no cougar and no Akh coming to kill them, and then outright snorts, dissolving into a series of choking laughs that don't... quite seem healthy. He sits down unceremoniously on his hind end and rubs viciously at his eyes with a fore leg, as if trying to wake from this dream. It is a while before he can form a coherant sentence and even that is a little jagged, "Wots'is? Baby brother goin' against 'is father'n'opes 'ee finds his sister ter track down their wayward fool of a brother'n'make 'emselves honorable wolves! ... PFFT!"
Now it's Anu's turn to feel insulted. Make herself an honourable wolf? As if she isn't already? He has some nerve, the crazy idiot. As the male goes through his admittedly unnerving fit, she sidles up closer to their brother. The gesture is mostly to distance herself from Tyr, rather than offer any comfort to Ari. "I'm not the one that needs help," she mutters, her tail swishing in irritation. At least they aren't in immediate danger. That puts her at ease, despite the dark wolf's episode. "What, Tyr? You think Ari and I can't take you down?" she challenges, though the smile is in her eyes. It seems she's picked up on joking, a little, since she's spent so much time with her infernal sibling.
Take their brother down? Is that what it would take? Ari was hoping that he and Anu would be able to talk sense into their brother, rather than physically and forcibly /make/ him come back... And it's not that he's trying to make his brother an "honorable" wolf, per se; he's just trying to prove to his pack that he really /can/ be of some worth. He's not sure if the quasi-challenge from his sister is her finally taking the role of lead here, or she's just joking around as well.
Tyr continues his fit for a few moments, ignoring Anu until her final quip has sudden, hate filled eyes burning into her -- and then they're gone. It took him a moment but he recognized the tone in her voice, her posture, and that playful gleam to her that he's only seen a pawful of times in his life, and so relaxes and even manages the twitch of a smile. He'd suddenly anticipated a fight but had forgotten their hasty truce from last winter. Perhaps their brother's sudden intrusion had something to do with it. Speaking of -- "Ari," he begins, trying his best to mask the sigh in his voice. "'Ow'd y'get down all this way, eh?" Not that he ever hated the little runt but in their pack, well, it was easy to find a target for your frustrations... He'd like to tell baby brother that he's not going to see those northern mountains again and live long afterward but for some reason he can't quite bring himself to do it... especially if it really is true that Ari somehow got away from their father without his say so.
Anu's body tenses at the look from the dark male, though she relaxes just as quickly when Tyr does not strike. Instead, she playfully, if a little aggressively shoves Ari. "Maybe he just got lost," she smirks, fixing the silver wolf with a condescending gaze. It seems she doesn't realize they'll be stuck together for some time now, so there's no need to play nice. Then again, the she wolf doesn't often play nice.
This really isn't going as he'd hoped. Maybe as he expected, but not as he had hoped it would. Still not-quite-but-almost cowering, he gives a look of protest toward his sister. Just got lost? That's really not fair, and while he's not surprised to receive demeaning questions and remarks from his brother, it hurts a little more coming from his sister. After all, he did come all this way to /help/ her! "I.. I followed your scents down this way, and.. it wasn't all that hard, honest." He almost smiles, weakly, but a quick glance at his brother changes his mind in a hurry.
Anu's quip has Tyr smirking despite himself though he does take the time to listen to Ari's explanation, short and sweet as it is. He will just have to accepted the fact that Ari made his way out of the mountains without getting killed outright for disobedience, /and/ traveled this far south, on his own, /and/ found them both. Granted, neither Tyr nor Anu were making much effort to hide their travels, as the cougar interruption showed quite plainly and mentally he notes to take better care of such things in the future. He shrugs, "A'righ', but Ah'm telling yer right now 'cause Ah ain't going through this with /yer/, too. Ah. Ain't. Goin'. Back. Y'got it, Ari? An', at this point, neither is yer sister. An', by proxy, neither are yer. That is, o'course, iff'n y'feel like dying righ'quick by Akh's teeth." At this he cues up a decidedly amused and unnerving smile.
"Well, good for you, little brother," Anu snorts, "But he /isn't/ going anywhere with /you/. If anything, you and I are with him now. So get used to it." Helpful as ever, the she wolf can't help but add her two cents after Tyr. She doesn't really seem bothered that the other wolf has just been resolutely and completely shut down. Those are the breaks, kid. It's almost like she's in a good mood, now that she's fairly confident that neither a cougar nor their father will be showing up anytime soon to disembowel them. Funny how that works.
He always knew that to face Akh again could very well be the end of him. The only thing that would save him would be the fact that he'd have played a vital role in bringing the wayward Tyr back. That much of what his brother says doesn't come as any surprise. But his sister is supposed to be here for a very specific purpose, and when that is so casually dismissed by Tyr, and then /confirmed/ by his sister...! This is not at all how it was supposed to work out. The silvery wolf nods, feeling numb. This is not at all good. He'll have to try and speak alone with Anu sometime in the near future to find out why she's more or less had a change of heart. Change of mission, at that. And with his sister evidently on the side of his runaway brother, then what's to keep Tyr from killing him to keep him from heading back? Not that he would; he knows quite well what kind of bloody fate would await him, but what if Tyr simply wants to get rid of him? This has gone from bad to worse.
If anything, Anu's confirmation of her acceptance of her fate, seems to cheer the dark wolf up quite a bit. He stands, all irritation and ire from previous circumstances seems all but washed away like mud after a heavy rain, and he even manages a gentle (by their standards) cuff of Ari's ear. "A'ight, c'mon then; might as well get away from that mountain fer a while, at least 'til that cat o'er there cools hisself. Ari," he calls back as his paws begin to move him in a particular direction (south, of course), "Nunu can fill yer in iff'n she feels like eet." He certainly doesn't. As he passes his sister, Tyr butt-bumps his roughly and then spurs himself ahead a few bounds to try and avoid any sharp, teeth-like responses.
Sharp responses indeed! Anu snaps after him, missing him by a hair. She grumbles a moment over the use of 'Nunu' before nudging at Ari with her muzzle. She does not offer any explanation as of yet, but instead a blunt, "Are you coming or not?" That said, she lopes after Tyr, not bothering to wait for Ari to catch up. He doesn't have to come with them, by any means. Only if he plans on surviving here.
And he really doesn't feel like he has any choice in the matter, now. At least Tyr hasn't tried tearing into him on the spot; that much at least is a comfort, albeit a small one. At the prodding from his sister, he finds himself automatically falling into place behind them, paws moving mechanically as he still seems to be somewhat in a daze. Why had his sister abandoned her mission of bringing Tyr back? Now he would have to bring them BOTH back. Or should he even bother to try? Physically, he was nowhere near a match for either of them, let alone both of them together. But maybe if he could talk sense back into Anu... Yes, that was his last option. He didn't want to consider the possibility of being stuck out here with both of them. With a sigh, Ari slinks along behind the two larger wolves, starting to feel the first pangs of wishing he had never left home in the first place.
Tyr, male wolf
Anu, female wolf
Ari, male wolf
--
The light of the setting sun is intense as it reflects off the high walls of the mesa that spreads out to the north. Tyr had descended further into the valley as the sun progressively sank toward the horizon, squinting as he picked his way down the slope, hopping and bounding with his light, spry paws. He had no real destination in mind but his desire to move ever farther from his northern home was as strong as ever. When he reached the bottom, his paws sinking slightly into the fiery red sand, he paused and cast a reflective stare toward the horizon. The dark wolf rolls his shoulders in a series of sequential thoughts, his ears canting back against his skull once before rising again to attention. He clicks his teeth a few times, considering one direction over the other, and instead of moving on decides to lower himself to his haunches with a deep huff. "Aaaaaaah," he sighs for lack of something important to say, scratching at his side with a hind paw.
Anu lopes along a path, her senses dimly aware of small creatures scurrying for cover. If her nose is not mistaken - and it never is - Tyr is somewhere near. The two of them can take down something much more substantial than a hare, if they're lucky. The thought puts the she wolf in a good mood that only improves when her brother comes into view. "Tyr!" she barks, putting on a burst of speed to reach him all the more quickly. She skids to a halt near him, eyes glimmering with possibility. It feels like a good night ahead.
He would be remiss if he didn't hear her stumbling down the mesa, just as he did, or the startled chirps and irritated quips of the smaller creatures as they got out of both their paths. Then again, who cares? Tyr tilts one ear toward Anu and it is a moment later than he turns his head to look at her, as if he really had to consider greeting her today. But when he looks at her with those honey eyes, time allows a shimmering smile to grow behind them and then eventually crack his muzzle only slightly. "Anu," he replies, his desire to use her nickname subdued for the moment. Then he pauses, blinks, and asks, "Eh, wot?"
The autumn wind pushes forcefully around them, reminding every soul of the approaching winter. The she wolf seems thrilled nonetheless. Anu dips into a stretch, enjoying the tugging sensation on her muscles. "It's a great night for a hunt, brother," she suggests, straightening. She gives her fur a shake and her tail waves lightly at the thought of the meal they might catch. Her expression remains almost hopeful, practically begging him to come along with her.
He's been lucky so far. If his brother had really been trying hard to disguise his scent and keep his traveling much more secretive, tracking him down would have been a lot more difficult--if not impossible. It became a lot easier when his sister's scent became stronger and more intermingled; evidently Anu had found the runaway brother and was doing her best to convince or persuade him to return. Their trail continued south, so Ari is convinced that his sister needs just a bit of help to succeed in their mission. And that bit of help would be... him! The thrill of being out on his own is the only thing giving courage to his paw steps right now--that and the fear of returning without his brother--as the trail has led him to what would seem to be the greatest concentration of predatory felines he's ever encountered, let alone heard of. Amaranth. Quite well aware of the possibility of being attacked at any moment, he's been slinking along at a snail's pace, nearly jumping at shadows or yelping at anything sudden enough to startle him. But the scent grows stronger, and he knows he's getting close.
Watching Anu was like watching a flower bloom at midnight; the expression on her brother's face was difficult to read but her obvious contentment with either herself or her situation was almost so surprising as to be dumbfounding. But after a few moments of scrutiny, Tyr's muzzle evolves into a much warmer smile and he blinks against the sunset, nodding in agreement. "Aye, sky's clear an' wind's calm. Jest gotter find--" Then something causes the base of his neck to shiver, the thick ruff of fur at his shoulders popping. Tyr is on his paws in an instant, trotting forward a few paces before trying to shake off the sudden unease. "Ech," he spits in distaste, turning back toward Anu... "Y'feel that?" he asks, his smile wiped away and replaced by a wary seriousness.
A wave washes over Anu, putting her fur on edge and sweeping her good mood away in an instant. Her ears swivel nervously, and she scents the air, trying to pinpoint the cause of this distinct uneasiness. She walks a quick circle, but forces her paws to stop before she can turn it into pacing. Her eyes dart to Tyr. Do they run? They could be being spurred into something more dangerous - a threat from another pack, or maybe even the cougars. Or maybe it - whatever it is - is something the siblings can take down on their own, and be done with it. A thought strikes her, that maybe it is the vengeful spirit come to haunt her again. Her paws shift anxiously, and she growls, "I don't like this." Why can't she figure out what is putting her on edge?
Almost there. He can feel it. Feel /something/, anyway. It's a tingle in the back of his mind. Ari knows that he's about caught up to them, and a happy yip is barely suppressed. The tingle grows stronger, and his paw steps increase to almost a trot. That tingle... is suddenly recognized for what it is, and he stops abruptly, trying to look in all directions at once. It doesn't take but a moment to recognize... And suddenly, he's moving, at the fastest run his paws can manage, and it's more of the same luck that keeps him from tripping all over himself in the frantic effort to FLEE. "Tyyyyyyr!" he's calling out as he sprints. "Anuuuuuuu!"
It couldn't possibly be the Ute spirit; they're not even in Ute's lands... though he has no idea what the mountain cougars might haunt them with. Tyr considers for a moment that one of the cats had followed them to the southern edge of the territory but they've done nothing to antagonize the Amaranth and he can't imagine why, besides simply being hateful, they might have come after he or his sister. He shakes his head; a silent command to Anu. He doesn't like it either but they cannot panic. Panicked creatures make mistakes. Creatures who make mistakes often end up dead. But Tyr nearly jumps out of his fur when his name, followed immediately by Anu's, echos and bounces across the stone walls around them. Tyr responds with an uncharacteristic growl that rips from between his teeth as his eyes dart around, trying to pinpoint where-- Then the brother is frozen to the spot as suddenly he watches... he is watching his /brother/, watching in disbelief, as he scrambles down the side of the mesa just as they did moments before. Anu is forgotten in an instant as Tyr's paws spur him forward though instead of a joyous greeting of long lost brothers, he raises himself to his full height, bristling as he barks out a stern command. "ARI!" His panic can only mean one thing. "Wot, where are they? Who's followin' yer?" It's Akh. It has to be...
"Ari?!" Anu cries incredulously. There's no way he could have found them so far from home. Not little Ari. She used to be impressed the pup could find his own tail. And now he's here. She shudders. Is Ari alone? Did Father send him? Do they think she's dead, or just a failure? Is there a difference? Well, clearly their brother has not been sent to get rid of them, not with an entrance like that. Her brows knit with concern and she slowly steps to Tyr's side. The she wolf's senses are still on alert. What in the moon's name is he doing here, since he /clearly/ is incapable of bringing home anything more feisty than a dandelion. And what has him so excited?
And there, at long last, is the lupine that he's been chasing after all this time. Was it skill that brought Ari this far? Probably more luck than anything else, but he's not /completely/ incompetent. Only /mostly/. Big difference. His sister is here too, but it's Tyr that's been his objective. Ari doesn't have time to do more than instinctively wilt under the intimidating stare of his brother, as he can barely keep from falling all over himself trying to stop, turn around, explain what's happened, explain what's happen/ing/, and try and figure out what's /going/ to happen next. For as he skids to a rather awkward halt, there's a much more graceful entrance by the creature pursuing him. Sleek and deadly, with razor claws extended and ears slicked against its skull. A full-grown cougar, and one that doesn't look entirely pleased to find three wolves here in Amaranth territory. A fierce scream is given, and Ari finds himself cowering in a backwards direction, edging toward where he'd be hiding behind his brother. Or, perhaps as a better idea... "Let's leave before more come!" His gaze darts back to look at the cougar, and he gulps at the ferocity in those feline eyes. Hello, kitty.
While he never particularly treated Ari any worse than anyone else did, his temper is short at the sudden intrusion; he can only imagine that Akh's troupes would swarm the mesa in an instant. Feeling Anu nearby helps steel his will a little more (somehow) and he is about to placate his baby brother when-- Tyr's eyes dart to the top of the cliffs, cold and unyielding amber, though even he cringes and steps back at the fierce and angry creature above. "Of all the-- y'daft--" Tyr hardly gets more than that out from between clenched maw before unceremoniously he grabs at his brother's neck scruff with his teeth to drag him backwards, commanding both siblings, "Gerron, now!" He doesn't snap his teeth at Anu, knowing she is fully capable of moving her paws and, if not, the cougar will maul her and not him.
Anu curses loudly, taking one moment to drink in the very real, very deadly presence of the sleek cougar. It's only an instant, though, before she's turning on her heels and darting in the opposite direction. She noses Ari, urging, "Go! Go!!" Maybe, just maybe they'll be alright if they can haul tail. Her ears flick behind her, listening for sounds of pursuit. She was right, at least. It /is/ a beautiful night for a hunt, though she never intended to be prey.
It wasn't /his/ fault that a cougar just happened to be nearby and was able to detect him! He was trying to be stealthy, after all! Ari yelps at the sharp rebuke and subsequent grabbing of his scruff, and the slight unbalancing is enough to send him tripping over his own paws and nearly stumbling into a heap. Thankfully, he's got just enough agility to keep from making a complete fool of himself, though at the moment the only thing on his mind is getting as far away from here as quickly as possible. If that cougar catches and kills all three of them, he'll never forgive himself!
Tyr wouldn't forgive him, either. At this point, it's up to Anu and Ari to keep their own tails attached to their rear-ends as they haul paw out of Amaranth. The retreat is not graceful and solely fueled by adrenaline. Tyr spurs his paws just about as far as they will go, eventually when the scent of the cougars has washed away from his nose and the approaching night breeze brings to him nothing but emptiness does he begin to slow, circling back behind to make sure both wolves have come with him and that the cougar did not. Tyr snorts to himself, grimacing and trying not to take out his frustration on the sudden and easy target in front of him. Besides; he doesn't really know what's going on and isn't going to blame Ari for it... yet. With his breath huffing fiercely from his chest, it is some time before he can address the runt. "Wot'er y'doin', Ari?" You know, besides bringing cougars over for dinner. "Why're yer here?" /Surely/ their father couldn't have sent him here?! Unless Akh's gone senile...
After the initial nudge, Anu abandons any attempt to spur on little Ari. She is concerned only with the complete and total escape from a very real danger, brothers be damned. She does gradually halt, though, coming to a stop only seconds after Tyr. Panting, she rounds on Ari. "/What/ was that all about? Are you /trying/ to kill as many of your family as you can at once, or is there something we should know?" she barks. It seems she doesn't have any qualms blaming him. Really, she should be concerned about other pack mates nearby, but all she can think about is the cold gaze of the cougar.
He may be smaller than them, but with imminent death right behind them, he's able to muster plenty of speed to keep pace. It isn't until they slow down and eventually stop that relief washes over him. They made it. Safety! At least... from the cougar. Ari doesn't even get a moment to catch his breath or recover from the adrenaline rush before he's already being turned on by his siblings. "Err.." he stammers, looking from Anu to Tyr, then back toward Anu. "I.. I was trying to..." No, probably should look at Tyr. "I was following you because..." On second thought, maybe best /not/ to look at Tyr. "I thought that Anu might need some..." He wilts a little. "...help." Hey, he /did/ find them, after all! The smaller wolf manages a slight tail wag, trying to appear at least a little bit confident. If his luck holds out, he and Anu together can bring Tyr back and... Realizing that Anu looks anything but pleased with him at the moment, he decides hastily that he'd better amend his explanation. "I mean.. /if/ you need help." Erf.
The siblings have little Ari pinched between the two of them, and Tyr only briefly looks up at Anu during their brother's explanation long enough to give a lift of his brow before those stern eyes are back on the silver one. They narrow and his muzzle wrinkles with the effort of trying to keep his teeth from flashing in Ari's face. When he trails off, Tyr is on him in an instant with a verbal assault. "Where's Akh? 'Ow many troupes 'as he got for'ard? 'Ee thinks 'ee can trick me int'thinkin' yer on yer own, does 'ee?" He bristles as the questions fly, fur popping in his agitation. He has to think quickly if he is going to outwit or outrun his father's advance. There's no other reason why their little brother would be here on his own. Were he not so frantic about figuring out a solution, Tyr might just balk at the idea.
Anu realizes Tyr is right. Ari is not the threat, here. There is undoubtedly something worse waiting for them - be it the cougar in pursuit or a family ambush. She listens to the smaller wolf's explanation with a look of almost amusement on her muzzle. Help? Really? Well, that alibi is watery at best. She knows Ari can't even help himself, let alone her. "Nice try," she snorts, and she looks like she might smile at the absurdity. But she doesn't. Instead, she looks around them and swivels her ears, trying to detect any signs of danger. If it /is/ Akh, though, she has a feeling it's already too late.
Oh, come /on/! Is it really that hard to believe? Ari doesn't even know how to protest, how to explain that he really /did/ come here to help her. If he had done his best to look confident before, now he's relegated to just wilting under the scrutiny of both siblings. "Akh doesn't know where I went," he says meekly, averting his gaze. He's not sure if the disbelief in their eyes and expressions is more painful than the disdain. He may be weak and scrawny, but he doesn't /lie/... "Like I said, I just came here to.. /if/ Anu needed help." Caught himself, this time. Come on, sis.. a little help here? Ari doesn't want to sneak a glance over toward her, but he's wondering frantically why she isn't rushing to his defense and telling Tyr that he really is going home now. Not that he expected her to do it for HIS sake, but.. she really was pursuing their brother for the purpose of retrieving him... right?
It is a long, long, long and uncomfortable time that Tyr simply stares down at his younger brother. If either of his siblings looked close enough they might be able to see the uncharacteristic twitch of his eyes muscles, a tick that moved down to the edge of his mouth, and then finally a series of short, disbelieving... chuckles? That's what it seems like. Tyr glances around a moment or two, seeing no cougar and no Akh coming to kill them, and then outright snorts, dissolving into a series of choking laughs that don't... quite seem healthy. He sits down unceremoniously on his hind end and rubs viciously at his eyes with a fore leg, as if trying to wake from this dream. It is a while before he can form a coherant sentence and even that is a little jagged, "Wots'is? Baby brother goin' against 'is father'n'opes 'ee finds his sister ter track down their wayward fool of a brother'n'make 'emselves honorable wolves! ... PFFT!"
Now it's Anu's turn to feel insulted. Make herself an honourable wolf? As if she isn't already? He has some nerve, the crazy idiot. As the male goes through his admittedly unnerving fit, she sidles up closer to their brother. The gesture is mostly to distance herself from Tyr, rather than offer any comfort to Ari. "I'm not the one that needs help," she mutters, her tail swishing in irritation. At least they aren't in immediate danger. That puts her at ease, despite the dark wolf's episode. "What, Tyr? You think Ari and I can't take you down?" she challenges, though the smile is in her eyes. It seems she's picked up on joking, a little, since she's spent so much time with her infernal sibling.
Take their brother down? Is that what it would take? Ari was hoping that he and Anu would be able to talk sense into their brother, rather than physically and forcibly /make/ him come back... And it's not that he's trying to make his brother an "honorable" wolf, per se; he's just trying to prove to his pack that he really /can/ be of some worth. He's not sure if the quasi-challenge from his sister is her finally taking the role of lead here, or she's just joking around as well.
Tyr continues his fit for a few moments, ignoring Anu until her final quip has sudden, hate filled eyes burning into her -- and then they're gone. It took him a moment but he recognized the tone in her voice, her posture, and that playful gleam to her that he's only seen a pawful of times in his life, and so relaxes and even manages the twitch of a smile. He'd suddenly anticipated a fight but had forgotten their hasty truce from last winter. Perhaps their brother's sudden intrusion had something to do with it. Speaking of -- "Ari," he begins, trying his best to mask the sigh in his voice. "'Ow'd y'get down all this way, eh?" Not that he ever hated the little runt but in their pack, well, it was easy to find a target for your frustrations... He'd like to tell baby brother that he's not going to see those northern mountains again and live long afterward but for some reason he can't quite bring himself to do it... especially if it really is true that Ari somehow got away from their father without his say so.
Anu's body tenses at the look from the dark male, though she relaxes just as quickly when Tyr does not strike. Instead, she playfully, if a little aggressively shoves Ari. "Maybe he just got lost," she smirks, fixing the silver wolf with a condescending gaze. It seems she doesn't realize they'll be stuck together for some time now, so there's no need to play nice. Then again, the she wolf doesn't often play nice.
This really isn't going as he'd hoped. Maybe as he expected, but not as he had hoped it would. Still not-quite-but-almost cowering, he gives a look of protest toward his sister. Just got lost? That's really not fair, and while he's not surprised to receive demeaning questions and remarks from his brother, it hurts a little more coming from his sister. After all, he did come all this way to /help/ her! "I.. I followed your scents down this way, and.. it wasn't all that hard, honest." He almost smiles, weakly, but a quick glance at his brother changes his mind in a hurry.
Anu's quip has Tyr smirking despite himself though he does take the time to listen to Ari's explanation, short and sweet as it is. He will just have to accepted the fact that Ari made his way out of the mountains without getting killed outright for disobedience, /and/ traveled this far south, on his own, /and/ found them both. Granted, neither Tyr nor Anu were making much effort to hide their travels, as the cougar interruption showed quite plainly and mentally he notes to take better care of such things in the future. He shrugs, "A'righ', but Ah'm telling yer right now 'cause Ah ain't going through this with /yer/, too. Ah. Ain't. Goin'. Back. Y'got it, Ari? An', at this point, neither is yer sister. An', by proxy, neither are yer. That is, o'course, iff'n y'feel like dying righ'quick by Akh's teeth." At this he cues up a decidedly amused and unnerving smile.
"Well, good for you, little brother," Anu snorts, "But he /isn't/ going anywhere with /you/. If anything, you and I are with him now. So get used to it." Helpful as ever, the she wolf can't help but add her two cents after Tyr. She doesn't really seem bothered that the other wolf has just been resolutely and completely shut down. Those are the breaks, kid. It's almost like she's in a good mood, now that she's fairly confident that neither a cougar nor their father will be showing up anytime soon to disembowel them. Funny how that works.
He always knew that to face Akh again could very well be the end of him. The only thing that would save him would be the fact that he'd have played a vital role in bringing the wayward Tyr back. That much of what his brother says doesn't come as any surprise. But his sister is supposed to be here for a very specific purpose, and when that is so casually dismissed by Tyr, and then /confirmed/ by his sister...! This is not at all how it was supposed to work out. The silvery wolf nods, feeling numb. This is not at all good. He'll have to try and speak alone with Anu sometime in the near future to find out why she's more or less had a change of heart. Change of mission, at that. And with his sister evidently on the side of his runaway brother, then what's to keep Tyr from killing him to keep him from heading back? Not that he would; he knows quite well what kind of bloody fate would await him, but what if Tyr simply wants to get rid of him? This has gone from bad to worse.
If anything, Anu's confirmation of her acceptance of her fate, seems to cheer the dark wolf up quite a bit. He stands, all irritation and ire from previous circumstances seems all but washed away like mud after a heavy rain, and he even manages a gentle (by their standards) cuff of Ari's ear. "A'ight, c'mon then; might as well get away from that mountain fer a while, at least 'til that cat o'er there cools hisself. Ari," he calls back as his paws begin to move him in a particular direction (south, of course), "Nunu can fill yer in iff'n she feels like eet." He certainly doesn't. As he passes his sister, Tyr butt-bumps his roughly and then spurs himself ahead a few bounds to try and avoid any sharp, teeth-like responses.
Sharp responses indeed! Anu snaps after him, missing him by a hair. She grumbles a moment over the use of 'Nunu' before nudging at Ari with her muzzle. She does not offer any explanation as of yet, but instead a blunt, "Are you coming or not?" That said, she lopes after Tyr, not bothering to wait for Ari to catch up. He doesn't have to come with them, by any means. Only if he plans on surviving here.
And he really doesn't feel like he has any choice in the matter, now. At least Tyr hasn't tried tearing into him on the spot; that much at least is a comfort, albeit a small one. At the prodding from his sister, he finds himself automatically falling into place behind them, paws moving mechanically as he still seems to be somewhat in a daze. Why had his sister abandoned her mission of bringing Tyr back? Now he would have to bring them BOTH back. Or should he even bother to try? Physically, he was nowhere near a match for either of them, let alone both of them together. But maybe if he could talk sense back into Anu... Yes, that was his last option. He didn't want to consider the possibility of being stuck out here with both of them. With a sigh, Ari slinks along behind the two larger wolves, starting to feel the first pangs of wishing he had never left home in the first place.