Cors Ossum blow the candles out

For @Yuka only. <3
Backdated to July 10th, if you don't mind? Clear weather, afternoon.

It felt as though she shouldn't be here, and yet she could not bring herself to leave. The wind picked up at intervals, pushing aside dried leaves and bullying the fog into spirals around her. Each shuffling of the forest floor exposed something new, morbid but fascinating. Bones from all different sorts of animals were littered throughout, becoming more and more concentrated the deeper she traveled.

The smell was growing worse as well, and it was finally this that brought her to stillness. Brows knitting together, she stared into the ominous shadows ahead of her with doubtful uncertainty. She wanted to see, but her instincts told her no and her stomach turned as another brush of wind brought the stench more thickly to her. So much death lay before her in that dark Hollow, and it caused a flurry of questions throughout her mind.

Most prominently; what was this place, and why wasn't she afraid of it?

The message had become quite clear to him now. Narime was not returning and the realization infuriated him. He needed her with him in order to continue his mission and finish it so that he could return to Inali. Frustrated with his predicament, the Thorben fled from the pack boundaries, marking the borders heavily to make it clear to all that he would be returning. Yuka traveled over the mountain, his large paws not stopping there, until he entered Ghastly Woods. As a child in Whisper Caverns, he had never ventured into the ghostly territory, it always made his fur stand on end, but now that he was older he believed in no such things and there was no hesitation as he entered the territory.

His nostrils flared as he took in the new scents, recoiling as the stench of death reached his muzzle. While he never seen a dead body, a memory of Inali's limp body beneath his flashed behind his eyes. He shook those thoughts away, focusing on the present and pushing deeper into the woods, huffing softly. How uncharacteristic of him to get so riled up. As he pushed on, his eyes caught on a figure that seemed quite out of place among the dark forest. Blinking to clear his vision he approached, his face widening into a grin at the sight. He would recognize the pelt anywhere, even if she had grown quite a bit since the last time he had seen her. However, another thing had changed that he had to take into account. She definitely did not smell like Secret Woodlands. Softly, he breathed out her name, a question just a whisper on his lips, "Nineva...what are you doing here?"

Thank you TABs

So absorbed was she in what lay ahead of her within the darkness, Nineva failed to recognize the tell tale signs of another drawing near. Perhaps this was in part owed to the fact that her dear elder brother, never the vagarious sort, had always been at home in the shadows. It was only when he whispered her name that she knew his presence at all, and while she did not leap her head swiveled quickly round with pointed ears and discerning ears to first witness before acting. Immediately, even amongst all the gloom darkening his pelt, she recognized him, and joy swept her away as she was suddenly four months old again.

Tail beating the air behind her, she eagerly closed the remaining space between them, his question nearly lost to her.

"Oh my god, Yuka," she breathed, butting her head against his chest and leaning into him, nuzzling affectionately into his fur. More than anything, it was to verify for herself that yes, this was real and not some great feat of her imagination or the sinister effects of this mystical portion of the woods. Part of her had been convinced that she might never see her brother and mother again, that they had left the family for good. That he was here, in the flesh, was one of the final pieces of her life that she needed to fall into place. Now, if only her mother too would slip from out of the darkness and back into her life...

"I was just... exploring, where have you been? Where is mother? Are you... are you coming home?"

After he whispered her name, the reaction was almost immediate. The brooding male stood in place as his half-sister plowed into his chest. He would be lying if he said that he had to force himself to relax and return the gesture. After all, this was his sister and he could not very well refuse her what was physical affection. He looked down at her, blinking as she pulled away. The russet-hued man felt as though he could finally breath again once he had his own space. The man was not expecting the onslaught of questions that followed from Nineva's maw. Dark lips pursed for a moment, considering the best way to address her questions.  She was clearly no longer within the Woodlands and would have not heard about what happened in Broken Timber Pines. He sat down, hoping that she would follow suit.

Swallowing, to moisten his throat, he explained in the best way possible, "I am sure that you are aware that Lady Hervok sent Narime and I out on a mission. The mission was to go and infiltrate Broken Timber Pines and bring it down from the inside." He paused for a moment, unsure of how to proceed before going with his normal route of execution. "About a month into our mission, Narime disappeared and I've been on my own within enemy borders since. I can't leave until the mission is complete." He watched the gray girl's features carefully. Nineva had always intrigued him, out of all of the Hervok children. She was the most interested in him from the start and always tried to include him. The girl truly cared for her family. Yuka was unsure how she would take the news of her mother. Yuka had already faced the abandonment once and knew that it could very well happen again. He just didn't know how to tell Ash.

Thank you TABs