Umbra Copse All We've Known

Corsair had not originally intended to run away, per se, it just sort of... happened. What was supposed to be an easy shift-swap ended up being a Mabel-search, then one thing lead to another, and then he just sort of... left. He had not told anyone, not Ayla, not his mom, not his dad, not his sister. He was mad at first, his anger bubbling under his skin as he took off in the direction of Quaking Vale. He wasn't particularly angry that she had left, because sooner or later they would have left, permission granted or not. Mabel had that sort of spell cast over him, somehow she could make things that they shouldn't be doing seem like a perfectly good idea. She would have convinced him to run away with her to Quaking Vale too. Instead he had quietly freaked out by himself, running all over Oak Tree Bend searching for her, then had to come up with the decision to run away all on his own. He thought of what he'd yell at her when he first told her, he came up with every rotten name in the book and thought about just yelling them at her.

But that was before the sun started to set. He'd spent the past few hours calling her name out, aimlessly searching for his lost sister. His anger ebbed away and then came fear. What if something had happened to her? It would be his fault, no doubt. He should have been keeping an eye on her, he should have left with her. Maybe then he wouldn't be in this stupid, dumpy forest. "Mabel!" he cried out for her again, imagining bear's teeth sinking into her neck. "Mabel!" He thought of those caribou and their sharp hooves, he thought of how their dad had told them to be careful. What if she was dead? Or worse, what if he never found her? "MABEL!!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2018, 05:25 AM by Corsair.)

When Corsair had gone after Ayla Mabel has rolled her eyes straight back into her head and gone off as planned. Sure, her brother thought she was just going to calm down but that had never been what was up her pelt, she was going straight to Quaking Vale to see Sachiel. He loved adventures and hadn’t even hesitated to invite her to come down and see him so that’s where she was going. With or without her siblings and with or without her parents permission. As it was she had neither.

Mabel had been walking leisurely for about five or six hours since their incident. She half hoped her brother would find her and she half hoped that he wouldn’t and she could make the trip alone. So when Corsair started absolutely screaming her name the cream coloured pup sought him out. She was familiar with this forest from the time she had been lost before but she was sure it’s dark and eery atmosphere might frighten her brother. Leaping out from under the foliage trying to surprise him she laughed, ”Shhh Corsair, do you want Mom to come find us?” Mabel certainly didn’t want that.

He was running out of ideas, one single thought running through his head: What if I never find her? What will I tell Mom? He thought about being grounded for life at first, then he thought of how much he'd miss his adventure partner. He had no choice but to just find Quaking Vale and hope that she was there, and alive and well. The boy pushed on. Eventually the forest had to lighten up, and he hoped it did well before it got too dark.

His ear perked up as he heard something in the bush. Before he had a chance to see what it was, it attacked! He was dead! A goner! Corsair yelped and flinched away, stumbling over himself and to the ground. The creature didn't attack, and instead... laughed?

He opened his eyes to find Mabel, fine and well, and his worries and his anger all melted away. "Mabel!" he jumped up and ran to her, pressing her face to her neck. His tail wildly wagged behind him as he gave her a good sniff, just in case he was seeing things. It was her. "I thought—" he cut himself off. Never mind what he thought, it wasn't important. "You're okay!" she wasn't a small, helpless child, but somehow he felt like it was his duty to protect her.

Then he firmly nipped her on the ear and gave his sister a good, firm shove. "You asshole," he wanted to sound mad, but he was laughing in his voice. He couldn't be mad, he was too relieved that she was okay. Not even a scratch on her. "I can't believe you left! You're in so much trouble!" then, after a second thought, "I'm in so much trouble!" he wasn't particularly concerned. Any punishment that their parents brought down on them was nothing compared to what could have happened if he'd returned without her. "And without me! You could have at least told me."

Corsair watched her and beamed, a stupid grin plastered on his face. They were already out there, and already in big trouble. "So, you know the way to Quaking Vale?" They'd be back in a day, two tops, no one would miss them for that short of time.

He was certain of it.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Much to Mabel’s glee Corsair did more than just jump when she startled him, he actually yelped and fell right to the ground. Her laughter increased until she had a stitch in her side and she could barely see straight. Sobering up as her brother pressed his head into her neck she craned her head around until she could awkwardly nuzzle the tips of his ears. Then she quickly stepped away. The fuzzy feelings often made the pale girl uncomfortable and anything further than that would have been a deal breaker for her.

Thankfully, Corsair nipped at her ears and shoved her and everything was back to normal and nobody had to talk about their feelings. Whipping his face with her tail she laughed back, ”I invited you, but you had to check on Ayla.” There was no sign of jealousy anywhere in her tone, she was not jealous of her younger sister. Competitive yes, secretly protective yes, often confused and disdainful of her quiet demeanor yes, but not jealous.

Proudly raising her muzzle Mabel declared, ”I know exactly where I’m going, follow me.” This of course was a slight embellishment of the truth. She knew they were south of here and that was it, but she knew what direction south was in, so what could go wrong?

god im so sorry for taking ten years OTL

"Invited!" the boy scoffed, stifling the flicker of anger he felt in his chest. "How was I supposed to know you were going to leave-leave!" as opposed to just regular leaving, which was an entirely different ballgame. Plus, Corsair wasn't always the most intuitive of wolves. Sometimes he didn't get it well at first, or at second, and a lot of the time it was just easier to tell the boy something flat-out instead of hope that he understood something.

Which is why he couldn't have possibly known that @Mabel might not know the way, at least not entirely. He just didn't think she'd steer them the wrong way, and already being in trouble (possibly the most trouble), Corsair didn't see any reason to head back now.

Plus, he was a little excited to head to a new place. While he hadn't minded being stuck in Oak Tree Bend, he had to admit that as he grew, his curiosity of the outside world did too. He had yet to even see the mountains, except only when he briefly saw them in the distance. And beyond that -- what? Corsair's tail swished to the side and he found his place alongside Mabel, bumping his shoulder into her's playfully. "So, hey, what do you like so much about this Sachiel guy, anyways? He better not be lame."

Mabel could only laugh at her brother’s slow pick up on her plan, she wanted to snort back a witty retort but couldn’t come up with one fast enough. Her mother was always so quick with her retorts, especially if she was in a bad mood and the child aimed to be the same way but she often failed. Thankfully, she always seemed to be quicker than her brother. Wanting to move past this faltering moment he cream coloured child picked up her pace, this she was at least somewhat confident about.

When Corsair bumped his shoulder against hers she grinned and hit his legs with her tail in response. The journey down south would seem so much shorter with her brother along the way. Unlike Ayla, Mabel did not like to be alone. Squinting sideways towards him at his question she explained, ”He’s just cool. And he doesn’t have so many rules like we do, when I told him I was out exploring alone he didn’t seem surprised at all” Then as an afterthought to this as the girl was still mad about how much trouble her sister was going to get them in she added, ”Even if he isn’t that cool this time he will still be better than Ayla.” Anyone was cooler than Ayla, but she would beat up anyone who said that other than Corsair.