Sacred Grove this horse isn't from here Abby

Want to make this an RE? Juni got 'A rabbit falls from the sky and strikes you; an eagle has lost its meal while flying overhead.' If not, that's cool with me xD

Hitting the mountain had been exciting at first. It marked a sort of end to their journey, and meant that Juniper hadn't steered them too far off course, but that initial excitement faded away rather quickly once she realized that their progress meant nothing unless they were able to actually find their sisters. Incus and Arcus didn't offer up any specifics before they left, and even if they had, what were the chances that they would still be wherever they said they'd be? 

Really, there were two options. They could either stay put and hug the mountain range in hopes that eventually the girls would cross, or they could begin seeking out meaningful places and start crossing them off of the list. Either way, they ran the risk of missing each other by days, or miles, or even moments. Ugh. She was frustrated, and hungry, and if she was hungry then Jasper was probably starving. 

"What do you want to do, Jas? Should we stay here, or try to find Charred Ash Draw?" Arcus was born just outside of it, so that probably held the most sentimental value for their wayward sister.

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2021, 07:43 AM by Juniper.)

Doesn't matter to me either way :)!

Jasper had been keeping all of his senses on high alert ever since he and Juniper left their parents, but no matter how far the pair traveled he hadn't gotten even the slightest trace of their two missing sisters. He kind of figured this could happen, but he never really came to a conclusion in regards to what he'd do if they stayed missing forever. What was he without his family? What purpose did he serve?

"Don't care." The boy responded in a tone that might have seemed like he was uninterested. At least that's how he had hoped it read. Truth be told; Jasper had been practicing the art of self-discipline past few days. What he wanted to do was scream at his sibling for getting them lost. Make her feel bad for leading him blind away from the comfort of their den. Make her realize how afraid he was of this new foreign lifestyle they'd adopted. He'd always hated that part of him, the angry part. But leaving home meant he could now be whoever he wanted to be, and what better sibling to break the habit with than June? She seemed to be on her own soul-searching expedition, maybe he could afford to take a few pages from her book. Plus, it wasn't even her fault. Choice to leave was his at the end of the day. "Charred Ash Draw have food?" He raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Or am I going to have to seriously start pondering the pros and cons of cannibalism?" He was kidding. Probably.

Arcus and Incus had been gushing nonstop to each other about their boy toys, arguing about who was better and who was cuter. Obviously, Incus had thought her boy was the best. He had been nice, charming and apparently had good taste considering he’d chosen her. Though, she didn’t consider him her boyfriend or anything gross like that like Arcus thought about Levi. She hadn’t been that naive, despite her sister being an entire season older than her. She’d had fun and it had felt good, really good in fact, but at the end of the day her and Viorel had parted ways and she wasn’t sure if she’d see him again. Not that she’d be opposed to it, but Incus was still much too independent to be weighed down by something like a relationship. She had trees to pee on and sights to see.

Her sights, however, hadn’t planned on being seen with her littermates. When their scent had swept across them like a bombshell on the breeze, the silver Leigh girl had had half a mind to turn and run the other direction. She loved her littermates of course, but they could be such a bore. Juniper was such a stickler for the rules, and while Jasper meant well he had definitely inherited their father’s overbearing protectiveness. But, it was also this combination of characteristics that left her curious as to why they were in the Lore rather than back at Autumn Ridge. Arcus and Incus had gotten permission from their parents to leave, so it wasn’t like they were going after their wayward runaway siblings, and honestly Inky felt it hard to believe that they really would leave on their own accord, so what gave?

Curse her curious spirit, she just had to know, so she pulled her elder sister along. She opened her mouth to yell at the pair, but just as she did a streak falling from above them caught her attention. Sunshine eyes flew upwards and her jaw went slack as she watched a rabbit fall from the claws of an eagle, who let out an angry cry at the loss of its meal. She couldn’t utter a warning before it slapped across Juniper’s rump and she bit her lip to stifle an outright cackle, her cheeks puffing as she held it back. Once she reigned it in, she proceeded forward with a grin “Well, guess you guys don’t need to chew on each other’s legs. Jas would probably taste bad anyways,” she said. “What the heck are you doing here?”

Arcus had recently started to feel very ill. She couldn't be sure if it was just something bad she ate, if she was coming down with some sort of canine flu or flea-borne illness, or if she really was pregnant. Right now, she was keeping it to herself as best she could since Incus had been so dismissive of the whole boyfriend title she had given Levi. Incus had her own beau but wasn't taking anything very seriously, including her sister. So when Arcus stopped to vomit behind a bush she tried to be stealthy about it so Incus could carry on without her. Catching up would not be difficult.

There were voices ahead that sounded achingly familiar. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Arcus quickly wiped her muzzle on a low branch of the bush and trotted off. She stumbled into her sister's rump right in time to see a rabbit falling—from the sky?!—and her eyes flicked down to where it would land. Juniper? No one could say anything in time.

"JUNIPER," called, rushing to her side instead of bonking Incus on the snout for such an insensitive comment. "Are you alright?" Truthfully, Arcus had always worried about Juniper more than the others. She was much quieter than Incus and less wild than Jasper, and even Arcus could forget she was there sometimes, which made her feel like a terrible older sister. Juniper didn't bother her quite as much as the other siblings.

"And Jasper?" Jasper and Arcus had their differences, but seeing him now made her realized that she missed him just as deeply. That they were both here was concerning.

Jasper was apparently not going to be any help when it came to making decisions. His half-hearted 'Don't care' was enough to make her roll her eyes, but he made up for it with his joke. "I don't see any pros for you, considering you'd be the one getting eaten." but in all seriousness, Charred Ash Draw might have food.

As if the Gods had both heard and disapproved of their conversation, a creature fell from the sky, directly onto her backside. At first, she'd thought it was Jasper taking the joke a little too far, but as she turned to retaliate, she noticed the freshly killed rabbit on the ground. Her gaze swung upwards to find the eagle swirling above, probably hoping they would leave it's catch behind, but this was definitely a case of finders keepers. 

Juniper cracked a smile as her sister's familiar lilt echoed from behind, and she was able to breath a sigh of relief. Thank God. Completely disregarding Incus' previous comment, the girl began. "Incus! We were—" But Arcus cut her off. Their eldest sister wasted no time closing the gap between them, worrying over Juniper as much as Juniper had worried over them. "We're fine. How about you guys? How are you?" She tried to rake her eyes over them both, searching for any sign of injury or malnutrition, but the girls looked alright.

Having watched a rabbit manifest from the sky as if the Gods had been listening in on their conversation, Jasper readied himself into a pouncing position. He wanted that first bite, even if it wasn't his butt the meal had blessed. Right as the boy was about to go for it though, an all-too-familiar voice jabbed at his ego from a short distance away. "Would not!" he spat back, but the voice was already talking again. He sighed, resigning any plans he had of that first bite and flopping himself on the ground. The moment had been spoiled and the Leigh now didn't care when he got his turn with the delicious bunny. He just knew that he would taste good, and he couldn't believe that anyone would ever suggest otherwise.

....Wait.

The voice had been so familiar that he hadn't even recognized it was one of the ones he'd been chasing after all this time. "Incus?" he murmured, and as he did another form made its way into view. "Arcus?!" The boy sat there mouth wide open in disbelief.