Hush Meadow 505

She'd been sleeping soundly when she felt a bump against her nose. A golden eye had parted just in time to see her sister leaving the den. A flurry of panic shivered inside her and she had quietly raised her head to find her brothers had vanished to. They'd gone out without her. Again.
Her creamy ears flattened to her skull as she held in a little whine. They were always leaving her out, her siblings were forever out adventuring and she had to stay close by. Little miracle they would say. Yeah, she might be small and took a little longer to catch up with her siblings, but she wasn't broken or useless. She might be small, but that didn't mean she wasn't brave like her siblings and tonight she wasn't going to be left behind. Determined, she crept from the den, keeping herself low and small as not to make a sound. With a glance back to the warmth she was leaving behind, she took a deep breath and ran into the darkness.
The bitter cold air hit her face and whilst her winter coat would keep her warm, she still flinched a little at the sting from warmth to cold. It was a little scary out here at night. The moon cast shadows upon the naked tree branches and they looked like claws. The sounds were different too, a screeching here and there made her spine tingle. "Be brave." she whispered to herself before she threw herself into a sprint.
Her pads adjusted to the frozen ground beneath her as she quickened her pace, trying her best not to stumble in a snow drift or vanish into a ditch. She lacked the height of her siblings, not only making her look much younger than she actually was but if she were to fall in a hole she might not be able to climb back out. That would be soo embarrassing. Instead, she moved quickly but carefully, keeping to the snowbanks rather then the shadows as she figured they would hide her bright coat much better.

Her adventure was going to be short lived however. She smelt him before she saw him, but the unmistakable aroma of Kade suddenly crossed her path. It mingled with the still fresh scent of Ryvet... who appeared to be peeing all over the place. Gosh, that boy could drink. With a wrinkle of distaste in her nose, she elevated her head and took a good whiff. Kade was following them- good, she hoped they would be in big trouble, leaving her out like that. She liked it when they were grounded, she actually got to see them and play with them- when they included her of course. She didn't believe they were nasty or did it out of spite, she thought they opted to leave her on the sidelines in case she got hurt. It was so frustrating. She wasn't made of glass. She was tough, just as tough as they were and she was going to prove it.
With her mind made up, she chased after Kade's scent, hoping that he was moving at a slower pace than she was. She was hoping maybe to distract him, let her siblings get back home before he caught them and no doubt squealed on them all for being out so late at night.
Her lungs ached, her breath was rapid from the excursion, but her ears were working fine and the closer she got to the meadow the more voices she heard.

It was all very out of context but what she did pick up on was Ren's haughty voice- clearly he was trying to be tough as ever. Ryvet was quiet, but he was here, she could smell him and her sister, well she was here too but her voice piped up a little after Ren's. Who were they talking to? She slowed her pace to a trot, careful to keep out of Kade's radar for the moment as she took an arched path to bring her around the side rather then behind were the dark male was lurking. Though she wished she hadn't, for as the trees cleared and the meadow came into view she nearly gasped at the scene before her. Her siblings were gathered as a troop, talking to some strange dark female; he felt her heart beating against her chest as she listened to the female's words and her reactions. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. She was going to eat them!

"Leave them alone you- you. Erm. You big bully!" she cried her war cry as loud as her lungs would allow before she tore off towards the group, her tail raised like her mother's though she was the least threatening wolf in history. She pulled to a stop some distance, away, but bared her teeth which made her look like a cheesy smile then anything threatening, but she didn't care. She would protect her siblings from the evil beast and if she couldn't, then Kade who was coming sure would.

(This post was last modified: Jan 07, 2013, 07:39 PM by Calla.)

the magician's protégé

Renier Lyall

like father, like son

Ryvet buddied up to him, but it was no in a brave manner. Far from it. Who is a ninny now? Renier did not shift to scold his brother, he did not move his eyes off the burning gaze. He held her with a narrowed look, codly as he could muster. He knew how to stare, give a hard look. Taima was much more brave, maybe he should take her next time if Ryvet could not muster a single ounce of courage. They were not babies any more. Suck it up Ryv. It made his confidence grow, and that was all he needed. If Renier did something hasty like attacking Ryvet would be forced to do something, like backing his siblings up. What good was it having any?

She tried to taunt them, if he was younger it would have done the trick. "A shadow is nothing in comparison to the real thing," he said with a sharp tongue, letting the invisible warning play in his voice. Right now that was all she was, a black wraith with glowing eyes, but not true mass.

Renier smirked at her comment about intelligence, he knew it not to be true and had no need to correct her.

When she singled out Taima, the eldest took a step forward, and felt his hair raise higher, his lip revealing a single fang. Nothing made him more angry than someone messing with them, only he could do that. "You don't belong here either,"the golden boy snapped. Renier wouldn't let the fact she knew they were from Cedar forest get to him. Grizzly Hollow might have, but not the name of the trees. They all carried that scent. "Your coat doesn't smell like anything from here, maybe you don't belong." There was nothing that spoke of her, if she had no significance.

Something that was suppose to be make his blood run cold, only made it boil. Renier liked no threats, only his mother, his father, even Kade could do that. She not only had the gull to show her teeth, but she asked why they were here. "Why, so you can tell us to leave? That there is no such thing?You adults feed lies to fill us, they only make us more hungry for what's real." He coolly replied, not at all impressed. There was no one to help her.

Of coarse when things were going in his favor something always went wrong. It was the way of the universe. Youngest sister, and the smallest had to follow them here of all nights. He was surprised to hear her yell at the mysterious lady, putting on a front of her own. Hands down she beat Ryvet that was for sure. "Calla.." What could Renier say, demand she come closer. Why was she standing so far away?

The dark form of his body was but a frozen shadow as he eavesdropped from the position he took at the meadow's margin. Despite the dim luminescence of moonlight that grazed the surface of the snow and the heads of the mischievous Lyall pups, for the life of him he could not put a finger on stranger who continued to test the children's courage and wit. There was something familiar, or forgotten, in the tone of the female's voice, and though she spoke with a reckoning demeanor her words felt warm. It was as though he were in a dream, if only for a moment. Renier's strong words echoed in the background of his mind as his silver eyes focused on the silhouette of the meadow spectre's body, roving the curve of her back and the angles of her ears.

And then everything changed.

As if he'd fallen from a cloud, suddenly he snapped back to the reality of what was actually going on, forgetting altogether the glimpse of familiarity. Renier's bold words seemed magnified now as a most unexpected voice rang out across the clearing: Calla.

"Leave them alone you- you. Erm. You big bully!"

It was his breaking point. It was not enough that he'd be drawn from his own home in the middle of the night because the boys and Taima couldn't stay put, but it was apparent that their insubordinate behavior had rubbed off on their little sister, as well. His brows came together in a hard line, a twitch to the tip of his tail as anger and disappointment flooded his body. Without a hint of hesitation the guardian tilted his muzzle to the night sky, releasing a cold and commanding song of warning into the frigid air. It was time to go, and he was not messing around.

Expecting that the children would abandon their folly and haul back to the forest and den where they belonged, he strode swiftly into the meadow and toward the scene where his wrath would be unleashed. The musculature of his back rippled beneath his thick coat as drew close, the silver of his eyes and fur revealing his form as he swept through the darkness. There was no peaceful intent in his mind - he would show the bold rogue who was truly far from safety tonight, even if it meant making an example of her.

A low growl resonated within him as he approached, his fiery gaze finding the amber stare of the Meadow Guardian whose identity remained unforeseen.

The suggestion that he had brains fell on deaf ears as the sound of high pitched static whirred through his terrified mind, and he was more than grateful when her terrifying stare moved from him over to his much bolder sister. You don’t belong here. No, they didn’t, they belonged at home, in their nice warm den, surrounded by Aniu and Sibyl and Kade. Not out here in the meadow with a witch who was going to curse them or worse yet eat them!

When she flashed her teeth he was almost certain that it was the latter that was on the dark strangers mind and the shaking became more than noticeable to everyone gathered. His large ears were tucked close to his skull as his tail vanished well and truly between his pale legs. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He wanted to go home and perhaps for the first time in his young life, he wished the dark guardian would materialise to ground them all.

But it was the song-like voice of his youngest sister that shook him the most. If she was here too, then he would have to be brave right? He’d need to behave somewhat similar to Renier and Taima... right? But could he? He was shaking, and without consciously realising so, he had begun to inch backwards away from the stranger between his darker siblings, his movements hardly masked as his pale coat shone in the moonlight. His eyes pleaded the forgiveness of his siblings as he moved closer to their rears.

And then Kade’s voice rang clear. But he was frozen in place. When it came to a response of fight or flight it would seem Ryvet Lyall was more prone to freeze.

I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation

TAIMA LYALL

You're living in the past, It's a new generation

The girl continued to glare, the dark mask on her face somewhat emphasizing it in the striking moonlight, all the while inching closer to where Renier and Ryvet stood while her masked brother continually tested her. Once she had reached them, her shoulders rose and her ears turned forward. Now all this woman was doing now was insulting them. As the dark lady moved forward, Taima tried to match her stance with her tail lifting fearlessly in a proud arc above her rump and her muzzle wrinkling to showcase her own set of sharp teeth. She dared to continue staring at her, watching her every move. A lick of her lips might have been menacing but it did not even phase the adrenaline-fortified pup in the least.

"Won't you tell me just what you're doing so far from safety on so dark and cold a night?" the woman's voice should have made the young Lyall think twice about the circumstances she was being lured into. A growl thundered from her chest to defy her further but was clipped when the most startling of voices sounded out from the forest. Calla. Their sister's name left Renier's mouth and Taima's heart nearly dropped in her ribcage. While it was impressive to see her stick up for them, her snarl was not as striking as Taima would have expected. It made her grimace; standing so close to Renier and Ryvet made her quite a distance away from her sister.

She froze, her eyes going from Calla to the woman and back again, unsure if she ought to dart towards her sister in order to protect her. Her mottled body, once rigid and shocked, twitched to make a run for the ivory girl but was jolted and ultimately stopped by the sound of an all-too-familiar howl. Taima blinked, shaking her head as her attention snapped and turned in the direction of Kade's location. Then, without delay, he appeared, all the more stunning as his presence demanded everyone's attention.

The glower on her face softened as she paid close attention as to how he started to handle this 'mess.' Her brows rose and she glimpsed briefly to Ryvet's face after realizing that he had slinked back behind her and Renier. Returning her eyes forward, she looked to the two black wolves, then to Calla. She sniffed. At least Kade had showed up. Despite the possibility that they would all be grounded, at least they would no longer be subject to the Meadow Guardian's taunts. Taima tried to catch her sister's gaze, motioning with her head and muzzle that she should join them for safety's sake.

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Though she'd hoped desperately the dominant pup would let her get even one point it was clear the moment his mottled jaws parted that the scoreboard was very much his. Boy, did that one have a mouth. He was no fun at all to play with. Ava felt her ego bruised by an ankle-biter and set her blazing gaze upon the youth. Why did she remember this being much easier? Hadn't she had an overgrown whelp shifting awkwardly from paw to paw a millisecond after she'd instructed him to dance? A one-trick pony was better than no-tricks, but she was slowly resigning herself to such a fate. Meadow Guardian dreams nothing more than dust in the wind... at the hands of a boy no less!

It was with a dim sigh then that she surveyed the gathering again, noting their puffed chests and mediocre growls with little more than an idle eye before turning her attention back on Renier. Absent-mindedly she licked her nose and crooned, "Adults? Oh, sweet thing, there's no magic in your heart. You're more an adult than I am-" Whatever sad observations she had to offer the child were cut short by the gentlest of insults as yet another cub came barreling out of the darkness. Ava's amber eyes grew wide as she watched the pale female's approach come to a halt, a dusting of snow landing around her as she struck a pose and a grin so far from menacing it was almost endearing.

But at once she felt the dynamic in the air changing. Well theirs was a large brood indeed - and she'd be very concerned as to how she would handle all these miscreants if it hadn't been for the increasing tension. At once she could almost smell the protective instinct peak in every one of their growing figures. The creamy cub was their weakness, but the last of Ava's intentions were to be gnawed on by a close group of siblings for threatening their fashionably late arrival. Now she was at a loss - could she rightly leave them on their own on a dark winter night? They were precious to an entire pack and it was irresponsible to turn her back on them. Then again, she was still annoyed the night hadn't played out like she'd wanted it to...

A decision was made quickly, but of a third option she really ought to have seen coming. A voice bludgeoned the quiet air, and Ava felt fear tugging at the hairs on her nape - but it did not clutch at her heart like the warning of a Guardian ought to. There was something oh too familiar about the voice that warned her away - something that did not terrify her. Gently she inched off from the gathering, though her posture remained dignified. A growl announced the broad-shouldered man's arrival, his presence severe enough to warrant a hush from the kids. Tension built in her legs, uncertain if she ought to run for her life now or hold her ground if for nothing more than dignity. His glare fell upon her with more coldness than any wind she'd ever felt, a steel colored stare, just as soft... Kade?.

Ava did not risk it. Quickly she averted her gaze, increasing the distance between herself and the Cedarwood wolves. She could not find a snappy retort anywhere within her, something which she assumed would greatly please the group ego, but it was not fear that left her speechless. Even if it was him indeed, that didn't mean Ava was safe from injury, and she would rather forfeit the game than risk the dark figure's teeth. With a final shining smile she pivoted on her heel and strode off into the darkness, leaving the identity of the male unknown and the fate of the cubs to him, whoever he was.

art - threads

Only for a moment did his eyes meet the golden stare of the stranger before it diverted. The mysterious figure withdrew just as quickly as he'd made his presence known, flashing only a deviant smile in the direction of the children before disappearing into the darkness. For a moment his attention would trail the shadow, noting the direction of his or her exit before thoughtfully considering how easily his intervention was carried out. Perhaps too easily? Well, there certainly existed no shortage of cowards in this world, and he didn't give a second thought to the possibility that this one had been no exception.

To that end, his attention was directly averted to the fabulous four, inconveniently foolish, forever creating problems for him, and so very...brave. As irate as he had been just minutes before, it was pride that quelled his anger as he took a good look at each of them. Renier, whose stubborn, intuitive, and resilient approach had possibly bought them time and kept the meadow guardian at bay; Ryvet, who faced utter terror without completely abandoning his siblings if not for lack of fear; Taima, with her independent and rebellious nature, standing firm at the sides of her brothers without lifting an eye from her sister pending her unanticipated arrival; and precious Calla, the one in need of protection who readily and boldly offered it herself.

He couldn't have been more proud. But their honorable actions didn't erase the fact that they had broken the rules, endangered themselves and each other, and could have encountered entities more sinister than the dark stranger turned out to be. Frankly, had Kade not been in proximity to extend the Lyall children his protection, who knew what harm could have came to any one of them tonight. Masking any content, his silver eyes narrowed upon them all. "Home. Now." They might not actually be in as much trouble as they most likely assumed, but he wasn't going to allow them to believe differently.

Turning away from the scene that was now nothing more than a barren, moonlit field, the Guardian wore the victory of Grizzly Hollow covertly as he led the way home.

{end}