Thicket of Secrets dramatic irony.

Set at his usual fishing creek, which is a little southwest of SW territory. Any SW wolves are welcome to be aware of this spot and his preference for it, if a reason is needed for anyone to be passing by.
@Zerxes only at first. Will tag interested people and turn this AW when appropriate :]

Everything was looking up.

It was more his mother's habit than Duck's, but nevertheless the skinny wolf found himself humming a musicless tune as he watched the water trickle endlessly by. Having distanced himself consciously from the sounds he was making, discovering what he had absent-mindedly associated with each note had been a brief source of amusement. Apparently, spotting a fish resulted in a low strum, whereas seeing one get itself caught in his rock formation prompted a little trill in the back of his throat. The creek was lush with minnows today, which were small and difficult to catch - under ordinary circumstances. Duck had long since gamed the system, turning this creek into a high-efficiency supply of fresh fish, and had little to no problem plucking out the tiny fish as they swam into the narrow bottleneck he'd created just by shifting three very important rocks.

That act was met with a soft but triumphant three-notes, one which he'd made quite a lot so far today, as the pile of small fish behind him was growing steadily. It would be too many to take back in one trip, but that didn't matter. Either he'd stash them away somewhere nearby and collect them tomorrow, in case he didn't have a repeat of this good fortune, or would just make all the journeys necessary to carry them back.

Not before eating his fill, of course, and now that his catches were almost always at a surplus, Duck lived pretty much off his own hunting efforts. It was a good thing he enjoyed the taste of fish, but even if he hadn't, the fact that his effect on Secret Woodlands was very much a net gain for the pack was satisfying enough. He wouldn't be a drag on resources ever again.

Watching a larger silvery fish make its way towards his bottleneck, Duck waited until the perfect moment and then snapped his muzzle down, grabbing the creature right out of the water. In almost the same movement, he tossed it in the air just long enough to change his grip, so that its head-end hung out of his mouth, and then smacked it down on his pointed rock. The fish died instantly, and with a satisfied grunt, he threw it onto the pile.

Another good day.

@Duckweed

Plans were in their infancy, but set in motion. As Z wandered farther south, he thought of his runt of a brother. True, the boy had grown well since last they'd seen each other; he was a man now. But Camio's actions upon greeting him had been that of a pup, so a pup he would remain. It suited Zerxes just fine. A pup was still malleable. Whether Camio returned to him successful or not would determine how much further use he would be, though Z supposed he should be lenient with his brother. He was family, after all.

Red ears perked with interest as the male slowed his pace and cocked his head. A slow inhale confirmed the presence of another nearby, as did happy little sounds. His smile stretched along one side of his maw before his tongue traced along that same side of his lips. Downwind, Z decided to use it to his advantage and approached as silently as possible through the trees. Thick foliage obscured him from the young gray wolf who had quite a pile of recently culled fish growing beside him. Pale green eyes focused on the pile momentarily as his belly gave a tight clinch.

Two birds with one stone, then. He'd satisfy his hunger for fun as well as food.

Like slipping on a new skin, Z stumbled through the bushes loudly, exaggerating his breathing so that his lean form would show his ribs more prominently. The effort it took to put on an apologetic smile brought a thrill of excitement to the wolf. He wondered just how long he could wear the skin before he started to bleed through it. "I - I'm sorry to intrude on you like this. Do you think you could share some of your fish?" Z asked, trying his damnedest to keep the command from his tone. For one so used to getting what he wanted, it was quite a challenge.

@Zerxes

The wolf had been calmly contemplating his next catch when the careless crashing came to his ears, shifting him instantly from his concentration. A nervousness fluttered through his chest as he realised that he wasn't going to be alone for much longer, and instinctively he stepped back, ears drawn hesitantly backwards as he waited to see just who - or what - was coming. Home wasn't far, and the only wolves he ever encountered here were either thirsty loners or packmates, neither of which were anything to be worried about.

His eyes dropped to the tempting pile of fish, and his molars ground together.

The culprit of the noise emerged soon after, yet another loner looking somewhat down on their luck. Duck stood silently as the larger agouti man huffed and wheezed and stopped, having clearly noticed that shining beacon of free food. He smiled, and Duck knew that the polite apology and plea would have melted his mother instantly. But that wasn't who he was. Nobody had given him handouts, so why should he do the same just because he'd been nicely asked? Tail held stiffly behind him, quivering with the effort it took not to curl it under him, Duck eyed this stranger-in-need with what he hoped was a cool detachment. "Sorry, n-n-n-no," he replied, pushing a little volume into his voice to make sure it was above a mutter and to try and compensate for the stutter, "they're f-f-f-for m-my pack."

It was essentially a bluff, though, for he knew he didn't have the stones to truly defend them if the loner wanted any. Stood a good yard away from the pile, he was hardly presenting a good wall. Maybe he would just rely on the integrity of this loner to respect it. Or perhaps, if the man begged, Duck could graciously comply... it was so strange to be in any position of power, that it couldn't hurt the Woodlands to give away some of his catch today in return for a little ego boost. His was practically starved, after all.

@Duckweed

Z wasn't the only one wearing a skin, he observed. Here was a young, uncertain lad trying to be bold. Trying being the operative word. The boy's stuttering had his defense of his well-earned fish fall flat. The loner looked to the wolf's organized system of rocks which funneled the creek which forced spawning fish into a narrowed channel. Smart boy, Z thought with appreciation. He could always appreciate intelligence even if it was attached to a deplorable, honorable soul.

They're for his pack. The lazy sods should be here using the boy's system rather than having him fetch their meals for them. The rising annoyance towards this unseen pack was causing Zerxes to transmogrify before the young wolf. Pale green eyes that had been soft with apology now sharpened to a harsh stare. His breathing evened out, showing a lean figure now rather than a skinny one as the eye was previously led to believe. And Z stood taller, no longer allowing his head to droop level with his body. In the place of the downtrodden loner stood a confident male who cared little for the pack wolf's denial of his meal.

If it would not be a gift, it would simply be a tax that would spare the boy's life. Z smiled, though it held no kindness. It figured he would simply not be able to maintain the appearances of someone broken for long. Without even a lick of apology in his eyes, Z strode boldly forward and dipped his head to gather as much of the boy's catch in his mouth as he could carry. He met the pale wolf's grey eyes, amusement sparkling within his own, before slowly ambling off with plenty of time for the lad to throw up a fuss should he decide he wanted to. Oh, Z hoped he would. This was just too easy.

Needless to say, his meagre defence didn't have the right effect. So used to coming across the amiable and gentle, Duck had actually, genuinely believed for a moment that this man would be more of the same. He'd expected to see the ears droop in disappointment, perhaps to hear a few pleading words. He'd actually started to forget that there were wolves of darker natures out there - or perhaps he'd just been hoping that they didn't exist in his thicket, much less right here in his favourite place.

As the appearance of weakness slowly melted from the stranger, Duck initially watched with an uncomfortable wariness. It wasn't until the coldness really set in those pale green eyes did something hard and icy and terrible appear in his chest, and in that moment Duck recognised the baring of a kind of cruelty he hadn't seen in over a year. Having spent every waking moment wary and terrified of eyes like those, it was impossible for him to ignore it.

The cognitive dissonance settled like nausea in his gut, and he didn't move. He couldn't move. Even as the cold creature stalked forward to grab up fish which didn't belong to him, Duck did not flinch, frozen by instinct, still not quite fully processing the danger. This just didn't happen here. This was the sort of wolf which existed only in his memory. He felt like two wolves, one a young child and the other an accomplished and respected member of a successful pack, and while one wanted to cry and the other wanted to protest, both felt something shared and incredibly familiar; that underlying hot, angry indignation, that resentment, that hatred.

And now the young child was only half of the real him - less, even. It had been so long. It wasn't the first time that he had had a fish stolen, either, and he had put up no fight then either, just curled up like the weed he was. But now was different. So while child Duck did not move an inch to stop the man from stealing what he had had no part in catching, in stealing from Duck's pack, from the puppies, adult Duck curled a lip in small but heated defiance of what had just happened. "Asshole," he hissed as the cold thief stalked away, and the rush he felt at saying it was enough to delay the overwhelming regret by a few wonderful, perfect heartbeats.

@Duckweed

Z stopped. Even his breathing froze for a long second before he set down his mouthful of fish with painstaking purpose. With exaggerated slowness, Zerxes turned towards the youth. Green eyes were blazing with all the force of a forest fire. His lips peeled up to reveal sharp teeth in a rather grotesque smile. Now, this was going to be fun.

A pup too meek for his big mouth was asking for a lesson in backing up his bluffs. In fact, the more the male looked at him, the more the pale furred wolf reminded him of that damned envoy. He, too, had lacked distinctive markings and had been just as lily-livered with his big bark and meek bite. Zerxes recalled with perfect clarity how the visiting male's ego was far too over-inflated for how little he had to back it up. This one in front of him was cut from the very same cloth. Proud, but weak. His smile was little more than an ugly sneer now as hate bubbled up alongside fury.

"I see you're still having fun," Z commented idly, though his posture was far from idle as he padded towards the boy. "Now you're gonna be bleeding so I think, son, you better run." It would have been the stark coated male's preference to give no warning at all and instead react with the same fierceness with which the boy had killed those fish. But where was the fun in a hunt without a chase? Z snarled and leapt forward to snap at the boy's face.

Run, run as fast as you can, I'll catch you before you think I can... he thought in a singsong tune.

@Zerxes

The heartbeats passed and the regret descended.

He knew it was a mistake the moment the man froze. You didn't just say stuff like that to wolves like that and get away with it. Even as he twisted up with dread, Duck chided himself for his arrogance, as if he were momentarily outside of himself and just an onlooker. It was a sign of how surreal this was, how safe he had felt, how distant his abuse. He'd been able to forget everything he'd once known and said something he'd always wanted to be able to say.

Was it worth it?

Duck watched, unable to move,vas the fish were laid down, as the wolf turned, at the seven levels of hell which sang out of his absinthe eyes. Good job, Duck thought sarcastically, as though by reprimanding himself he could hide from it, pretend it was someone else. But it wasn't. The weak fabrication which was protecting him slipped away with alarming rapidity as who he had initially thought was a downtrodden loner opened his mouth again.

It was real. What was more, as he listened to that evil promise, offered so casually, and registered the cognitive dissonence of being spoken to, he realised this was not the kind of monster that he was familiar with, the one whose quirks and buttons and enjoyments he had known so intimately, so predictably. This was someone different and unknown and it was that which tipped over his clenched denial into cavernous terror.

He was going to die.

The wolf was moving forward and then faster and the runt did as he was told, nearly falling over himself as he turned and fled, having the mental capacity to at least point himself in the direction of Secret Woodland before his head started emptying of everything - fabrication and reality - except for the words I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.

(This post was last modified: Jun 28, 2016, 07:20 PM by Duckweed.)

@Duckweed - Maybe after you post, some of the others could join in? :3

Much to his surprise, the lad seemed to understand far faster than Z would have expected for a brat with such over-inflated ego. He'd dared to call him asshole. It took guts. Were the green eyed demon in a charitable mood, he may have forgiven the transgression and opted to encourage the male to do a few things for him. But the way the boy had stuttered and then failed to actively defend his catch proved he didn't have the teeth to back it up. Guts could only get one so far.

But boy did these guts know how to run!

Zerxes laughed harshly as the wolf practically tripped over himself in a mad scramble to flee. Running for home, Z bet. Towards safety and backup. He simply couldn't allow that. A cruel man he was, but not a stupid one. As furious as he was, he was no match for a pack - even a weak one. Numbers had their own strength and looking at the health of the lad, it was likely he belonged to a strong one.

What Z lacked in knowledge of the land, he made up for in tactical maneuvering. He kept to the boy's left, pinning him against the widening creek that was just as steadily deepening as they ran in tandem. The stark furred male ducked under spindly trees of the thicket that barred his path, ripping through any thin hanging vines that were attempting to slowly strangle their taller hosts.

Up ahead, the river made it more apparent with the way it crashed over small rapids. Over the pounding of their paws against the terrain, he could hear the way it twisted into a sharp curve before continuing on. Perfect. Angling himself at the boy's heels, he snapped and snarled, herding him towards the early half formed oxbow in an effort to cut him off from his pack. The land became increasingly unpredictable, dipping into valleys and rising into short hills that were sharply demarcated by the river's edge.

Zerxes kept on the male, driving him hard up one such hill that dropped off into the river. He slowed, confident that his prey was now effectively trapped between him and the river. Z laughed, shaking his head as his teeth flashed again. "Do you ever wonder how deer feel when we hunt them?" He paused as if to wait for an answer before continuing on. "Perhaps you could tell me, little deer?"

Okay! Let's get this party started. In order to avoid a coincidental 'everybody appears out of nowhere exactly when they're needed' situation, this is now open to 1-2 willing rescuers the first round. Then, hopefully, they will call for backup/etc - at that point, the thread is open to anyone and everyone who wants to come. Duck and Z are very close to SW's territory by now, so it's fair to say that any SW wolves can be nearby.
Please let me know if any of that is confusing c:
Tagging peeps who expressed interest in Z's plot thread: @Aideen @Nineva @Ash (Puppy, if you want to involve Aideen, feel free to use Bella as a pup-minder)
andofcourse @Zerxes <3 feel free to keep postin' 'til someone else hops in~

His body wasn't meant for this. It was why he wasn't a real hunter, just a stupid fisherman. What was a perfectly manageable level of exertion when sitting by the creek was in a totally different league to this, the constant and desperate sprinting. The only reason he was able to flee for so long were those words which kept echoing inside his skull, because it didn't matter if his legs were getting weak and his lungs were burning if he was going to be dead anyway. Small and thin and scraggly, Duck was all too aware of the fact that his weediness  went deeper than just affecting his appearance. Gasping as his muscles began to go tingly and numb, he pushed through it, and all the while was perversely aware of how effortlessly the wolf was herding him, keeping him pinned to the creek as it flowed through the thicket, down hills and through shallow valleys, and became a wider river. He'd been here, before. He remembered too late that there was a sharp bend coming up. The river was wide here, strong; there was a reason he spent most of his time in the gently-moving creek portion further south.

He ran right up to the river's bank, despite knowing full well the bend was there, and stopped on violently shaking legs. For a moment he expected his pursuer to crash into him, or to feel teeth on his flesh, but it didn't come. Wrecked and spent, Duck looked back, eyes wide and mouth open as he panted, struggling to stand. His ears caught more sweetly spoken poison, and he shuddered. It may not have been his ever-silent father, but the two wolves shared one trait; they both seemed to enjoy the game.

Wheezing noisily as his lungs struggled to grab enough air, he looked back at the river, and seriously debated jumping straight in. He could swim... just not well. A river that fast would have taken some effort on the best of days, and in that moment, all his body wanted to do was collapse. If he went in there, he would drown. If he didn't...

Swallowing, he turned about to face his assaulter, tail creeping underneath him and body quivering as it lowered, but even as his stance suggested submission - acceptance of his fate - he managed to curl his lips and flash small, thin teeth. He shouldn't have come this way, shouldn't have brought this wolf so close to the Woodlands. He thought of his mother and Aideen and Flair and Enia and Cinaed and wanted to cry.

There was a benefit to being worthless, though. Better him than them. It was an easy trade.

"F-f-f-f-ffffffffffuckyou," he spat, ears pulling back as he lowered his head and bared his teeth in inexperienced imitation of a defence, and lied to himself that he was ready.

Permission given by Siki for PP of non-permanent injuries. Please PM if there is an issue/something that needs editing. I'm in poor reception for the next few days attending a funeral and won't have reliable internet until the weekend.

Weak. The pup's body was rank with how pitiful he was. Fear was leaking from him in salivating waves while his breath shuddered, uneven and ragged. Still, Zerxes had some admiration for the way the boy bared his teeth at him while knowledge of his impending death loomed. But for the way the pale lad stuttered out that last expletive, those devil green eyes narrowed.

Softly, Z tsked. "I could have made it quick, you know. But you just had to be like that for the sake of pride," the wolf spat as he moved ever closer at a taunting pace. "Remember what you did to those fish? Bashed their heads against stone? That's what I'm going to do with you. All of you. Slowly."

In a flash, Zerxes descended on him, snarls viciously filling the air. He went for the pup's face first, grabbing his muzzle in a show of power any dominant wolf would do to a misbehaving youngster. But rather than the quick snap a parent may offer, Z lifted the pup's head by his muzzle before slamming it against the ground, forcing the youth's nose into the dirt. A thick paw soon replaced Z's teeth to steady himself while another paw splayed along the pack wolf's neck. Rearing up for a moment, Z admired the way his prey was caught beneath him.

The dark masked male lashed out again, lower and upper jaws capturing either side of the boy's head. Teeth scraped against skull in a quick chomp. Zerxes' breath ghosted over his prey's face as he laughed, mouth still caught around the wolf. He wanted to hear him squeal. Scream out like the weakling he was. Since it was within easy reach, Z released the boy's head in favor of grabbing a thick mouthful of scruff after which he promptly began to shake his own head as if he were trying to fracture the spine of a rabbit. Of course, the wolf's size made such a thing impossible, but it would hurt.

"Scream for me, little deer," he whispered on a laugh, breathing heavily with excitement into the boy's ear.