Kingsfall Already Over

ALL WELCOME - but special nudge to those tagged :3
RE: Kyrios Your Gift is: You found a bush of late-season berries! However, you ate so many you are starting to feel a bit sick.

- Midday, Partly cloudy - 26 ° F/-3 ° C

The frosty ground bit against his paw pads, cold air easily making it through his fur, though it had started to grow longer and more dense. The river banks were dusted with white, fingers of ice attempting to sneak their way out into the water, but being thwarted by the current; So far. Under different circumstances, the snow would have proved a great adventure, filling Kyrios' eyes with light and wonder, something new to investigate, so close to home. But the boy had no eye for wonder these days. He was numb. His family had been torn apart, split into pieces and scattered too far to be properly put back together. Sure he still had the River, all of Hearthwood was supposed to be his family, Inna, and Kisla and @Lachesis. But he was so angry with  them still, in his mind they were to blame for all of it, since they were the only ones still around to blame. Since Karina and Bennet had left, Kyrios had given his father a wide birth as much as possible, not being openly angry to his face, but clearly more aloof and evasive than before. At least he still had @Atropos, someone to openly share his anger and hurt with. Though often, he went out on his own. This in itself was not new, but now his walks were much less spirited than before. He needed time alone with his thoughts, although thinking didn't do much to change his feelings. So his walks turned into running, faster and longer every day, as if somehow he could outrun all the emotion, all the pain that had left his chest hollow. It was never enough. But at least he got to see new things, soon traveling farther from the River than he ever had before. The world he saw was cold and brown, fitting really for his dark mood, the only life left was the river, ever rushing along by his side. Today he'd found something else though: his nose had let him away from the water, to a hidden spot of sun amongst the redwoods, where a single berry bush stood. It's branches were mostly naked of leaves, but clusters of dark fruit still clung to it, their sweet scent making his belly rumble. So, at least for a brief moment, he managed to forget his sorrows, temporarily filling the emptiness with the sweet treat. Word count: 402 ”Speech” Thoughts

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Atropos was angry, yes, but she wasn't taking it out on her father. He didn't deserve that.

In fact, the girl's anger was squarely focused on Karina. All of it. Daddy wasn't the one who left. It was her. She was the one who had decided that Atropos and Kyrios weren't good enough for her to care about, it was their "mother" who pushed them away and announced she was not the twins' parent. Just some sort of carer. Something about not being their birth mother, as if that really made the pain any less agonising. As much as the Stark didn't understand, part of her didn't want to -- she didn't want to know what drove a woman to abandon her family. Especially when family was important (at least, that's what everyone told her).

She wobbled around numbly, but in a different way than Kyrios did. She had decided to throw herself silently into watching the things she loved wither and die; plants, she learned, did not like the cold. They shrivelled up and browned in winter. I understand, she found herself whispering more than once, I wish I could do that too. If only she could curl up, and wait for better times before sprouting back to life! But she was a wolf, and wolves did not hide from the cold, or hurt. They survived.

Instinct told her she needed to survive. She would be good enough to love, and she'd start by getting rid of her weird little stutter.

After pushing through the snow, Atropos eventually raised her head from the white, dead floor to spy her brother, snacking on little round, plump berries. She pursed her lips as she drew closer. "Eat too muh-many and you'll get fat and sss-sss-sick, Ky." She herself had a little bit of puppy fat, at that not-quite-adult-looking-but-not-quite-a-baby stage in her development. Not that she cared, mind you. Atropos wasn't really concerned with her appearance all too much.

And then came the quiet, soft question; "how are you ffff-feeling today?"

don't mind the lachesis in the back <3 just observing for now

There was tension and Lachesis could not stand it any longer. He felt guilty for not telling his children about Kjors’ removal prior to the meeting. While the Stark would have preferred otherwise, the dragon had been a big part of their life in the beginning. Due to the friendship/relationship/whatevership the male had with Karina, he occupied the den just as much as XIX had. It did not surprise him to see the twins so stunned over his dismissal. Lachesis barely had the time to explain himself, so he knew that the tension was caused by his own actions — which upset him even more. He needed to make things right — the twins were all he had.

He followed their scents, careful not to linger too close as he was not sure if he wanted to be detected just yet. He would apologize; he would explain himself. He would not procrastinate any longer. The twins did not deserve that.

The ghost maneuvered through the trees, his pace much slower than it usually was. XIX was in no hurry to catch up to them, not yet at least. He wanted to assess their moods from a distance to figure out the best method of approaching them about the peculiar situation. What made things even worse was that Karina and Bennet followed shortly after the meeting. The Baranski had been a mother to them and for her to leave them behind for some untrustworthy dragon… Lachesis wondered how the twins were handling it.

Clearly, they were not  handling it well — Kyrios especially. The adventurous Aegina had been avoiding his father since the meeting, whereas Atropos had just been a little more quiet than usual. He would make things right, he had to. They were his flesh and blood; he loved them more than anything.

After ensuring he was downwind of the twins, Lachesis observed from a distance, his features soft as he studied the pale pair. Ky was stuffing his face full of berries while Atty scolded him — nothing out of the ordinary. 

stick with those who stick with you

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

It was a sorry cure, but each bite did seem to make him feel, just a touch better. The bitter sweetness on his tongue was almost poetic, though he hardly paused to consider it, preferring to suppress any thought in favor of focusing on the filling of his belly. If ever there was a point when he felt contented, it passed so quickly he didn't notice. Instead he went straight from to empty to too full, the berries losing their appeal at some point long before he had stopped eating. In the end it was his sister's voice that stopped Ky's assault on the bush, a half-frown on his face as he stepped back. There was no denying there was a small paunch to his midsection, though compared to Atropos his proportions were much more lanky, the shedding fur giving him an awkward, bony appearance. He wasn't all too worried about it though, a little fat might do him good; The sick part though..? A small burp escaped his increasingly churning belly, a clear enough message even as he tried to stifle it. Then she spoke again, voice so different that it send a stab through him, which had nothing to do with the upset in his tummy. Finally turning to face his sister, Kyrios struck up a crooked, half-smile, voice low as he answered: "Fat and sick." His tone shifted up a little at the end, giving the statement a friendly, teasing air. But the mask didn't last long, falling in favor of a more solemn expression, golden eyes big and doleful as they rested on the other pup. He reached out to lightly bump her shoulder, moving in closer as he quietly said: "I don't know. Tired. Same as…" He wanted to say always, because it felt like it, like he'd never felt any different. And then on the other paw the emotions were still so raw, like it had just happened yesterday. "How about you?" He asked instead, meeting her leaf-green eyes with clear concern, he'd been very selfish lately; I'm so sorry… About all of it. Word count: 350 ”Speech” Thoughts

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Atropos could only frown and settle down beside her brother as he moved closer. His joke only cracked a faint smile -- Atty was smart enough, knew her brother well enough, to know when he was pretending. It seemed he knew that fact too, and divulged just how he felt; tired. The sister could only nod her head, and mumble a soft response of "yeah." At least she had Kyrios with her -- Bennet had been whisked away by their adoptive mother, something that seemed so dangerous and stupid the more Atropos thought of it. There was a sudden worry that washed over her anew, and she nibbled at her brother's shoulder. Sit with me?

"I'm ... I duh-duh-don't know, Ky. Angry. Sss-ssss-sad." The younger Stark sighed, lowering down so that she could lie on the floor, resting her dark chin upon her paws. A pause followed by a murmur; "I miss Bennet. Do you fff-think she's okay?" Bennet hadn't really spoken much. The coal-coloured pup always preferred actions over anything else, be it a nip to the shoulder, a shove to the rump. She was so different from Kyrios, different from even Atropos herself; a strange black little smudge that the twins loved, regardless of the fact she stuck out like a sore thumb between them. It didn't matter to Atty how Karina was doing at the moment -- even though, deep down, she missed the reassuring warmth of the adoptive mother's presence -- she just wanted her younger sibling home. Safe. Alive.

"Hey Ky. Do ... do you fff-think that ... mum," she strained to say the word without spitting it, "actually muh-misses us?" that wasn't what Atropos wanted to say really. Do you think she loves us? Do you think she ever loved us? It stuck in her throat like a fat thorn. It hurt. "At least we have, duh-da... dad still." Whilst, in Lachesis' company, she would affectionately call him daddy, Atty didn't want her brother thinking she was still a baby.

The ghost remained where he was, his body now pressed to the ground as he eavesdropped on the twins’ conversation. He hated hovering—feeling as though he needed to lurk in the shadows to know what his children were thinking—but he did not know what else to do. Kyrios had been avoiding him, his anger apparent in the way he stalked through Hearthwood, and Atropos had kept her feelings to herself. XIX was worried about them and was trying to figure out exactly how to approach them about what had happened. Kjors was gone, exiled from the river pack, and Karina had quickly followed with Bennet at her side. That, however, had been by choice; she had wanted to leave with the one-eyed dragon. As far as they were concerned, the Baranski had been their mother and the little smudge had been their sister. And now, after spending months believing that they were a family, they were gone. And Lachesis was partly to blame.

He listened, patiently, to the dialogue between the two siblings. Atropos admitted that she missed the little smudge’s presence; his heart strings twanged. His chin was pressed against the smooth fur of his forelegs as guilt washed over him. Perhaps he and Kisla had responded too hardly to Kjors’ challenge… No. He had made this decision for the pack; for his family. He knew that Kjors would try to challenge him a second time, and the ghost did not know if he could pull another win out. What if he had lost? Would he have been exiled? And his children? A lump formed in his throat at the thought—luckily, he did not have to deal with the repercussions of him losing. Not now, not ever. Hearthwood was his home; his pack. He would not allow some mongrel to take it from him and his kin.

A faint smile worked it's way onto his pale maw at Atropos’ comment, but it quickly fell as he waited (nervously) for Kyrios’ response. Did his son still resent him for his actions?

stick with those who stick with you

The smile warmed him, even if it was just a small one, soon gone again from his sister's peach-colored face. Kyrios had made it a mission in his young life to keep his sisters safe and happy – now that he had lost one, the other had become that much more important. But as his mask faltered, so did hers, revealing that same bleak expression that he saw when studying his reflection in the river, one he had seen on her face far too much over the past days.  Her verbal confirmation was unnecessary on top of that, but he accepted it with a small quirk of his lips, nodding along with her. No matter what the adults said, about dead moms and real family, the twins had lost a mother and a baby sister when Karina chose to leave, that wasn't something you got over easily. Kyrios returned the nibbling touch with an affectionate bump of his nose, plumping down next to her, hips pressed against one another. Goldenrod eyes rested on the slightly brighter head as it lowered, a frown forming on the boy's face as his sister stumbled through her answer. Now it was his time to nod in agreement, adding a low: "Mhm…" When he realized her face was turned away, head lowering to stretched out paws as she laid down. The pale lad's heart hurt, he hated seeing her like this! There was none of the usual awkwardness in her voice, words blunt and honest as she continued talking. A pained grimace twisted Ky's face, and now he was happy she wasn't watching, eyes closing for a moment as he swallowed hard. He was so very scared for @Bennet, out there in the world, exposed to all its dangers. As strong and brilliant as she was, she a lone pup, with only her mother to protect her – and Kjors if they had managed to find him, but would the dragon be enough? The number one lesson for the puppies had been the importance of the pack, without it they were forsaken. With a heavy sigh, the Aegina flopped down next to his Stark twin, curling his head over her shoulders protectively. "I hope so," He breathed in a low voice, eyes drifting towards the streaks of sky, visible between the tree tops; Please let her be..! He could only wish, and pray, that it was all true, that she would be protected; Mother, watch over her. His eyes fell closed, a slow, relaxing breath rippling through his body. When Atropos spoke again, it was that same come that made him answer instantly, intense certainty in his voice; "She does! Of course she does Atty." He tucked his muzzle into the space behind her ear, doing his best to reassure her. He refused to believe otherwise, however much it had hurt them, Karina had done what she thought best. It was an entirely different reaction that flared in him at the mention of dad. Eyes flicking open, the boy sucked a quick breath in through his teeth, suppressing an urge to lash out. Anger was his go to reaction, but he wanted to comfort his sister, not upset her further, so he held his tongue, instead opting for a more diplomatic reaction. Unaware of his attentive audience, Kyrios lifted his head, staring emptily into the trees as he mused: "We do… He won't leave us." A short pause followed, his head turning slowly to pan over their surroundings, before he lowered it back to its rest over the girl's back. "Why d' you think he did it, uncle Kjo? Why couldn't things just stay the way they were?" It was an honest thought, not whining. As much as the boy projected his anger onto their father, he knew it was more complicated. it was the Dragon who had taken the first step; But why? What had caused their family to split at the seams? Word count: 657 ”Speech” Thoughts

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de