Dead Empress Backwater The Stars reside in your eyes

Archer waited patiently for Eros to settle down, watching him out of the corner of his eye even as he kept watch on the sky for any more running stars. The older boy was clearly giving the question some serious thought, then for some reason, glanced at his belly. Archer looked at him fully now, brow furrowing, but didn't get to ask because the alarm finally bled out of Eros and he was properly awed.

"Never seen 'em run," Archer said, turning his eyes back to the sky in time to see another one make a dash across the void. "Where d'ya think they're runnin' to?" It was an exciting prospect; if the stars could run places, that meant there was so much more for them to see. But maybe when they were bigger; Archer wasn't sure he was ready to be going big places just yet.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Running to... ? Eros was wondering as well, wide eyes continuously scanning the sky. He couldn't tell at all what was really happening up there much less where the pinpricks of light were going.

"They just... poof," he said, unable to yet recall words like 'disappear' and 'vanish.'

"... if we go fast, do we poof?"

That was both a frightening and oddly exciting prospect. If Eros could pick up enough speed, would there be a point where he'd just be gone? Where would he go? Would it just be a pile of stars and him alone? Or would there be other animals that ran too fast there too?

'Poof' was certainly the right word for it, Archer thought as he watched the sky carefully for any more running stars. He glanced at Eros again and thought about the prospect. He hadn't seen any of the adults run quite yet, and neither he nor his siblings had really gone that fast, as far as he knew.

His tail thumped against the ground once and his jaw fell open in a grin. "I dunno. Wanna see? he glanced around them. There wasn't quite enough room to get up enough speed to poof - or so Archer thought - but there were plenty of places to quickly duck out of sight and lots of opportunity to play a prank on his older brother. He spied a rock poking out of the tops of some tall grass just up edge of the backwater a bit. The ground between them and it was relatively clear. "You go first; run to that rock and back!"

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Why did Archer look thrilled with that notion? Eros' brows knit with mild confusion as he watched his brother think and then speak.

Wanna see?

Fear crept back into his widening eyes, and Eros shook his head no with absolute certainty. He'd already tried to run as fast as he could before (it wasn't very fast at all), and luckily nothing had happened, but did he really wanna press his luck? What if they couldn't come back?!

"I dun wanna poof," he whined.

"You do it."

Archer made a face at Eros's reluctance. It was no fun if Archer had to do everything himself, and he'd wanted to see how fast his brother went so he could be faster. "Scaredy mouse," he teased lightly, poking Eros's shoulder with a paw, before turning to his path. "Fine. Watch; no poof."

He stretched in an unconcerned, leisurely fashion, yawned, patted the ground a few times, and then with a smug glance at his brother took off running towards the rock as fast as his little legs could carry him. He waited until he was in the taller grass and almost to the rock before shooting a glance behind him and shouting as he ran. "See? No p-" he cut himself off and swiftly tucked himself into an (ungraceful) roll to the side, hoping from Eros's vantage point he seemed to just vanish into the tall grass that he had just a moment ago been visible in.

As quietly as possible, Archer snuck around the back of the rock to wait, just in case Eros came searching.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Scared? Mouse? Eros wasn't no dang mouse. The boy frowned, properly goaded by the jab but still too... not scared just, cautious. He didn't want to poof, no matter what it meant. Eros knew that much.

Fine, watch. His tawny ears picked up, watching his brother intently. Archer didn't think he would, then? Well... they most likely wouldn't if that was the case, right? ... right? Eros couldn't help but feel apprehensive as the other pup began to move. He gnawed at his lip with his long teeth, considering telling Archer to never mind, or even offer to run instead. What if it did work? As scared as he was of what happened to things that poofed, the thought of letting Archer disappear forever just because he was cautious tore at his little heart. He didn't open his mouth in time, though; his night-dark brother was off, running with all his might.

And just like that, right before his very eyes, he witnessed his only littermate vanish into thin air.

Eros' jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and his fur bristled as his mind struggled to comprehend what he just saw.

No... "Nooo!"

Archer huddled behind the rock, glancing up to watch a few more stars streak overhead and wondered where they were running to. He wondered if he'd find out some day.

His train of thought was interrupted by Eros's cry, wailing his disbelief. Archer popped up laughing, then realized his brother was in genuine distress. He trotted over to him, all mirth gone. "Hey, hey," he cooed, plopping his butt down and gently poking his brother with his nose. "'m okay, see? No poof." he licked at Eros's ears, trying to comfort him. He glanced around, hoping @Vanadis didn't hear them, or @Viorel. He knew his Da was up later than Ma most nights because he didn't come to sleep when they did. He didn't want to get in trouble for being up.

Even more, he didn't like that Eros was so distressed.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

He shouldn't have told him to do it he shouldn't have- Eros blinked, and Archer was there again, solid and real with compassion in his eyes. Ohmygod!

Eros flung forward, breaking out of his surprise once his brother touched him, and tackled him with a great big puppy hug. His tail wagged fiercely behind him and he covered Archer with his own kisses, beyond grateful that he was still here and unpoofed. It all stopped when it finally clicked with the child; had Archer done that... on purpose?

Eros stepped off his brother and peered intensely at the clump of grass where he'd vanished just moments before. Following his nose, he was able to track Archer's fresh scent into the grass, where even he could piece together that the other boy must've hidden. Whipped round and popping back out of the grass, he narrowed his eyes to stare Archer down.

He got it. He didn't have a word for it, but he knew: he'd been punked.

Slowly, he began to walk, but not toward the fellow Valle heir; he walked parallel to Archer's position, skirting the long grass while never taking his eyes off his brother. Then, hopefully without warning, Eros disappeared backward into the dark blades just as the other whelp had. Except instead of hiding, he took off at a dead run. He aimed to loop around and jump Archer from behind, already grinning at the visualization of his playful revenge.

Two could play games.

(This post was last modified: Aug 14, 2021, 07:29 PM by Chan.)

The change in Eros the moment the older boy realized what had happened was immediate and Archer knew he'd been found out. He watched his brother stalk over to investigate the scene of the crime and then headed back, but not directly towards him. Archer frowned and tracked Eros's movements, worried that this time he'd really upset him. He liked to play, but he didn't want to make his brother hate him. He loved his brother.

"'Ros?" he said tentatively, and then the lighter boy vanished into the dark cover of the grass just as Archer had done. Archer jumped to his feet, ears pricked. He could hear the blades rustling as Eros moved, but Archer had yet to learn the finer points of tracking and actually pinpointing a particular sound where the movement of the air was already causing the grass to move.

He knew something was up. Eros hadn't let this go, and the sound wasn't fading, which meant he wasn't going back to the den. Archer tensed, eyes darting around him to try and see where his brother might come from.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

To his glee, he didn't hear Archer chasing after him. When Eros burst from the cover of the grasses once again, it was on the opposite side of which he had entered. His grin remained firmly in place as he was greeted with Archer's back, and he launched forward, 'tagging' his brother with both paws on the shoulders before leaping away.

"Pee-boo!" he shouted gleefully, hoping to startle; it was a different kind of scared, but the best and most equivalent thing he could think to pay Archer back with.

Twirling round to face his littermate fully, Eros dissolved into giggles and puppish cackling. He wasn't mad, just needed to keep things even!

(This post was last modified: Aug 16, 2021, 04:35 AM by Eros.)