Underground Sea no angels around

AW for one or two! Special tag for @Cynder
RE - A phenomenon known as "frost quakes" occurs during a particularly cold snap, startling both predators and prey with loud booming noises as moisture in the ground freezes and expands.

Felyx had finally taken it upon himself to make his way up and up the mountain. It was better than the marshes, but his paws were bleeding by the time the sun had begun to set. Cyn was likely behind him somewhere. If she was too far off, it should be easy enough to find where he was just by following the bloody footprints.

It was cooler than he thought it would be. Cooler than usual for the season, at least. The sun had just dipped beyond the horizon as he found an opening in the ground, taking with it the last bit of warmth the day provided.

A trail led down, down, down into an abyss, lit only by the watery moonlight that filtered in from some of the cracks above. It illuminated what appeared to be a lake, nestled deep beneath the earth. A place unlike Felyx had ever seen before.

His paws had just touched the edge of the pool when the earth shook.

Felyx jumped a little at the sensation and sound. He had no way of knowing that there was a natural cause for any of this.

"Paeryl's god?" he wondered aloud, arching a brow. If that were the case, was that a positive sound or a negative one? Was it pleased or angry? Did it matter, in the long run? Felyx didn't know and wasn't sure if he cared. He had found a mountain, which was what he was fairly confident he was meant to do in the first place. He'd accomplished his task and then some, with the wayward souls he'd been meeting in the forests below.

How many could he entice up onto the peaks with him?

(This post was last modified: Jun 27, 2024, 10:25 PM by Felyx.)

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully

religious conviction

as when they do it from

Paeryl had led his wife and apprentice into the lands she had spoken of, promising good fortune for the ancient rites they had come to practice. He sought to check in with the advanced party, his paws stomping hard and rhythmic against the ground as he crept through the depths of the heights. His paws still held a slight tint of red, the smell of rot beginning to surface. He would need to replace his stains soon. He had been able to track the young Felyx to that point. He heard the question after the booming echo, his green eyes gazing intently at the young man.

It was not simply Paeryl’s god. It was their god. Even if they did not find themselves a true believe, all would answer to the mountain god in the end. In blood and sacrifice or standing on the edge of the end of the world.

“Yes.” He stated, his voice simple and carrying though no doubt the boy had already noticed his presence. He would move past him. “They are displeased. It will be time for a sacrifice soon.” He added as his gaze shifted to the boy, having an intent focus on him.

And the looming peaks of a mountain lingered in the distance.

Felyx, Cynder, and Thoval had done well.

Sova had a grown a lot since the Lore had last caught sight of her. No longer out of place, she now possessed the perfect niche with a group from whom she did not need to hide. She could snap, she could bite, she could tear and they didn't just tolerate all those rough edges in her personality and presence. In fact, it had gotten her quite a bit of positive attention.

She was an apprentice. To a dude that claimed he could hear god in his head and believed in it so fully, he literally killed for them. Like, constantly. How much better could her life get?

Well... admittedly, underneath all that excitement, there were a few things in the works for more. For now, though, Sova was having the time of her life. Pae had finally chosen to break away and he'd wanted a mountain and didn't she know of the perfect place to find the greatest of them all? With the tallest of spires and the steepest of cliffs... There was no way the twins could miss it, nothing to compare anywhere around.

Felyx's sanguine trail led right into it's very belly and she could not help but adore how easily this had all fallen into place. Sova not only got to have her pack of crazies to raise hell with, she also got to do so in her corner of the world.

She walked one pace behind and off from Paeryl's left side, a crooked and biting grin on her face. Brown eyes twinkled to see the ginger again; things weren't nearly as fun when they were all split up like this. When he approached Felyx and the water both, Sova split off to settle at the yearling's opposing side. She didn't stop watching him, eyes little crescent moons.

"Who will that be, I wonder?"

A beat, and then she dropped that fixed stare to look down where he stood, smirk climbing higher.

"Soft paws, Fe?"

(This post was last modified: Jun 28, 2024, 10:34 PM by Chan.)

He was not as alone as he thought.

Other pawsteps joined his own, soft on the stone as the other two settled around him. He'd only been away from them a short time, but he'd felt a bit untethered without the rest of the group. Not in any normal sense - he hadn't missed them as most would - but things more right now knowing that it wasn't just himself and Cyn in these wilds.

First looking to Paeryl, then Sovanya, he smiled.

"I'm sure we can find something," he reasoned, touching his paw to the cold surface of the water. It soothed the sting briefly and created ripples across the surface. "If it's a wolf they want, there should be some to the northwest, in the forest." At least, from what he could figure based on what Dace told him and what he could guess on his own. There was bound to be someone they could drag in.

Soft paws, Fe?

Felyx followed her gaze down to the blood pooled around his feet. "I am a delicate flower, Sov," he stated, bringing one crimson-soaked paw to his chest for dramatic effect. "It'll take me some time to get used to a mountain."

Speaking of...

"We found one, by the way," he told Paeryl, as though it wasn't obvious, a bit of pride seeping into his words. "Do they like it?"

(This post was last modified: Jun 29, 2024, 05:28 PM by Felyx.)

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully

religious conviction

as when they do it from

Paeryl remained an unyielding and unreadable face as the two interacted. Sova picking at Felyx as they continued to move, the boy retorting back all the same… it was a comfortable exchange, one of familiarity… and his pain paid in such an exact price… each drop of blood spread christened the mountain… and yet, Paeryl would never leave a believer to be sacrificed, not lest desperate times called for desperate measures.

He glanced to the sky, his expression growing almost distant as images swirled in his mind, fascinations of varying degrees, from pitching a young arctic off the spire to drawing blood of the largest plains he had ever been… it would leave him with a great deal of pleasure to see it rear it’s ugly head.. the fates coming to slowly snip each string of life.

“They will tell us, one way or another.” His words were vague as he looked between them. “We will start searching for wolves… such a mountain deserves to be christened with the blood of our own.” He would find approval both in Felyx for locating it, and Sovanya for recognizing the potential that the spire of her homeland held.

“What do we know of others in the area? Packs? Potential threats to our sovereignty?”

That luminescent indigo was stained as Felyx touched it. A small cloud of taint, that vanished after his paw was removed from the water. Sovanya's gaze lingered there a few moments longer as she listened. North west. Was the Backwater still a presence? The pack she knew the least about. Ah well.

'I am a delicate flower, Sov.'

The sound of her moniker drew her gaze again, though what it expressed now was far less discernible than it had been. Her tail began to sway as the yearling went on to draw attention back to the mountain. They better. At this point, she would be quite unhappy about the idea of moving on to somewhere else.

Pae, of course, didn't give a direct answer. The lack of an outright dismissal was its own clear sign though, she felt. He continued with queries, likely aiming for a full report from this forward scout here and now.

'Potential threats to our sovereignty?' he finished, and the mountain itself answered with another booming crack that filled Sovanya's ears and caused them to dully ache. At the same time, that wicked smile twisted and grew like a vine, sharp teeth its thorns. She agreed with 'god.'

"Does Sanguine Cove still stand?"

Seemed a waste of a perfectly good mountain, in Felyx's eyes, if they were to give up on it just because the gods wanted a slightly different mountain. No, he'd much prefer to keep this one, if at all possible. With the amount of wolf activity at the base and the potential for more excitement all around, he personally didn't want to go anywhere else.

Christened with the blood of our own. What a fun statement. Would they throw someone off the cliff side, down down down, until their body hit the ground? Would they simply tear them apart on the peaks? Let them run a bit, so they thought they had a chance to get away - a game of cat and mouse? Paeryl was unlikely to pick from amongst their group, so they'd have to find some stranger. Not Dace or Apolline - Lyx would make that abundantly clear - but some other poor sap who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe just too weak to get away.

Packs, potential threats to sovereignty, does Sanguine Cove still stand? Sovanya would know more than Felyx on that front, of course, but...

"I'm sure we could find out," he told her with a grin, tone sing-songy and tail swishing behind him. "If they do - if anyone does - it won't be for long." The entire mountain was now their possession in Felyx's mind, and he wasn't in the mood to lose it to some randos.

"Want me to take a look around?" he asked Paeryl then. "I'm sure Sov wouldn't mind playing bodyguard." Stormy eyes flicked over to the girl - an invitation to come with, if she wanted.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully

religious conviction

as when they do it from

There was much for even the group to underestimate about Paeryl, a wicked smile flaring on his features for a moment as they waged back and forth. They were learning, and growing into their own with each moment… every opportunity he gave, and every order he issued, would push them closer to the brink, and at the brink they too might have a chance to ascend as he had… as his wife had. They would not know it now, but in time they would come to know. Felyx was young, innocent in any ways… Sovanya was a prodigy, a mind for strategy though she hadn’t learned how to fully wield the dark plans they conjured.

“Scout ahead and report, both of you.” He would offer. He wouldn’t insult Felyx’s capability to fight or Sovanya’s tactical prowess by referring to the woman as a bodyguard. No. If he was to survive, he’d do it of his own merit… and Sovanya had the right to choose whether or not to defend him if weakness showed.

“I’ll be at the peak in two days time expecting a briefing. Be there, or have a damned good reason to not be.” His tone was harsher, but he’d allow himself to stalk past them, aiming to begin his ascent and expecting them to follow the orders he had just given.

Sovanya's eyes narrowed a touch at Felyx's answer. They hadn't gotten any further than this, had they? Why didn't he smell of @Thoval, either? She poured over the details in her mind while still attending to the conversation at hand, intently watching whoever was speaking. Finding out sooner rather than later definitely appealed to her. As did Lyx's claims of removing any and all interlopers.

'Be there, or have a damned good reason to not be.'

It wouldn't be a problem, but she appreciated the threat from Dad all the same. Another smirk wound its toothy way up her face as she cast Felyx a thrilled look that read 'isn't he the greatest?' before turning to make her own way out.

"Come along then, Soft-paws."

(This post was last modified: Sep 19, 2024, 01:37 AM by Sovanya.)

Being ordered around was not inherently fun, but if Felyx turned it into a game of sorts - if he pretended that this was all a little play and they were all characters, Paeryl as the king and himself and Sova as the soldiers, then it made it a little more entertaining and less like he didn't have a choice.

Two days seemed doable.

He did not share Sovanya's favorable view of Paeryl. Their bond ran a lot deeper than the twins' and the ruler, after all, so it would be more reasonable for her to feel genuinely joyful about his requests. He could see the bright glint in her eye and mirrored it in his own, trying to absorb and reflect that energy.

"You got it," he told their despot, tail waving a little as he started off after Sova, eager to get the ball rolling on their conquering of the mountain.