Sacred Grove Absolutely not

For @Felyx let the complain fest begin <3

She has decided this was certifiably the worssssttt thing to have ever happen to the yearling. Her skin felt like it was crawling with fire ants that she could not get rid of. Absolutely nothing alleviated the sensation. Cynder was on edge all the time - more so than usual, just waiting to take someone's ear. No one has ever explained what a heat was or where puppies came from. She was absolutely blindsided by this and was having none of it.

Fading red tinted paws walked along the foothills with a frustrated stomp. The pale agouti girl rolled in snow banks and rubbed against trees in a fugal attempt to find relief. This particular time she found an extra spiky tree that was successful in the moment. In a very feline fashion Cynder went round and round the tree, leaving tufts of fur behind. A relieved sigh left her creamy maw as her dark tail waved satisfactorily above her back. This was better...for now.

Felyx knew nothing about heat save for that it sucked, and that was from firsthand experience. He kept wanting to go out and find Dace, or Thoval, or even Paeryl to help him, and he didn't even really understand that, because all of them were gone. Nothing was making a whole lot of sense and he felt like he was on fire.

So he sought his twin. She was easy enough to find, even with the strange newness to her scent. He caught her weaving around a tree and let out a whine - perhaps a bit more dramatic than it needed to be - and flopped onto the ground, flat on his belly.

"Cyn," he complained, pouting. "I think I'm dying."

The relief was short lived as the fire began to creep back and a growl brewed deep in her chest. A low hanging branch looked awfully temping to tear into. In the moments of her deciding her twin’s changed scent reached her nose. She went one more rotation around the tree before spotting him. He unceremoniously flopped on the ground in a very typical Felyx fashion.

The sandier of the twins stopped her rotation and pressed her shoulder as hard as she could to get a particularly itchy spot. Its roughness is a welcomed sensation. Chestnut backed audits flicked towards him as he declared that he thought he was dying. A snort left her nose. A as empathetic notion as she was every capable of feeling.

”I think we both are.” she groaned back as she also flopped into a small snow drift. It’s coolness a caress on her heated skin. Hopefully this would last more than the relief the bark provided. ”What in the gods’ name is happening to us?”

At least Cyn was in the same boat, struggling with whatever this intense burning feeling was. She wound around the tree again, scratching, and Felyx had half a mind to join her, but the ground was so cool and inviting that he couldn't force himself back up to his feet. It was like he felt sick, but he wasn't sure exactly why that was.

"I don't know. I thought spring was for puppies and flowers and sunshine," he huffed, crawling over to lay near her, resting his chin on his paws. "And I'm so bored. I miss..."

His face burned in a different way and he huffed, frustrated. Missing wolves never brought them back. "Things've gotten stale and boring. I don't know what to do about it." The admittance tasted like metal on his tongue, bitter and sharp, and he glared down at the ground.

Cynder fought the urge to pant through her heat, though it was extremely tempting. Another feeble attempt to douse the heat. It seemed like her twin had no insight as to why they were feeling like this either. The lack of information pulled an annoyed huff from her maw. The rest of his statement had a tiny laugh come from her. ”As if.” she responded, sprawling further into the snow bank.

Her blue grey eyes watched their grey blue counterparts as Lyx admitted he missed their little band. It had been only Sov really who had stuck around, and the witch. The latter have not been seen in a while though. Anyway, they wouldn’t be the one he missed if she was around more.

Things truly had become boring. With no Pae to keep them on track with consequences why would they search for a sacrifice? No Thoval meant no annoying lurking, but at least that was something to worry and think about. Without them? Boring. There were only so many rock faces she could race Sov up. ”Me too. I think it might kill me, unless this damn itching doesn’t first.” she growled out. ”It’s absolutely driving me mad.” she bit out between gritted teeth as a flare of heat washed over her. It was crap.

The snow was great. Felyx had spent the winter cursing its existence but now it was the only thing that soothed him, soaking through his fur and cooling his skin. There still was this strange nagging in the back of his mind, dredging up this strange longing for Thoval, for Dace, for fucking Paeryl. It seemed like anyone with the right... parts would do, but Felyx didn't really understand why. He chalked it up to boredom. Nothing else made any sense.

"It's horrible," he admitted, rubbing his body along the ground and slowly worming up to press against her side. Contact - perhaps contact was what he needed. Maybe part of it was loneliness, which was absolutely insane to think about, because Felyx didn't get lonely. He just...

He was just bored. That was all.

"Everyone's gone, 'cept Sov and sometimes Apple," he murmured, pouting and narrowing his eyes. Frustration edged his voice. "Maybe we should think about stopping looking for Pae. You and me could run a pack, don't you think?"

Not a good pack, but a pack nonetheless.

Cynder hadn’t really felt the longing for another during this heat of hers. Her more reclusive nature seemed to come out more, her desire to be away from others increased tenfold. The only one she would tolerate was sitting in front of her. However, even his proximity to her as he crawled and pressed into her side had a low growl emitting from her. The sandy twin would neither verbally tell the russet boy to back off nor would she move away from him. It was them against the world and always had been. They’d figure this out together too.

Fe stated the obvious, how little of them remained. Her interest peaked at his musing of stopping looking for their pale ”leader”. Could they run a pack? She had never thought about it before. Leading was never something she desired before. ”Mmmmm” she pondered for a moment. ”I dunno, I think you could do it. I’d just be your backup. As usual.” she tease with a light laugh. She never minded and would always back him up.

Surprise had him freezing. He hadn't expected to be growled at for his proximity - least of all by Cyn, - but in spite of the initial unease he did not feel deterred enough to back off. When had they ever denied each other closeness? Felyx could not remember the last time Cynder had growled at him and meant it.

Everything seemed fucked up, lately. Even Cynder.

He hated it.

"I'd be shit at it," he admitted, a grin sharp on his maw, contrasting the strange turmoil warping his insides. "But I think that's what makes it fun." His eyes flashed mischievously. "You could be a second. An enforcer. Rip people up when they do something you don't like." And he'd trust her on it wholeheartedly. If Cynder felt like someone needed torn apart, Felyx would defer to her every single time.

It would be a mess.

It would be fun.

No one to tell them what to do, or how to live. No one to lord over them. They could do whatever they wanted.

She was secretly glad he didn’t back off; she would never admit it but there was a small comfort of having him close. Even when she was extra standoffish. Her skin prickled but relaxed after taking a moment to adjust to the contact. The sandy girl’s magnified antisocialism was not minded, only the undesirable sensation that came with the season.

A snort and sharp laugh left her maw at the russet boy’s response. Of course he’d find fun where she found discomfort. Her tail beat the snowy ground a few time at the mention of being an enforcer. Now that was of interest to her. She met his mischievous gaze with one of her own. ”Though I don’t really wanna answer to you either.” she teased moving to bat a paw at him.

It was true she didn’t particularly want to answer to anyone for any reason. Fe wouldn’t be so bad but still. Either way it would be quite fun, to be able to do as she pleased and punish those as she saw fit. Judge. Jury. Executioner. Perfect.

s for swears

She didn't move away, and that was enough for Felyx to relax as well. Perhaps things weren't as fucked up as he initially thought - only... moderately fucked up. A kind that could perhaps be fixed over time, if Lyx was patient enough about it - if he didn't push things too far. As long as Cynder was still a constant in all of this, he could persist. They were two halves of the same wolf - he could not exist without her.

He let out an amused pfft in response, shaking his head. "When have you ever answered to me? I'm not gonna tell you what to do," he huffed, rolling his eyes and resting his head on his paws. "If anything, it's the other way around."

Felyx had no desire to tell anyone what to do, truth be told. Pulling at strings was one thing - orchestrating behind the scenes - but outright ordering people around was another thing entirely. That was no fun at all. All Felyx really wanted to do was... well, whatever he wanted.

"Dunno who else would be on board with that, though," he mused to himself, looking up at the sky. "They're a tricky bunch."