[Save Me]or{Break Me} (Mosca/Halo) [Private]

[Ärï]

Kuroshin's eyes were wide as he listened to Kasa's tale. Star rose to her paws and took Shiro carefully from Mosca, laying down and curling around the pup like the mother she'd been for them. She smiled softly at Mosca but her sterling eyes flicked to Halo.

Out of habit the brute had drawn back, put a few yards between himself and the other wolves, laying in a sphinx pose and laying his head upon his paws. He was simply watching their goings on through his fathomless topaz pools.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca nodded her greetings to Star, and then turned to look at a nearby tree. In a swift and graceful movement, she sprinted up to the tree, and used the impact to bounce off and land on the branch of the tree next to it.
Balancing expertly, she sat the treelimb, curling her tail over her paws and staring out past the wolves below. She had always acted as somewhat of a scout around Legion and Fell. Even here, without them, she felt the urge to watch for any potential dangers to strong to ignore.

"Me and Shiro were trying to find you guys... but we ran into it.. and it charged at us!" Kasa's voice was loud and perfect for storytelling as she recited her exaggerated story.

[Ärï]

"Wow!" Kuroshin barked, tail wagging excitedly. He looked over at Halo whom he viewed as an idol or some sort of god. "Halo, have you ever fought a moose?"

Halo lifted his head to look over at his niece and nephew. The brute nodded once. "Yes I have, with your mother."

Kuroshin's ears flicked a bit uncomfortably but looked back at Kasa looking both excited and a little uneasy. The idea of an animal so big was rather threatening to a pup but he could never really look Halo in the eyes when he spoke. Something about his uncle was just....haunting.

Star smiled at Kasa's tale about the moose as she groomed Shiro softly. Kasa would have the makings of a fine storyteller someday, she definately had a voice for it and quite an imagination. To a pup however, Star could see where a moose would look ten times the size of the only wolves Kasa had ever met.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Kasa brightened as Kuroshin became excited with her story. "We ran for our lives, with the moose only a hare-length behind us..." she murmured. "BUT, luckily, we found a river... Shiro and I jumped into it, swimming with the current and finding shelter in a dead log caught in the river. It was wet... but we escaped the moose." Kasa then glanced over her shoulder. "Unless, that is, if it tracked us over here... you never know..."

Mosca looked down at the young femme from her perch, and smiled. What a story for a young pup...

[Ärï]

A small smile curled on Halo's maw as he rested his crown once more upon his paws. Kasa was quite a peice of work, Merci would have been proud. His sister had always enjoyed a good story now and then. She thought it allowed her to get to know her patients a little before they left.

Kuroshin glanced around warily but brightened almost instantly. "Don't worry, Halo will protect us. He's faught a bear!"

Halo visibly flinched, the scars on his muzzle catching the moonlight, as if he was remembering the pain of a heavy bear claw slamming into his head. The brute glanced at Mosca. "Don't look at me, she finished it. I just got hit in the head." Halo flicked his tail toward Mosca, perched in the trees.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Kasa immediately twisted around to stare in awe at Mosca. "Really? You fought a bear? How big was it?"

Mosca narrowed her eyes in mock irritation at Halo for putting the pup's attention on her. "Fairly large, but not fully grown either," she woofed. "But you won't have to worry about bears or moose right now... there are three wolves here that are always ready to protect you."

[Ärï]

Halo smirked slightly at Mosca's mock glare and looked totally innocent. A small yawn managed to worm its way out of the ivory brujo, the silver scars on his muzzle flashing slightly. "I still get a headache when I think about it" he muttered, resting his head once more on his front paws. It was fairly true. The scent of a bear oftne made him change his course, no matter where he was going. The idea of running into another one, espeically when hew as alone, wasn't pleasant no matter how big of a wolf he was.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca watched Halo, mildly amused by his words. After a moment, she glanced at the pups again. "Here we have a fine example of why you should never try to fight something bigger than you."

Kasa giggled.

[Ärï]

Halo frowned at Mosca. "You're the one that distracted me in the first place" he muttered, averting his eyes to look out at the dark undergrowth. Halo rose to his paws and drifted off into the undergrowth, silent as a ghost and highlighted by the moonlight.

Star watched him go and turned to look at Mosca. "Don't worry about him, he'll come back around dawn in a couple days, he always does." Star licked Shiro's head once more. Halo had a habit of coming and going as he pleased and then reappearing before dawn as if he'd never left a couple days later. Though Halo protected them, Star kept in mind that he had the heart of a loner, not a pack wolf and would roam until he decided he should check on them.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

"I'm not worried," Mosca woofed calmly, raising her muzzle to gaze out across the trees and into the horizon. It was fairly truthful. Mosca, Fell, and Legion had always roamed far from each other, sometimes for a moon or so, before meeting back up again as if nothing had ever happened. The system had worked for them. They were free wolves... and they were family, at the same time.
Closing her eyes, Mosca inhaled, and exhaled, breathing in the comforting scents of the world.
So, brother... what are you doing now? Do you feel this peace, as I do? Or do you feel only the cold of the wind in your fur...
She gritted her fangs.
I hope you feel the cold.

[Ärï]

Star sighed softly and looked over at Kuroshin and Kasa. "Come here you two, time for you two to sleep." Kuroshin went obediantly to Star's side, laying down against her back, resting his head on one of her ivory paws and letting his eyes close. For some reason, as Star laid her head down, she had a feeling Halo would return before the night ended. Something about having Mosca about told Star that Halo wouldn't wonder far, not for long.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Kasa, now accustomed to sleeping without much warmth, padded next to Star and Kuroshin, but did not press into them. Instead, she curled in a tight ball about a foot from them, and curled her tail over her nose with a soft sigh. For her, this was comfort.

Mosca eyed the pups, then slowly stood on her branch, looking out into the night. "I will return soon... I think I need a drink." She jumped onto the next branch, and the next, and the next... Soon she was dancing across the trees in the direction of the river.

[Ärï]

Halo stood at the edge of the river, watching the water ripple past him. Everything had a rythem, a law that they followed, even wolves. During his hours alone, Halo would simply find a quiet place and listen, near a waterfall, the side of a river or just in the middle of a forest clearing. Everything would seem to sing to him, the wind whispering her secrets in his ear, water dripping in a steady beat from a leaf or blade of grass, leaves rattling in the background. It was a calming time for him and sometimes he would just wonder, moving his paws before he realized he'd told himself to move. Ever scent would be stronger yet he would feel no hunger even if a rabbit dashed across the clearing. Now however, Halo was deep in thought, contemplating what to do next. He honestly had no idea. Star, Kuroshin, Kasa and Shiro were under his protection and he would protect them but he couldn't remain around them for too long, it was too painful. Apart from the option of returning to his aimless wonderings, Halo had no clue what his next step would be.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca paused at the edge of the woods, staring down at the river a few bounds away. But she noticed that Halo was there, too. Flicking her ears in surprise, she muttered to herself, "He's everywhere..." and jumped from the branch to the ground, landing on all four paws like a graceful black panther.
She did not speak, as a wolf would normally have done to a friend. She didn't speak much anymore. Instead, she padded to the edge of the river a little while away from where Halo was positioned and lowered her head to lap up the water.
Now what should I do? she wondered. Bain is still out there, but now Halo...

[Ärï]

Halo heard Mosca approach but did not move. For a while he simply listened, eyes drifting to the other side of the river. Finally the brute rose to his paws, back up a few tail-lengths and ran forward. The brujo leapt into the river, swimming powerfully to the other side, the current tugging him downstream a little bit. When he padded from the water, his fur was once more slicked to his sides and glowing. When he shook, the droplets of water turned to diamonds before Halo vanished into the trees, hunting yet not searching for prey nor wolf.