s.p.i.n. m.e. 'r.o.u.n.d. {openforall}

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Oblivion swirled about, sweeping its claws over the land, reaching for scoops of earth, and then bringing it back to be devoured by its gaping jaws. At the center of the monster lay a figure, one that gazed sightlessly into the woods before being swept away by the sheer force of the winds.
To the creature's ears, the intimidating roars and bellows of the tornado were but mere white noise. The grayscale colors of the forest churned around the figure, and it was only when the storm spat him out that his true identity could be distinguished from the flying foliage.
It was Ashai, his body landing in an awkward angle, with his head bent back and one leg folded under him.
He was dead.

Sumer slowly buried his head into Babylonia's fur, suppressing thoughts about Ashai, hoping that his friend was alright... but at the same time knowing deep in his heart that the chances of Ashai surviving were slim to none.
...what am I going to do?


I'm going to find you. I swear to you I will... and you better be okay when I... you'll be okay. You have to be...
Hidden in an abandoned fox's burrow, a male wolf pressed against the rear of the den to dodge a twig that had found its way into the den. He narrowed his eyes, willing the storm to pass by faster so that he could continue his search.
I will find you, Sumer... and I won't let Mom take you from me.

[Sivoncé™]

Babylonia sighed softly as Sumer rested his head in her pelt. Fears and anxieties were creeping up again, fears that abandoning Sumer's friend would damage him too much for their to be chances for them, and anxieties that this hole in the ground was only good for darkening her phobias.

The streak of fire across the strom-strewn clearing was immensely different than the murderous flames that sprouted here long ago. The she-wolf was tattered, plastered to her skin with the cloud's expulsions, and only the dim light of her coat shone through the layers of muck and grime. She wheeled about miserably, desperately. Eupbrates, where are you? We need you back at camp, where are you?! I need you!

[.Rabid Lycan.]

The storm was breaking slightly, the terrilble winds fading from earshot. This was the moment Euphrates had been waiting for, and in a split second he had ducked out of the den. The storm had pillaged the valley, leaving it bare and cold. He realized with a sickening jolt that the tornado had swept away all tracks and scents that Sumer would have left behind.. if he was even alive.
Move your legs, dammit.
Euphrates raced in one direction, hoping to pick up a lead as he went. The sky was still an ominous gray and the storm was continuing, but for now, the weather did not see fit to strike him down.

Sumer closed his eyes tightly, savoring the feel of pressing against his mother for comfort. It was a pleasure that he had been deprived of since his flight to the Destinians... and he now realized that even Euphrates wasn't an effective subsitute for a parent.
...I wonder where my father is....?
That thought struck him oddly. He didn't even remember his father, not in the least. Yet he wondered Does Dad even love me?

[Sivoncé™]

How long had it been since she'd held one of her dear children in this way?
Assyria was being searched for, her poor daughter lost from the rest of the clan in the chaos that their Hellfirian flames had wrought upon the Twilight Clearing. Tigris had long faded away into the ether, being consumed, like many she'd held dear, in the abyss of nothingness. Euphrates had forsaken her, Lust was, much like she had been, insanely in love with another wolf and was, most likely, chasing after her. All that was left was Sumer....a dear son who knew better than any that actions spoke louder than words.
And Ashur, Ashur who would never leave her....
There's still hope for reassembly. Those who deny our dynasty will feel the wrath of honorable Mother Nature -- the evidence is here with us now.

Fireflight whirled about in increasing frustration. Her senses could not detect even a whisper of Euphrates in the midst of the sky's rage. The vortex, though still at bay, still existed and so her fears did as well. She narrowed her eyes and began the slow process of examining each direction avaliable. He has to be here somewhere....I could smell him all the way to here before I lost it...

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Come on, come on...
Skidding to a halt, Euphrates swiveled about to drink in his surroundings. Everything looked the same, and still there was no sign of life anywhere around him.
Growing desperate-- and no longer caring if he attracted unwanted attention from Hellfirian wolves-- he tilted his muzzle up and howled to the sky.

Sumer suddenly stiffened at his mother's side, his ears flying up. Even through the wind, his keen ears recognized a familiar wolfsong... his brother's wolfsong.
What? Is something wrong...? Wait... oh no. He's searching... for me.

[Sivoncé™]

Fireflight froze, a hole struck through the films of downpour by a sudden, sharp howl behind her. Spinning around, her ears erect and tense with the sudden arrow-shaft of hope that the sounding had brought. Even a small smile managed to break through her maw -- if Euphrates was here....how could everything not be well? Tilting her head, she answered with an uplifting call of her own, then plunged onward in the direction Euphrates' howl had radiated from. The fiery femme rammed straight into a familiar shape, one that had been mid-pelt itself, and somersaulted a few feet backwards in the muck. The air was knocked clean from her lungs, and she sputtered and coughed for a moment in an attempt to regain it. The images, at first, were blurred, but she slowly came about.
"Euphrates?"

Howlings were exchanged -- there were multiple wolves out there. Familiars. The two knew each other. More than that. Babylonia knew them both, and only one would know her. So long as this pair did not know where she and Sumer were....so long as Sumer did not attempt to find these problems. "The wind -- it sounds like wolves howling...." Babylonia murmured. "This is a storm unlike any other I've seen, or even heard about in legend. There's something....ethereal about it. Perhaps it is much like the fires I came from -- birthing the dead."

[.Rabid Lycan.]

The young, tan wolf lifted his head, listening both to the call and to his mother's words.
The wind? Oh, no, mother... you may be older, but without my speech, I use hearing... and I could recognize that voice from a mile away...
He turned to Babylonia, gaze resting on her face and eyes never blinking. His own features settled until his eyes were boring into her skin, as if trying to mentally convince her to tell him the truth; that it was Euphrates' howl on the breeze.
You can't actually believe that mother... you know that voice.

Euphrates' fur stood on end, hearing pawsteps suddenly crashing behind him. And then he felt something drive him onto his side, and he wondered-- ashamedly-- how he had let his guard down...
But he suddenly heard the howl that was ringing in the air, slowly fading off into echoes... and knew that he was in no danger. Quite the opposite, Fireflight had arrived, standing beside him.
And under any other circumstances, he would have been grateful for her company.
"...Fireflight," he murmured almost breathlessly, blinking slowly at his lover and leader.
...how am I going to explain this...
Simple-- just tell her that your trying to find your would-be traitor brother and your murdering mother...
Yeah, like that'll work... you idiot!
"...uh... what are you doing here?" There was an anxious hint to his voice that was hard to miss, as if he was in a huge hurry to get going again.
Not that he wasn't in a hurry, that is.

[Sivoncé™]

Babylonia sighed softly, realizing her ploy had been useless, and gave up her falseness. "I would go out there and try and find him, Sumer -- whether we are estranged or not -- but honestly, do you think we could actually find him in this? It seems it would only do more harm...." She murmured, this time through stark honesty. I know it's calming a bit, but it's still raining pretty hard -- you can hardly see a thing!

Fireflight gave herself a rough shake, shedding some of the fresh muck that had taken residence in her pelt during her brief fall. She eyed Euphrates worriedly, a bit taken aback by his question. "Looking for you," she woofed, puzzled. "Er....funnel cloud, Euphrates. The pack is taking shelter and you go running and.....why?" She woofed, just a hint of panic in her voice. What's going on with him...?

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Sumer frowned, but slowly lowered his head to the earth in silent defeat. She was right; it would be near-impossible for them to find Euphrates in the current weather.
But I would try... I know Euphrates is still going to try and find me...
He stared out into the world beyond, wishing that he could somehow tell his brother where he was... after all-- although they were at odds at the moment-- Euphrates was his older brother. And he hated leaving Euphrates without knowing if his little sibling was alright...

"...right.... right!"
Euphrates shook his head, a certain nervous quality to his voice. "...of course, the funnel cloud. Yeah, uh..."
Just tell her!
"...Sumer's out here..."
...well, it's a start.

[Sivoncé™]

Fireflight nodded silently, understanding flashing at once through her eyes. "All right....let's find him, then." she woofed. "You were able to track him to here, I assume?" She knew Euphrates had reason for coming here, but it seemed so strange to Fireflight that any Destinian -- besides maybe Kiki or Silas -- would have the need to come here now. Let alone Sumer....
"Euphrates, is there something I should know--" WHAM.
A shattering roar, a deafening crack of thunder, and a fallen maple crushed the alphess under its sodden corpse. There was no feeling, no sight, no sound....nothing but endless rain.....a tide of wind, ebbing and flowing....

^{Twilight Realm? Golden Mist? Spirit Wood?....what does it matter, really? But who's there....}
"Hello?" She coughed hoarsely, then yelped with sudden pain. A crushing weight laid her flat to the ground, and yet nothing seemed to be atop of her.
"You're losing a life, Fireflight."

[.Rabid Lycan.]

For a moment, Euphrates simply stood, rooted to the earth in a state of shock and marveling at how a split second could shatter all of the things that mattered to him in this world.
One. Split. Second.
And, when he finally felt mobility rushing into his limbs, Euphrates dived forward, yelping and uttering panicked curses as he shoved against the maple tree.
"FIREFLIGHT!! No-- can you hear me??"
The sickening abscence of a response threw Euphrates' mind into war.
"FIREFLIGHT!"
Euphrates shoved his weight up against the weight of fallen tree, thrusting forth all of the effort that he could muster. The tree moved, but it was far too heavy for Euphrates to roll off of his love.
"...no...no..."
Even if Fireflight had multiple lives, she would never make it out alive if he didn't get this tree off of her body.
"...someone... ANYONE!"
And Euphrates let lose a mournfully desperate howl, pleaing for even the gods themselves to come and save his love from her miserable position.
And, all the while, he continued to shove.

Sumer heard it again. But not just a searching howl.... a painfully desperate scream for help. A thousand scenerios flooded Sumer's mind, ones of Euphrates being hurt, attacked, or even killed...
And, without warning, Sumer jumped to his paws and slipped out of the den.
No matter what the cost, he wouldn't let his brother go without help in his time of need...

[Sivoncé™]

There they go again....
The storm is calming. I suppose they'll be fine....safe, for now. Ah, well....it's high time I've reunited with Ashur and my other kinsmen. High time I've had my third litter. She eyed her stomach, now only a ghosting of a scar visible. She smiled to herself, laughing softly in the dark den. She padded out into the downpouring rain and gusts, then turned and darted, weaving with ease through a forest that was hardly-visible. She purged the woodlands with the adrenaline rush that came directly from anticipation.
They will never see a thing coming. They'll never know what hit them....

"Fireflight....we'll be able to remove you from the underneath the tree...but that's all. Your ribs will be healed for you, and if you rest up, your legs will heal, too. Just be careful, Fireflight. But....trust your instincts, as well."
Fireflight offered a small smile to the specter handing over her, a familiar, beloved face....
"Thanks, sis."
"Eh. Don't mention it. Just try not to get hit by any other trees, m'kay?"

A fierce, sudden, unprecedented torrent flung itsel at the rough bark of the maple, a great, splitting groan coming from its bark depths. It rolled but a foot, then halted in its new grave. Fireflight laid, seemingly crumpled, but now breathing, where she'd been flattened.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Euphrates hadn't even seen ir coming. A large gush of rain and wind slammed him painfully into the log. But, somehow, the gail managed to force the huge limb off of Fireflight, and Euphrates was at least thankful for that.
When the log ceased to move, the brute gingerly got to his paws and slid off the top of the maple, only to half-stagger, half-run to Fireflight's side. He licked her cheek gently, and her heart began to pound a thousand times harder when he saw the rise and fall of her chest.
She's alive... oh, thank GoldenWolf, she's alive...
And then something hit him. Something literally rammed into him, shoving him onto his side. He immediately jumped back on his paws, ready to defend Fireflight if need be... but froze when he saw Sumer standing there, eyeing Euphrates with deep concern.
He had heard Euphrates' call.
Then, turning his head to look at Fireflight, Sumer's eyes suddenly flooded with understanding, and he retreated a few steps.
Euphrates narrowed his eyes, suddenly recognizing the scent on Sumer's pelt.
"...you went to her."
Sumer was staring at his paws, taking another step back towards the direction he had come.
"...was all of this for nothing, then, Sumer? Don't I matter to you anymore?" Euphrates had a deep growl hidden in his throat that threatened to spill out. His fur was bristling now as he glared at his younger brother. "I love you, Sumer... why can't you just trust me like you trusted me before?"
Sumer remained quiet, and suddenly stopped in his tracks, refusing to meet his brother's gaze. Instead, he watched Fireflight, training his face to lack any emotions that would give away his thoughts.

[Sivoncé™]

Noooo no nononono!!! I'm lost, I'm lost! No idea where I am -- oh, Mom's probably going INSANE right now!! She'll have them all searching for me, oh, right after Akaira's little stunt, this is bad, bad, bad, bad --
"OUCH!!!!" The ginger, watered-down fluffball rammed into a large log that seemed to come out of nowhere, a fallen maple tree deciding that it just had to block her path.
"DAMNIT!!!" She cursed, slewing a plethora of other foul-tongued phrases before stumbling to a stand. Her eyes widened fearfully at the scene before her. Not one, but two packwolves! And what was more, it looked like they were arguing, maybe over who would get to eat the third one, who seemed to be lying unconscious.
"DON'T EAT ME!!!!" Amoret shrieked desperately, shivering.
Geeze, and I thought Mom and Dad were a little rough-around-the-edges! They look lethal!!

[.Rabid Lycan.]

((interestingly enough, I made Neva wander off into another thread as well XD
Wow, Santi must be having a bad day.... ))

Euphrates whirled about at the sound of another voice-- eyes burning-- to stare at a young female which, it seemed, had appeared out of thin air. He blinked slowly, gradually losing the fire from his eyes as he identified the wolf as an innocent. Not a threat.
Lowering his head and speaking in a calmer voice, he woofed, "Who are you?"
His eyes momentarily flickered to Fireflight, glad to see her breathing... but his heart tightening when she did not move or speak.

Sumer was gazing at the newcomer with an almost intense curiosity, wondering where she had come from.
I almost expected Mom to come out of the smoke...