Feathers at the Lake

[Kae]

Black wings reflected over the rippling waters of the lake, a dark shadow against the bright blue of the autumn sky. Hers were not the only wings to fill the air; around, there were other ravens, and crows, and most importantly for their ecosystem: geese.

Picking a large old tree along the shoreline, the eldest raven in the valley settled herself on a low branch, a safe height from the ground but close enough to speak with the earth-walkers who may pass by beneath. She preened as she looked over this first of many flocks, wondering idly which of them would meet their demise upon the mud of this lake, feeding the bellies and soil of her homeland.

In a rhythmic beat, she swayed her head from side to side as she began to sing, her raven's voice lilting and changing and mingling with her tapping talons,

"Winds of winter on the horizon,
Large leaves are shed, and needles do thicken.
A feast of pine nuts for bird, squirrel, and bear;
The honk of a goose sounds in the air.
Summer has gone, and with it its bounty,
Snows are to come, and all shall go hungry.
Wise ones prepare, whether wolf, bear, or wren,
Build up reserves, against hunger to fend..."

She chuckled to herself; a younger raven had alighted in the tree above her to listen, and was tapping her talons along with the elder. The younger raven was likely to follow her for a bit, learning from her habits, and she applauded the youth's wisdom. As she sang the last lines, a more ominous tone filtered into her voice,

"Break Ridge Valley, prepare yourself well,
For when the snows come, all will be a cold hell."

A female cardinal, tiny against the raven's size, flitted onto an outer branch, alighting delicately. "Iffin you don't fly south, certainly," she chirped with a little laugh.

The raven purred at the little cardinal, "Not that you do."

"Nope!" she chirped, her orange beak clicking. The little bird took wing, swooping over the shore as she looked for a nice grassy patch to peck through for seeds or insects. The old raven watched after her, head tilted slightly, before turning her attention to the forests. The wolves were surely soon to come... yes, she could hear howls rising from the hills.

[ancientakil]

Solstice slowly slinked into the area. Her form mixing in with the shadows, despite her pelt being a pure white. She stuck to the sides, even through with a trained eye you could easily pick her out from the trees she chose to sit by. Solstice let her Blue eyes wander as she wondered if this was the place the packs had planned to meet. She let her tail flick slightly as she thought of what might happen. She wasn't going to hid anymore, dead or not she needed to gather information as was her job. Her mind wandered as another form took to the shadows on the direct opposite of where she currently sat.

The shadowy form picked a very very concealed area to watch from. For months he had been hiding in the shadows whispering lies and rumors across the land. His goal? To cause chaos... chaos and dismay. The large male wolf lay quietly and waited... waited for what would prove to be a very tense situation, and providing him exactly with the information he sought. The male, named Akil by his deceased parents, smiled evilly. Within the year he would put his plan into place... piece by piece....

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Isis was the first to arrive, without Kohen. Her heart dropped as she eerily looked around for her mate... but coming up short. The large Cougar looked around with her deep brown eyes unsure of what do to in this moment. Her sand hued tail flickered as she leapt upon a large branch above her to wait for Kohen who'd surely find her when he entered the territory.

[Kae]

Flapping her wings a few times from her perch on the low branch, the elder raven turned her head, looking from one side of the valley to the other. "The wolves of the west wind their way through the hills, and the eastern pack flows forth from the forest as well. Soon they are to meet, eye to eye, with but a threat between them."

The younger raven croaked inquisitively. "Surely they will fight?"

"You are not yet a yearling, then, are you?" she asked in response, not even looking up at the other bird. "The threat is that of the Guardians. They are here... swift of foot if not of wing, and they shall keep the peace. Why do you think it is that most valley young are so born at the cusp of winter, with food to be scarce? Protection, protection." Sweeping her long-feathered wings wide and knocking loose a couple of the browning leaves from the maple, the old raven looked over at the mountain lion who had lept into the branches of a nearby tree.

"But, Gran..." the other raven spoke, "I have heard what a Guardian is. For it to face so large a creature as a wolf or lion... how can it be so?"

She chuckled. "Should fur begin to fly, youngling... you will see."

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Throg lay low to the ground as his deep brown eyes scan the terrain for a sign of life other than the birds mindlessly chirping to one another about nonsense of sorts. His leathery nostrils flare as the scent of a Cougar enters them but he is not phased by her in the slightest. He's a mysterious fella', one who doesn't say much, even when he's addressed. It's not that he's shy... or that he has some sort of problem... he's just quiet and keeps to himself.
Throg is evil on the inside... one that cares not of what others think or see him for because he knows he was put on this earth for one reason... to mate and to kill. One or the other he was bound to do soon... but what came first? A low growl emerged his throat as he watched the birds from afar... hoping that something would come out of this day unlike many others.

[Blitz]

With the leaves splayed about the ground, showing up the once green grass. Such foliage makes it all the more cause for concern with the already muddy ground that dares to cause unwary paws sliding this way and that. With the changing season, perhaps broken bones would be inevitable? One could never be certain. As the wind picked up, gently slinking beneath loose leaves to pick them up and away. Away from leaf problems, leaf families, away from the things they'd come to know, everyone needs a change of scenery. The sound of paw steps had begun to sound, crunching of leaves would sound, like a soldier and their flutes.

The first to arrive, black socked paws flecked with mud that viciously tried to claw up her legs and dirty the white fur. She is casual, as if this holds no importance to her. This event, this thing, it's everything for her current world.

Her cold, pride filled stare sweeps across the area. Skillfully picking out different animals, the birds, the cougar, and from what she can smell, a stranger. Wreckless, Dust pays no mind to such a fool, and simply awaits the appearance of the red wolf she's come to associate with the term 'air head'. She snickers at her own thoughts, looking over her shoulder, searching for signs of the pack that had followed. Dust merely guesses Orca, the swift female, will be the first to arrive, and soon simply awaits for this female to appear from the murky shadows.

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Throg was apart of a simple death sentence to the other wolves in the territory he's found himself in. He's a part of the Emerald Winter... but hides it well. His eyes are not the green that other Emerald wolves are and he is for the most part, silent where as the others are loud and outspoken.
His tail twitches as his gaze settles upon a black wolf whom has a sort of importance to her... perhaps she's an Alpha? No matter, Throg does not care much... he sees everyone equal other than the Emerald Winter whom in his eyes are above the rest.
This little black female did not instill any fear into him as his deep brown eyes stayed glued to her as she continued padding within the small clearing as leaves fell around her as if she was god, or something. He felt like she would not approach him, and this was perfectly fine with him since he most likely would not speak to her anyways.
----
Isis froze, breath held and tail retreated to her side as a wolf whom smelled of pure filth padded by. Though she was a rather nice creature... the Cougar wished not to meet this female in the least. At least until Kohen turned up again, for she knew if he was there things would go smoother if she had to speak to those of the Shadow Hive which she assumed where this black female was from.

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Onisapher was the second of the Shadow Hive to arrive to the lake... knowing well that Orca was not there. Not wanting to upset Dust too much, he padded near her to simply alert her he was there. Dipping his gruesome cage fanged muzzle toward her, he reclined in front of a large tree that was well hid... just to his liking. His large frame towered over the other wolves he spotted here but that meant almost nothing for they could be strong and have a good head upon their shoulders... not that he didn't. Onyx frame blended into the shadows as he simply waited... Dust knew where he was if she needed him and vise-versa.

[Kae]

Orca padded up to the mouth of the river, unconcerned and ignoring her nearby pack members for now, and drank a few laps, tasting what was likely to be the last of it's freshness before it was churned to murkiness by the geese: their feet and bills sifting the mud, their feathers floating, their blood swirling, all to eventually be washed away by the eventual spring thaw and subsequent river swell. Lifting her nose to the wind, she caught smells of both strange wolves and of puma, but ignored them. If her alpha cared, then she would care, but until then her mind was focusing on geese.

Teeth showing, she panted a few times purely to taste the air, and the familiar smell of goose filled her tongue and nose. She turned her gaze towards Dust, not meeting the little wolf's stare but simply checking for direction, expectation, or any other sort of sign that she was doing something her alpha didn't approve of. Orca was ready to hunt and ready to start right now, no matter the slackers still trailing behind. They would catch up.

She turned towards a nearby flock, geese already aware of the growing presence of predators on the lake and treading out to deeper waters for safety, honking to each other in alarm. No point in chasing them, but she was itching to return to the underbrush and locate another flock further down, one feeding idly on the mud flats, one she could stalk and pounce upon and feast upon. Her stance was steady, her eyes keen and intense, her tail aloft: all that held her back was whether or not Dust had further expectations of her beta, before the pack dispersed upon the lake shore.

[Draconis]

Wrath actually fell asleep upon dust, for the Serpent was greatly tired for an unknown reason. Perhaps it was the fact winter was approaching? This may be the answer, but who knows. Wrath's tongue flicked out constantly, his tail twitching as well.

---------------------------

Hakurou was not far behind Orca when he appeared. He admired her speed and gave himself a grin. The brown wolf padded next to Orca, his head high but lower than hers, his ears perked straight up. The male wolf was rather interested in this so called gathering. Who were these so called guardians? He did not know. Hakurou's tail twitched with anticipation.

--------------------------

Envy padded next to Dust, not in a away to make it seem he had more authority, but to show her that he would be where he wanted to be. Envy meant no disrespect, but he just didn't want the alpha to think that she could control him. His black beady eyes turned to her, then to Orca then back to Dust again. If something did not happen soon, the monitor lizard would leave out of sheer boredom.

------------------------

The small pup skidded to a stop as he almost ran into Orca's back leg. He did not realize where he was going, for the voices within him were greatly distracting him. They continued to say, "Do you wish for power? Do you wish for authority? I can give that to you....I can give you what you want." A flesh ripping pain suddenly burst through his body, but Derby ignored it for it was gone as soon as it had come. What was happening to him? Was this what happened to wolves as they begin to mature? Was he dying? He did not know, but the urge to yell in pain tore at his throat. He was obviously in pain too, for his eye was twitching as was his tail and back left leg. The pup bit on his tongue until it began to bleed....what was happening to him? if only the pup knew that his body was being taken over by an Evil Spirit, perhaps he would be in less pain.

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Onisapher heard a rustle in the distance, one he had known well. It was his younger kin, Derby who he assumed had followed since he had given a direction to do so but he was with the next best thing, Orca. A slight fear came upon him for he had just crashed into the Beta Female but if he felt like if he had the well, balls to be Miseo like he had planned when he was older.. he had to deal with the Beta now.
However, he wished to speak to him because the geese were around and he wished to catch him up on what was going on. "Derby. A word." he said, dipping his muzzle to Orca in hopes it'd either calm her wrath or let her know that he still had an eye on the pup even though he was fending just fine on his own.

[Draconis]

Derby turned to look at Onisapher, but did so with many twitchy movements. A painful look dwelled in his eyes for he wanted to scream in agony. Something was happening to him, but very slowly. Nothing was noticeable as of now, but the pup's bones were slowly beginning to rearrange. What is this madness? Why now of all times was this happening? NO! He would not let this happen to him, whatever it was. He was to be the future Miseo of Shadow Hive! His eyes stared blankly at Onisapher as his chest hit upon the ground and roars of rage and pain erupted from his maw, loud and not of a pup's.

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Without hesitation, Onisapher snatched Derby in his cage like jaws and immediately pivoted around and scampered away with him as quick as he could. Being his older kin and his mentor for Miseo he was sure that the others would be less than impressed with his fit of rage, or whatever was happening.
After they were a little distance away, he gently put the pup down and lowered himself down to his level and nudged him lightly.
"What's up, kid. Talk to me." His stark yellow eyes met the pups gaze as he waited for the obvious struggling pup's answer.

[Draconis]

Derby could not talk to Onisapher, for there was too much pain...but he eventually got some words out. "Voices...in...head...power...hunger...pain...." He threw his head up again and made another roar. His claws steadily began to grow as did his teeth, now visible out from his mouth. He kick and thrashed on the floor, echoing more roars from his maw. his eyes turned red for a brief moment, then back to amber, then to brown. Something seemed to change in the pup....he was growing...vertically. His snout began to grow as did his front legs. His back legs grew too, but not as fast or as much. The change was beginning....the pup was becoming corrupt.

[leiutenantlovemuffin]

Onisapher snapped at Derby, right near his muzzle to simply warn him of his behavior. He knew exactly what was happening to him, but did not want the others to know until Derby was older.
"I understand, kid. You've gotta calm yourself... this is borderline unacceptable letting your corruption overtake you in public. I get it kid, trust me...but the others may not. You ok?" he said as he nudged Derby softly, almost in a semi-frightened way. He remembered how it was to transform, especially being a Corrupt wolf AND being a science subject. The injections never helped, but it was mostly growing that hurt.
Eyes widened as he watched his younger kid grew before his eyes, but he - out of love - put a paw over Derby's mouth as he began to scream and cry from pain as a light, "Shhh" escaped his muzzle.