They were on a new adventure at least that was how the masked girl chose to look at it. Really her brother seemed to have taken leave of his senses. He'd been the one to stay with their parents all that time ago and now they were running. She had missed Scully something awful while they had been apart. Things were different for Avella, she was different and there were times it felt weird being back with her brother. She hoped it would just take time to get back to the way it used to be.

It was some weird thing a majig that had brought them to this new place. For the life of her she couldn't remember what it had been called. What she did know was that it went across the water and she didn't have to swim. Avella was okay with that. She wondered occasionally if their father had sent someone after them or come himself. It was something he would do or would have done. She didn't like to think on that too often. It brought back thoughts she hadn't had in a long time.

Now they were in this place that was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Perhaps Scully had been right about coming here. "What do you think its called?" She asked her brother as she jumped up on one of the fallen stones. Her white tail swayed above her as she lent down to sniff a little. "I mean surely its something great. Just look at it here."

S c u l l y ➶ A r c h e r Breaking away from Devilsbite had reinvigorated Scully, but the best of it was the end to the constant tiptoeing around the matriarchs' whims. It was a breath of fresh air to know that he was thoroughly free of their extorting sights, and no, he did not feel bad for leaving Elias alone to be the only fresh-blooded male in the nearly-all female pack; he was a grown man, after all, even if he was missing pieces. Second to that, was the bait he claimed and desperately hoped would be taken; little Clouse, so eager to be daring. It wasn't a malicious thing by any account, and he didn't expect his uncle and the man's kept paramour to think it so; Scully wanted it because it was a game, plain and simple. He wanted it to be greatly entertaining, and if there was any frustration caused (particularly on Ramiel or Ellery's end) it would be worth it for the Archer. Third, and hopefully most long-lasting, considering they had crossed the ocean to get here? This place was absolutely breathtaking, and nothing like the home they had left behind. As soon as it was clear the structures were relatively climbable, Scully bounded forward and began to scale the pitted stone slabs with zeal as Avella wondered aloud. He was rather immediately focused on making his way to the highest point the ruined structure afforded, but it would involve some effort and possible a pinch of luck. When he spared a glance toward his sister, he saw she too was investigating closely. "I don't know. All I can think of are those pyre mantles built back at the Dell," he replied. This would have kept one hell of a fire, though. Nothing like what he had ever witnessed, that was for sure. With a harumph he managed to pull himself atop one of the kind-of still standing obelisks. Balancing high up wasn't exactly a strong suit for the wolf, for obvious reasons, but he holding his own so far. "Think they do any of that spooky shit 'round here?" They'd traveled so far and already witnessed so many new and strange things that Scully wouldn't have previously thought possible or even been able to conceive. Maybe it hadn't been wise to stow Clouse away on his own, but the boy had been being a pain. Whatever, they hadn't gotten too far from him. Word Count: 398

Taking a deep breath as she continued to take in their new surroundings Avella could just feel her wanderlust being satisfied. A glance at her brother as he jumped onto his own rock had her wondering if he understood how she felt. In the past it hadn't mattered the good or bad she'd had to go through all she'd wanted was to make her wild heart happy. This, what they were doing now was doing that.

It probably helped that she was along for the ride while Scully and Clouse escaped those crazy women in Devilsbite. Still she thought it might have been cool to learn more about the Moon Mother. Maybe if she ever saw Judas or Ramiel, even one of their brother, again they could teach her. Avella shrugged internally as her brothers voice caught her ear. She smiled at his words, "Now that you mention it," she said looking at the rocks, "It does sort of look like that. It would be kind of creepy if that's actually what it was for and were standing right on top of them." Her tone had taken on a bit of a dramatic note to it.

Her mismatched gaze landed on Scully as he asked his next question. A thoughtful look crossed her features before she answered. "I hope so. Maybe we can catch someone at it " After being in the Dell she'd found a particular interest in the witchy stuff as her brother called it. She jumped down from her rock and approached her brother, "What exactly are your plans?" No point in beating around the bush and he hadn't exactly been clear.

S c u l l y ➶ A r c h e r Looking much like a cat, Scully's paws shifted continuously as he balanced his bulk and tried to find the perfect jumping off point. It was quite possible he was about to hurt himself, but even knowing this the young man really didn't care. His confidence bolstered him, and how bad could a sprained limb be? His ears swiveled to catch Avella's words as he worked, the only other thing able to pull his focus right now. Creepy, she called it, if these were indeed a means of dark rituals. He recalled the prey sacrifices, rare but occasionally advocated as necessary by the pack, particularly two fawns that were brutalised to ask the Moon Mother for a comfortable winter. It wasn't the gore that had thoroughly disturbed him, after all he was a wolf, but the shadows that had seemed to come alive and crawl towards them as the deed was finished. Scully still couldn't be sure what had been real and what had been mirrors and smoke with those women, and that was enough to unnerve him. Maybe he should get down. "Maybe," he agreed. Maybe they'd find someone doing something more cool than asking for food and tricking men into siring litters, or at least get some answers about what they experienced. If someone could tell him it'd all be an illusion, he'd be just as happy, but his sister having some kind of feminine magic powers wasn't bad either. Surely she wouldn't use it against him, right? Then she asked for a plan, and he shot her a toothy smirk before descending the worn monolith, sliding down half way and leaping the rest. "Plans aren't much fun," he replied, and might have left it at that if it were anyone else he was talking to. Avella, however, was privy to a much more freely-talking Scully than anyone else, despite those months of separation in their childhood. "Hopefully this place is as abundant as it seems, and we can take care of the baby until he starts pullin' his own," he wasn't sure if his instincts could be trusted so far from home, but it felt as though Winter were on it's way. It would depend on how severe the snows would be if they'd have to take shelter with strangers or not. "To be honest, I don't know what I'm looking for, Av." Word Count: 395

The things she'd seen at the Dell was like nothing she'd ever seen before. She really couldn't believe that Judas and Ramiel had come from such a place. With the sacrifices to moon mother, that part hadn't been really been Avella's cup of tea. What happened after had been a little scary she had to admit.The other stuff, the stuff she now hoped they would find...well the masked girl was willing to learn more.

After talking with Scully she did wonder about the place they had found. What it may have been used for and how the rocks had even gotten there in the first place. Looking around it was strange how the rocks seemed to be in a circle. They couldn't have just been there like that but if not how did they get there. She didn't have much more time to think about it because her brothers voice brought her back to the present.

"You don't sound to excited little brother," she teased. She knew that he didn't find it all so fascinating as she did. That was okay with her cause it didn't mean she loved him any less or he her. They were Archers and they were brother and sister together again like Judas and Ramiel. Despite the time she'd been on her own she glad to be back. She was also glad to have had the chance to see her mom and dad again.

Avella wasn't much of a planner, she'd never been one. Just kind of drifted where the wind took her but she thought Scully might have more of a plan in mind. She rolled her eyes at the grin he gave her. "You don't have to tell me that. I'm like the queen of non planning remember?" She said when he spoke of plans not being any fun.

Then he brought up Clouse and the pup pulling his weight. It would be nice if he'd catch their meals for them. "Shouldn't he be about the age he can do that?" She asked since she wasn't sure how old the baby was. Scully had told her multiple times before why they'd brought him so she didn't ask about that.

When he seemed to fall into a moment where he didn't have his usual confidence she nudged his cheek. "Don't worry Scul we'll figure it out like we always do. We have to see what's here first then we figure out what we're looking for."

S c u l l y ➶ A r c h e r Scully smirked as Avella referred to herself as the 'Queen of non-planning,' recalling those scant few months that'd wondered if his sister had left them because he had somehow made her feel unwanted. That when Ragnar and Freyja came along, she felt out of place. Now he knew, she'd taken off because of how alike they are, freer spirits than fate would ever allow their parents to be. Willow Ridge wasn't enough for either of them, and that was perfectly okay. As it turned out, the whole continent hadn't been enough. "I got not a clue what that kid can and can't do, outside of complain. I hope it's soon." Scully figured he should probably have started teaching the kid to hunt, but he was very clearly not cut out to be a father and anything that Clouse had learned from him was strictly incidental. Her reassurance earned her a smile, genuine and even unlike his normal slate of expressions. "Long as we can keep him alive we don't have to worry about Nin or Ellery skinning us. Guess we should figure out what the natives are like." Word Count: 188

There was something to be said about drifting about like a tumbleweed. In the time when she'd lived life on her own there hadn't been the worries she'd had back at the ridge. Just her and all the things there were to see. Without plans she felt she'd seem far more than she would have had she'd planned every move. She loved her family and she was an Archer after all so she'd returned home back to them. Perhaps that time was preparation for this journey. If she believed what she'd learned of the moon mother maybe this was meant to be. Really her brothers current smirk wasn't helping her be very amused.

As for the little scamp they'd brought with them. She wasn't even sure where he fit into the family. Though come to think about she wasn't sure of herself, the lines were just to hard to follow. Maybe she'd get Scully to explain it to her someday. "Well then I suppose it's left to us to teach him something. Cause if we don't we're going to be stuck doing everything." If she were honest Avella wasn't sire she was ready to be a mom yet. Though with Clouse around she often felt like she was.

She tried to reassure her brother that they would be okay. She believed that because they were capable of quite a bit. She returned his smile but frowned at his words, "You don't really think they'd do that do you?" It was probably a stupid question since Nin could be very scary when she wanted to be. "Nothing to worry about since I for one don't plan on anything happening to him." He did have a point about the locals, "It wouldn't hurt and we might make some useful friends."

S c u l l y ➶ A r c h e r That was the shit part about not being in a pack, perhaps the only shit part. Clouse wasn't just raising himself and Scully had learned quickly that he was not nurturing. Avella was right though, if it wasn't them that taught him, the kid wouldn't learn at all and would stay a baby forever. Scully groaned, and his itchy paws drew him to another of the fallen monoliths. He hopped atop it and busied himself with idle investigation of it's surface and smells. In all honesty, Avella was probably the sole reason Scully hadn't already managed to get Clouse killed. "He's just so annoying," he announced, voice heavy with exasperation as he let his paws slide out dramatically from underneath him, draping over the stone slab. It wasn't a good excuse and he knew that, but it was the truth. Even when Clouse wasn't bitching he just had that kicked-fawn look in his eyes that drove Scully crazy. He supposed he wanted the kid to toughen up. "You should take lead on the feeding-yourself-stuff and I'll stick to teaching him how to survive getting jumped." Yes, Scully took great glee in occasionally tackling Clouse without any warning and subjecting him to a good surprise tussle. His favorite times were when the kid screamed like he just saw Godzilla rising from the ocean. Scully slipped off the fallen ruin and returned to his sister's side. He supposed they might as well be getting back to Clouse and moving on again. It was wisest to assume that someone from the Dell was right on their tail, less they get caught from the start and the game end far too soon. "My thoughts exactly. We'll need more than our own eyes if we wanna keep the upper paw. Let's get Clouse." Word Count: 298

Now that they were on their own with a pup no less there were things they had to think about and do. Being in a pack they hadn't had to worry about preparations for winter or training the younger wolves to hunt. Others could take care of that but there weren't any others and her brother was declaring that Clouse was annoying. Avella shook her head.

"He has his moments I know but he's looking to us now and whether we want the responsibility or not we can't let him down." They had stolen him away from the Dell before he learned how to do anything and ot was up to them to teach him to survive. It was especially important if they were ever separated.

"You want me to teach him to survive?" She asked her brother almost incredulously. Granted she'd managed to learn on her own and was still around to talk about it but she'd been under the impression that Scully wanted to do it all himself. "I can teach him if that's what you really want," she added.

She nodded at his words about needing more than their own eyes. Avella had always felt like they were being followed since she didn't see any reason why they wouldn't be. They would need Clouse's help to keep a look out too. Perhaps we should stay close and we'll need to teach Clouse what to look for." She nodded once more when Scully said they should get Clouse. "Lets go."