He felt like ants crawled under his pelt.

Imp sprang to all fours, yelping despite his snoozing siblings. He groaned with disgust, sticking his tongue out as he flicked a small spider away from his paws. It had begun to weave a nest in the den, and he stepped on it after it fell. Nope! Not anymore, you don't! He puffed out his chest and walked out of the den, feeling unnaturally confident.

It was because of that, that he roamed away from the volcano's gaze. Imp walked on new legs as he made his way to the Nook. He knew the rest of Habari was here, so... where were they? Unaware a giant battle took place - the Siege against the Pirates - or just ignoring the knowledge, he sat down. He didn't yell and scream for attention, just sat in the sun for a bit.

Ma was sleeping probably because she had 'sun sickness'. Imp was lucky not to. He yawned widely, closing his eyes as he rolled backward and fell against the spring grass.

"he speaks"

Sleeping was only something she did when she felt like it, especially now after the raid. She never expected to arrive home in the middle of something like that and wondered if it was planned. She hadn't had time to talk to her mother since she'd returned home, her having been busy with her newest children and all. If it wasn't for the children, she probably wouldn't have needed a sudden change of scenery. She was young, so maybe she didn't understand everything there was in the world, but she wasn't sure she'd ever understand marrying one man and sleeping with another... at least not before you slept with the man you married and birth his children.

Widow wasn't going to voice her opinion of course, it was her mothers decision. But that didn't make her happy with the new additions. She supposed it wasn't their fault that they were born, but if her older siblings were aloud to dislike their younger siblings, so was she. She didn't even like her littermates or her older siblings really, except for maybe Ghoul.

The young woman strolled out from her hut stiffly, her body sore from the raid and her travels. Having already taken something for the inflammation, she hoped a little walk around the nook would help loosen her aching joints. Since the sun was out, she hardly expected to see many others but it was never impossible. Most of the pack didn't need to hide away during the day, although the pack functioned almost entirely at night otherwise. Widow was one of the lucky many to enjoy both times of day, and it seemed that she wasn't alone.

A smaller form sat before her, their back turned. They slumped over a moment later and Widow tilted her head. This must have been one of her newest siblings, unless someone else had a litter while she was gone. If someone else had been pregnant, she didn't know about it. Though, from the looks of the pup, it looked more family than not. Was she ready to meet one of her siblings? She didn't want to be, but leaving now was out of the question. She didn't want to look bad to mom, shoving her siblings away and ignoring their existence... but did she really want to like them either? No, she didn't...

"Are you supposed to be out here?" she asked, her tone curious but not accusatory. She certainly didn't want to get in trouble for a pup being out of the den if they weren't supposed to be and nothing was going to stop her from returning said pup, sibling or not. She wanted to be responsible, even if it meant being a mean older sister.  

"Speech!"

Art © Ulfeid3 & Code © Skelle 2022

A very large female appeared just as he was beginning to drift off to sleep. Imp barked in alarm at the sudden words, puppy fur spiking up as he jumped to his paws. He wobbled a bit and looked like a hedgehog, but he was indignant all the same! "C-Course I am!" the boy protested, looking uneasily around that betrayed his words. Who was this lady to question him? He was a prince! "Ha-bar-ee is my home! A-And this is our land, isn't it?" He didn't know what the big deal was, walking around all by himself.

Granted, he didn't really know how to pronounce Habari much. He slowed it out as he spoke the name, furrowing his brow as he resisted sticking a tongue out. He didn't his mother was grieving, she hid it so well, so Imp couldn't know Recluse wanted them to stay close. "Ma and Dad let us all out; we're allowed to go out" Now they were, anyway, but that had been near the big triangle thing. The Nook was still uncertain land, and he wanted to explore it all "who you?" He hoped to tactically distract her. There was no way he was going back to the den!

"he speaks"

The puppy jumping did little to startle her and so she just watched as the puffed up from fright and settled back down. His words claimed that he was supposed to be out here, so far away from their mothers den, but he looked around as if he wasn't and knew it. His tone changed a moment later to proclaim that Habari was his home and that he was correct about, though he gave himself up when he asked if the nook was their land, too. He'd have known that if he was allowed to be here, otherwise it was as good as outside the borders and to her that was enough.

"If you have to ask then you're probably not allowed here yet," she tried to speak softly, but her matter of fact tone was present none the less. He went on to proclaim that they had been allowed out of the den now and followed up quickly with asking who she was. She wondered how far out of the den they were allowed, maybe they had been given permission to go anywhere in the borders. She was skeptical, but supposed that he was fine for now since he wasn't really close to the borders. Besides, she was here now anyway. While she wasn't going to lie for the pup and say that she brought him out here if he wasn't supposed to be and take the blame, she wasn't going to let one wander off any any more than they already had.

"Widow, one of your older sisters." She said it with no sadness for the loss of Kali in her voice. Now there was only one older sister in her way, Carnage.

"Speech!"

Art by SkeletonDragoness & Code by Skelle 2022

He scrunched up his face, as if judging her. Her truth or her worth, either was up for grabs. He ignored her words mostly, latching onto the important parts. She was big, sure, but she couldn't be much older than him. Somewhat. She had to be a year, tops and that wasn't long of a distance. "I'm Imp" he introduced himself, puffing out his chest proudly. Ma had picked a very good name for him! Or... was it Da? He had to ask when he saw them again... Either way, this was a supposed sister. "why don't you look like me?" He blurted out.

Imp was too young to really understand the concept of Ma having suitors upon a time and birthing pups from other fathers. Da was Da! The boy was bluish-gray, wherein Eraithus was totally blue. But Imp looked more like Recluse, so he naturally assumed he was a winning combination. "I guess it doesn't matter" He decided he really didn't care in the end, what Widow looked like. She was his sister and that was that "you're like me, but a lady. A princess." He shrugged his tiny shoulders, walking a bit closer to her.

The boy stared up at Widow. "Widow is also a spider right?"

"he speaks"

The boy introduced himself as Imp and in case there was any doubt before, there wasn't now. Recluse followed a theme generally with her childrens names, though to say she followed it every single time would be a stretch. He was quick to follow up with a question she found quite rude and she was quick to scowl at the pup. She was trying to think of something to retort back when he said it didn't matter, but now Widow was heated and it certainly did matter. She knew that she looked different from everyone else, namely in her size. While she couldn't say that he was targeting her based on her height alone, she still didn't like being reminded of how different she was.

Her lip was curling into a snarl before she bit her tongue. Snapping at the pup wasn't going to be good for either of them, but at least she had a real reason to dislike her siblings, or at least this one. With a deep breath, she did her best to regain what composure she had and allowed her silver gaze to settle on the small pup again. He had called her a princess after all, even if the frilly word bothered her in itself. "Yes, like you. You're a prince." She really didn't even like calling her siblings noble titles. Recluse was a queen sure, but everyone else was pretty much peasants.

When he asked about her name relation to the spider, she was actually quite surprised. "The Black Widow, to be precise. Mom's is Recluse, like a Brown Recluse." the children had probably already gotten this lesson if he knew that Widow was a spider. Had they explained his name to him??? Because Widow wasn't exactly sure she knew either and hoped he didn't ask.

"Speech!"

Art by SkeletonDragoness & Code by Skelle 2022

He could have rolled his eyes. Could have, being key.

He saw her snarl, and his inflated self ego knew that if Widow had any threat to him... Recluse and Eraithus would be there in a heart beat. "I mean" he began, as if exhausted and having to point it out was tiring "you look different" But he said that hadn't he? "in a good way" Maybe he should have started at that "everyone lookin' the same is booooring! I look like Ma a bit, but I'm still different from her!" Like Widow was! "if you looked the same as me, it wouldn't make us special, right?" Even if they were both princess and prince, looking like Widow would be weird.

"I wish I had gold" Imp began again, staring openly at the girl "oh, oh... do you have an hourglass on your back, in gold? Like a black widow?" He didn't see any, but he could be wrong. She was much too tall for him to look at properly "brown recluse?" he furrowed his brows "I thought Ma was named 'Recluse' cause she was... uhhh... independent?" Habari was pretty closed off from other packs, but Imp didn't know that. He assumed that's what it meant, that his mother was solitary or anti-social or... Whatever "she doesn't look like a spider." If she did, that'd be gross!

"he speaks"

The kid was quick to reword himself in a way that lessened her snarl, but hadn't stopped the desire to smack him yet. Her eyes narrowed at him instead, biting her tongue until she could speak with a more even tone and less emotion. He was young and so he was stupid, but he wouldn't last long in the world if he stayed that way. Widow wasn't about to make it her personal responsibility to make sure any of her siblings, even just one, weren't stupid but she certainly didn't want them unleashed on the world making Habari and Recluse look stupid. Besides, what did he know about looking different? As far as she knew every single one of the brats looked more like Recluse than she ever would. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't know her father, she certainly wouldn't find solace in her resemblance to him should she ever find out about more than just the time spent with her mother.

"Sometimes being different isn't all it's cracked up to be," she finally said after a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. Not only did she look completely opposite of Recluse (in her own opinion), she was by far the largest child to date and she feared that she wasn't even done growing yet. She stood as tall as some of her older siblings, even taller than others. Would she keep growing taller forever?

The kid moved on to their names and she sighed again. Was everything literal with him? "No, I don't." Her teeth clicked shut in mild annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "Perhaps it had something to do with it, but the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow are very deadly spiders." She cleared her throat and stood a bit taller, as if having a similar name was enough to connect her to her mother. Which one of her other siblings could say they shared a naming theme with their mother? She had that to hold onto, at least.

"And neither do I... You know, you were named after a small monster," she started, brows raising when mentioning the size of the creature he was named for. "Do you think that you'll always be small?"

"Speech!"

Art by SkeletonDragoness & Code by Skelle 2022

Anyone had to hand it to the lad. He listened, didn't wiggle but did pick up a few things. Despite best intentions to be friendly to his own blood, she was having none of it. The little remark at the end caused him to roll his eyes. "If I'm small when I'm older" Imp proclaimed "that means I gotta work harder to punt anyone who makes fun of me!" Obviously. He wasn't a slouch. He would work hard to his keep the best he could. If Habari didn't appreciate it, then he'd go somewhere else.

"Well" Imp said after a heartbeat, focusing on what Widow had said about being different "I don't care if you're different" he blurted out randomly "that just makes you more interesting" And that was a big word for a kid his age, mind "maybe one day you'll be... ve-no-mos? Like a spider!" That's what she meant by 'deadly' right? How could a stupid little spider be deadly without venom? Unless you were stupid enough to swallow it! "anyway, bye!"

He blurted out, half-conscious of her desire to not associate with him and also just bored by this point. Ah, the short attention span of a kid... "I'm going to find a spider to show Ma!" he blurted out, turning and darting back to the den. There had to be lots of spiders along the way! /exit

"he speaks"