They had achieved the prize. “Good job,” he had told Haydee when she had shown him the necklace.  “Let’s go show mom and dad, k?”  He said it with good cheer but his head and ear still hurt.  He wanted to show off their prize and get told it was fine.  Mom and dad could do anything, right?  So they could make it stop hurting.  They’d be proud though, right?  Corbin and Haydee had won the battle and stolen their prize.

Making sure Haydee was with him the pup made his way back down to the bottom of the rocky falls.  He ran back towards the cave howling for mom or dad.  It was boldly made just to show off their prize.  Haydee hadn’t seemed to realize Corbin had ever been scared.  He didn’t want to admit to it!  Let her think she was safe so long as she was with him!  It was a mix of trying to be a protective brother and admittedly a bit of pride.  He was scared but he was also elated.  Corbin was hurt but he had won his first real battle against a dangerous enemy.

"Corbin"

The small girl sniffles as she snuggles into her brother, the fear of the fight with the crow still gnawing at her brain. Corbin praises her and Haydée offers a small, uncertain smile, sniffing again before nodding in agreement. Blood oozes from her brother’s ear and worry quickly tugs the smile down into a frown. Standing, she keeps a tight hold on their prize while sticking her small form to her brother’s side. Moving with him, the girl draws strength from his confidence.

Her jaw aches from the sheer amount of force she is using to clench her teeth together but Haydée never once thinks of releasing the treasure. Corbin had gotten hurt retrieving this, nothing short of death will make her give it up. Tears still spill down her cheeks but they have slowed the further away they get from the nest. The pair march to their family den and Haydée shrinks a little further into her brother’s side as mom comes into view. Is she going to yell at them? Haydée decides, right then and there, to take all the blame.


"Haydée Kedieo"

The woman had been patrolling but the moment Bellamy heard Corbin howl for her the woman had taken off across the territory of Ethne like a bat out of hell. She tore up the earth and raced to where her son and daughter were waiting for her. Her heart raced with worry - there was pain in her son’s howl and she swore if it was Ignis again she was going to make the damn man into a rug. The fact that any of her children were hurting made her feel worried sick… but she wasn’t sure what she’d come to find when she arrived on the scene. Corbin’s ear was bleeding, and Haydée is in tears. Bellamy is shaking as she comes to a stop but it is clear by the look in her eyes she is angry. It is not directed at the pups though. She throws her head back, howling urgently for her mate before she looks at the children, her voice dripping dangerously. “Who hurt you!?” She moves to Corbin, licking his injured ear tenderly before realizing Hay was carrying something. She relaxes, if only slightly, and speaks again in a more level tone. “What were you two doing?” Her gaze flicks back and forth between the two, confirming Corbin’s ear is the only visible injury. “Don’t worry babies, mama is here. I’ll keep you safe.” Bellamy tries to reign herself in for her kids, but it is hard. She attempts to draw both Corbin and Hay close, wanting to shelter them from the world around them. "Speech" 'Thought.'

Corbin can only say so much to reassure his sister, especially right now.  He just keeps close to her and hopes being there is enough for her.  The ear hurt, and his head smarted also though it wasn’t damaged any more than probably a bruise hidden under the thin fur from where the crow had pecked it.  Really, the injuries were hardly major except to a pup who had never been truly hurt before aside from puppy tussles or falling from higher-up rocks.

Corbin noticed mom’s intensity and anger as his mind twisted about wondering how she was going to feel about things.  Corbin hadn’t imagined they did anything wrong, and couldn’t come up with any reason what they had done was bad but mom was angry and the thought just now occurred.  Still, as they got close it was evident she wasn’t looking at them with anger but at the surrounding territory.

Mom howled for dad before licking Corbin’s ear.  Mom licked it and didn’t make a big deal of the injury itself so that must mean it would be alright.  “It was a stupid crow.” The boy put his own sudden bit of anger in the last words of ‘crow’.  “It was going to try and hurt Haydee! I showed it good, I bit its wing!”  Fear and pain were momentarily forgotten to share his little victory of defeating a bird. “I chased it away.” His eyes shifted to his sister, “Haydee got it, we uh, stole it from the crow.”  Alright, so maybe the crow had a little reason to be upset.  Hey, it was just a dumb crow and they were wolves so it was their right, right?  

Corbin let mom pull him in, happier or it than he planned to admit.  Now he could lean his head up against mom big leg and it wasn’t like he ran to her for hugs to feel better.  His gaze flicked to Haydee, making sure she felt better also.

"Corbin"

Haydée is glued to her brother’s side when their mom appears, moving toward them with anger burning in her eyes. Even though the small pup knows that it is not directed her, she cannot help but shrink back slightly as guilt over Corbin’s injury eats away at her. She doesn’t open her mouth, she can’t with their prize clutched between her jaws, and allows her brother to explain. As he speaks, the pup’s emerald gaze slowly falls down until she is looking at her dark paws, her shame standing in stark contrast to Corbin’s pride.

Her mother’s words have the small pup sniffling in embarrassment but draws her green gaze back up. Glancing to Corbin, Haydée watches as he allows mom to pull him into a hug and the girl melts into her mom, burying her head deep into her mother’s fur to hide the shame that burns hot in her cheeks. She doesn’t deserve a hug since she got her brother hurt but the pup knows she needs it. Still, she does not speak, does not open her jaws to release the piece of jewelry they had fought for, and she won’t… until Corbin says she can.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Bellamy managed to relax a little as Corbin said it was a crow that had harmed them, rather than a wolf. She frowned though, wondering why the bird had been so bold. She heard that it was going to hurt her daughter and her gaze hardened. At least Corbin had chased it away. “I’m just glad that, all things considered, you are both safe.” She told them. Hay seemed to melt into her, taking comfort from the hug, and even Corbin seemed to be doing a little better now that she was here. “If something like that ever happens again you both stick together, call for me or your dad if you need to, okay? But you both did good, very good.” She wanted to praise them, giving a little nuzzle to Haydee to try and reassure her daughter. She hadn’t said anything since Bells had arrived, gripping onto their prize for dear life. Bellamy let her gaze soften. “There is no shame in getting help from a loved one.” She told them both. “There will be things we can’t control or are too hard to take on alone, so sometimes we need to get help from others. Working together with your siblings is a good start to that.” She hoped her words could calm there further. She lifted her gaze, giving her approaching mate a small, sheepish smile. "Speech" 'Thought.'

Gavroche had heard Bellamy’s call, hearing the urgency in her tone, and the winged male set off to where she and their little ones would be waiting with his herb bag slung over his shoulder. James was on his shoulders, keeping an eye out for Gav’s mate and his children as they went. It wouldn’t take them long to arrive, seeing how Corbin and Haydée were curled around their mother as Bells held them close. He could smell the blood before he saw Corbin’s injury, a small frown on his face as he approached them. He removed his bag and spoke. “Come over here, kids. Let me take a look at the injuries, please.” He kept calm, wanting to make sure he checked over both of his kids and made their hurts go away. Healed a wound - 0 / 3 "Speech" 'Thought.'

With the all-important hug given and mom’s comforting words and no signs of panic over the ear, it's easier for Corbin to calm his own fears.  As his fears faded the boy was able to take in more details of everything around him again.  That included noticing Haydee holding their prize.  Corbin found a smug smile on his face finally creeping in.  They had done it!  Haydee had got their prize, they took down the evil crow and made it back home.  “Hey mom, do you think the statues will like what we found?  It’s all shiny so we thought that might be good.” Corbin waved a paw at Haydee, “Show it off, you did great holding it all the way!  Even on that branch!”

Mom mentioned working together in a fight and well, it had been more Corbin fighting this time but he could have never fought and grabbed the shiny item so they’d had no choice but to do it this way.  Next time the two could fight together!  Heck, maybe the whole family could fight together! Well, mom and dad might make it a bit too easy so they could watch and cheer as the kids do all the work.

Then dad appeared and Corbin left mom’s side much more the confident proud boy than when he’d run up to mom.  Thorn tilted his head down to show off his battle-injured ear, “A  crow got my ear but I got his wing.  Haydee got his sparkly thing so we won.”

"Family"