Asharya loved the canyon's bottom. In the depths of the dry season it's creek was little more than a trickle, and even the smallest fish struggled to survive it. The larger had escaped downstream while they still had a chance, or been eaten already. What was left behind for her was hardly more than minnows, and much quicker than her clumsy puppy coordination could apparently handle. The young ember stood there on the shore, downy coat damp and speckled with clay. She flashed her teeth at the water, a laughable mockery of a snarl, and was at once distracted by her reflection. She looked cool, and scary just like Mama! She looked up to see where she and Ashiel had wandered off to. Or, more accurately, how far she had wandered from them. Her quick search turned up nothing, so she turned back to the fish yet again. It was cool and windy, weak sunlight dappling the pebbles below the water's surface. The silver-speckled fish seemed to dance in the beams, and before long she found herself laying on her stomach simply watching their display. Maybe she could ask Mama or one of her cousins to take her fishing for real fish later! She hoped Ashiel would want to come too, but she supposed for any of that to happen she really ought to find them first. "Talk" "You" Think

ART BY HAGON <3

Ashiel tried to stay put in the cave until his mother came back but the sunlight streaming down into the canyon and weaving off the walls was making it difficult.  The fact that his sister Asharya was already down on the canyon floor was making it even harder.  Pyralis said she'd be bringing them a treat and he could feel excitement bubbling in his stomach to the point that he just couldn't take it.  Carefully, he picked his way outside the den and scrambled after his sister.   The stone was cool this morning and wind rustled its way through the canyon walls, stirring up the dust.  It felt good on his paws and he took in the sensation.  When noon rose and heated the stones anywhere the light fell would become to hot for him to stand on. Ashiel found his sister staring into the water of the thin little creek.  Carefully he crouched down and eyed her bright-colored behind.  What on earth was she doing anyway?  Was she fishing without him?  Was she just looking at herself?  He scowled silently.  No way was she going to just up and ditch him.  He kept his body low, creeping silently forward each time the wind rushed through the canyon to mask the noise.  Then he charged forward, leaping up slightly as he tried to slam his chest into her rear end in the hopes of making her faceplant into the water. "Talk" "You" Think

Asharya was intently focused on her own reflection. I mean, how could you not be? Young as she was, vanity was in her blood and it had set in early. So enthralled was she that she did not notice her brother coming upon her. His fur was much more typical of their cousins, but she didn't think any less of him for it. They were both their mother's children after all, which automatically made them both the best. Well, she quickly changed her mind when he appeared out of nowhere. Nowhere meaning right behind her, and appeared meaning slamming into her from behind. With a startled shriek Asha fell forward, face first into the shallow pool. The water was not cold, necessarily, but it did bleed through her soft downy pelt in an instant. She came back up spluttering, murder glinting in her young blue eyes. “Ashi, I'm gonna eat your tail for that!” With a pitiful growl she lunged forward, small paws finding difficult purchase on the gravel of the stream bed. She barked (read: yipped) out a burst of anger, knowing it would only give Ashiel more time to get away. She was gonna tell Mama on him, and then he'd be sorry for playing that mean trick on her! They were supposed to be noble, and strong, and- and other big words she didn't know the meaning of, but they'd sounded very impressive when she'd heard them. And she was pretty sure Ashiel was none of those things right now! “You better run before I catch you!” She hollered, still fighting to get out of the small pool. "Talk" "You" Think

ART BY HAGON <3

Bam! Ashiel's chest collided with Asharya's bum square in the middle. He let out a laugh as his sister lurched forward into the water, his tail wagging as he leapt about excitedly. "Hahahaha gotcha! I gotcha!" It was her own fault for not paying attention and he'd tell mother as much. If they were going to train to be excellent warriors and leaders of the Abraxas clan then they needed to remain vigilant. Ok… so in all honesty he just wanted to be a brat. How could he help himself when her fluffy rear end presented such a target? Such pranks were too good to pass up! "Ashi, I'm gonna eat your tail for that!" Ashiel turned and bounded away down the canyon floor as he called over his shoulder. "You'll have to catch me first!" His sister was faster, he'd admit it but her scrambled bought him extra time as he put his head to the wind and bolted for all he was worth. He looked back to see her still struggling in the small pool and was about to make another smart comment when he slammed into something hard. "Ow!" He cried out and stumbled back shaking his head when a few drops of blood fell onto his shoulder. He looked up and gasped. "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis had been wanting some time to herself.  It was exhausting caring for the pups now that they were at an age where they could wander off and get into all sorts of trouble.  She remembered being told of the 'mother's curse' of having a child that was exactly like you were when you were young and Pyralis' lovely daughter, Asharya, was such a pup.  Ashiel was, for the most part, content to wait in the den but as soon as his sister wandered off, which she often did, he was right at her heels and she had to go hunting for both of them.  As such Pyralis tried not to stray farther than she needed to. A flailing, bleeding potoo with its bulging yellow eyes flailed in her jaws as she marched down the canyon.  She felt they were never to old to learn about prey, hunting and battle and she felt that such an odd creature might prove a source of amusement for the pups.  She did not find them particularly engaging to eat but it was fun to watch them fluff up and thin out in an effort to scare away predators.  She'd hoped she was quick enough but puppy shrieks and laughs soon caught her attention and she stood still as she watched her son come barreling around the corner without looking where he was going, typical, and crashing right into her left foreleg.  The behemoth of a woman peered down at her little son as he looked up and she grinned wickedly before dropping the messy, flailing bird right on top of him. "Talk" "You" Think

Oh, so Ashi thought she couldn't catch him, huh? Well, she would certainly show him! With a heave Asharya pulled herself from the water and began to give chase, but saw that her brother had already pulled far ahead. She growled a pathetic puppy growl and charged after him. Oh, he would get it for being so mean to her! She was gonna smush his face down in dirt and sit on it, and make him apologize. And then maybe she might get up. Maybe. As it happens, she was far too busy plotting her revenge to pay much attention to where she was going. Ashiel disappeared around the nearest bend in the canyon's floor, and she tumbled along close after him. Looking forward, whereas Ashiel had been peeking over his shoulder, she had time enough to notice their mother had materialized out of nowhere, as she so often did. With a gulp, Asharya tried to slam on the breaks but ended up tripping over her own paws instead. Asharya fell forwards in a tumble, rear over ears, and came to land nearly on top of Ashiel. She scrambled upright, taking in a breath large enough to sustain her as she blamed absolutely everything on her despicable brother, when she realized her mother was clutching something... weird in her jaws. "What is that, Mama?!" she asked with amazement, forgetting her anger (and the fact that she may very well get in trouble for leaving the den again) in the wake of this new discovery. Was this the present she had been promised? Oh boy! "What is it, what is it, what is it?" she asked again, spinning in a circle as she did so, utterly unable to contain her excitement. Pyralis dropped the distressed creature nearly on her brother's head and the young ember came as close as she could despite it's flapping wings. Was it a bird, then? It was nothing like the vultures and smaller winged things she had seen here so far! She looked to her mother, blue eyes wide and shimmering, waiting for an explanation for this latest and greatest adventure. "Talk" "You" Think

ART BY HAGON <3

Ashiel let out a shriek as his mother dropped the bloody, nasty bird on him. He flailed, the creature squawked until finally he untangled himself from the flailing mass. "EW! Moooom! What was that for?" He glared up at the older woman doing his best to look intimidating and show how unamused he was by the whole thing. Whatever it was his sister had started it! Speaking of sisters, Asharya came rocketing around the corner and tripped over her paws, sailing right toward him. Ashiel scrambled out of the way. No way was he going to have someone else fall on him. He was about to make a comment regarding her klutziness but she was swiftly distracted by the bird. She was excited. Ashiel was not. He wrinkled his nose at the bird, his lips pulling back in a sneer. "It's ugly! That's what it is. Some awful thing, we don't have to eat it do we?" He couldn't imagining trying to ingest such an awful looking creature. "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis barked out a laugh as he son screamed and struggled to disentangle himself from the mangled, but still living, creature. "You know very well what that was for. What are you doing this far from the densite?". Her attention turned to Asharya as her daughter came flailing onto the scene in a tangle of energy and uncoordinated limbs. Pyr peered down at the girl as she bounced about excitedly asking what it was. Pyralis reached out a paw, grabbed the ruffled creature and drug it back towards herself and away from the pups as she licked off blood and a few feathers from her lips. "Well… it was going to be a treat for you two but since you don't seem to want to listen to me when I tell you to stay put… I guess I'm just going to have to go put it back." She picked up the creature in her jaws and started to walk away just daring the brats to stop her. "Talk" "You" Think

Ashiel's protest fell on deaf ears. Asharya pushed forward as close as she could, watching in delight as the ridiculous creature flopped onto the ground. Ashi called it an ugly, awful thing but Asharya begged to differ. "This this is awwweesome! Where did you find it, Mama? Will you take us?" Her Mama reached forward and hooked it with a paw, dragging it farther away. Asha's tiny jaw dropped in horrified dismay. What? They hadn't been bad! Or- wait, no! It was Ashi that had been bad and now Mama was going to take away her toy because she had been the victim of his heinous crime?! This was an outrage! Pyralis scooped it up, and it was hardly off the ground before Asharya was on her. The young girl clamped down as hard as should could on the woman's tail, doing her best to lock up her legs and hold her Mama still. "F'ou can' do 'is!! 'Ifs all-" She spat out the tail, jounced off as she was by her mother's stride. She resumed her attack on her ankles, doing her best to nip and pull and doing her best not to get kicked in the face. "You can't! You can't, it's all Ashi's fault, he pushed me! I was just watching the fishies an' he pushed me and I chased him 'cuz he's rotten but I didn't mean to, please, I swear I'll be good if we get the monster bird, I swear!" She paused her assault only long enough to send her brother a murderous glare. He had done this! Oh, she was gonna get him back, he would just have to wait and see! She sat down, utterly defeated. Asharya hiccuped but she wouldn't cry. Abraxas were gods and gods didn't cry! She sat up straight and puffed out her chest, blue eyes having become glittering jewels of that uniquely childlike rage. Her brother was going down! "Talk" "You" Think

ART BY HAGON <3

OOC: begin Prank War™ >.>

Ashiel's ears folded back in shame as his mother asked him what he was doing so far from the densite. "Well, you see-" before he could finish Asharya came flying onto the scene and he quickly scrambled out of the way before turning to look back at the bird. He really couldn't see what Asharya saw in the thing but as soon as his mother started to take it away he decided that he really wanted it. "Wait mom! I didn't mean it! Wait, I want to look at it. It's sooooo ugly but its a cool ugly. Mooooooom!" As Asharya launched herself at her mother's tail Ashiel started nipping at her ankles but she didn't seem the least bit bothered. Oh man, oh man, this wasn't fair! As if to make matters worse Asharya started blaming everything on him! "Is not! Is not! Asharya was the one who left the den first, I was just following her. She's the one that started it!" His sister turned and gave him a seething look but he turned and stuck his tongue out at there. No way was she pinning this whole thing on him! "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis struggled to remain serious as Asharya immediately objected to her taking of the bird. She felt tiny baby teeth latch onto her tail and pull but her massive form moved on purposely despite the biting at her tail and feet. She took several more steps as her children wailed their complaints, each blaming the incident on each other. She rolled her eyes at Asharya's promis to be good. Oh yes, because that would definitely last longer than an hour. Pyralis set the bird down at her feet, making sure to keep one massive paw on it as it continued to wail in indignance with just as much gusto as her children. "Alright, alright, shut up!" She gazed down at them. "I don't care what the excuse is or who started it. You should both know to stick around the densite. Asharya I expect you to have enough self control not to chase after your brother, if he's leading you astray. Ashiel, the same goes for you. You don't have to follow your sister all the bloody time. Now then, if you two promise to behave yourselves and mean it this time. I will give you the monster bird to do with as you wish. I may even make a few suggestions." "Talk" "You" Think