The hunt to find herbs never stopped it seemed and even though summer had finally chased away the everlasting cold away some things still required a bit of a trip to find. Slowly her garden in the green house was coming together with the help of some of the other healers and wolves in the pack though she knew it would be a few seasons before they could really rely on those plants for the bulk of their herbal needs. Some things just didn't thrive in that kind of environment and horsetail seemed to be one of them. Keeping the soil moist enough for it to grow was a challenge which was unfortunate since that was a plant that she tended to use a lot of with the amount of fighters that they had in the pack constantly getting bites and cuts from training.

Gwynevere hardly ever left the pack lands on her own, but she was slowly gaining a little bit of confidence, allowing herself to leave the castle behind for short trips. Mostly it was just out of not wanting to bother anyone just to go do something as simple as collect some horsetail along the nearby river, but there was also just part of her that wanted to force herself out of her comfort zone. Artorias was doing such great things with with learning how to lead the pack, Rudyard was being really proactive with making sure the pack had food in the stores, Avantika did so well at the Ashen tournament... She felt like she was doing really well in her studies and she was proud of the rank that Ulric had given her, but could she really say that she was growing up and coming into her own the way they were if she needed her paw held every time she needed herbs?

She pulled herself up and walked out of The Hallow's lands, going out to Cedar Falls with her satchel hanging across her chest, her head lifted with a fragile determination. She had even asked Eilwen to stay home this time - though she had no doubt that the raven would come looking for her anyway if she was gone for too long. She'd go, find her horsetail and maybe look around to see if there were any other herbs she could collect while she was out here, and then go home. Easy enough.

Gwynevere | Eilwen

When one wandered, there was never anywhere to be. Never any deadlines to meet. Not now anyway. Now that he'd completed his task. Mommy dearest was dead and gone. Mission complete. What was there to do now? It wasn't like he was old. There was loads of time left to live his own life. For so long he'd been nothing more than a harbinger. Now he was just Oxx. Since there was nowhere to be, Oxx liked to travel to different places. See different things. Today he was on his own. Or was he, really? He had his mother with him, in a sense. She came everywhere with him these days. Now that he'd found her, he wasn't letting her go. Never again would the woman be out of his grasp. He doubted that she liked it, but that didn't matter at all. Besides, there wasn't much that she could do about it. The falls were glorious. Loud and masking. The mist from the rushing water obscured his massive frame. Things from the outside may not have been able to see him, but he could still see some of them. As he rolled about in the mist, Oxx had startled a few animals. It was enjoyable to see the terror on their face. Around lunchtime, he used the mist to ambush a young fawn. Once his belly was full he swam a bit then took a nap amidst the haze. All in all it had been a good day so far. When next the beast woke, a new source of entertainment had found its wait into his temporary lair. A young girl on a mission, it seemed. Lifeless, grey and white eyes watched her as she searched along the edges of the water for something. Probably one of those silly healers, he mused. Feeling particularly playful today, Oxx quietly sank into the water and swam towards the girl. He stayed submerged and rather than see the slate, white and black beast that he was, she would only see the approaching ash and obsidian woman that his mother had been. Well... before he made a cape out of her, that was.

Gwynevere walked carefully along the edge of the river as she neared the falls themselves, the horsetail seeming to grow most plentifully where the mist of the falls added extra moisture to their environment, a realization she had with a hum. Perhaps if there was some way for her to make a mist like this in the greenhouse... But what would she use to get the water droplets this fine? They certainly couldn't have something has big as this waterfall contained in such a space. She thought about this as she picked pieces of the useful plant and tucked them away in her bag, careful to not collect too much from one particular plant so that it could grow back and she wouldn't over harvest them. There was a plentiful amount of it though and she wore a gentle smile as she quickly refilled her supply.

She was nearly about to turn to start heading back toward The Hallows, her mission to collect herbs seemingly a success, when a movement in the water caught her attention and made her lift her marbled lavender and and sage gaze to see what it was. At first she couldn't make out the dark shape past the mist, but her smile faded and her brows pulled together with worry. It looked like a wolf, but something wasn't quite right. Whoever it was didn't seem to be actively swimming, but instead floating. As it drew closer she started to be able to make out more details, her ears flicking back as she saw how it wasn't a wolf at all, or at least not a whole one. It was like the pelts that they used in their bedding or rugs, flattened and oddly shaped floating on top of the water.

Eventually as it got closer to the shore and enough of the mist from the falls had passed for her to see it clearly, her eyes widened in horror, feeling like all the blood had rushed down to her feet and panic gripped her chest as she stumbled back a couple steps, disbelief and shock written across her face. She blinked a couple of times, shaking her head as if she might just be seeing things. But when she looked back it was still there. She was still there. "Mom...?" she breathed, feeling herself tremble, her muscles locking up and forcing her to stand there instead of letting her turn and run like she wished she could. Every time she tried to lift a paw she couldn't make it move. Her wide, horrified eyes were locked on the skin of her late mother, floating toward her in the water, whatever was underneath it obscured by the mist. She tried to call for help, but it just came out as a quiet, terrified squeak.

Gwynevere | Eilwen

With his eyes open below the water, Oxx could see the sheer panic and anxiety as it flooded the young girl. Young... was she a yearling? Maybe a little older? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was one of his mother's children. Ah, family... This was essentially his little sister if you wanted to put a fine point on it. His sweet, terrified little sister. The closer he came, the more he could see her body quiver with fear. It was a lovely sight. Since the darling girl was already rooted to the ground in fear, it would make the next step oh so easy. Having come to the edge of the water, Oxx planted his hind paws against the rocky bottom. The thick mist of the falls and the generally overcast day would obscure his form just enough beneath the splayed out skin to hide what he really was. Front paws cupped two more heavy rocks as Oxx's muscles bunched. The hollow-eyed face of her mother's skin would come barreling towards her as the giant beast rocketed from the water. In an instant, he was upon her, his gigantic frame easily knocking the girl onto her back. Oxx covered the flailing girl with his body, belly to belly, her limbs trapped against his white spattered chest. The beast caught his breath after having held it for so long. A wide, dark lipped maw parted, flashing his trademark grin with rows of serrated teeth on display. "What's this, little sister?" he purred sweetly as his neck curled so that he could look into her wide, blue and purple eyes. "Aren't you happy to see mommy again after all this time?" The behemoth gave a little wiggle and the dripping form of his mothers skin replied with a wobbling little dance as it sat lifeless atop his head and shoulders. "Why don't you give mommy a kiss?" Oxx leaned forward, bringing the dried and wrinkled face of their mother closer and closer to the girl's face. "Speech"

What appeared to be the misshapen form of her mother drew closer and closer, the skin floating on the surface of the water while empty, hollow eye sockets stared up at her. She felt like she couldn't breathe, as if her own fear had locked up her muscles to the extent that she couldn't even allow her ribs to expand to draw air into her lungs. Just as she managed to take one step back away from the edge of the river, finally breaking the frozen hold on her body, the gruesome pelt launched out of the water toward her, making her gasp and scream, her fur standing up on her back as she tried to turn and scramble away. A heavy weight slammed into her, revealing the massive man that was hiding beneath her mother's skin. Wide, terrified, mint and lavender eyes stared up at this monster, hitting her back with an "oof" as he knocked her to the ground and pinned her under him, her breathing turning into nothing more than panicked gasps as she tried to shrink away into the dirt.

She tried to fight, tried to flail and wiggle away, but he was too big and far stronger than she was and his whole body pressed down onto hers, sandwiching her between himself and the ground, making it impossible for her to move or scarcely even breathe. His first words made her heart stop, confusion pulling at her expression. Little sister? What did he mean by that? How could she be his little sister? She swallowed back the bile that threatened to creep up from her stomach as he commented on seeing "mommy" again, making the head of her mother's pelt resting on top of his dance and wiggle. Every inch of her skin felt like it was crawling with the horror and disgust that felt like it had her gripped around the throat, choking her and making her head spin. There was no way he could be her brother, not a chance. How could this... this demon be related to her?

She thought she might actually be sick as this brute mentioned giving her mother a kiss and leaned down till Resin's deformed and shriveled face was nearly touching hers. She finally found her voice as a sob left her, turning her head away and trying desperately to not let her mother's skin touch her. "Stop! P-Please stop! Get off of me!" she screamed between sobs that squeezed at her throat, the paws pressed to his chest scrambling and pushing against him again in a vain attempt to free herself. "Let me go!" she said, pushing and hitting his chest with each word for emphasis, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

Gwynevere | Eilwen

"Ehh, please stop..." the giant beast mocked the girl trapped beneath him. He then scoffed, his nose wrinkling as he did so. "She could have at least taught you not to be a coward." Oxx's paws gripped the crying girl's shoulders and he gave her a shake. "Don't you have any pride?" She was less enjoyable than he'd hoped. Yes, she cried. Yes she begged. He was used to that. It made her boring. The toothy, dead-eyed behemoth stared down upon the girl, his eyes lifeless and hard. "You aren't worth the Carpathius name. None of you are." Still squishing the girl beneath his bulk, Oxx began to regale the child with his upbringing. "You know, when I was a child we were always taught that if you were weak, you were prey." With one paw, he motioned to the dark furred girl. "That part was obviously true. I could make a meal of you right now and it would be the easiest thing." Lowering his face, Oxx snapped his jaws a fraction of an inch away from the tip of the crying wolf's nose. "A tasty little rabbit." "I didn't have the luxury of being a sheltered little veal." The kicking, thrashing and wiggling of the girl beneath him didn't seem to phase Oxx at all. She would only be let up when and if he decided to release her from his grasp. "Your darling mother sent my siblings and I to our deaths." Oxx flashed his trademark, wide grin. "But I was too good for death. I was worth something." His gaze rested on the girl's face. She was nothing. She was trash. She didn't even share his blood and yet she had been given his name. "The bitch must have been insane if she'd sully our family name with garbage like you and your brothers." Yes, he knew about them as well. The expression on the man's face changed from loathing to delight as a new thought entered his mind. "Tell me, girl. What did you and your brothers think when you found the skinned body of our darling mother laying in the mud?" He gave his head a little wiggle again, the skin atop his head shifting with the motion. "I just couldn't stand to be apart from my sweet mother any longer. Now we'll always be together." The rough pads of one paw moved to stroke the girl's cheek oh so gently. "Would you like to join her? I could have your pelt added to hers. Imagine how nice and warm I'd be in the winter with two of you to keep me company." Grin. Grin. Grin. "Speech"

Her breath caught in her chest as he shook her shoulders, staring up at him with wide, terrified eyes and breathing that came in short, panicked breaths. She wished that the blood rushing in her ears would block out what he was saying, but it didn't. She heard every word and they stuck into her mind. For the first time in her life she wished she knew how to fight even a little bit, but it wasn't so that she could get back at him for what he was saying or lash out because of what he was doing, she just wanted to get away from him. She wanted to get away from him and the shame and dread and fear he was feeding into her brain. She couldn't stop looking at her mother's deformed, lifeless head on top of his, the vision of it burning into her brain.

He laid across her more heavily, pressing the air from her lungs and making it even harder for her to breathe, her sobs falling silent as she couldn't draw a deep enough breath in to make much of a sound. His teeth snapping in front of her nose made her squeak and she turned her head away, finally squeezing her eyes closed and welcoming the darkness behind her eyelids as he told her about how she could be prey, how she would be like a tasty rabbit. Like sheltered veal. Soft and unthreatening and easily slain. Even the space behind her eyelids wasn't safe from him. She could still see her mother's skin moving around on top of his wicked, grinning face playing in the darkness, replaying like a sick, twisted movie.

She only looked back up at him when he mentioned how his mother - their mother - had sent him and his siblings to their deaths, but that he had survived. Immediately she silently denied the claim, renewing her kicking and flailing in ernest as she desperately tried to free herself even though it was in vein. There was no way her mother would have done something like that, not a chance! She thought about her mother bringing her a bundle of herbs, praising her for working so hard on her healing, how she had gotten all the pieces of her infirmary crafted, all she had done to promote what was so opposite from everything she had done. She clung to those memories like someone caught in a river of rapids, hanging on to a rock so that they wouldn't get swept away.

She didn't like him mentioning her brothers. How long had he been around? How long had he been watching them? Had one of her brothers encountered him? So many questions ran through her mind, but a deep, instinctual fear wondered if she'd ever get the chance to try and find out the answers. He asked what they thought when they found their mother's skinned body and she froze, her blood running cold as she stared up at him with the harsh realization. He had been in the castle grounds. She had seen her mother be buried. If he had her skin, then he obviously would have had to come to where she was buried to get it. She hadn't been back out to the grave since that day. Had anyone? It was in such a remote part of the grounds, tucked back among some trees... had anyone even noticed?

The feeling of his paw on her cheek made her skin crawl. The mental image of her mother's body skinned and left behind made her stomach churn and the short, shallow breaths she was forced to take because of his weight made her head spin, making her feel as if she couldn't breathe. Everything started to feel distant as he threatened to kill her, inviting her to join her mother's fate as a skin he could wear and keep him warm. The nausea crept up on her, her mind creating the most horrendous images of her mother's rotting body, of this horrible beast of a man pulling her skin free from her body like she was some sort of prized game, of what her face would look like without the skull to support it like her mother's was now atop his head. She turned her head to the side just as her stomach finally had enough and she threw up the contents of her stomach, struggling against him again as she tried to roll on to her side, hovering on the edge of passing out.

Gwynevere | Eilwen

"Such a delightful little worm," the monster purred as the girl squirmed beneath his bulk. He gave her a little squeeze and one paw rolled at the ankle so that he could gently stroke one obsidian ear. "So young and soft. The world hasn't dulled your coat yet." Oxx gave his skull a tilt, lips pursing as he gave a dramatic thinking face. "Maybe I really should skin you. Line my cape with your fur. Mother and daughter, back to back." As she continued to struggle weakly beneath him, Oxx buried his nose in the soft fur of the girl's throat. "Keeping big brother warm. That's what family is for, right?" The brute's tongue protruded and he licked along the girl's jaw, intentionally trying to be a total creep. Oxx was just about to make another snarky, clever comment, but the girl turned her head and vomited everywhere. In an instant, Oxx pushed off of the ground and backed away, a look of disgust on his face as though the girl was the monster instead. "Disgusting," he growled. "You almost got your nasty puke all over our sweet mother. And here I thought you loved her." A little snicker snort left the man as he stared down at the trembling, heaving wolf. Yet another grin pulled across Oxx's face as an idea went off like a firework in his mind. Moving forward, Oxx grabbed the girl's hind leg between his jaws, not caring if his sharp teeth cut into her. With all of his might, the brute flexes the muscles in his neck and rolled his weight from one paw to the other, slinging the girl through the air and into the very same water that he'd been hiding in not so long ago. Once his mouth was free of her leg, Oxx strode to the side and chuckled, looking down into the water. "Don't drown now. Think of all the fun we can have the next time that we meet." Oxx's shoulders gave a little wiggle as his grin widened. "I'll be seeing you, little sister. When you least expect it, I'll be there." With a huffing laugh, the speckled beast turned and strode merrily on his way, the dried skin of their mother bobbing with each jaunty step. "Speech"