**Thread is using liquid time to take place before the brothers meet Avacyn**



When Chade brought back a huge, fat rabbit for the brothers to share, Ricin had greedily devoured his share. With the rabbit sating his hungry and giving him more energy than he has felt in a long time, Ricin had felt the need to explore. With sweet words and more than a little coaxing, Ricin convinces to brother to take a detour and go explore a strange mountain that Ricin had seen. Paws happily prance along as Ricin leads them toward the dark and ominous mountain face. Nothing seems to be able to dampen his happy mood. Even the unnatural twilight that seems to have replaced the daylight does nothing to deter him from his objective.

As the mountain’s shadow seems to beckon them onward, Ricin spies the strange cave opening he had spotted earlier. Pointing to the foreboding entrance, Ricin exclaims, “There it is Ny! We are almost there!” Excitement causes his paws to gather speed until the large archway looms in front of the pair. Stopping to inspect the unnatural rock formation, Ricin says, “Why don’t you set up the alarm Ny while I take a closer look at these stones?” Without waiting for a response, Ricin steps closer to the archway, inspecting the stonework and how it appears to have been carved out of the mountain itself.

Ivy grows around the entrance, climbing the arch and snaking into cracks in the stones. The grass that covers the land seems to stop a few feet short of the entrance and turn into dirt. Pebbles and small rocks litter the dirt pathway into the dark cave and there seems to be no plant life beyond where the grass stops. It seems like there is an a barrier between living and dead. Curious, the lighter brother moves closer to the opening and is struck with a strong musty odor that contains traces of death and decay. Thrill zips along Ricin’s spine as he practically shouts to Chade, “I smell dead stuff!” Delight clearly visible, Ricin darts into the dark, scary cave without a second thought.


"Speech"

His stomach not growling so much was wonderful but Ricin being eager to explore was a bit of a surprise.  Chade was wary of having fun even as much as another part of him wanted to remember he was a pup and play.  When he thought of playing he thought of their sisters floating under the ice because they had played.  Though maybe it was just a sign of how much Ricin trusted Chade?  Maybe Chade needed to learn to lighten up?  They were getting stronger after all!  At least they were growing but the strength was limited with how much they were able to eat.  They were wiser.

Everything in Chade this was dumb but still, he went along with Ricin and even managed to smile a bit.  Well, he smiled until they got to the cave entrance.  The last time they went into a cave they had found food but they had also found a fox.  Could he take on a fox now?  Maybe?  If Ricin distracted it Chade thought he might be ok.  They were growing and it was clear they would be a solid height.  They both had thicker fur around the neck and it come up to spike upon the forehead.

Ricin raced into the cave before Chade could voice his warning and let out a deep sigh.  He wanted to charge in after him but setting up an alarm was important also.  Looking around he found some trees and went to go grab two good size branches in his mouth that held a bunch of dead leaves on them and carried them back to the entrance.  Twigs and leaves were yanked off and dropped on the ground one after another.  Ears flattened at two spots where crystals had sprouted out.  With time his warning alarm had improved.  He took time to make a wider patch of leaves and twigs then kick some dirt over enough of it.  Still, he was worried about Ricin and was impatient to get in there.

Then his brother called out excitedly about dead stuff.  Fear gripped Chade’s heart at his brother being alone around ‘dead stuff’.  The clear question was what killed anything that died in there?  Possibly predators bigger than they were, possibly the terrain or the food or whatever else they hadn’t learned of yet.  Dropping the stick he’d been prying leaves from he ran in after his brother.

Decay certainly could be smelled in here.  Chade stalked along in a partial crouch ears flat and glaring for any hidden predator.  The scent of decay, fungi and a few scents he didn’t recognize could possibly help hide the scent of hidden dangers.  He caught up to Ricin, looking at him curiously.  “This is dangerous you know.” Another scent hit his nose a moment later, a slow sigh let out as he admitted, “I smell food, at least I think I do.”  

“Ry,” the boy spoke softly, “have you considered how the dead died?”  Was his brother over imagining how good of a fighter Chade was?  Chade was weighing the potential of another meal and Ricin’s curiosity against leaving to someplace maybe safer.  Not that things were overly safe outside and the fireflies seemed a bit smaller in number here.  The crystals were still present, somehow event growing on these funny stones.  He hadn’t tried hunting food in a place like this before and Chade couldn’t decide if it would be easier hunting in here than it was around trees or open grass.  He glanced to Ricin seeing if his brother was too excited to worry or even if he thought about it if Ry’s need to explore or check out the food was stronger than the urge to go.  Ricin seemed so happy and then Chade shook his head, “Nevermind, let's be careful but let's have some fun too.”  A small smile given to his brother.  They needed to find some enjoyment in life, right? Chade could be careful for both of them.

"Speech"

Ricin knows he should be more cautious, that danger lurks around very corner but something keeps pulling toward the cave. Chade tries to be the voice of reason, to remind his lighter brother of those dangers but Ricin brushes his brother off. There is something calling to him; a need deep, in his soul, that he can hardly fathom. It pulls Ricin into the cave and has him throwing caution to the wind. Maybe it is the crystals that are doing to him. They glow and pulse their dim light, throwing strange shadows to dance in the cave.

His brother’s words barely register as Ricin moves further into the cave, following the gently sloping floor down. Giving Chade a warm smile, Ricin says, “I will be careful Ny. Promise.” Even as they move deeper in the cave.The further he walks the greater the feeling being buried increases. Stopping to cast a look back toward the entrance of the cave, Ricin sees the dim moonlight illuminating the dark archway. Something rises inside him, a feeling unlike any before. He knows fear and despair, sorrow and helplessness. Yet this… the young pup cannot put a word to the pensive sadness that swells while he looks back up at the moonlight.

Shaking his head to clear the heavy emotion, Ricin looks back into the cave and continues on. When the floor finally flattens and opens into a wide space, Ricin moves toward the right wall to put it behind his back. Gazing around the room, he sees more glowing crystals and mushrooms. There are hardly any fireflies down here and Ricin is glad for that one small miracle. The stone walls and floor are smooth and cool to the touch. Being underground acts as an insulation against the harsh sun.

Sadness fills Ricin as he thinks of the last time he saw a normal day. When had he last seen the sun stay above the horizon for more than a few hours? The sound of pebbles clattering towards the back of the room catches Ricin’s ears and he looks to Chade, asking with a soft voice, “Will you check the back? I will go made sure there is nothing over here.” Pointing a paw to the left side of the room where there are multiple raised stone platforms. With a dip of his head, Ricin moves stealthy toward the mentioned area.

The first thing he notices is a skeleton. The bones have crystals protruding from them and the skull is heavily crystalized. It takes a moment to realize it once a deer. Eyes continue to search, spying more mushrooms and crystals growing up the sides of the stone platforms. There are three raised structures, longer than they are wider. The uniform height, length, and width are puzzling but the most confusing thing are the polished wooden boxes laid carefully on top of each one. Circling each platform, Ricin sees more animal bones growing mushrooms and crystals.

A tiger’s skull seems to be calling to him as it lays against a dark wall. The dead jaw is unhinged and jutting at an odd angle. The teeth are crystals and mushrooms are growing in the eye sockets. Stalking closer to the skeleton, Ricin observes the strange thing with curious eyes. Ricin’s gaze lifts toward the wall as some dirt falls on his head. A fat rat is shifting around on a ledge, knocking dirt every which way. Just as opens his mouth to call for Chade, Ricin freezes. His mind catches up to him as realization dawns as to what is laying on those shelves. Bones. Hundreds and hundreds of bones are packed tightly on each shelf that has been dug into the wall.

Slowly, he backs up to count the number of ledges the wall has. Stomach drops as Ricin sees three heavily packed shelves take up the entire wall.


"Speech"

Chade’s finds his mind fighting between a pup’s curiosity and a wiser sense of caution about the whole thing.  Admittedly the place was nothing like he’d seen before and was worthy of being explored with wild abandon.  The problem being naivete had already been stolen from him and any number of unknown threats could be down here  So the spark of joy and the spark of wariness seemed to flash on and off like the fireflies above.  The boy watched his step and stayed behind Ricin.  Both for the safety of going unnoticed and focusing on everything around them he remained silent.  The place was confusing both in not appearing like a normal cave and the strange way it seemed to be set up.

Chade’s head jerked when he heard the pebble and even as Ricin asked him to check the back his foolish brother was already heading off.  Admittedly Ricin wasn’t foolish but just reckless at the moment or maybe just less fearful than Chade was?  He watched Ricin go with half a mind to run after him.  His brother could get hurt while alone down here, no, he could die down here.  Gritting his teeth he turned away from Ricin and towards the back.  It was the direction he had scented the food anyway.

What Chade found was a thing he had never before seen nor that he knew how to handle.  The prey animal had horns that made swirly patterns on either side of its head.  A mushroom sprouted from one eye, another on a tear in its neck and a smaller long one was poking out of its ear.  The goat’s head was down low clearly unhappy with its predicament.  It was larger than Chade was used to hunting and beefier but it was also sick and apparently injured.  The mushrooms scared Chade still but there were no longer any good options in life.  There had been no good options from the day dad died and mom got rid of them.  Even as he stepped closer to the goat it faced him and lowered its horns, swinging them about to show off to the pup who would dare to challenge him.

"Speech"

Ricin’s natural curiosity has led the lighter pup to go explore while trusting that his brother will take care of whatever danger is in the back. Maybe he is being reckless but he feels the need to clear the room of other dangers besides predators. So far, the brothers have been lucky enough not to find traps, however, being a pessimist at heart, Ricin does not expect their luck to hold out much longer. So, he has taken it upon himself to clear every seemingly safe room. Does he know what he is looking for? No but Ricin is pretty sure he will know a trap when he sees one. Well… he hopes he will.

Eyes continue to survey the wall of bones as Ricin starts to walk alongside it, moving away from the back of the room where Chade is and back towards the entrance. How many bones are on these shelves? Are they all from the same type of creature? Questions cloud his mind as Ricin walks. Most of the skulls look similar in size and shape, however Ricin cannot place what kind of animal would have that skull. As he walks and inspects, he finds parts of fractured skulls and tries to piece them together in his mind. The forehead is raised and flatter than a wolf’s. It’s snout isn’t elongated like his own and the teeth appear to be deer like.

There are a few sharp teeth in among the flat ones, letting the lighter brother know they were omnivorous creatures. Mushrooms and crystals litter the bones, poking up in odd places and further obscuring key bone features. Paws weave their way around broken pieces of wood, scattered animal and unknown creature bones, chipped stones, and skittering rats. Ricin picks up the sound of dripping water but does not see the source. Nose tests the air and catches too many scents to identify. Luckily, none of them jump out in his memory as dangerous, so Ricin allows himself to relax slightly. Eyes resume their trace along the length of the wall as he walks beside it.

As Ricin tries to study the skeletons further, his right front paw lands in a slight dip of the floor, pulling the lighter-hued boy’s attention downward. The ground appears to slop downward, toward the corner of the room. Looking back toward the area where Chade is, Ricon ponders if he should continue to investigate or alert Chade to this strange new development. When there is a loud clattering noise from behind him, Ricin starts to turn to go help his brother. Suddenly, Ricin feels a cold breath against his neck and it freezes the boy in his tracks. A soft howling reaches his ears and Ricin quickly snaps back toward the corner, ready to attack.

Gaze flicks over every inch of the intersecting walls, trying to find the source of the noise and breath. Cautiously, Ricin moves forward, straining his ears to try and hear the low howl again. As he nears the entrance area where they had first laid paws in the tomb and feels a gust wind travel down the tunnel from the world above. As the cool air rustles his fur, the strange sound is once again heard. Ricin is able to pinpoint the source this time as his eyes find two dark cavities that have been carved into the rock walls on either side of the entrance slope. Rolling his eyes, once more cursing his lack of peripheral vision, Ricin goes to the tunnel opening nearest to him.

Casting a quick glance back toward where Chade is, Ricin quickly moves forward to stick his head into the corridor. The ground slopes gently downward, as the tunnel descends deeper underground. As the passageway falls away into the earth, Ricin sees several openings along both walls. Moving back into the main room, Ricin swiftly moves toward the other wall to confirm his suspicions. Both passageways delve deeper into the earth, hiding more caverns and rooms along the way. The tunnels had both curved off out of his field of vision but not before causing Ricin to suspect there is a great labyrinth of rooms and hidden corridors under his paws.

Happily moving back into the main room, Ricin hears more clattering coming from the back of the room and the lighter hued boy moves to assist his brother. Once they kill this animal and fill their bellies, Ricin will try to convince Chade to go with him and explore the depths below them.

"Speech"

Chade pondered the scenario before him, glancing back in the direction where Ricin was and speculating on the risks the both of them were taking.  After surviving a month the two had quit being quite as scared every day but how reckless did they dare get?  He considered going back to check on Ricin but he also considered the great meal standing before him.

“Fine,” the boy whispered to himself, as he tried to circle around and slowly close in to see how close the sick prey would let him get.  Feeling helpless could weigh you down as much as any disease which led to the question of how much hope did this creature have left in it.  He watched it track him with its eyes even as he let a low rumble fill his throat.

It wasn’t going to look away and Chade lunged forward to try and attack the front leg but not surprisingly the goat jogged away and as he did so kicking up with his back legs either as a threat or actually hoping to hit the blue boy.  Chade followed gamely after and kept slightly to one side to avoid the kicks.  This wasn’t some open field for the creature to escape but a closed-in area.  Chade came up with the plan to just keep it running in here until it tired out.  He’d avoid any of its attacks and see how long it could go.  He was guessing it wouldn’t take long and then it would be easier to fight!

It would be a long game and that was fine.  Ricin could either join him when he was done adventuring or sit back and watch.  This felt safer than a direct fight.  Was this what wolves often did to hunt or would this be his own special technique?  This was assuming of course his plan worked.  The goat would have to die in this hunt though as it would take up a lot of energy and Chade would need the food to keep up his strength.  This wasn’t fun, this was survival.

"Speech"

Ricin’s ears pick up the sound of hooves on the stone floor and he adjusts his course to intercept the creature and his brother. When the horned, sick animal comes into view, Ricin feels his pace falter as his mind thinks back to the sick fox and the cave. He only allows himself a second to dwell before reminding himself that all the animals they have encountered since seem to be afflicted with the disease. The choices come down to, do the brothers want to eat or worry about catching some unknow illness.

Huffing a sigh of determination, Ricin increases his stride, matching speed with Chade. Angling his body so that he can lope along slightly behind his darker brother. As he moves, the lighter colored boy creates a rumble deep in his chest. Pulling and lengthening the sound until it erupts from as rambling growl. Ricin watches the ram’s reaction as it tosses its head to the side, eyes rolling wildly as the mushrooms that grow from them seem to obscure its vision. For a moment it hesitates, slowing as it tries to think of its next move.

Lunging to the back leg opposite of Chade, Ricin makes sure to get close but not make contact, snapping his teeth menacingly and growling in mock frustration. He is unprepared for the ram’s response and has to throw his body sideways and down to the ground to avoid the two sharp hooves that try to smash his skull in. Laying on his side, slightly dazed, Ricin watches the creature buck and writhe in pain. Scramble back to his paws, Ricin rushes in to help his brother should Chade need him.

"Speech"

Chade notices Ricin joining in the chase but gives no more than a tight smile to let his brother realize Chade is aware of his presence. The dark blue pup’s eyes are kept on the ram, at first he had focused more generically on the whole animal, then in fear of being kicked focused on the legs but now he was watching for telling details. He tracked the legs, noticed when the animal’s eyes glanced back to him, listened to the harsh breath that suggested the goat was struggling.

Chade wondered if the mushrooms were doing more damage than he even saw from the outside. Hopefully, none of the sickness spread to Ricin or him. The roam wheezed, head lowering, mouth open as it tried to get more air. Chade imagined in a way they were lucky with the sickness infecting so many. So long as he and Ricin didn’t catch it they were having an easier time with getting food than would normally be the case.

As the animal slowed for another horse cough Chade came up to one side, biting at the leg and gripping on. The ram cow-hopped and Chade lost his grip, tumbling a short distance. Now the ram was facing them both, sweeping its horns threateningly. Was this to be a hunt or a fight? Apparently, the ram had come to the realization it wouldn’t be able to escape. Chade realized holding on had been a bad idea.

Chade attempted to walk around and noticed how the ram tried to keep itself facing Chade with its rump behind. Chade let out a huff of frustration as he didn’t particularly want to attack the face with those horns. It was also creepy to look at the mushrooms growing out of his face. Hm, could it see well on the side of its head where the eye was growing a mushroom?

Chade ran in and spun to the side of its head with the mushroom, biting for the front leg even as it swung its head around to slam its horns into Chade. The blue boy was knocked off his feet but again managed to avoid real injury. He was fighting a desperate ram with limited strength and on his last legs so there was only so much it could do.

Chade lacked the bulk and jaw strength of an adult so it wasn’t fast but he bit at a leg, ran off then came back in, and with each attempt, he got better at scoring a bite while still getting out of the way fast enough. The ram was suffering a slow death as used for training a pup how to hunt more efficiently. A point came where the ram fell to its knees.

“C’mon Ricin!” Chade hollered as he went for the neck. The ram’s head sank down as it gave up fighting other than a bit of head rocking. They had won a very good meal, assuming the sickness it carried didn’t pass on to them.

"Speech"

As Chade gives chase to the horned creature, Ricin lopes slowly along. He allows Chade to lead him around, reading his brother’s cues and lunging in when needed. The opportunity for a good meal outweighs the risk of being struck by its horns… at least it does in Ricin’s mind. Saliva is already pooling in the lighter pup’s mouth as Chade gets struck by the creature’s horns. Quickly, he moves to protect his brother, placing his body between the ram and Chade. Lips curl back as the lighter pup snarls aggressively at the beast while Chade gathers his paws under him.

The chase continues on as Chade and Ricin score bites here and there. The ram eventually slows and Ricin feels his own strength waning. Panting heavily, he starts lagging further and further behind Chade. When the ram falls to its knees and Chade yells for him, Ricin puts on one last burst of speed to reach the downed creature. Crimson eyes find Chade latched onto the thing’s neck and the life slowly draining from the creature.

Rushing toward the pair, Ricin dashes in and latches his jaws under the ram’s chin. With a firm hold, the lighter-hued pup twists his head and pulls, ripping out vital organs from its neck. The hunt ends and Ricin hungrily swallows the flesh that is in has mouth. Tongue darts out to clean some of the warm blood that coats his lips as he looks to Chade with a huge smile. Ricin congratulates his brother, “Good job Ny! This will fill our bellies for a while!” Stomach rumbles at the taste of a meal and Ricin moves around the ram to start the brothers well-deserved feast.


"Speech"