He was learning firsthand what flying was like, but not the way he expected to. And the experience was terrifying... Gavroche was used to everything being bigger than he was, not as tiny as he felt! The world below was so small, so far away, and it made his head spin as the flapping of wing beats were heard right above his head. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, uncertainty at the fate that was to befall him as the hawk carried him back to its nest. He didn’t struggle - struggling now would cause him to fall. He wasn’t sure he trusted his own wings to catch him on his way back to the ground. He hadn’t learned to fly like this hawk had! And hitting the ground from too high up hurt lots! If he fell from this high up it was going to REALLY hurt! The calico-marked boy was helpless, carried along by the bird of prey that had taken him from his packlands away from his home, from his family. He had no idea how he was going to find his way back… his mama was going to be so worried! And Ink would be so mad… but it wasn’t his fault! The bird grabbed him and he didn’t want to go! He whined as squeezed her bright green eyes closed. Yet, even as uncertain as Gavroche was, he did not realize just how much danger he was in. The weight of the situation was lost on the innocent boy.  Death was a foreign thing; he only knew of boo boos and simple ouchies. The hawk would start to descend and Gavroche let his eyes slip open. He could see trees, and a flicker of hope bloomed in his chest. They were getting closer to the ground! If he just let the bird set him down then he could get away! He remained still for now, letting the hawk land. But the moment it set him down in the nest and tried to pin him the boy would react. Growling and barking the calico pup started to thrash, disrupting the hold of the hawk. It stumbled as Gavroche beat at it with his wings, using the appendages as another limb to flail. It took a second of the hawk losing its grip and Gav was free! Free, but not safe! He felt a beak dig into his hip as he scrambled away and yelped. He hadn’t exactly had far to get away either, and the next thing he knew the ground and the tree limbs were suddenly getting closer much faster! Gavroche screamed, again flailing his limbs as he tried to catch something, anything, on his way down. He would get caught briefly in branches and leaves, enough to slow his descent as he got numerous scratches and bruises on the way to the earth. From its nest the hawk cried in displeasure about its lost meal. The fall in total took less than a minute, but it felt like an eternity to the terrified child as he screamed the whole way down. Then, there was the ground. He landed on it in an unceremonious heap, tears stinging his eyes as he hit it hard. It was nothing short of a miracle he hadn’t broken anything during the ordeal, but he was hurting, scared, and had no idea what way to get home! The boy sat up, but he wasn’t rushing to get fully to his feet. His green eyes scanned the unfamiliar forest, the fog swirling around making it impossible to tell what way led where. Gavroche lowered his ears. He was too far from Ethne for his family or his parent’s family to find him… whimpers began to leave his lips as he crawled towards the roots of a tree. He didn’t want to get grabbed and brought farther away! “Now what do I do…?” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he lowered down next to one of the roots. “...Mamaaaaa!” Despite not being close enough to hear the boy could not help but wail for his mother. “Mama help!” He continued to cry loudly, wings pressing against his body as sobs shook his tiny frame. "Speech" 'Thought.'

This was her kind of place. The misty forest was beautiful, ethereal, dangerous. Dusk, being Dusk... she loved it. Her dark form and long smokey tail melded with her surroundings, eating up her form until she became one with the woods. The girl wondered if her parents would let her move here when she was older. She really, really liked it.

With Whisper attached firmly to her tail, Dusk felt no fear. Any creature that came upon her would taste the burning lash of the cat-o-nine's that were just another extension of her body. With as much practice as she'd been doing, Dusk had been surprised to realize that she had more and more control over her tail. It almost felt like a fifth limb. None of her other family could do such a thing and it made the girl feel quite special.

As Dusk moved through the forest, taking this path and that, she heard crashing from up above. All senses were on alert and the obsidian girl squared her body, ready to fight. It didn't seem as though fighting was necessary, however. With a thump, a small, winged body landed right before her. Russet, cream, black and brown... feathers? Was it a bird? An owl maybe? When the wings moved though, the girl's fire opal eyes blinked as they looked upon a tiny wolf pup. A wolf with wings.

Cries of pain and panic left the pup and, Dusk being Dusk, wasted no time in moving forward to scoop the little multi-colored puffball against her chest. "Shh, shh... it's okay. You're safe with me." She attempted to calm the boy before looking up through the misty trees. She could just barely make out a nest and a screaming raptor. It had almost begun to work its way down as though to fetch the boy, but seeing the larger wolf, it decided that it wasn't worth it.

"What's your name? I'm Dusk." She raised one dark paw to wipe the tears away from his face. "Where did you come from?" She had to know how to get him home. If he had a home. If not... maybe her parents would let her keep him.

"Dusk Carpathius"

Gavroche hated this place. He was alone and that mean bird hurt him! He didn't know how to get home and he was afraid if he moved from where he was he'd become its target again. Tears rolled down his face as he tried to open his eyes to find a dark, blurry paw coming for him. He tensed at first, but once scooped close he realized he was with a wolf. He was safe. Gav sniffed, resting his head against the young woman without hesitation. She seemed nice, gentle… she wiped away his tears and spoke, introducing herself as Dusk. "I'm Gavroche." He sniffles again but manages a little smile.

"My family lives in the caves behind the big water. It's loud when we go in… and mama says we can't play in it cause the water could swallow us up." He looks around, blinking at the fog. His smile wavers before he looks up at Dusk. "The bird carried me really far, Dusk. I don't know how to get back. Mama is gonna be upset… she doesn't know I slipped out of the den…" He lowered his gaze, feeling guilty. "I just wanted to try and find her some flowers. She uses them for medicine, and she's been taking a lot of them to someone... I want to help her make them better." A small confession. He had gotten distracted too but that was his original intention. Gav knew he was breaking the rules, but he had only wanted to help.

He brought his nose closer to Dusk, sniffing with the hopes he might recognize the scent of his home on her. From what he could get… no. But she smelled of other wolves. "Does your family live here?"

Dusk listened to the boy speak and blinked. Caves behind big water... How old was this kid? He seemed very, very young in both stature and mannerisms. How was she supposed to take care of a baby? Big loud water, she assumed meant a waterfall. But which waterfall? The world was full of them!

The winged pup confessed that he'd escaped the den to help his mom and was worried about getting in trouble. Oh, Dusk knew all about trouble. The dark girl grinned. "I get in trouble all the time, Gavroche. You just have to say you're sorry and your mom will forgive you. Especially since you were trying to help her." She apologized to her parents all the time. Dusk's second middle name was Trouble.

A sniff was given and Dusk blinked her fire opal eyes. Gavroche asked about her family and Dusk nodded. "Yep. My parents are the alphas of The Hallows. Have you ever seen a castle?" With a pull of her shoulder, Dusk indicated that the boy should follow her. She'd take him back home and ask her parents what to do with him. Again... she thought that she might ask to keep him.

"Dusk Carpathius"

Though he was worried, the dark girl above him grinned and helped dismiss that worry. Gavroche listened with wonder, his green eyes shining as she said she got in trouble all the time. But her mama didn’t get mad and would still forgive her? He had been trying to help so his mama would have to forgive him too! Gav smiled at that. He was glad that his mama wouldn’t need to be mad at him. He hated the idea of anyone being upset, especially because of something that he did. “Thankie Dusk! I’ll tell mama I’m really, really sorry and she won’t be mad anymore!” He believed her words as they were and without hesitation the tiny boy bounced to catch up to her. She said her parents were the alphas of The Hallows… information and words that were unfamiliar. Gavroche frowned as she also asked if he’d ever seen a castle. “Nuh uh… I don’t know what a castle is. Or what an alpha is…” Ranks hadn’t been explained to him yet. As young as he was, the boy had been sheltered from any information thus far outside play, love, and the warning of the falls. He was pure and innocent. He furrowed his brow in thought and then an idea hit him. When someone did something nice, you thanked them right? “Dusk wait!” He broke into a run so that he was able to get ahead of the girl. Then he moved his maw to his right wing and plucked one of the red brown feathers there before setting it on the ground before her. “Thankie for helping me!” A wide grin appeared on his face. For the moment his bumps and bruises were forgotten, all in favor of giving his new friend a gift in gratitude for what she had done for him. His tail wagged back and forth and he piped up again. “Do you like it?” "Speech," 'Thought.'

The girl laughed, shaking her head. Boy, he really was a baby if he didn't know what a castle or an alpha was. "I'll show you what a castle is. Prepare to be amazed!" She was taking him home with her. It wouldn't have been right to leave one so young out in the wilds on his own, now would it? "And an alpha is the wolf or wolves who lead the pack. My dad leads The Hallows, so he's the alpha." She hoped he'd understand. If not, she'd try to explain it in another way.

As they walked, the boy suddenly called out, halting Dusk in her steps. She looked down at him as he plucked a russet colored feather from one wing and handed it to her in a show of thanks. A frown pulled at the girl's maw for a moment before she took the feather and tucked it behind one lynx-tipped ear. "Thank you, Gav. I'll treasure it forever." And she would. "Maybe you can help me turn it into a necklace when we get to the castle." With that, she leaned down, scooped the tiny wolf onto her back, and began a gentle lope back in the direction of The Hallows.


"Dusk Carpathius"