He was finally returning from the mainland. The prize in his jaws was still something he was questioning. He didn't know what had come over him at that moment, but the damage was done, and irreparable. He made the swim to the closest island instead of using the raft that had been built for them. He wanted the sea to wash off the blood. The stench of terror. The feeling he had during the moment he did it, but he couldn't quite name what it had been. Pleasure, perhaps? He had disassociated while it was happening to some degree. He was aware of what was going on. What he was doing. But at the same time, he felt like the situation was out of his control from the moment it all began. Now he held the tail of a stranger. A child that had been doing what kids do, and paid a heavy price. Stepping onto the sand, he shook the water off his coat and slowly began his walk toward his den. "Speak"

Rivin had been trying to rest, to keep calm, to make sure she didn’t worry Calico any more than she already had. Their talk weighed on her. As the cold weather came, she had salvaged what she could from her garden before deciding to focus on time away from the main group. She hadn’t blacked out since that fateful day. Maybe she just needed to keep calm. She still wanted to talk to her father, and to Diablo. It felt like she was growing further apart from her family and she hated it. But approaching Diablo was proving difficult. Mainly because she hadn’t been able to find him.

…but it seemed luck would change that day. As she padded across the island, trying to clear her head of the noise that plagued it, she saw him. She’d approach, soon arching a brow when she saw what was in his mouth. It appeared to be a tail. The tail of a child. Was it a wolf? Or some other unfortunate creature her brother had happened upon? It wasn’t like she was a stranger to the concept of violence. He was making for his den if his path was any suggestion, but Rivin chose to join him.

“Hey Diablo. Who pissed you off?” She motioned with her muzzle toward the tail. There was no judgment in her voice, but there was curiosity. “It’s kind of pretty for a trophy.”

"Speech," 'Thought.'

His path was wide open. He could've made a break for his den and hidden the evidence if he wanted to, but he didn't. He felt almost...numb. His mind suddenly reeling from what he'd done. But the moment he heard Rivin's familiar voice, all those thoughts dropped away as if they were sucked in by a black hole. His head snapped up and his gaze locked on her, and he briefly glanced at his trophy before looking at her again. He considered lying, but then again, why should he? He didn't really feel a need to lie to Rivin. "Some kid thought it was funny to fuck around and find out." He shrugged, "So she found out." He put the tail down on the ground, played with it a little as he picked it up and bounced it in his paw. "I gotta admit she was a pretty little thing, but she was annoying as fuck. She wanted to play, so I obliged." He said matter of factly, a grin spreading on dark lips. "Speak"

Maybe if she had seen the girl, and the terror she felt when she realized her mistake she would have told her brother he was in the wrong. But… “Guess adults really don’t give a fuck what trouble their kids get into anymore.” Bitterness, the resentment of her own upbringing cast upon a stranger. Rivin saw her brother grin, and she frowned. A stirring of pity for the kid. Part of her didn’t care that her brother had maimed a kid. She realized that, and it made her question herself. The type of adult she was becoming. He didn’t seem to have remorse. Was that their normality? Maiming kids. Hurting others.

Rivin let her gaze flick out toward the water. They sure as hell wasn’t perfect… none of her family was. They were flawed, and their morals were… something. She was trying her best to figure out what was right and wrong… but she felt like she was always second guessing that. Would she have been that quick to blame the adults had one of the Raider’s pups gotten maimed? …was she a hypocrite? Maybe. Maybe she only cared about those she was aligned with. But… she should prioritize them. They were her family. The ones who would give a shit if something happened to her. So yeah, if some fucked with her brother, well, she should have backed off. Diablo wasn’t snap reactive. He would have given her a chance. A chance to leave him be. When she didn’t? Well…

“Someone’s going to be pissed when they find out where you are.” Her words were matter-of-a-fact. Most wolves had someone who cared about them. And when loved ones got hurt, there would be retaliation. Rivin sat in the sand and looked back at him. “Gil might kick you out if he finds out… even turn you over to them.” Rivin’s ears slipped back. “...but…” The loyalty for her family burned within her. There was a shine in her emerald eyes.

“I’ll stand with you.” Rivin gave a small chuckle. “So you better keep that trophy of yours safe and not let someone take it from you. Maybe you can start a collection.” A morbid thought. She grinned. “A bunch of tails as a pillow. Would probably be soft as hell.”

"Speech," 'Thought.'

"Clearly not. They shoulda raised her to have better manners, or y'know...to not fuck around with strangers who don't wanna be fucked with." Not that their father was a prime example of a good parent or that Diablo knew anything about how to raise kids, right? Honestly, he couldn't really say that he cared one way or the other. Their mom had abandoned them, and their father wasn't exactly world's best dad, either. Diablo felt indifferent to it, and even his relationship with his siblings was something he was still figuring out. “Someone’s going to be pissed when they find out where you are.” He scoffed, shrugged, and sat. "Eh, if she even remembers me. Like I said, she fucked around and found out. I warned her, she didn't wanna listen. So I taught her a lesson. Actions have consequences...something her parents clearly didn't teach her. And now, her tail is mine." He grinned again as he picked it up and dangled it, "It's a pretty little tail..." Too bad she hadn't been full grown. Oh well. He set it back down and looked at Rivin when she mentioned Gil, his eyes narrowing as his mohawk bristled. "D'you think so? I probably shouldn't tell him then...you think he'd care?" Honestly, he didn't know Gil well enough to know if he'd give a shit about what he did or not. But it wasn't exactly something he was going to keep secret, either. If he was asked, sure, he'd tell them his version of the story. If he wasn't asked, then they didn't need to know, duh! "I don't even know who them would be. Besides, dad would probably have my back anyway...maybe..." He wasn't too sure, honestly. Sometimes he felt like his dad had it out for him (of course because he didn't take accountability for his own actions and words). "I plan on hanging it up smack dab on the best spot in my room! Maybe if I get enough of 'em, I can make a necklace or something...have a nice little trophy collection of tails," He mused. But the fact that Rivin said she'd stand by him, well...he wasn't sure what to think. Would he be willing to throw her in the line of fire to avoid his own consequences? He wasn't sure. "Thanks, appreciate it. I suppose I gotta do the same for you, huh?" Eh, small price, he supposed. "Speech"

Diablo’s words had Rivin wondering about the girl, and just what exactly he had done. There had been a struggle for sure, and her tail belonged to him now, but for her to not remember him and what he had done. Hmm… she decided not to dwell on it. “He might. If the kid did remember you and told her pack it’d pissed a lot of wolves off, probably bring trouble to the Raider’s instead of us bringing it to them. And that might piss him off, yeah. He’s got kids of his own and if they got hurt because of something you did?” She painted the picture for him, a word of caution to watch out for. The she-wolf shook her head. “Better just to avoid bringing it up to be honest.” Unless someone found out some other way.

Still… the idea of a tail necklace was pretty damn cool. “You could. Wolves take trophies all the time, so why not?” At his thanks, and comment, Rivin grinned. “I’d hope so. We don’t have much in the world, Diablo, might as well stick together when shit hits the fan.” Her expression shifted to a frown. “I’d like to think that dad would stick with us, but I’m not so sure. If it went against the Raider’s, given how he’s pretty close with Gil we might be shit out of luck.” Rivin shrugged. “We’ll just do the best we can… and stir up a little fun while we’re at it.” If nothing else they were good at that!

"Speech," 'Thought.'

She explained to him about Gil's maybe caring about what he did. It was true the guy had his own kids, but Diablo shrugged it off. "Eh, Raiders are tough, I'm sure they can handle themselves. They seem to get into all sorts of shit on their own, anyway. If they wanna meddle in my business, that's their fault, not mine." He stated matter of fact. Not that he'd admit to any of this being his fault, of course. No, he'd deny it till the end of time. Or at least, like he said before, explain his version of what happened. She came around, bothered him after he told her to fuck off, and she didn't. So he did what anyone annoyed by another would do, and...took her tail. Sounded logical and sane to him. But he understood when she said he oughta keep it to himself and so he motioned with his paw-hands my lips are sealed. His expression turned to one of thought and concern as she went on...particularly about the part about their dad. Was his dad really that much more loyal to them and not his own kin? His loyalties seemed...questionable sometimes. He had heard mentions of older siblings, but hadn't met any of them...why did their dad never speak about them? Why was he always hard on him, and not so much his siblings? Why did he care so much about trying to find their bitch of a mother and the kid she took? All questions he felt he'd never get an answer for..."Yeah...I don't know...he's hard to figure out sometimes...I swear he's always upset with me about something. You really think he'd favor Gil over us? Or...at least over me?" He struggled with the idea, but part of him certainly felt like his dad would throw him under the bus sometimes... "Speech"