It was his second day of freedom, and Citadel had no intention of spending it cooped up in their birth den. He rose early, and trotted out the door and down the incline towards the Col. It was a clear day, with sunrise just starting to warm the grass beneath his paws.

Where to start? He looked left and right, trying to make up his mind when clumsy paws sounded behind him. He turned, and found the bear trotting towards him. The creature had been there as long as he could remember. From the day they'd been born. He had a habit of following the litter around. He'd wound up by Citadel more often than not. Oh well. He ignored the bear and turned left, deeper into the col


"Citadel Fatalis"

a coughing fit had woken her that morning, and Jamie hasn’t been able to get back to sleep, so she perks up when Cit rouses and moves to leave the den. not without her! scrambling to her feet, she hastens to follow at a brisk trot, noting the ambling shape of her brother’s companion at his back. when the pair breach the den’s entrance, James wiggles her haunches and springs out into the open morning, making to tackle Cit in a clumsy barrel roll. “surprise attack!” she crows, elongated fangs bared in a shit-eating grin. hey, what are sisters for but to annoy their brothers?
"Jamie"

Citadel let out a very unmanly squeak of surprise when a sudden voice sounded behind him. And it was not his bear! He was tackled before he could turn to look  and was falling into a tumble almost immediately. His clumsy paws didn't lend well to balance.


He tried his best to move with the fall  trying to catch his sister as he did so and yank her with him. She was a little smaller than him, a difference that would only grow more pronounced as they finished growing. “You've earned my wrath, prepare to be defeated!” He yelled, trying to sound fierce and frightening. Thinking of the stories their mother had read to them.

Jamie squeals, a mix of laughter and surprise, as she tips over and falls to the ground beside her brother. the breath whooshes from her lungs, but Jamie keeps a neutral face, allowing herself only a handful of sparse coughs. "oooh noo," she exclaims, attempting to sound alarmed. the effect is rather ruined by the smirk she can't quite keep off her face. "please, have me mercy on me oh might one." she throws a paw over her eyes, head tilting back in apparent defeat. a heartbeat later, however, she cracks open an eye to see if Cit has been taken in by her performance. regardless of his response, she springs back to her feet and lungs for him again, laughing maniacally. "sike! i'll never give in! it is you who shall be defeated!"

"Jamie"

Citadel giggled at Jamie’s attempts to beg for mercy, trying to dig his paws in and find the ticklish spots as he wrestled with the slightly smaller wolf. When she put a paw over her eyes he lunged for the paw, playfully biting at the limb. She dropped the paw and lunged at him again, renewing the fight in a frenzy.

“I will never know defeat!” Citadel howled, trying to use his large paws as leverage to knock over his sister. If he could just sit on her, he knew he would have the advantage. He already weighed quite a bit more than she did!


"Citadel Fatalis"

for all of Jamie’s vigour, she can’t quite measure up to Cit’s large size. even now, young as they are, he’s simply too solid to move with strength alone. as such, Jamie fights to keep her footing as he bats at her with those big paws, little claws scrabbling along the ground. she can’t allow him not to gain the upper hand, not when it would mean certain defeat - a cough grips her, and Jamie tenses as her chest starts spasming, lungs aching as she grabbles for air. struck with sudden panic, she stumbles backward and presses a paw to her chest, beating against her breastbone as cough after cough follows. her brows scrunch together, a mix of frustration and anxiety warring through her. she…can’t…breathe!

"Jamie"

Citadel was having the time of his life wrestling his sister. So much so that he didn’t notice the moment she tensed. But he did realise when a cough shook her. He paused mid play and looked at her. Looking at the way she held a paw to her chest. Uh oh. He slowly untangled himself from her, but kept a paw around her side as he supported her.

“Jamie, are you okay?” He asked, not too sure what to do. He’d seen her fits before, but normally mum or dad were around to deal with them. What did they do again? They normally had herbs to give her. He didn’t have any herbs. “Can I do anything?’ He asked softly, feeling a wave of guilt brush through him. He’d been playing too rough, and now she was hurting.


"Citadel Fatalis"

Jamie is aware of Cit at her side, his anxious questions, but she shakes her head and waves dismissively. she can already feel the fit subsiding, thankfully, and although the initial breathlessness is frightening, she’s learnt that panicking only makes it worse. as her lungs eek out the final coughs, Jamie slumps, suddenly exhausted. she’s trembling a little, angry tears welling along her bottom lash-line. she can’t even bring herself to look at Cit, unwilling to face what she knows she’ll find there: pity. he won’t want to wrestle with her ever again; or if he does, he’ll go easy on her. Jamie grits her teeth at the very thought, cheeks burning with humiliation. she’d been foolish, she supposes, to think she’d actually had a chance of holding her own against him. not when her body harbours such weakness. “just…go away please, Cit,” she whispers, staring at her paws.

"Jamie"

Citadel frowned, looking at his sister and realising that he… recognised some of the emotion in her expression. That hopeless frustration when you realise how your body betrayed you. Maybe hers was worse, since it was her health, but he couldn’t help a feeling of almost satisfaction to see he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t the only one struggling.

“Nuh-uh!” he said when she told him to leave her alone. He stuck his butt against the ground to make his point, crossing his paws in front of him. “See, my paws are so big that I trip over them every other step. It’s really annoying, watching the rest of our siblings take off without me, like their bodies are easy. but bodies are hard, aren’t they?”


"Citadel Fatalis"