He didn’t go near the water often, he was a little intimidated by it himself after hearing Asla’s tale of how it had attacked her, so it wasn’t until he was crossing the bridge and his reflection caught his eye, that he would see them. The strange membrane like things across his back had grown and filled, and they seemed to almost resemble wings, like that of the baby he had accidently killed. He leaned forward, puzzled, twitching the muscles and -- he leaped back with a yelp as the funny things on his back spread out, big and intimidating in his reflection. In his startelement, he got too close to the other side, and fell off the bridge, smacking his snout on the way down and hitting the water hard. His wings spread out either side of him and he felt the wind rip across them, and move, like, like feathers! He had feathers on his back! He sat up in the shallow water, seeing his reflection much more closer now. He was a bird, he was a bird! How had this happened? Was this punishment for killing the baby bird? He howled in fear, he didn’t want to be a bird, he wanted to be a wolf. He started to shake his wings as through he could knock them off. "Speech"

Az was quickly coming to learn and understand each bit of their pack's territory and found himself doing laps of it frequently to keep it fresh in his mind. The place was not made for pups, the tall grasses blocking out vital sightlines and causing the boy to navigate through other means. A splash sounded from a little while away and immediately the boy was interested. He swerved in his pathing, making his way through the grasses until he stepped into the open. "Mort!" He shouted, bewildered. "What the heck is on your back??" Of course he'd seen his brother a million times before and the weird way his shoulders formed lumpy shapes, but never had he seen the wings extended. It was beautiful, and instantly Azure was jealous beyond words. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

He heard his brother speak, and was yanked from his reflection by the noise. He looked up at Azure, bewilderment still in his features. “I don’t know!” he called back, stretching these strange new muscles, and watching as the reflection of his wings moved with the sensation of muscle. They were.. They were flapping!. “It's like a bird, I’m a bird Azure!” He looked at his reflection for another moment, and then he started to cry, big balling tears falling from his eyes. “I think I did something terrible, I think i’m cursed, i’m turning into a bird, make it stop Azure!” he begged. Azure always had the answers, right? "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Mort was mortified by his development, and Az was even more confused to see the worry in his brother's eyes. "What is wrong with you?" He asked, his voice becoming a little more sharp than usual. "You're not a bird, look you have paws. Birds don't have paws. They don't have teeth. You're a wolf, with wings." Of course his brother would grow something as cool as wings and want to return them. Azure's jealousy swelled. "It's fine, relax. Maybe you'll be the first wolf ever who can fly, that'd be kind of cool." He tried to act nonchalant, as if he was not angry for his brother's good fortune. Cerulean gaze swept across the plains, and squinted out into the distance. "Hey see that boulder, stand on it, jump off and see if you can fly." In truth the boulder wasn't very high, barely a wolf pup's height off the ground. Though birds were capable of flying from standing, so surely if his brother could truly take to the skies he could do it from leaping off the rock. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

He didn’t expect the bite in his brother's tone, and it pushed him out of his self pity for a moment. He looked up at Azure again in surprise, and his brother was quick to point out that every other aspect of him was wolf. A wolf with wings. When Azure put it like that to him, it was actually pretty cool… but the guilt was still there. That he got wings, and the little baby bird only got death. He was quick to want to please Mort, especially after his brother sounded a little mad with Mort’s sorry-for-himself display. He got to his feet, dripping water, and shook it off, turning his heat to see the rock his brother pointed out. This sounded like an adventure, and it would get his mind off the baby bird. “Okay” he was quick to agree he raced over to the rock, climbing up with some difficulty, and standing upon the boulder. He took a deep breath, looking to his brother for confidence, before he jumped.. And landed against the ground, hard. “Ow” he muttered looking sheepishly at Azure, then the ground, then the rock. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

To his surprise his brother seemed to see reason, stopping complaining altogether about his very cool wings. It didn't take long for him to take him up on his suggestion, and Az followed along behind him as Mort climbed up the rock. When the pup jumped, Az wasn't sure what he expected. Mortis came down with a thud, not even briefly taking flight. "Ugh, damn." Az murmured, biting his lip as he looked out further for more to jump off. "Have you seen the birds on Dove Island? They have their babies in the nests until they're big, and then the baby jumps out of the nest and it's so far that they have to fly. Maybe that's how you need to learn, too." He nodded his head away towards the den and moved to approach it. Assuming his brother was following, he climbed up to the top of the cliff face. "Down there, that's far enough I think. Jump down there and I bet you'll fly." It was a much longer fall then the boulder. He sat down to watch Mort, his eyes firmly glued to the feathered wings. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Azure did not seem happy about his failed flight, and Mortis supposed he wasn’t either. Flying sounded pretty amazing, it would be an invaluable skill, and think of everything he could see if he could fly! But, at this rate, it didn’t feel terribly achievable. His brother wasn’t one to give up easily, and he began to explain the birds of Dove Island, and what they did. The winged boy listened, and nodded his head slowly. What Azure said made sense, maybe he needed to be like those birds. He trusted his brother, if Az thought that was what they needed to, he was probably right. He got back to his feet, and followed after his brother like a lost lamb, it wasn’t until they stood above the den, and looked down, that Mort started to have second thoughts. Mortis flared out his wings, letting the sleek black things go as far as they could on either side. As he did so, he realised they had an awesome blue tone at their tips, and they weren’t just one color of black, they held a grey color close to the base, and these cool flecks of white up the main bone. That was actually… really kind of wicked. He flapped his wings a couple times, experimentally, watching the way the feathers moved. Epic He looked back at the drop, and decided that was waaay less epic. “I don’t know Az, maybe this isn’t such a great idea…” "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Azure only felt his bitterness grow more and more as his brother flared out his wings, his lips pulling back to reveal the tiny extended teeth that grew beneath. He shuffled out of the way, glaring at the feathers that came nearby his face. It wasn't fair, why did his brother get wings? All Az got was his stupid paws and they only gave him pain and made it hard for him to run properly. He sighed, watching through half lidded eyes as his brother approached the edge and looked down. All at once his dam of frustration and envy broke, and he growled lowly. Of course, his brother got wings and was too much of a coward to learn to use them. How was Azure supposed to live vicariously on the winds through Mortis' eyes if the damn pup was too afraid to learn to fly? "Oh just jump!" He snapped, stepping forward to shove the boy with his shoulder. His intent was to throw his brother off the cliff, and whether he landed on the sand below or managed to soar he found he had no preference. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

He was looking down at the drop, trying to find his courage, and finding very quickly that he had none. Before he could take a step back, Azure said something, and he started to turn to his brother, only to find pressure against his shoulder. He yelped, pushed a step forward, finding his paw over air. He tumbled head first, wings flaring out behind him, catching the wind, and for just a second he thought… But no, nothing happened, his wings did not support him, and the ground came up to meet him very suddenly. He hit it with his front paw first, wings trailing behind him in a pose that would have looked epic if he was heading upwards instead of down. His paw hit, and everything else followed. His weight on the paw caused it to fail, and he heard a crunch, and let out a howl of pain, falling hard onto his side, and landing awkwardly on his wing, causing a pain down his back, as well. He lay there for a moment, stunned, in shock, pain shooting through him, only for his eyes to find his brother who stood watching him above the cliff. He looked at Azure, and he knew, he knew that his brother had just tried to kill him. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

During her patrol, the one-eyed woman had caught sight of the pair of small pups. Though she hadn't interacted with them much, she knew who they were and they should know who she was. The woman's lope ceasing, she watched the boys, wondering what they were up to. The fur on the back of her neck bristled slightly. There was a strange feel in the air, though she couldn't put her scarred paw on it.

First the winged one leaped off of a rock. No big deal there. Then his brother led him to the edge of a cliff... Big deal. As Mort began to flex his wings while staring downward, Resin began her approach, the hulking woman stalking towards the boys with the intent to stop whatever they had planned to do. Before she reached them, however, Azure gave his brother a push, sending him flying off of the cliff.

These weren't her children so her heart didn't stop in terror. If anything, she felt anger. Stalking up to the boy that was still on the cliff staring down at his brother, the ash and onyx woman snatched him up by the scruff. She held him out over open air, the threat to drop him completely evident. It was her intent to scare the child and show him that it was a long drop and wouldn't be pleasant. From where she stood, she could see Mort squirming on the ground, very much alive.

Moments later, she gave him a shake before putting him back on solid ground. The massive, older wolf snarled at him. Pup or no, he would learn that he had done something very wrong. Serrated teeth were bared as she growled her words at him. "Only cowards try to harm their family." Lifting one big paw, she sent it towards the boy. If it  connected, he would be sent flying and tumbling through the long grass. "Go find your parents. NOW. Or you'll be in a world of pain, Azure."

The guilty party out of mind, Resin picked her way down the cliff side and approached Mortis. The first thing that she said to the injured child was, "Never let your guard down. Even with family." Carefully, she lifted the child between jaws that were capable of ending his life with one bite. Back up she went and, instead of taking the boy to his parents, she took him straight to Iolaire. His paw was hanging at a funny angle. Though no healer, it was quite evident.





Coding:Alice. Art:Resin.

There was an odd feeling in his chest as he watched his brother flail on the way to the ground, and his lips curled back in a grimace as the sound of his pained howl. He didn't rush to check on the other pup, he simply watched and observed his movements and wondered if the noise he'd made was how a rabbit would sound when it died. When Mort's stare pierced his own he did not look away, he only frowned in disappointment. Suddenly he was lifted, though not only upwards like how he was usually carried. His body was moved forward, and swung dangerously from the warrior's jaws as if she might throw him too off the cliff. He tensed, his shoulders lifting to protect his delicate throat and his rear end curling up into him and away from the long drop. Fear gripped him hard and he was more afraid then he'd ever been in his life. The terror overwhelmed him, and before he knew what was happening urine trickled from him. His captor decided against having him follow his brother down the cliff, and after what felt like an hour hung precariously in her jaws she shook him and thunked him back upon the grass. Immediately his head ducked, his body cowering away from her teeth. "I didn't-!" he began to argue back, and then her paw lifted and Azure was rolling through the grass. His head spun and tears stung his eyes. He lifted a paw to gingerly touch upon where she'd hit him, utterly destroyed that an adult would do something like that to him. It did not take him long to obey her command, and he sprinted away with his tail between his legs. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Even as he watched, a large adult he vaguely knew approached Azure, and grabbed him. For a heart-stopping moment, Mortis thought that Azure would be following him off the cliff. Something stirred in his chest, and he realised he had absolutely no idea if the thought brought him pleasure or pain. He didn’t think he wanted Azure hurt, but the boy was in pain right now, and it was hard to be sure.

His vision went a little blurry, and he might have blacked out for a few seconds, because before he knew it, Resin was before him, almost as though she had teleported. Pretty impressive, actually. Never let your guard down her words would be imprinted on his heart, even well his brain was foggy with pain and confusion.

He whined softly when she picked him up, jostling his pains, and he blacked out again. Once again time was askew, and he was outside Io’s den, with no recollection of the journey there. The moment he saw her cosy little cabin, he opened his mouth, and cried. Big, huge cries to announce his pain and confusion, and need for Mumma, and Auntie. “MUMMMA, AUNTIE. MUMMMMMMMAAA”

Even as he watched, a large adult he vaguely knew approached Azure, and grabbed him. For a heart-stopping moment, Mortis thought that Azure would be following him off the cliff. Something stirred in his chest, and he realised he had absolutely no idea if the thought brought him pleasure or pain. He didn’t think he wanted Azure hurt, but the boy was in pain right now, and it was hard to be sure.

His vision went a little blurry, and he might have blacked out for a few seconds, because before he knew it, Resin was before him, almost as though she had teleported. Pretty impressive, actually. Never let your guard down her words would be imprinted on his heart, even well his brain was foggy with pain and confusion.

He whined softly when she picked him up, jostling his pains, and he blacked out again. Once again time was askew, and he was outside Io’s den, with no recollection of the journey there. The moment he saw her cosy little cabin, he opened his mouth, and cried. Big, huge cries to announce his pain and confusion, and need for Mumma, and Auntie. “MUMMMA, AUNTIE. MUMMMMMMMAAA”

A commotion outside drew the woman's attention from her garden. Brushing off her grass stained paws, Iolaire began moving towards the bottom of the hill. The sound of Mortis screaming sent her running though and she skidded to a halt before her mother and the crying boy. "What happened?" she asked as she took the child from her mother.

Carrying him inside, she placed the boy on a pile of soft furs before she began to look him over. Noticing the way that he was favoring his paw, the woman delicately spread his toes, feeling each little bone as much as she was able. "Shh... shh..." She soothed him, placing a gentle kiss atop his head as she cradled the winged boy close. "You'll be okay. Nothing is broken. You're just going to be a little sore." Again she kissed his head and settled him in the furs as she went to collect a piece of willow for him to chew. "Eat this, love. It might not taste good, but it'll make you feel better. It's the same thing you had when your wings hurt, remember?"

Taking up a salve, she curled herself around Mort and began gently rubbing the mixture into his paw. It would serve to numb and help relieve the pain that he was feeling. Casting a glance at her mother, she spoke. "Could you call Zee?"

Relinquishing her charge to her daughter, Iolaire asked what happened. The giant woman happened to catch a glance from the boy. It seemed as though he didn't wish for the truth to be known. The scarred wolf furrowed her brow, but she could respect wanting to keep such a thing secret. "Mortis stumbled off of a cliff." She watched as the small healer tended to the boy and couldn't help but think that Iolaire would have made a great mother had nature not formed her broken and unable.

A few moments later, Io asked if she would call for the boys mother. With a nod, the older fae left the den. Raising her muzzle, she called for the Armada leader with one long, low howl. Leaving Iolaire to tend to the child, she waited outside the den to intercept the mother.

It was unusual for the Armada warrior to call her, and that in itself was enough to make Zee hurry to respond. If it were Io, Sirius, Bird, even one of the children there could be many reasons for wanting her presence, though with the voice belonging to Resin the alpha knew it was a serious situation. She abandoned her hunt without another glance, tearing back through the grass towards Io's cottage.

She arrived quickly, her chest huffing from the exertion. Mortis' scent was fresh, though she did not see him there. Her eyes were frenzied, her lips pulled back in a silent snarl. "Resin, what is it?" Pained puppy cries sounded from inside the cottage, and Zee pushed passed to enter as she recognized the sound to be her son. "Mortis! Oh, my angel. What happened to you?" The mother weaved her way towards the pup, being careful to stay out of Iolaire's way but collecting the boy in her arms gently. She needed to know what had happened, and she needed to know now so she'd know who to bite. Had anyone called Sirius? Or was he already out hunting down the assailant and tearing out his throat?

Io took him from the warrior, and whimpered quietly at the pain and confusion. Io held him like his mother would, and she smelled the day of his birth. He wanted to bury himself in that comfortable familiarity, but first… Io asked what had happened, and he turned his head, eyed imploring, begging, and his head tilted very slightly from one side to the other. Resin couldn’t tell, Mortis had to figure this out for himself. He was not going to cry bloody murder to his parents. He did not know why Azure had done it, but the young boy intended to figure it out for himself.

His resolve and determination slipped as another throb of pain went through him. He mouthed a quiet ‘thank you’ to the warrior. He intended to seek her out the moment he was well enough to, he owned Resin a great deal in that moment. For the time being, all he could think about was his pains.

Io promised him nothing was broken, and he thought of the little baby bird, dead at his feet s he proclaimed to his sister it was ‘broken’ he was pretty sure that meant he wasn’t going to die. A shudder went through him, had that been a possibility? He felt something crawling up his stomach, a feeling of anger and… and something else, hate? Was this what hate felt like?

Auntie gave him something to chew, and he obediently opened his mouth and worked his jaw. The healer curled around him and rubbed something onto his paw, his pains started to ease, and his whimpers died down. He buried his nose into Io, likely getting snot and tears across her coat.

Before he knew it he was being taken from Io’s grasp, and his first instinct was to protest, moving his paws to grab her, even his injured one, and then faltering as it hurt his injury. Before he could recover, he was in Zee’s arms, and his tears sprang fresh to his face. “Mumma, Mumma!” he whimpered, and the words rushed out. “Mumma i’m turning into a bird. I killed the baby and now i'm turning into a bird. I tried to fly mumma, but the ground hit me” his words were snot and tears full, just like every patch of fur near his face.

The boy's mother came flying towards her, skidding to a halt with a panicked expression. Sh asked what had happened and the giant woman motioned towards the cottage with a pull of her blocky skull. Rasping tones broke free. "Mortis is injured.The boy will tell you in his own words. Iolaire is tending to him."

Once Zee went inside the den to see to her child, the big woman moved off. Her job was done. Hopefully the perpetrator of the incident would see the error of his ways and wouldn't try to harm his siblings again. There were repercussions for all actions, and his had been a cuff and a flash of fear. If Mort told his parents what had happened, there would no doubt be more punishment in the child's future. If they were decent parents, at least.

Mort snuggled into her, still whimpering and Iolaire's heart broke. She held him close, keeping him safe with her. "You're okay, love. You're okay." The dark fae began to groom the disheveled boy gently, trying to comfort him and take his mind off of his injury. The medicine and the salve would work soon, she had no doubt.

From outside, she heard her mother's gruff tones and heard the panicked voice of a second party. A moment later, Zee entered the cottage. She instantly made for her son and Io's heart broke anew as he reached out for her, wanting to stay in her embrace. She relinquished the injured child to his mother and sat up. Listening to his explanation of what happened, the healer smiled sadly. Casting a look to Zee, she silently questioned whether she would like to explain or whether the mother would prefer that Io explain. As she waited for that cue, she spoke softly. "There seems to be a bit of a fracture, but nothing is broken. He'll have to take it easy on that paw for a while, but it will heal, good as new."

Zee did her absolute best to not display to the boy her unbelievable confusion at his ridiculous antics, and only held him and murmured softly. "You're not turning into a bird." She responded as she nuzzled his cheek. "You're gifted, like your father. Like Venom, remember her cool tongue and quills? Venom is not turning into a snake or a porcupine, and you are not becoming a bird." Her gaze lifted from the boy to meet Io's, a question burning in her eyes. Was it just her, or was her son a lunatic? Iolaire explained that her son merely had a fracture, and Zee sighed softly with relief that he'd not be permanently disfigured.

Her head shook slowly, dismissing the thought as she hugged him closer. "You must not try to fly again. It is not the wings that make a bird, it is their fragile hollow bones. Your bones are too big and thick, and you will never fly." Though she might feel like she was crushing the pup's dream, she needed to make sure it was very very clear so he'd never try again. "Do you understand, son? You will never be able to fly, and you can never try to fly again. Promise me."