She ran and ran and ran from the bloodshed. Her pearly hide was stained with crimson, spattered about her nose and side. Her paws were the worst, almost completely red with blood. She ran over the plains of the moors until the grass gave way to stone. Shale kicked up behind her where she ran. The landscape was flat and dry under the hot summer sun. Her tongue flopped back and forth over her nose, cooling her slightly. Great tall pillars of stone loomed ahead, she ran between them, enjoying the shade the pillars shadows cast. But she ran further in, twisting and turning about the many passageways of the grotto. The place reminded her of a rabbits warren. Such thoughts only served the screams in her head to grow louder. The tiny shrieks of tiny bunnies as they gave up their lives in their final moments, so full of fear. She had loved the rare moments when she got to see the bunnies. She would watch them with a smile. When she chased them she saw it only as a game. Now she knew they had run from fear, not enjoyment.

Still finally she came upon a small river that wound its way through the grotto. She threw herself into the shallow waters, watching the blood from her fur taint the water, red upon blue in a brilliant ribbon. But the stain would not leave her soul. "Out spot. Out!" She lowered her body, forcing her head under the water, but the blood would not leave her. There was a clattering of stones, she looked up, wondering who else could be in this place. She saw no one. But she did see that there was a cliff looming high above her on either side. And a cliff off just a very small ways where the water tumbled down. It was now she noticed the sound of the water pooling below, making great splashes as it constantly broke the surface. She pulled herself from the water, whose current was beginning to quicken. On the edges she lay, dangling her paws in the cool liquid, licking and scrubbing at the stains, desperately trying to remove the horror.

Icarus was lost. His focus on finding even more rabbits had led him astray. So he had circled, turned back and ended up somewhere out of range of the Hunting Moors without being able to find his way back. A formidable fighter he was but those skills didn't quite extend to navigational prowess. He had finally found some rabbits, hiding in the bush with only their fluffy round tails sticking out like juicy cotton balls. He had pounced, missing the rabbits as he had alerted them to his presence when he had sent some pebbles into the bush they were in as he had pounced. He had ended up giving chase to them straight into the cave, his paws thudding against the ground. He cared nothing for the rainbow puddles or the strange-coloured river that had neon green hues that was getting wider and wider as he went deeper and deeper into the cave. He cared nothing for the sheer enormity of the cave, the way it formed and the pure sublime beauty it held. He pounced, his claws cutting deep into the hard rock as he skidded. The rabbits squealed as his jaws snatched them up in one, his teeth sinking into their bodies and piercing their hearts and lungs. Within seconds they were dead, their blood streaming onto the ground into the river near his paws. Icarus raised his head, his face a mess of dark crimson red.  

In a much happier mood, he started to hum though his voice was muffled, "I've got a lovely bunch of rabbits..." He kicked some tiny stones that were near his paws so that they skittered across the ground and lay one after another. He continued "There they are standing in a row. Small ones, big ones..." With a final kick, he sent them tumbling off into the river where they disappeared into the water and set the rabbits down. Taking a deep breath, he roared, "ONES AS BIG AS YOUR HEAD!" At the last line, his voice echoed around the cave walls in a terrifying echo, like thunder splitting the skies open. It was only then that he heard a desperate voice. He paused, his form suddenly becoming very still. The happiness in his eyes shifted to wariness. They seemed to become brighter, glowing and burning with a kind of erratic, unhinged mania. He smelt something. More blood. And a scent. Erenyx. Willow? Could it be...? Icarus padded forwards, peering over the edge. The ground had cut off where his paws were, starting over completely and extending forwards. It was her. She was trying to clean the blood out. Icarus snorted. He jumped, landing near her with a heavy thud and laughed,"I knew you couldn't take it. You're so pathetic. I can't believe you're the Guardian's daughter. It was just some blood. What're you going to eat to survive when no one hunts anything? Bark? You're going to have to kill a rabbit some time. Unless you want to die." He lowered his head into the flowing river, washing his face in the water. Emerging from it, water dripping from his now clean face he sneered, "You can't even fight."

There was a cave somewhere. That much was clear from the odd voice singing. It echoed through the cave and bounced off the walls of the ravine here in the Maidens Grotto. Her head snapped up and darted around, ears swivelling wildly to find the source. But eventually she calmed down and went back to her paws. Her salmon tongue rasped over the fur, trying desperately to rid herself of the stain. So much blood. There had been so much blood. Blood in the air, blood on the ground, blood on her. Blood on him. That pup, one of Reniers brothers. He was a maniac, insane. The crimson grin her gave her, his face and chest spattered with gore. The memory horrified her, but she couldn't get the image from her mind. If she tried it was quickly replaced by the heads of those rabbits. Blood leaking from the base of their heads, eyes wide and afraid.

A heavy thud not far from her made her skin jump and her head rise once more. White fur stood on end in sudden fright while she searched for the body that almost undoubtedly caused the sound. And there he was. The maniac. The Apprentice stood swiftly, turning to face the new threat, hind paws just barely in the water. She backed away from him while he approached, standing almost sidelong to the river. He accused her of weakness, called her names. It was nothing she hadn't heard before. Her voice quavered when she finally managed to speak. "I- I don't want to fight. I don't need to fight..." She swallowed, trying to stifle her fear. "I- I can eat what I find and what my mother brings me. She takes care of me. She loves me. I know it. I know it!" She yelled the words, tryingto make him believe it. To make herself believe it. But the increased volume of the words did nothing to allay her fears of rejection. "I don't need to be violent. I don't need to kill. And you don't either." She didn't know why she was trying to explain this to him, why she was trying to reason with him. Was it because she was afraid? Because she thought she could talk her way out of this? Would she even leave this Grotto?

As she started to back away, Icarus gazed at her blankly. She was scared. Icarus’ tail swayed in thought. Had his bloodied face really scared her that much? He lowered his head down again, tongue slipping into the river to lap up water. As he did, he heard her speak. Not needing to fight? He rolled his eyes, annoyed at her. She sounded like Renier. He didn’t want to fight either. Icarus shook his head to dry himself, his fur rippling in the process until the fur jutted out every which way in haphazard directions. Not completely dry but he made do with what he had. He looked over at her for a moment, his gold eyes simmering. The shutters in them seemed to close, locking all his emotions inside. The fire burned out. Something had seemed to touch his heart for a minute making him look deep, deep inside himself. About love. Love? What was that? How did she know her mother loved her? How did she know? He had always had to find his own meals. His mother didn’t bring him anything. He didn’t think his mother even paid attention to him. His parents had never spoken to him about love. She was yelling, her voice getting louder and louder. Icarus stared into the river at himself. A black wolf stared back, confusion written across his face. Then that precious something that touched his heart faded away like fluttery, fluttering flutter-flies of fluttering nothingness leaving it as it was. Such a pity. He growled, irritated,“Don’t be stupid. You’re a wolf. You have to kill. You have to learn how to hunt for food yourself. Your mother can’t take care of you forever. And you need to fight. Fight for food. Fight off eagles or snakes or bears or foxes. Fight off any wolf that tries to attack our pack.”

Icarus looked back into the water, her words ringing in his ears. Did he need to be violent? Did he need to kill? Maybe not but he couldn’t help it. He needed to eat so he had to kill something. And he needed to fight. And fighting was the only thing he was good at. He had torn the healing flowers his mother had shown her sons even though he had tried to be gentle at the time. He was rough and it took a great deal of effort for him to be anything else. When he tried to be gentler he ended up causing more pain. And he had to be violent to fight because if he wasn’t, he’d look weak. He wasn’t weak. He couldn’t be. He was the oldest. But the only thing staring back at him was a pup. A pup who suddenly seemed smaller than he had imagined himself to be, unable to grow into anything worthy. A pup who would never surpass his father or be his equal. His gold eyes came back to life, rage and resentment flaring in them. He smashed the water with a paw, sending green and blue water everywhere and growled again turning his head back to her,“You’re not like me! I’m going to be a great warrior like my dad so I have to fight. I need to be violent because that’s how it is. Warriors can’t be scared to get their paws dirty. You’re just weak. I bet you’re going to be a Caretaker or a healer or something useless like that.”He padded towards her until he was closer to her, fur quivering. He scoffed,“And what do you know about hunting or food? You ran away from the hunt like a scared little rabbit! It’s okay. I’ll just leave some leaves for you next time for you to eat. Fits you the best anyway since you’re too soft to be a real hunter. Or a real fighter. You’re too weak.”

The white Apprentice backed up a few more steps, getting closer and closer to the edge. Fluffly tail curled between her shaky legs, ears pinned against her little head. Honey-coloured eyes watched him warily as his head lowered to lap from the water. But his eyes seemed pained for a moment. Especially when she'd said her mother loved her. Did his own mother not love him? What about his father, the Elite? Did they not care? Willows mother, Chiara, clearly cared to some degree. Maybe even coddled the white fae a bit. But she knew with almost compelte certainty that her father hated her. Magnus had never said he'd loved her or even that he was proud of her. She couldn't even recall a time he'd said she'd done something right. She was his biggest disappointment in life. She was so sure of it that if one day he said something genuinely kind, she'd never believe it.

Willow saw him stare at his reflection in the water a moment before an audible, irritated growl escaped him. He called her stupid - which she was. He reminded her she was a wolf - which, technically, she was. He basically demanded that she learn to fight and hunt and do things for herself. Didn't she already take care of herself? Didn't she already manage to survive the torment of her brothers? What did it matter if her mother brought her her food and was kind to her? There was little enough kindness in this world, she had learned to take what she could. The other pup seemed to stop and think for a moment, before a rage filled him and he flipped his lid on her. And for once she wanted to bite back. "Isn't your Mum a Healer? Do you think your Mum is useless? Why should I be useless just because I want to be a Caretaker?!" She quivered as he padded closer, drawing her head away from his stench. The stench of blood. Was she weak because she didn't want to be a Hunter or Warrior? Probably. He'd called her out on it and he barely knew her. She must be. There was no other explanation.

His father didn't care about him. He was too busy for him. Maybe his mother did care about him. When he had been younger he remembered her tongue licking his fur to clean him. He nestling into the crook of her neck, curling up to hide from the cold while his father had been away on those late nights and morning. He could remember playing with her while the only thing his father done was stare at him, unsmiling and with emotionless eyes like death. He barely remembered his father being around. But today, he had done something good and he'd done better than his brothers. And his father hadn't said anything to him. That made him see red. Made him hurt. Icarus' hackles raised, the fur on the back of his neck standing straight up. His eyes were angry, seeming to glow and burn with intense gold. He snarled at her, "You know nothing about my mother! You know nothing about my family! My mother doesn't care about me. My father doesn't care about me and neither do your parents. If they cared about you, your father would've come to look for you after you ran away! Your mother would've joined the hunt to see you." He came closer to her, claws clacking the cave floor, "You think your daddy cares about you? The helpless runt who can't even fend for herself and wants to spend her time picking flowers and daisies over your brothers and sister who like the thrill of chasing down rabbits and deer? Who doesn't cower in the face of danger like you? Funny that he's not even around to help you out here. I mean, what if you slip and fall? You're so helpless. My mum may be a healer but she can fight. You can't and you want to be a Caretaker so that makes you useless." Icarus' tail curled upwards and he pushed her shoulders with both fore-legs roughly, "It's a long way to the bottom princess. Daddy and mummy won't be able to save you now. And hey, maybe Daddy will like you better when he sees that you've managed to survive a little fall with a bruise and didn't whine about it because he sure doesn't care about you now."

He was yelling again, it made the pup uneasy. Maybe he was right. Maybe her mother was sick of her, didn't really love her. Willow took constant beatings and verbal abuse for being less than perfect. Chiara told her it would be better, told her to ignore them, but not once had she offered to train her daughter. If Willow had been offered by her mother, she might have trained in self-defence. If her mother had explained it in terms of protecting her wards when she was a Caretaker, she would have understood. But no one ever told her this, so she didn't know any of it. Instead all she knew was hatred and resentment for not being good enough. She knew coddling and being treated like a fragile object. That was why she was in this mess, backed up against the edge of a cliff, another pup telling her how little she knew. And he was right. Her father hadn't come to look for her when she'd run off. He didn't care about her at all. He was probably celebrating that she was gone, and was just waiting for her to die. Another step back meant her paw dislodged a stone. She heard the clatter as it went tumbling over the edge, disappearing into the recesses of the grotto below. Her tail curled further between her legs, if that was possible, and her ears were practically glued to her skull. She ducked her head low, crouching into the tiniest creature possible. She whimpered. "Maybe he'd like me better if I were dead."

Icarus was mad, hurting over his father’s preferential treatment of his brothers. Hadn’t he done well? It’d been messy sure but he’d caught more than the others. Icarus did not know if what he said was true. Maybe the Guardian would’ve come. Or maybe not. He had said it out of anger. Irrational anger. But he knew that the other pup wouldn’t survive the way she was. As she started to back up against the edge, Icarus growled at her taking another step towards her.“Why are you so weak? You’re the Guardian’s daughter. It doesn’t make any sense. Or is it because your parents never bothered to teach you anything?”His fur bristled again, his gold eyes gleaming. As she stepped back again, dislodging a stone so that it disappeared over the edge Icarus’ tail went up his head starting to lower, an instinctive reaction as the other pup’s tail curled. His anger had faded somewhat. It did when he didn’t have to think about his father. The unspoken expectations that he was trying to live up to but finding it so hard.  His father had never said anything but Icarus knew what he wanted him to do. Take care of your brothers, take care of your mother…and someday, if his father were to leave this world, to take up his mantle as he was the oldest son. Be a great fighter. Too much. It was all too much sometimes. He wasn’t even an adult like his father and Willow’s father. He couldn’t…his father had never even taken him aside yet to really train him. To fight with him. He’d been off training other wolves or doing whatever it was he’d been doing instead. Patrolling, checking things. Checking on everyone else but him. For a moment he seemed lost in thought, his guard lowering until he heard her again. Squashing the thoughts back down into the recesses of his mind he snorted,“What use would you be to him dead?” He closed the distance between them, pushing her again harder this time using his shoulder and front torso to put extra weight into it and not caring about the steep drop below or if she’d fall,“You’d make a better chew toy for the bears to feed on. Come on, why don’t you fight back?”He shoved her again, this time with more force, his claws digging into her skin as he did. He snarled angrily,“Like I said, maybe your dad will like you better if you show him you can take a hit without curling into a ball and whining.”

No one's coming for you. No one's coming for you. NO ONE'S COMING FOR YOU. She repeated the mantra in her head over and over. Because there was no one coming for her. She'd have to get herself out of this mess. But how? She couldn't fight, she didn't even know the most basic techniques. All she had to work on was what her brain told her might work. But she didn't dare attempt the crazy manoeuvres that kept popping up in there. She'd just look silly and accomplish nothing. So, impossible at it might seem, she curled her tail further between her legs, plastering her ears to her head. She didn't answer his questions, only whined. Why wouldn't he kill her already? It would be easy. He could just push her off the edge and say she fell. Anyone would believe it. She turned her head to look at the sheer drop. The waterfall fell lazily on her left, creating a small pool at the bottom before continuing its journey through the Grotto. But there was no pool to break her fall. It wasn't big enough. She tried to physically swallow her fear as she looked back at the other Apprentice. Every time he pushed her she came so close to falling. Each time she thought This is it, and her stomach seemed to disappear, leaving her empty. When his claws dug through her fur and into her skin, she flinched, sending her reeling backwards and toppling on the edge. Barely holding herself up by her forepaws. She struggled as her sore shoulders leaked her lifes blood. Her right hind paw found a small stone jutting out of the cliff, which she used to desperately pull herself up. The stone dislodged and fell away beneath her, but already she was halfway over the top. Standing, she loped a few paces away from the young male before turning to face him. She didn't want to turn her back for too long, afraid he might attack.

He had never been around a female pup his age besides Piper and she didn’t seem like she’d do that. Seeing her back down from him confused him as well as her response. Whining? He’d only pushed her around a little. Icarus had been born into a life forged by blood and sweat the minute he had been brought into this world. When he backed down from anything, his father barked at him to straighten up and face it, whatever it was. Even if it was him that Icarus was facing. Icarus would’ve liked to think he didn’t fear anything. Least, that’s what he thought and maybe, that was for the better. He kept on going with a stubborn kind of willpower that was only nurtured and shaped by sheer determination and a disrespect for what most would call sensibility. Or perhaps it was that he simply did not care to know because he had the utmost confidence in himself. It was a lesson that he had yet to learn, accepting that he was in the grand scheme of things, incredibly ignorant and reckless as he did not pay attention to people whose opinions differed from his. That the world was much bigger than him, that he was not the centre and he was nothing but a micro-organism in a universe that was vast, more varied and incredibly complex that changed randomly all the time. That he had many, many more things to learn about a lot of things in life. But he was stubborn and his mind was a wall that was almost impenetrable to break down. Life, it seemed, was nothing but a game to him where he would find a way to beat anyone that came his way even if he had to die to do it. It was his pride.

Icarus was not a humble pup by any means, not one with any self-awareness of the true extent of his abilities or of the world around him. He did not enjoy seeking out knowledge to add onto what little knowledge he had or expand his mind beyond his passions to learn even more. To ask questions or try to learn something new or learn from his mistakes even if he had messed up the first time or he felt embarrassed. He was happy fighting because that was what he was good at. He did not see the benefit in doing anything else much to his own detriment. He was lucky in that he could actually fight and he had no fear otherwise he would not have been on this earth right now. Those two things were the only things keeping him alive when he was by himself. He was not the smartest but what he lacked in brains he made up for in brawn. Blessed he was. Truly blessed. Icarus lunged at the other pup just as she almost slipped, snarling. He missed as she loped away from him, his forepaws sliding over the edge slightly and recovered, turning and lunging at her. He closed his jaws around her neck, on the side and on the back though at this point, he was playing with her and he did not mean to seriously hurt her as his teeth would only go through fur but not into her throat. However, he slipped as he was off balance from the turn and lunge, and instead of tackling her like he wanted to he crashed into her sending them both crashing down partially into the river and landed roughly partially on her back and neck with a sickening crunch almost breaking her neck as his teeth held onto the scruff of her neck, managing to slice through the skin.

(Ooc - sorry in advance, it's going to be short)

She didn't get very far from the edge. Icarus had intercepted her as she turned to face him. Never turn your back, Her mind echoed. In fact, if she hadn't turned her back to get just a few more paces away, he wouldn't have caught her like he did. His larger jaws caught around her neck like when her mother used to carry her. I t didn't hurt, but it was a dangerous position to be in. One false move by either of them could easily spell the end for her. Her body was swung around with his movements, jerked by his unbalanced lunge. They landed roughly in the river, her slowly drying fur once more being soaked. She heard a crunch, feeling a sharp stab at the base of her neck and a heavy weight above her. Willow gave a pained yelp as her spine seized up in shock. This has to be it, she thought. Everyone knew that a broken neck was instant death. It was only a matter of seconds before she would be in darkness forever. There was a pinch in the nape of her neck. The jaws of the other pup had moved in the tussle, the grip tightening, drawing blood from her scruff. Crimson stained her fur in rivers, forking down both sides of her neck, dripping slowly into the stream. Now she had blood that was both her own and not. Smatterings of the liquid, belonging to some now dead rabbits, stained her face, paws and side. Her own blood welled out through the wounds on her neck and chest, mottling her coast in a sick camouflage. She tried to stand, but the weight was too great. She tried to drag herself from the river, with or without him, but her left forepaw couldn't hold her up. When the apprentice tried to turn her head to the right she found it exceedingly painful and so kept it curled around to her left. The pup panted, sides heaving with exhaustion. She was afraid.

(N.B.: She does not actually have a broken neck, just a severe muscle strain that makes it difficult to turn her head for a while. But of course, neither of them know that.)

Tye had caught scent of Icarus and another, the scent of Willow. He’d followed it all the way to a cave. He could even smell the blood drifting through the air. Rabbit blood. And wolf blood. Not Icarus’. Then…? Tye quickened his pace, breaking into a run. His paws smashed into the cave floor and the little puddles of water that had formed, sounding like thunder lashing the skies. As he ploughed through the air, he kept his ears open. If there was silence then it was a good thing. That meant he couldn’t hear whines or whimpering of pain or the sounds of snarls or growls or paws scrabbling on the cave floor. He did not think his son would hurt or lash out at another pack member. He had taught him better than that. But he knew Icarus was angry right now. Knew that he could not control his emotions when he was angry. Knew that he could do something he’d regret later and he could have already hurt the other pup in anger. Tye knew his old friend was counting on him. And that he had a responsibility to uphold given what rank he was. If any of the pups were hurt Tye would only blame himself for not doing his duties properly. For protecting them as he should have. As Tye came closer and closer, he saw some dead rabbits, blood streaming from their bodies into the river that had appeared as Tye went further into the cave.

Tye sped up and he saw them. Saw his son lunge at Willow and land in the river. Saw the bite to the neck. Heard the sickening crunch and yelp.“Icarus!”Tye roared. He leaped down onto the ground, ploughing into him with his upper torso and wrapped his forelegs around his shoulders and chest to push him off, being careful not to step on Willow in the process. Tye used enough force not to hurt him, just enough to stun him so that he would get off. He stared down at his son, speaking in a low, calm voice,“Stay here.”Tye turned around and walked back to Willow, leaning his head down. He kept his voice gentle, his ice blue eyes scanning her form with careful precision,“Willow, this is Elite Tye here. Your father sent me here to come get you back home. Can you get up? Just shake your head if you can’t. And if you can, tell me where you feel you’re hurting.”He could tell the pup would need healing because he could see the blood that was running down the sides of her neck and there were some wounds on her chest. She was panting, her sides heaving. But none of her legs were at any awkward angle and neither was her neck or back which relieved him greatly. It did not seem like Icarus had managed to break or twist any part of her body and she may just be in shock from the fall. But he needed to make sure. Tye nudged her side gently with his nose,“Come on Willow. You have to be strong now. I know you’re scared but you have to work past that.” Tye turned his head to look at Icarus, his expression turning glacier cool. But his eyes were filled with disappointment. He would speak to him later. When they got out of the cave. He commanded,“Icarus go take those rabbits you killed and take them back to your mother at the dens. Leave one at the food storage on the way back. I’ll speak to you when we get home.”                              

Occ: Gotcha and the shortness is no problem

As soon as he heard the yelp Icarus felt his heart drop. Did he hurt her? He let go, starting to scramble to his paws and lowered his head to poke the other pup’s side with his nose, stammering,“H-Hey, are you okay? I didn’t-” He froze as he heard the sound of a roar echoing around the cave walls. It sounded like his father but he had never heard his father yell before. His head snapped in the direction of the yell. His father was standing there on higher ground. He had never heard his father bellow like that. A whine started to rise in his throat which he swallowed quickly, embarrassed to do it front of the other pup and especially one who was a female. And in front of his father. He stepped back a few steps, putting his head down slightly with his ears folding against the top of his head. As his father stepped in front of him, he opened his jaws wanting to say he was sorry to her then his mouth clamped shut, a furious snarl escaping his throat as his father slammed into him. He tried to turn his head to bite him out of anger but he couldn’t reach and gave up. Icarus snorted as he went to the other pup, the weakling but he stayed where he was not wanting to anger his father. But he felt a shred of guilt ebb into him. He raised his head, moving a few steps forwards to see if Willow was okay. Maybe he’d hit her too hard. Icarus craned his neck around his father, peering at her curiously. Why wasn’t she getting up? He heard her panting. He snuck a look at his father. He didn’t seem worried, not like the times when he had seen it happen to Icarus and his brothers. Internally, Icarus breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to kill her. Rolling his eyes at his father as he gave the command, he nevertheless padded towards higher ground, his face dripping wet from the water. He bragged to him, trying to make himself look better than he really was, “I caught the biggest rabbits and I caught even more on the way to the cave. Did you see them? They were all huge.” But his face fell when he saw his father paying attention to Willow and give him more orders. Resentment shone from his eyes. He muttered as he walked near her tail to get to higher ground, annoyed and snapped at her tail with his jaws though he aimed to miss within one inch of it not to actually bite it,“She can’t even fight.”

Willow lay curled on the edge of the water, her neck extremely painful. She whimpered, afraid. The young fae didn't know what to do, she just wanted to get out of there, but she couldn't. It hurt to stand, it hurt to turn her head. The Apprentice started breathing rapidly, her breaths becoming progressively shallower as the panic rose within her. It clawed its way up her throat so that she couldn't breathe, it blocked out her other senses until fear was the only thing she knew. Icarus stood somewhere near her, mouthing words she couldn't make out. Her eyes grew wide until there was white visible at the edges. The other pup froze, possibly having heard something. But she couldn't, or wouldn't. Her fear was blocking out every noise. So the sudden appearance of the brutes father shocked her. Elite Tye was big and black and scary. He had these eyes, they were like ice, cold and piercing. Her fathers eyes were fire, every word he said burned her. Every gaze was scorching. She didn't really have a good male role model, a good father figure. She was afraid of all the males she knew... well, except Renier. Everything came rushing back in an instant, like wind in her ears. She could hear the Elite talking to her, telling her to be brave, to get up, to move. But she couldn't, it was too hard. She took a few panting breaths before responding. "I-I can't. It hurts too much." She breathed through her nose, trying to stay calm, struggling. Willow stretched her left forepaw away from her body, thinking for some reason that that would help. Her tail was draped limply behind her back legs, she was too tired and sore to try to move it, but she felt the breeze when the other pups jaws snapped shut near it. She heard his condemning words. She couldn't fight. She'd never be a good fighter. The thought dragged her down, shrivelling her stomach and giving her an empty feeling in her chest. She was worthless. She wouldn't be any good to the pack. Not now, not ever.

She remained where she was, whimpering. She was scared. Maybe it was the first time she’d been in this situation and she just wanted to get away. Icarus seemed to have frightened her immensely. Tye would have to be careful with her. He was sure now that nothing was broken or she would have shown signs of being in a lot more pain than she was in now but he needed to get her to believe that. To get past her initial shock. Where he was sure that fear was the only thing that she was feeling. She was still panting hard but as Tye watched, she tried to get past that. Tye said nothing, allowing his words to sink in and for her to get used to his presence. He tried to smile at her but re-thought that instantly. Perhaps not a good idea at this moment in time. So he waited to see what she would do, if she needed anymore encouragement. His ear twitched as he heard his son’s voice and he gave a slight nod. Later, not now he seemed to be saying. He lowered his voice again, trying to keep it as gentle as he could make it and said,“Just breathe, Willow. Remember to breathe or your chest is going to feel tight and it’s going to hurt a lot. I know it feels like you can’t, that it’s hurts but that’s just your fear talking. You are still alive. You can still breathe and you can still move. I just need you try okay? Or we’re never going to get out of here and you’re going to lose a lot of blood. You can’t give in to fear Willow. Fear doesn’t own you. You own fear. Not the other way around.”He knew that he could probably carry her and he may have to but he needed her to be strong. He wasn’t a healer and now, he wished he was because he wasn’t entirely sure if he was doing or saying the right things. He knew she needed to get up. That she could but whatever had happened here had shaken her. Tye said,“Just listen to me, not anyone else. And if you’re hurt anywhere I’ll take you to the Healer’s Den so they can take a look at you.”Tye saw that she was stretching her forepaw out and slid his muzzle under her other foreleg carefully and gently so as not to scare her. He said,“You can get up. See? You’re already using your forepaw. Now all you have to do is use the rest of your legs to stand up. Just start with that forepaw, then your other one, then use your legs, then your back paws and hind legs and stand up slowly. I’ll catch you if you fall. I promise.”But Icarus was terrifying her even more, snapping at her tail when she was trying to get up.        

Tye twisted around, tackling him from the side by biting his scruff with a ruthless clamp of his jaws and throwing him down to the ground onto his stomach. Standing over him, he put on paw on his left leg, trapping it and preventing him from moving. His expression was deadly calm. But there was no mistaking the anger in them. It was tranquil, controlled and lethal. Tye stared down at his son. For the first time in a long time, his muzzle wrinkled to form a ferocious snarl. The lips parted so that his fearsome teeth showed. His eyes narrowed into silts, the blue lighting up like the sunlight on the ocean surface.“And you think you can?!” Tye snarled, pressing another paw directly on the back of his neck firmly to exert pressure.“You're still a puppy who knows nothing of this world. But you are also my son. You are not some half-brain moron who uses violence and aggression to solve all his problems and lash out at those just because another wolf makes him angry. You have a brain, a mind to use and you are a better wolf than that. And you know better than to run away from the hunt. Your brothers look up to you. And soon, you will become a warrior of this pack. Soon, you will have to protect the pack. You cannot do that if you’re hurting or scaring your fellow pack-mates, whether you meant it or not.”He released him and gazed back at him speaking with a calmer voice,“I am proud that you tried to find even more rabbits, trying to do more than what you were asked to do and managed to catch those rabbits at the Hunting Moors but now is not the time or place. Go apologize to Willow for what you did then go home with the rabbits. You are not to go near her again until I say so. If I find you anywhere near her I will drag you back to your mother and you, her and Renier can go collect herbs for the afternoon and bring them to each den. If you refuse to do that or disobey me, I will drag you to go fight a full grown bear by yourself while I watch.”With that, he looked back at Willow, moving closer to her. He understood the pup’s fear but the grim reality was that she needed to kill to eat. He did not say that, not yet as she was still not entirely out of shock. But it was something she needed to learn. Had Magnus and Chiara not told her? Or shown her how to hunt? Tye wondered. He said to her, "Come on Willow. It's all in your mind. You can get up."[/color]

Padding alongside the river, the young black pup growled angrily as he heard his father speak to Willow and rolled his eyes when he saw him helping her to stand. Did the baby need some rabbits too to go with the side order of useless and gutless? She may as well have been left here because then she would have no choice but to move when she started to get hungry or when it got dark out. Icarus hadn't done anything serious to her but his father was treating her like he'd broken her legs. But he did not say those thoughts aloud. After he snapped at her tail he thought about the meal of rabbits he would proudly bring home to his family and started to hum happily until he felt the weight of his father crash into him and bite the scruff of his neck. Icarus felt the wind knocked out of him, yelping in surprise. He made to turn his head to snap at his father's neck as an instinctive reaction, not thinking and forgetting that he could not reach his father's neck and landed on his stomach near the river. Icarus started to whine as his father put his paw on his left leg, standing over him. He twisted his head, looking up at him with innocent gold eyes. He stiffened, ears going down against his skull and looking at the river as he saw his father staring down at him. He started to whimper, head sinking down as he started to snarl at him, whimpering even louder when his father put his paw on the back of his neck. Then he swallowed it down. No he couldn't do this in front of Willow. Icarus stayed silent, the words sinking into his mind. Yes, he wanted to be a warrior but he didn't just use violence and aggression to solve his problems. He just wanted to bring home more rabbits. A better wolf? But he just wanted to be a great warrior like his father. Like him. He rolled over, getting up and muttered,"I never wanted to hurt her father." Renier. He wanted him to be like Renier. His little brother was his favourite. Renier didn't even want to be a warrior. And his brothers looked up to him? As he strode towards higher ground, making to jump he heard him speak to him. He sounded calmer. Icarus paused, looking back at him. Proud. He was proud of him. He flicked his tail, looking at Willow reluctantly. Apologize? For what? Icarus snarled, "No! She's being a wimp! I didn't do anything wrong! I'm not going to go herb-hunting! Take me to go fight a bear and it'll be me left standing! Then maybe you'll start seeing that Renier's not as great as you think!" Icarus kicked a pebble with a paw, sending it into the river and jumped onto higher ground disappearing over the edge.

Willow tried so hard to stay calm, she wanted to be calm, to be strong like her mother. She never wanted to be a fighter, but she did want to make her parents proud. She wanted them to look at her and say "that's my daughter". Her breath came in short, shallow draws. If she could have run, if she could have screamed she would have. Instead she was frozen in place with the big scary Elite trying to get her to move. She did she tried to turn her head around the other way. But it hurt so much! She let out a yelp, childishly believing vocalising her pain would help it go away. She returned her head to its original cramped position. She couldn't, it hurt too much, it had to be wrong. She must've been doing something wrong. But he was an adult, he had to know what he was talking about, right? She squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the bickering father and son. Slowly, inch by inch, the Apprentice pulled her head around. Into her vision slowly came the Elite, his body, more rocks, Icarus and the cliffs. Taking her time meant she could stop when the pain spiked, take a breath and continue when the throbbing dulled. Finally, when her head was facing the completely opposite direction, she opened her eyes. Eyes of honey-gold were startled by the sudden intake of light, pupils contracting. She gathered her paws beneath her and using all the strength she had, pushed herself to stand. Her left forepaw, being nudged by the one called Tye, was still rather sensitive. She held it off the ground, planting her remaining three paws a little more firmly so she wouldn't topple with an uneven distribution of weight. It didn't hurt that badly, she didn't think it was broken. Maybe a sprain? She didn't want to diagnose herself incorrectly, so she held her tongue, golden orbs waiting for the big male to tell her what to do next. The Apprentice was extremely careful to keep her ears and tail down, things were bad enough as it was, she didn't need to get in any more trouble.

“I know you didn’t. Just get out of here and go home,” Tye rumbled. He had understood that Icarus had been angry. When he looked at him, Tye narrowed his eyes at him, starting to growl warningly. He knew Icarus was emotional right now. That he’d been embarrassed so he was not surprised when the pup refused to apologize. He would let that pass. Tye had however been deadly serious about what he would do should he disobey him. But there was one thing that jumped out at him. Renier. Had this all been about Renier? He needed to have a serious talk with Icarus, perhaps with his mother at his side. This wasn’t about the hunt. His anger. It was something else. Something to do with his brothers. Later he’d get to him when he cooled down. Tye looked at Willow, his gaze going over her carefully. He was sure her neck wasn’t broken. Very sure. But she was still having trouble. He had heard her yelp and turned back to her quickly. If worse came to worse and she didn’t get up, he may have to howl for a healer to come. Or wait until she would walk.  But she was starting to get up, slowly but surely. He said,“That’s it. Keep on going Willow. You’re almost there. Just ignore the pain. Concentrate on getting up.” Tye stopped nudging her as she held her left paw off the ground, watching her. He wasn’t sure if she was going to try to walk but he was watching her every move. The river was in front of her. She could’ve stumbled and fallen in if she wasn’t careful. They still needed to get out. It looked like she could stand but she would have to jump or climb up on higher ground so they could walk out of the cave.

She could do it as the edge was only a few inches tall. It was her paw that was the worrying thing. He could not tell if she had done anything to it but they did to need to get out of here. The river was starting to rise which meant the place could start to become flooded. Her legs were not long enough yet to wrap around his back and side so if he carried her she could fall. She had to climb up herself. Tye said, “You’re going to have to climb up over the edge okay Will? If I carry you I might drop you. I will help you get up over the edge and you feel yourself falling or slipping all you have to do is say that you are. I’ll catch you." He said gently,“If there’s something wrong with your paw we can take it to a healer to get it looked at but you have to just take a little bit of pain for now okay? Or you won’t be able to get out of here and I’ll have to go find a healer. Or I’ll have to carry you and then you might fall into the river and hit your head or go under the water. And I don’t want any of that to happen. I know you can do it.”

Willow took a long while, letting the blood flow through her weary limbs. When she looked up she saw the retreating form of young Icarus, angry and hateful. She believed he felt slighted by his father. She knew all about that. She was the runt, the weakest, the most disappointing. She didn't want to hunt or fight, she wanted to educate, to raise a better generation of wolves. Her father hated her for her weakness and she was certain she caused her mother pain. From the time her of weaning, when her lighter coat came in, she was told stories about her aunt, Chiaras sister. She too had been called willow. Chiara said she was extremely beautiful and brave, and that the little apprentice was the spitting image of her deceased aunt. She thought there might be more to the story, but whenever Willow asked she was turned away. "You'll understand when you're older," her mother would always say. Chiara never had to say anything, Willow was very observant, more than they gave her credit for. They might forget her from time to time, but she was always there, watching. She would glean so much simply from being silent. She knew things, more than anyone might like her knowing.

She looked up at the ledge she'd have to climb. She could do it, she had to. If she couldn't, her father probably would've left her here, Elite Tye would probably do the same. She shrugged him off. If she was strong just this once, maybe it would get back to her father and he would finally like her. "I'm fine... s-sir. I'll make it okay." She limped forward, standing chest-to-ridge. Deep breath. She raised on hind legs, placing her right paw on the ledge, her left paw barely hovering over the stone. Placing her weight to the fore she lifted her hind legs up to stand on the ledge. She looked back, seeing the big Elite, eyes of honey questioning whether he would follow. She'd found her way in but wasn't very sure how to get out. She thought he would lecture her, tell her she was stupid and irresponsible, that she'd never grow to be anything useful. That's what her father would do. But he wasn't her father. He was her father brother... or something. Maybe he was a little different. But he was of Erenyx, so he couldn't be that different.

Tye watched her, his attention straying every once in a while from the pup to the sounds of the flowing rivers, his ear pivoting to listen carefully. He looked at her. It was a worrying thing that she could not hunt. He did not doubt she had skills, ones that weren't physical but of the non-physical kind. Tye perked his ears and said as she limped forwards,"That's the spirit." He padded closer to her, coming up partially alongside her and watched her move, his eye lightening a shade in relief. As she put her right paw on the ledge with her left paw and raised her hind legs. As she looked at him questioningly, he said encouragingly,"I'll follow you. Just keep on going." He put his head underneath her stomach so that he was supporting her and told her,"Now use your right foreleg to pull yourself up and use the top of my head to help you move onto the ledge." He raised his right foreleg a little,"See this? I will catch you using this if you fall so don't worry about it. Just concentrate to getting over the edge. Once you do, I'll come right up there with you."

As he spoke, he thought that maybe he should try to distract her with something. A story perhaps. He said,"It's a scary thing isn't it? To take another creature's life. I remember my first hunt. I was only a pup just like you. I watched the others hunt down a herd of deer, making them run in a stampede and picking out the ones who looked like they had a defect or were injured. The adults told us not to go until the Lead Hunter commanded us to but my brother was too hungry to wait. And he got greedy and went for a healthy, strong buck who was twice our size but had a maimed leg. He thought we could bring it down. We did in the end but he suffered a broken leg and almost lost one eye. I was right in front of it and almost got gored in the eye as it tried to head-butt me with its antlers. I was almost killed. I was scared too Willow. I was scared to kill it at first but I had to. I am a wolf, as are you. We cannot survive on plants and herbs. We have to kill things like rabbits to survive. To eat. To hunt. To live. Or we starve and die. It's just how life is. And you have to live it."

Willow rose once more to stand on two legs. This step was a little higher this time and she was rather small. The runt. To everyone here it was size that mattered. To be tall and muscular meant respect and standing. The apprentice cared none for the latter, but the former she wanted dearly. It was something she'd never had so she yearned for it fiercely. She wanted recognition from her parents, her pack, her family just one time. She just needed to do one thing right, no, not just right: perfect. She had to be perfect, absolutely above reproach. Then her father wouldn't be so ashamed of her. Her mother wouldn't need to coddle her. She knew she did, though it was only now, after it was thrown in her face that Willow had accepted the fact and how much it might have damaged her. She watched the Elite, hovering behind her in case she should fall. She didn't want to fall again. She didn't want to rely on the adults helping her through. She pulled herself up into the cavern. His deep voice echoed a little off the walls, bouncing around and back. She still didn't understand. "But mother brings me this special red meat she made. It doesn't taste so bad and I'm not sick from it. Why can't I just live off that? Why can't we all? They didn't have to die." She took a few steps forward so the big male had room to pull himself up - more likely jump or even step up. She looked into the tunnel, it was dark, but there was a light coming from somewhere. It was enough so she could see. It's just like being awake in the den at night. You only think it's scary, but it's not really. She coached herself into taking the first strides to follow the path ahead.

When she was securely up on the top of the cliff, Tye started to raise his upper torso just slightly and placed one foreleg on higher level beside her.. Tye raised his head so that she would be encouraged to go further, trying to get the Apprentice to hurry. Could she swim? He wondered. Surely Magnus would’ve taught her to. If not, Chiara. He was surprised that Willow could ask so many questions at this time but he supposed that was a good sign that she wasn’t scared anymore. But Tye didn’t have any complex answers for her. Just simple answers for he didn’t have any answers beyond those. He said gruffly, “Your mother was being kind to you and most probably, trying to shield you from reality. Your mother does not make any special red meat. She would hunt it, just like the rest of us and you need to learn how to do that Willow. You are coming to be an adult and you will need to find food for yourself one of these days. You cannot live off food that others bring your entire life.” She made it up without falling. Tye stepped over the edge, gazing ahead into the darkness.

“You will have to kill things and maybe at some point, even scavenge things like squirrels or dead birds at times. The rabbits didn’t have to die but they are rabbits. They are our prey. And we have to eat so we kill them. Perhaps in another world, if we were deer or rabbits, then we wouldn’t have to kill and we could survive on plants and leaves. We could live on that instead but we are not so lucky. We are predators. And that is how life goes. Predators eat prey. Prey run from predators. But we are not the only predators here. And in the end, we have to try to be careful of those that can kill us.” At this he paused, thinking of the things he had seen. Should he tell her that wolves could even kill other wolves? Sometimes for no reason other than they could? Or because they were simply asked to? Not because they didn’t have some quarrel with the wolf they were killing but to display power and that was it. No. That would have to be something that her father would have to tell her.“You don’t get sick because the meat you eat is good enough to eat so that it doesn’t kill you.” He said, looking at her,"Now let's get out of here. Just walk straight I'll be right behind you."

Why did she feel like he was judging her? An evil shadow lurking in the cavern, cold eyes floating, watching her. Her warm hues stared back in disbelief. Her mother didn't make any special red meat? How could that be? Where did the meat come from then? She wouldn't believe her mother could do something as horrible as kill an innocent little rabbit. Her mother wasn't mean, or hateful. Sure she could yell and get angry at times, but what mother didn't? But then... whenever her mother brought her her special meat, her fur was stained the same red that had splattered the creamy female. Willow had always thought it was just messy work making her special faux-meat. Well, it was messy work, but it wasn't faux. The apprentice had been living her life, eating the real thing. She was disgusted in herself. All this time she'd believed the rabbits and fawns here her friends, but now she knew they were all afraid of her. Worse still, she was not entirely safe. Her mother had always told her to be careful when she went out, she thought it was because of those other wolves. The ones in the big pack across the valley. She'd heard they were all terrible creatures who snatched up pups and hurt them. She thought that their Alpha was angry with her Alpha and he wanted to get back at him for something. Every time her brothers hurt her, she'd fantasise about getting back at them, though she was never very good at it. But maybe it was worse than that. There could be other animals, much bigger than them who would hurt pups. Strange creatures she'd never hurt of. Her entire world went from one of broken flowers to one of flame and death. Was all life this tainted? She didn't know who to believe anymore, it was all rather discouraging. So she only nodded silently and followed him out of the cave, determined to come through winter and enter spring as something better than she was now. If it wasn't too late...