alcatraz

Jericho sat atop a large stone, moping. In the distance he could hear thunder clouds rumbling a promise of rain later that night. It was nice to hear the sky talk -- because for the last while, mostly what he could hear were... snarls. Screams. Sometimes the wind smelled weird. He didn't really know what it all meant really, but he knew it was a cause for concern. And he blamed it for the reason that they were cooped up to the den All. Day. Long. Every. Day. The pup huffed out air and sent a resentful glance back toward their home. He didn't want to do nothing again. He wanted to explore -- and he wanted to see what was causing all the fuss. It had to be exciting, right? He could prove that he could handle himself -- that there was nothing to fear or worry about. He could show them. He thought of retrieving one of his brothers, but then decided against it. He wouldn't admit it was because he wanted to prove himself to them , to his father, his mother -- instead, he would blame it on the fact that they would only slow him down. So the boy slide off the rock with one last glance over his shoulder and headed off into the woods alone, toward the Fae Forest. “my sin, my soul.”

Any of the Vanadium family is welcome to join! <3

Rafael's pale eyes followed Jericho as the boy slid off of the stone and headed towards the Fae Forest. His brother had not seen him, but this was as Rafael had planned it. He had been watching Jericho for some time now, not necessarily because he wanted to, but because any one of them sitting in solitude outside of the den they had been imprisoned in was a deviation from normal behavior, and any deviation from normalcy called to Rafael's attention. He wordlessly slipped from his hiding place and followed Jericho towards the forest, stepping lightly and carefully amongst crackling leaves and drying grasses. What his brother was doing was obvious. But the less obvious question was, why was he doing it? Rafael had never known Jericho to be adventurous. It did not make much sense for him to be defying their parents in traipsing off of on his own, either. So what was the reason? He thought about remaining silent, slipping along like a ghost, but something prompted him to speak as Jericho took his first steps into the Fae Forest. “What are you doing?" he asked, getting directly to the point, as he was often known to do. He might scare the bejeezus out of Jericho, but he felt like it needed to be asked before his brother truly made his way into the unknown. “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart."

STOCK➤ Kati H - Dawnthieves ART ➤AMPHI

The further he got, the more he forgot -- about his frustration, about his family's constraints, and about the rule that he should always listen for sounds behind him. The more the scents changed, the more the trees started to change, the more distracted and curious he became. It was like the Fae Forest had some kind of strange pull, some kind of... eerie aura that made his little furs stand on end. His body tensed almost instinctively as he lowered his head, ears angling sideways as his small nose worked a mile a minute -- as if that would help him. What was it about this dim forest? Was it that he knew it was forbidden to him, that the irony smell mingled with the breeze, or that it felt like someone was... watching him....? "What are you doing?" The pup nearly jumped out of his skin. He let out a startled yelp and spun on his feet like a feral cat, fur fluffed out and eyes round with alarm. The fact that it was his elder brother standing before him so calmly didn't even help matters -- it only made his cheeks burn with hot embarrassment. He almost wished it had been a ghoul or a Fae or an enemy. "Nothing," he snapped “What are you doing?” he spat before he could think of a better retort. His voice was sharp with anger (humiliation), though it quivered slightly, remnants of adrenaline that had trilled through his body. His ears flattened and he let out a rough sigh, attempting to dispel the rest of his nervous energy, passing it off as annoyed exasperation. "If I'd wanted you to come I would've invited you," he added with a grumble.

He waited while Jericho collected himself from his surprise. "Nothing," came the immediate, petulant reply. Rafael was not shocked at his brother's shadiness. “What are you doing?” The question was turned back on him in an instant, a defense mechanism to cover up Jericho's embarrassment at his reaction. Rafael noted the same and saved it for later. “Making sure you don't do something stupid," he drawled, shrugging his shoulders once. It was the truth, laid bare, as he was very prone to do. He wished he could've stayed at home, staring at the few books his parents had, trying to memorize words, language... But no. Whatever else, he was an older brother. He'd had a feeling Jericho was going to go off and get himself killed, and something in him hadn't been able to stomach that, as much as his brother annoyed him. "If I'd wanted you to come I would've invited you." Jericho tried to save face. Rafael noted that, too. “I don't need an invitation. I have as much right to be out here as you." Again, it was true, and to the point. He was not known for mincing words. He reached up with a paw to brush against his cheek, where he felt some dirt might have gotten smeared from searching through the underbrush for Jericho. “What is your plan, exactly?" It wasn't meant to be snide, or hypercritical -- just open curiosity. All of this was taking away from his time memorizing the world through books, so it better be worth it. “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart."

STOCK➤ Kati H - Dawnthieves ART ➤AMPHI