[ P ] Berenstein Bears

caspian Stretching, Caspian shook the seawater from his fur and delighted in the warmth of the sun as it beat down on his fur. Soon, the heat of day would wane away as the autumn chill brought clouds and the winter snows brought more. This would be one of the last hot days before they cowered in their dens, snuggled into pelts from Perth and Inverness, and fished until hypothermia threatened to shake them right out of their own bones. "Ah, she lives," he remarked with a cheeky tone as he turned to see a black speck step into view, her expression impassive and neutral as ever. If she was glad to see him, then it was in the way that her tail slightly lifted an inch higher or her ears perked a tad more: imperceptible little signs of familial affection and loyalty. Only, she had a thick mass of fur in her jaws. Dark blood stains marred the underside and pieces of gristle and sinew were just beginning to turn. He wrinkled his nose as he stared at the massive trophy that his sister lugged home, her muscles straining yet deliberately unheard by the pride glimmering in green eyes. "Sweet mother Mary and Joseph," Caspian gasped, unable to hide his shock. "What in the Goddess' name are you carrying?!" "speech"

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Victory.

It was sweet, bloody, and painful. She soaked it up, though, but still had a sizable bite from the bear on her hind leg. It hurt when she walked but her pride wouldn’t dare let her limp. She walked with a prowess and finesse that she would really only show to her brother, she wasn’t as boastful as this normally. But this was her dear brother, someone she could act a little silly in front of.
"Ah, she lives,"
To which she merely nodded as much as the heavy pelt would allow.
"Sweet mother Mary and Joseph. What in the Goddess’ name are you carrying?"
Slowly, she came to her brother’s side and placed the pelt before him. She promptly sat, but dare not seem too out of breath.
"The bear hunt went well. I took home the pelt, another grand hunter, Balfour, took home the skull. These are our trophies."
Seaglass eyes had a small glint of exhausted satisfaction.
"Did you partake, brother?"
There was no judgement either way, Black was simply curious. But judging by the way he lounged in the sun, he was too busy relaxing. On some level, she would prefer it that way, for if ever something happened to her brother, she would simply perish.

Black then moved slightly to show her wound acquired though.
"Not unscathed, however."

caspian He did not expect her to speak right away and, true to nature, she did not. Instead she approached with the same metered gait that she'd had since learning to walk. The closer she got, the stronger the scent of iron became. Heavy was the musk of the bear and it cloyed with the scent of fat, grease, soil, and sweat. Whatever his sister had been up to (bear slaying, apparently), it had been a messy affair. And yet, despite the stray twigs and subtle panting that she carefully restrained, she seemed unbothered. He had yet to notice her wound. Hunt? She looked at him as though he should know what she had gone off to do. And maybe he should have known but his mind was not quite as elephantine as hers. He did not covet each detail and smother it away like a dragon. ... Hunt... hunt hunt hunt hunt... AH! For Samhain! "Partake? In dramatic beast felling for fancy food?" His brow lifted and he shook his head. "I'm surprised you did. You're hardly our most festive Fae," Caspian drawled while looking her up and down, quietly searching for wounds while masking it with a disapproving scowl. Black had a tendency of doing what she wanted, come hell or high water (or her brother's opinions). He had grown out of telling her what or what not to do, but that did not stop him from worrying. As she moved to show her wound, he felt his stomach twist. Ah, there it was. "That's a bad one, Blackie," he murmured, brow knitting. "But it looks like you killed the bastard. Where was it, anyway?" "speech"

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He did worry over here, and she him. In fact, she would give her life for him, and would feel physical pain when he acquired a wound, so the look he gave her was not unfamiliar.
"It’s just a flesh wound,"
She humored, although it was worse than that. But how cool was it? She hoped it would remain a gruesome scar to remind her of her battle.
"In the Red Wood. I wasn’t alone, there were others…strangers, mostly. I recognized one of them. Strong comrades. I wish you had been there and yet I’m glad you weren’t."
It makes sense, she knew he’d understand. She wanted her brother with her most of the time, but to have him in danger just wouldn’t do. It was okay if she was hurt though, that meant it wasn’t him.
"You’re right. I’m not the most festive. Mainly just curious about it all, experience it for myself and all that. I couldn’t resist a bear hunt,"
He of all wolves should know that kind of thrill was something Black couldn’t refuse.
"What have you been up to lately, Cas?"
She wondered, truly reveling in his company. Of all the complicated emotions she could barely understand and grasp, she could always comprehend the sens of love and belonging when around Caspian.

caspian At reference to just a flesh wound, Caspian couldn't help but snort. A traveler had passed by when they'd been pups and had reenacted the "quest for the holy grail" as he had called it. Legend had it that the cracked cup would give immortality if one drank from it. Apparently the travelers rode these things called "horses" which were mimicked by smacking a paw against these strange, foreign "coconut shells". All in all, Caspian had had fever dreams about wolves riding deer and had lost his love for it. Red wood? He tsk'd softly. "Should have left it, let it eat some Mainlanders first." Of course, his heart wasn't quite in it. He didn't wish bear murder on all of them down south. Only a handful, really. "I would have just laughed when you got bit," he teased. "And you probably would have skinned me for it. To be fair, I'd look better than that bear would in your den." As he spoke of it, he passed a paw over it. The fur was soft and he was struck with the odd, disembodied feeling of touching something that had once been alive. The conversation steered toward him and he shrugged. "Mom is doing as bad as ever. Oh and our cousin, Baelfire, seems to have a girlfriend." His smile widened slightly. "Saw her at the bonfire." "speech"

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Caspian had always been her rock, from the day she could walk and think, he was her stable foundation. Her mind, while normally stoic and void, often liked to drift to the darker side of things, tempting her. But he was always her light, and the very reason she remained grounded. Black was hardly normal by any means, but she did try, and especially harder when he was around.

He confirmed mother was bad, but she expected such.
"Do you think there’s anything we can do for her?"
Black wondered, it was meant to be an inside thought but instead it erupted to volume.
"Ah, you’re right. He is a cousin. A girlfriend, say? Was she pretty? I’d met with him before attacking the bear, but….I guess I hadn’t let it register we were of kin." her shoulders rose and fell in a slight dismissive shrug. She’d have to seek him out again, maybe they could become close too. And the girl, she’d like to meet with her.
"I knew there was some cold blood running in that body of yours, brother." she teased, at his mention of letting the bear devour the mainlanders. A small twinkle was shown in her seaglass eyes, as it was all her aura offered of being amused.

"Ocean’s power."

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caspian "Do you think there's anything we can do for her?" "Bring dad back from the dead," he snorted out of reflex, although he felt guilty immediately after. Dark blue ears flicked back and he rolled his shoulders awkwardly. Black may not have shown much emotion but the loss of their father had taken a toll on both of them. It was easy to forget that her deadpan expression hid a complex heart. Even if it wasn't one that he understood easily, he knew that profound sorrow was there. "Sorry," Caspian said after a moment of awkwardness. He didn't like apologizing but, for Black, he would. "If there was something we could do," Seafoam eyes turned to stare at the waves as they rolled in to kiss the shore. "We would have done it by now." And that was the truth of it. He had found apothecaries and doctors, dragged as many back to their den as were willing. Either Aberdeen saw no legitimate talent or there was nothing. There were no jumper cables for a broken heart. "I doubt there's any blood relation there," he mused as the conversation drifted to Baelfire. The ivory boy was a cousin merely because he'd been around so much as a child. That said, he didn't expect Black to pick up much on the moniker. She liked a clear cut world, and a fuzzy line was quickly smudged out. "Pretty, fiesty. He'll have his hands full." At this, his smile widened somewhat. Would Baelfire keep the little Highlander satisfied? Or would she leave him alone and covered in bruise marks? Hard to say. He'd place bets on the latter, but he had a rather unsavory opinion of her clan anyhow. At the mention of his cold blood, Caspian couldn't help but laugh. "We have to be related in some way, right?" he teased back. Leaning into that momentum, he nudged her shoulder. "Come on, let's get that bear tanned and that wound tended to." Normally he would have wrestled her into the sand and the water, but he wasn't cold-hearted enough to subject her to salt in a wound. - fade exit, wholesome sibling time - "speech"

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