Leap of Faith [Oki]

[Felypsa]

“Come on, Celtic. Just take the jump.”

Rakurai looked across the river somewhat exasperatedly at his younger brother, who was toeing the river carefully. As far as he could tell, the mute wolf had a fear of rushing water. He was fine with lakes and ponds and puddles, but when it came to brooks and streams, he was wary. Rakurai was not entirely sure why, though he suspected that Celtic’s twin, Pagan, had something to do with it. Pagan was the more adventurous and reckless of the two. Celtic was his “voice” of reason…but having no voice at all made it difficult.

It wouldn’t surprise Rakurai if Pagan had dragged Celtic into a dangerous foray into a river that still had Celt somewhat traumatized today.

The river was narrow here, easy enough for Celtic to propel himself over and never even have to touch the water. Even if he didn’t make it all the way, it wasn’t so deep. Rakurai had just done it in a single bound and now stood on the other side, beckoning for his brother. The sun gleamed against the silver tufts of fur that wound up his right foreleg, the only shimmering display of color on his otherwise pure black form.

Celtic knew that his older brother was only trying to help him conquer his fear. Rakurai was much more mature than Pagan, but he was also brave like their father Goth. Celtic had no doubt that Rak was going to be a great wolf one day. But that destiny was not for the mute younger son. Celtic’s violet-blue eyes met with Rakurai’s encouraging silver ones. He let out a soundless sigh, scrunched up his back legs, and jumped forward.

He didn’t quite make it.

Celtic landed with a dramatic splash in the river and immediately panicked. Even though his paws touched the bottom, he could only think of the strong undertow that had sucked him under that one other time. If Pagan hadn’t gotten him out, he would have smashed his head into a series of sharp rocks. That silver crescent moon marking on his forehead would have been smeared red with blood.

He didn’t realize how much he was splashing around until he felt himself dragged up onto the other shore. Rakurai released him then, panting slightly, and looked down at his hapless brother sympathetically. At this rate, Celtic was never going to learn to swim. “Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay,” he said quietly, nudging his brother. Celtic finally stopped moving and simply sat there, dripping wet, a sad and pathetic sight.

Rakurai sighed and closed his eyes. And here he had been hoping they would make progress.

[Oki]

((OoC: Its fine with your response time, I'm not exactly the quickest either.))

Copper fur not so shiny today, Okamiimaru could feel the warm sun on his back, but it was losing its luster it seemed. Turning his head back, he stuck his snout into his side and took a whiff of himself, rearing back at the dis-pleasuring smell. Snorting, he knew it was time for a bath. This increasingly warm weather proved to be the worst time of the year for him. Not only because he disliked hot weather to the point of being miserable, the strong sun and humid weather made him smelly for some reason. Standing on all fours, Oki shook himself out and flapped his wings before he folded them back to rest upon his shoulders. Despite knowing of his odor, he idled casually about finding a river to wash himself off in.

"I can smell you from all the way over here", a females voice came from a few trees away. She wasn't hiding, but approached Oki with a smirk on her muzzle, almost about to laugh. Stopping a meter or so away, she lifted a paw to her nose.

Perking up when he heard the voice, it hadn't been one he heard for quite some time. Well a few days, but they were tight siblings and even a week of not knowing of the other's whereabouts caused some worry. Her comment made him visibly, though playfully bothered and he shot a glare at her, "You wouldn't understand Shu... At least I don't smell like charred meat all the time", he sarcastically teased back. He in fact liked the smell of things burning, especially wood. It reminded him of fire and warmth.

Shuusui's mouth opened in dry shock, "So mean", she knew he was teasing and neither of them ever meant anything they said whenever they made snarky comments towards each other. Approaching him further, she pushed him on the shoulder with moderate force, "Does my baby brudder need a bwath?",she asked him in a tone that should be meant for pups, throwing herself into a fit of giggles.

Narrowing his eyes at her as she shoved at his shoulder, a grin then game to his lips and when he stepped closer to her, he gave her a bit harder of a shove back, "Nope!", he then shot off into the air to look for a stream.

"Hey!", she shouted, taking off into the air after him

---

Finding one while still being chased, he laughed, evading his sister's advances to try to tag him. Then diving to the ground, he zipped through a clearing in the trees and landed on the ground with a roll. Running off, Shuusui was shortly behind him. "I didn't know you were into watching me bathe", he shouted back to her with a laugh.

Her nose scrunched up, "Ew, no! Perv!...Save that for Ryleigh", she shouted back at him, disgusted by the thought.

Darting and weaving between trees, he could see water rushing, though not the biggest stream in the world, it would suffice. Just before he got to the water, he saw some others on the opposite side not much further upstream and he quickly came to a skidding stop right at the bank, not wanting to startle them by splashing into the water. Though, much to his unknowing, Shuusui hadn't noticed them and couldn't stop in time. With a dull thump, their bodies collided and both ended up in the water with a large splash. The water shallow, Oki and Shu quickly pushed themselves off of each other as they sputtered.

"Now why'd you stop all of a sudden like that?...Augh", she flicked some of her head fur out of her face, spitting water out, visually displeased at the fact she got wet.[/blockquote][/color][/size]

[Felypsa]

After some enticing, Rakurai got Celtic to stand up again and shake himself off. The mute could not speak his reaction, obviously, but Rakurai thought he could see shame gleaming in those dark violet-blue eyes. He nudged him gently. “Hey. It’s fine. Don’t even worry.” He was so going to yell at Pagan for this. The other twin was way too reckless for a blind wolf. Celtic was supposed to be Pagan’s eyes, but what good was that if the other just did whatever the hell he wanted anyway?

In some ways, though, Rakurai could understand. It was not so long ago that he had been a reckless young male. Always wanting to be like his father, whom he perceived as a glorious warrior. Yet Rakurai had been as energetic as Goth was stoic. Now he hoped that he never would have to experience what his father had to make him so stern, so closed off from most everybody.

No, there was more of that in Celtic, who was so somber all the time, despite his youth. Despite Rakurai’s reassurance, Celtic could barely meet his eye. It was pathetic that he was afraid of rushing water. How was he going to catch fish, if he was ever in a situation where his only sustenance was from the river?

Rakurai might have said more, but his ears twitched. Someone was coming. He turned around, not afraid, but slightly wary. He saw one male bound up to the river and suddenly skid to a stop, when the other—a female—came up behind him and hit him. The two comedically rolled into the river. Rakurai let out a snort, and Celtic eyed them with slight envy. How could they just roll around in the river like that, like it was no big deal? More to the point, why couldn’t he? Size aside, of course. Celtic was much smaller, much more susceptible to the current. So he rationalized.

“Lucky it’s a nice day out for a swim,” Rakurai commented, looking down at them. He didn’t recognize them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t part of the pack. There were always new faces showing up, and it was hard to meet them all. Especially since he was usually secluded, spending most of his time with his family. Watching over his sister Mimei, making sure she didn’t get into too much trouble. He was the eldest brother, after all, and had the most responsibility, especially when his father went out on his patrols.

“Are you two all right?” He stepped in front of Celtic, who had turned his head down. Rakurai didn’t think these strangers were very threatening, but he would stand in front of his brother just in case.

[Oki]

Furthermore to seeing the pair of wolves across the way, Oki needed to stop so he could take off his muffler and sword and he was sure that Shu wanted to take off her accessories as well. Despite this, they both, indeed comedically, fell into the flowing water of the brook. Splashing water everywhere, it was chilly and refreshing albeit how they got there. Sitting up, they both spit water out from their mouths and instinctively shook themselves off a little. While Oki was being more casual about this, Shuusui was not. When he looked up, she glared at him, chiding him for stopping so suddenly. All's he could do was sit there and laugh at the situation and how mad she looked.

More often than not, Shu would be laughing along with her brother at this point, but her fuse was much shorter than his and could get pointlessly angry at things and ruin the fun. He preferred to have a more carefree outlook on things and not to think too much about everything, going with the flow of life. However, there were his moments that he over-rationalized about things and was a worry wort. But getting knocked into two feet deep water didn't bother him and he just laughed it off. Meanwhile Shu huffed to herself, not really planning on a bath nor getting wet today.

Pulling his muffler off, Oki began to wring it out. Then looking up, out of habit he muttered to himself, "Whuh?", he blinked as well as Shuusui as she now was looking at the pair. Neither of them seeing the two mutatios, they both hesitated a little to respond. Chuckling, Oki was the first to respond, "Sure is...though she doesn't think so", he gestured to his sister. "I just...wasn't in the mood to swim", she responded, almost searching for an answer, 'hmph'-ing to herself. Oki just rolled his eyes in return. Glancing at the other two, Okamiimaru answered the males question, "Aye, I'm fine...", he looked at Shu, "I dunno about her though."

"I am fine as well...Thanks", lavender eyes looked up at the larger male who asked his question, handsome as he was. She looked away in fear of embarrassing herself and felt herself blush a little.

With one final wring of his muffler, he couldn't get much more water out and he looked up at the male who spoke, "So who are you two?...You smell like you're from around here", Oki asked as he threw his scarf onto a low hanging branch. They both looked rather large to be wolves, most likely bigger than himself, though he couldn't tell from this angle.

[/size]

[Felypsa]

There was nothing in the manner of these two that suggested malicious intent of any kind, so Rakurai relaxed further, trusting them to be entirely innocent. He liked to think, though, that he had cause to be wary of everybody. If he was ever going to take over for his father one day, he would have to learn to be suspicious of anybody. Especially considering what had happened with the war between the Allies and Giaku…all of it, the death, the strife, the injuries (his older sister Electra could have been killed!)—manipulated by a single selfish person.

But seeing as how these strangers were just goofing around (well, the male was; the female seemed more than a little annoyed at the turn of events), Rakurai could only smile. “Come on up,” he said, stepping closer to the edge. “We were just drying off ourselves.” Well, Celtic was. “The sun feels nice,” he added. His little brother hadn’t moved and seemed less inclined to be introduced to these strangers, so he simply stayed where he was, sprawled out while the sun’s rays slowly warmed and dried him.

“I’m Rakurai,” Rak said, introducing himself. Belatedly he realized he should probably hold some kind of cordial position and self-consciously straightened his back, giving him a much more formal appearance. “Son of the Betas of Shinkou,” he announced, raising his voice slightly. Celtic, behind him, rolled his eyes. Sometimes Rakurai got a bit too carried away in his own heritage and destiny. Celtic was just glad that he wasn’t Goth’s heir or whatever. But even if he was, being the son of a beta was a lot less certain than being the offspring of an alpha. After all, the alpha could always appoint new betas.

Of course Rakurai didn’t think of that, his head was just filled with future glory.

“And this is my little brother Celtic,” Rakurai went on, nodding to the mute. “He’s…he was born mute. Not deaf, as far as we can tell, but he can’t speak. So I’ll have to do the talking for both of us.” He relaxed his posture then and smiled. “Are you two from around here as well? I would sniff but—all I can smell is wet fur.” He wrinkled his nose slightly. Rakurai wasn’t meaning to be rude—but he didn’t have much experience with interacting with others, and in his mind, he thought that the little ribbing would be a way to break the ice.

[Oki]

Reaching to her left upper forearm, Shuusui grasped a loose end of the kerchief that was tied on her arm a tug with her teeth. Untying it, he let it fall into her paws and she followed to wring it out as Oki did with his scarf when he asked who the strangers were. When it was relatively dry, Shu followed to tie it firmly back around her upper left forearm. Still a little, though superficially, upset about getting wet, Shuusui just continued to get her things dry. "Don't mind if I do", she was the first to reply to the strange black male, obliging his offer. Standing up, she climbed her way out of the chilly water and up the bank.

Having watched his sister hop out of the water at the word 'up', he truly wanted to stay in the water so could get himself a little cleaner. Following to unbuckle his sword's strap on his chest, he slid it gently off his back and grabbed the scabbard between his teeth and went to the bank and set it down to dry. With a soft shake of his head, he delicately declined the offer. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'm gonna stay in the water a little while longer. I prefer the coolness of it than the warm air." Oki said as he made his way over to a small waterfall, though it was close enough to not have ventured further away than where he was before. Sitting under it, the crisp water splashed over his head, though he could still see all the others just fine. Spreading his wings, he let them relax and soak up all the cold of the water.

Sighing happily, Oki relaxed his whole body as the strange male introduced himself. Eyes looking over at him, it was a bit of a surprise to learn he was the son of Goth and Raven, as was Shu. He suspected they had little ones, however, wasn't sure. Shuusui was the first to speak in return, a slight infatuance for the male came over her once hearing of his position as she looked at him with a welcoming smile. She glanced at Celtic when he was introduced and was the first time meeting someone who couldn't talk. "A pleasure, Rakurai; Celtic. I am Shuusui and this is my little brother, Okamiimaru." She then grinned at the last few words of her statement, inclining her head as a bow; a gesture she did with those of higher status.

Even Oki sat up more straight when he was introduced, though after all these years, didn't like the fact he was 'her little brother'. Nonetheless he inclined his head at the both of them when Shuusui mentioned his name. "Well I guess you're my older sister, then", he laughed, disregarding anything she said or gestured back at him. Though when she did chuck a rock the size of her paw at his head, Oki stopped and vocalized a low 'Ow'. She didn't like being called old. Lifting a paw to rub at the bump that was forming, he looked back at the pair, "But please, call me Oki."

"Aye we're from around here", Oki responded with short pause after giving them his nickname, chuckling at his comment of how they smell, "I met your Father once, Goth. Such a sturdy and stoic wolf. Saw him when I was scouting the borders; he didn't stay very long, saying he had business to attend to and then we were on our ways." Oki sat by with a contemplative look as he spoke, stroking at his goatee as he did.

Meanwhile, Shuusui sat by, a little surprised at her brother's meeting, though not showing it. Rather, she continued to sit by, drying herself off with her abilities. Steam began to rise up from her fur as her body heated itself to a hot temperature to dry herself off. She didn't even think about what reactions she would get.

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[Felypsa]

oOc| Sorry for the delay in response!

Oki’s decision to stay in the water earned him a wide-eyed stare from Celtic, but he soon looked away as the larger wolf made his way to little waterfall in order to cool off. His dark blue-violet eyes flickered up to Shuusui as she stepped out of the water, and Celtic seemed very uncomfortable indeed. Whereas Rakurai was interested in meeting others, the mute wolf could not get very relaxed around total strangers. His inability to communicate had a lot to do with that, of course.

Luckily (or perhaps unluckily), Rakurai could talk enough to make up for the both of them. He was not as chatty and hyper as Pagan, at least, but he often said whatever was on his mind anyway. “Suit yourself, though staying wet is not going to help your smell,” Rakurai called over to Oki, looking pleased with himself that he had thought of something vaguely clever to say. His silver gaze then rested on the sister, who introduced both siblings. Their names were mouthfuls, that was for sure.

“Shoose-oo-ee?” he repeated, trying to get it right. “And…and…Oka-mama-roo?” Well aware that he was butchering those names, Rakurai at least had the good sense to look contrite.. “Sorry, I completely destroyed those. Um. It’s nice to meet you, though.” He looked pointedly at Celtic, who was rolling his eyes, but when Rakurai caught him, the mute simply dipped his head respectfully toward the others, a silent welcome and agreement with what Rak had said.

Rakurai accepted the nickname that Oki offered up with great relief. “Oki. Yeah. I can do that.” He gave a slightly embarrassed laugh, but looked interested when the other wolf mentioned his father. “Oh, yes, that is my father all right,” Rakurai agreed with a smile and an admiring look in his eyes. “He doesn’t like to talk much. Celtic gets that from him.” That earned him an immediate glare from his brother, and Rak relented. “Oh, sorry, Celt. You know I’m just joking.”

Abashed, Rakurai looked back to Oki. “Don’t take it personally. He gets so wrapped up in his duties that he doesn’t pay attention to much else. He—” But whatever else he was going to say about Goth was cut off when he noticed the steam rolling off of Shuusui’s body. The silver-eyed wolf watched her for a moment, blinking. “You do realize that you’re steaming, right?” he asked her. “I hope that’s some kind of magic, or else…” He didn’t know what to think.

[Oki]

((It's fine :3))

The steady flowing water felt good as it rushed over his head and down his front and back. He could feel that his skin was still warm, giving off heat rapidly even though it was in contact with something cold. Although technically cooled off to a more comfortable temperature, the constant cold of the icy water was nice and if no one else was around, he could probably fall asleep. Leaning his head back, the water ran over his face and only his muzzle stuck out from the curtain of water. He could still hear nonetheless and he heard what Rakurai said about his preferred stay in the water.

"True, my good wolf. I shall get out in due time, then I will not smell anymore." Oki spoke through a grin, the others probably finding it an odd site to see the muzzle speaking with the water covering the rest of his face. Resting the back of his head on a rock, his nose twitched as the coolness of the water was just behind it. His whole body was relaxed against the wet rocks while his limbs stretched and relaxed, limp against his body. When his sister introduced them both, the large black male attempted to repeat both of their names. Why is it my name that's always messed up?, Oki kept within his mind with an inward sigh. "Long "ee" sound; Ooka-mee-mah-roo...", he then went on to tell them to call him by his nickname rather than his full name. While he spoke, he momentarily withdrew his head from the water to look at them. Returning the nod back to the mute and after he finished, Oki leaned back for a little while longer, though couldn't help but smile at Rak's joke. His head this time wasn't completely behind the waterfall and he kept eye contact with his new acquaintances. All's he could do was give a gentle shake of his head and idly waved his paw in the air, "It's fine, I understa-...what?", he asked when Rakurai cut himself off.

Following his eyes, he noticed Shu was steaming like a tea-kettle. Having not noticed it before, it really didn't catch his attention anymore. Of course, he knew what she usually does and her mannerisms were and he didn't think twice about most things with her.

Meanwhile, Shuusui gave a nod in acknowledgement to Rakurai when he pronounced her name right and giggled when she pronounced Oki's name wrong. She sat by as the two males did their short exchange of this Goth character. Shuusui knew now who he was, but still didn't have the experience of meeting him to understand what fully was going on. Almost instinctively, steam was rising from her form and didn't really notice it. When the attention was moved to her, lavender eyes widened. Though, nonchalantly, she looked down at herself and pivoted her neck to look behind her to find, that infact she was steaming. Shrugging, she responded, "Oh, I guess I am." Heavily debating on whether to turn this into a joke or not, it was hard for her to hold back a smile. Tails twitching from one of her sides to the other, Shu continued, "Magic..., she lifted a paw to shoulder level and held it paw pad up. With a small spark, a gentle flame hovered above it, "...yes." Shuusui looked at the male pair in a whimsical way as she spoke, almost as if she was the proverbial magician. Meanwhile, Oki just continued to sit in the water, rolling his eyes.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Felypsa]

oOc| and again. muse is at an all-time low, I'm afraid.

Magic indeed, and Rakurai relaxed. “Oh, all right. That makes sense.” She was a fire wolf of some kind, she just had an interesting way of using it. He glanced around and reached up to scratch at his ear, in an antsy way. “I’d demonstrate what I can do, but it’d be dangerous since we’re so close to water, and Oki’s still in it,” he explained, even though no one asked him to demonstrate his. “It’s kind of electric, so…wouldn’t want to give him a nasty shock, you know?”

Celtic, however, was becoming less and less impressed with his older brother’s attempts to socialize with these two, and he stepped forward to butt Rakurai in the flank, none too gently. Rakurai looked over at him with a slight frown, before reading the discontent and impatience in his indigo eyes. Celtic could definitely be very expressive with his face to make up for his inability to speak. Rakurai knew this particular expression well, and he let out a sigh.

“We should probably go…not that this isn’t fun or anything, but we…” He paused, clearly trying to think up an excuse for where they had to be, “um, we have to meet our father. We promised.” They wouldn’t argue with what the beta said. Rak personally thought that Celt was being a big baby about this, but hey, maybe he could find Pagan somewhere and the twins could frolic off together. Rakurai gave an apologetic look to Shu and Oki. “It was nice meeting you, though,” he added.

He turned to nod at Celtic and started to step away when a voice rang out: “Leaving so soon, little brother?”

Rakurai froze in his tracks and looked around, but he already knew the voice and knew whom it belonged to. “Oh, hell,” he uttered.

“Oh, hell,” the voice mimicked in a mocking tone, cleraly having heard that even though Rakurai had spoken in a low voice. From the shadows of a tree, another pure black wolf stepped, his draconic wings folded flat against his back. Dark blue eyes roamed over Rakurai, Celtic, and then idly snapped over to Oki and Shu. The wolf wasn’t too imposing and had a rather vulpine appearance in his long face and strangely pointed ears. Also in the cocky mischief dancing in those eyes.

“Not too glad to see me, eh?” Kruor said cheerfully. “Brother, you wound me.” Rakurai glared at him. “You’re not my brother,” he said flatly. Kru affected a look of shock. “No? My father is the same as yours. Different bitch got pregnant, I guess, but hey, the blood is still there. Has this brute been introducing himself as the heir to the beta?” Kruor asked, suddenly directing his attention to Oki and Shu. “Because, technically, he’s wrong. I’m the oldest son around these parts.” Now, Kruor had zero interest in becoming beta of a pack—negative interest, even—but it got Rakurai’s goat whenever he brought it up. “By the way, lovely lady, I’m Kruor,” he said to Shu, dipping his head and dropping her a roguish wink.

Rakurai fumed. He really did hate the mysterious half-brother who had showed up out of nowhere, claiming that Goth was his father. And he hated the way that Kru talked so casually about his mother. Raven would never stand for it, and neither would Rak. “Get the hell out, Kru,” he snarled, hackles raising. “Before I make you.”

[Oki]

((It's fine Fely :3 You've made it quite interesting xD I gotta say))

Thought this would fit well with Kruor walking in xP

]Extinguishing the small flame that hovered above her paw with the flick of a wrist, Shuusui set her paw back on the ground, completing the dismount of her performance. "Aye, sir." She gave a wink to the male, taking advantage of his formerly startled state. Finally then, the steam slowly dissipated and stopped rising off of her. Now dry as a hot summer day without a week of rain, she shook herself out, tingly sensations of being dry coursing over her skin.

Electric? Ears perking and whiskers twitching, Oki rose out from his resting state and his makeshift 'spa'. Blinking, he turned to face Rakurai. A few ideas popped into his head at that moment, not knowing whether to instigate further with more jokes or to reveal it now. Sitting up in the water now, his mind was fighting and wrestling over itself of how to reveal he had similar qualities. Buying himself more time, he then suddenly wanted to get out of the water. Of course, if at anytime he wanted to demonstrate, he needed to be clear of the water, or else something bad might happen. Jumping from one shallow rock to the other, he finally made it to the bank and pulled himself up to the grassy top. Shaking himself off, the water flew along with the flapping of his wings. Finishing his shimmying, his fur poofed a little as it was a little damp still and moved to sit down beside his sister. Interested greatly now in the sons of the Beta's, he was about to speak about himself further when Rakurai hesitantly spoke of their departure. Hesitating himself, Oki didn't want them to go.

At the mention of electric, she didn't even have any time before her brother got up out of the water and shook himself off behind her. "'Ey, 'ey! Don't get me all wet, I just got done drying myself off", she lifted a wing to protect herself from the water that flew off of him. Shu humped lightly when he sat down next to him and shook out her wing at him, giving a playful frown.

Oki could tell that Rakurai was leaving impulsively rather than knowing where he was going. Unfortunately, he missed the gesture that Celtic gave to him, while Shuusui didn't. Moving to put on his two belongings, he interjected, hoping to stall the two for a few seconds more. "Hold up...mind if we come along? I'm sure Shuusui wouldn't mind...", he went to look at Shuusui, wanting to ask her if it would be alright, but then the voice came from the forest, off in the direction where he was looking. Shu turned to see what it was as well. Watching the figure emerge, right off the bat, he figured the assumed new male and Rak knew each other, well more than that, they were siblings.

Watching the small family fued go on between them, both Oki and Shuusui grew a dislike for the unknown male already, by the way he spoke and of his family. He sounded much too arrogant. Oki frowned, and so did his sister. When the male introduced himself as Kruor and most specifically to Shuusui, she scoffed at him, closing herself to him while Oki gave him a dirty look. "Since when are you synonymous with 'these parts'? I've never seen you before, I don't smell anything familiar about you... trespasser." Oki spat, knowing full well when someone was intruding on Shinkou lands or not. And he should, he's a part of the border patrol, a Reku. Getting this far on his bad side already, he didn't hesitate on what he did next. Sparks instantly began to dance around his body and when he lifted a foreleg, the sparks collected and raced towards his rising paw. Pointing in the direction of Kruor, his paw was limp until with a flick upwards and with all the sparks collected at his paw, a bolt of lightning was sent towards the male. Though purposefully missing, the winged male looked at the distasteful one that was all black, seeing the tree behind him with a stained mark, flames simmering on it. Eyes portraying his displeasure, Shuusui could tell that he was angered. Contrary to his emotions, he spoke casually, "Better do what he says, mate... I don't take too kindly to trespassers." With that, he tightened his muffler around his neck and buckled Scintillea to his back.

[/blockquote]

((Lol, I can just see Oki and Kruor having a standoff in the middle of the street in an old western town..."This town ain't big enough for the two of us"))

[Felypsa]

oOc| sorry, I edited your post to change the youtube link to a normal link, because it was stretching the page and I hate that x__x

Kruor turned to Oki when he spoke out, but seemed entirely amused by the other wolf’s accusing commentary. In fact, he laughed out loud when Oki called him a “trespasser” with all the bitterness as if Kru had committed a serious crime like murder. “Are you serious?” he asked the other, shaking his head. “You need to loosen up, fellow. I’m just here visiting my long-lost father. You know, your precious Goth.” He raised his brows. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

The electric attack was too fast for Kru to react to, but he turned to look at the tree with a blink. “Holy crap, you people are crazy,” he said, looking back at Oki. “I didn’t even get a chance to explain myself. Who the hell shoots first and asks questions later?” He turned to Rakurai then with round, faux-innocent eyes. “Aw, Raki, pwease explain to the big bad wolfie here that I didn’t mean any harm. I-I don’t want to get in twouble, he scares me so bad.”

Even though Rakurai’s own temper was rising up toward his obnoxious half-brother, he did know that his father would not have wanted to bring Kruor to any harm. Kru was still hanging around so that Goth could get to know him, to better understand him and what he had been through. Personally, Rakurai thought it was a waste of time, but he knew he wouldn’t win by arguing with his father. Oki’s sudden, rash attack made Rakurai wince.

“Oki, stand down,” he ordered, then added, “Please.” This was, unfortunately, a family affair. “Kruor, stop being an asshole and go away,” he said to the other. “You’re a guest of my father, but you aren’t an official member of the pack, so you can’t just do whatever the hell you want. Okay?” His eyes narrowed on him. “And if you disobey, it’ll be me you deal with.” He didn’t want Kruor to think that Rakurai would have someone else fight his battles. He looked around for Celtic and saw that the mute young wolf was standing to one side, watching expressionlessly. What did he think of all this? Kruor was leaving him alone, at least. Rakurai would probably lose it if the older male bullied him.

Kruor responded with a loud, ugly laugh. “You know, that was what I had always missed, growing up,” he commented. “A younger brother that I could beat up on. Rakurai, don’t strain yourself, you’ll pull a muscle.” He glanced over at Oki then with wide eyes, as if surprised to see him still there. “Hey, can you leave? You’re annoying and in my space.”

[Oki]

((Ah, it wasn't stretching for me x3 but that's ok, I understand))

Already bubbling inside, Oki didn't like this other male's attitude, especially with the way he spoke. Shuusui was just as bad, though she was surprised that her brother was the one to break first and not her. She even knew that her temper would fly off the handle quicker than his. What was it that set him off so quickly? It was clear that Rakurai didn't like him either, but them being siblings, it was probably a mutual distaste they held against each other. He doubted that they regarded each other as brothers.

"Aye, I'm serious... I am Okamiimaru Doashi of Shinkou and you can't go tramping through our lands when it isn't your home and order those who live here around... I can see why Rakurai is the heir and not you." His paws were flying as he pointed to himself, then gesturing around the area, then to Kruor, then Rak then back to Kruor. Right now, he believed that Rakurai was more capable than Kruor and he knew for sure Wyndbain wouldn't approve of Kruor succeeding Goth. And from what he heard, they don't even share the same mother and right now, Rakurai's and Celtic's Mother and Father lived within Shinkou and they should be the true heirs. Furthermore, it irked him on a deep level to see males he didn't like try to flirt with his sister. Though, he knew that she didn't like him either and if it would happen again, Shuusui would take care of things herself on that matter.

Rash as it was, Oki couldn't help the impulse of trying to get the other to am-scray or at least stand down with his arrogance. Fisting his front paws, Oki glared at the male, resisting to show his fangs too early. "Obviously I do with you; you're not deserving of much respect by me as of right now." Not only with how Kruor was acting but how he acted towards his comrades. He didn't care if they were family or not, Oki could feel the dark winged male's latent, malignant nature. Though not having much time to say or do much else, he did however scoff at the male's acting to be innocent. When Rakurai told him to stand down, adding please, Oki couldn't help but comply. Loosening a little, he looked over at the Beta's son and silently gave him a reluctant affirmative. "I would still give him the what-for", Oki fumed to himself.

Meanwhile, Shuusui, sat silently to Oki's side, not liking what was happening much either. She still hasn't lost her cool, despite how much she agreed with Oki and how much Kruor seemed to think that he could do anything he wanted even though he had no place to be doing such. Though, he still thought he could, trying to order her brother away when he had no such power to do so.

Oki snapped, barking at Kruor, angered not only to hear him say such a thing again, but with his expression. "Your space?! That's it! Let me at 'im! I'll pull your muscles!" With that, he jumped up, but only to be stopped by a death grip on his tails. "Oki, no!", Shuusui shouted, with her the one that was gripping his tails. Losing her grip, he reached out with her forepaws to hold onto his hind legs. Infuriated, he ignored his sisters attempts to stop him and kept trying to pull himself forward. Visually straining, he managed to pull another step forward before he decided to shift into his anthro form. Lightning sparks danced around him and within two seconds he had fully transformed. Now with his sisters grip gone, he just about jumped into the air when he felt a tug on his wings. Then his arm felt something loop around it and begin to pull him back.

Shuusui too had shifted into her anthro form and had gotten her hold on her bother once more. Holding onto his arm, he swept her hind paw under his legs, causing him to fall onto his back. Having pushed him to the ground, Shu hopped onto Oki and held him down with her weight and her paw-hands gripped around his wrists. Both of them struggling equally, Oki tried to pull himself up, "Let go of m-!", he yelled. But then Shuusui yelled back at him, "Stop it! You heard what Rakurai said!... You can't go starting fights...", her voice then quieted down to a whisper that only Oki could hear, "I know this half-blood is being a prick, but we can't go fighting others who are related to Goth... even if he does deserve a clobbering, we just can't. We have to stay quiet, you're giving him what he wants." Oki's struggled diminished as Shu went on explaining. Eventually he stopped and looked up at his sister, finally, though reluctantly accepting her words. Both of them motionless, she got off of him and he sat up. Both returning to their feral forms, Shuusui in a wisp of fire and Oki in a shroud of sparks, the male feathered wolf looked at Rakurai, "Forgive me..." From there on, he tried his best not to make eye contact with Kruor and stay silent whenever he spoke, ignoring him. Perhaps it was the more mature side of Shuusui that happened to persuade her little brother, but nonetheless, she had managed to keep herself composed while he couldn't. This was something completely opposite for the both of them.

[/blockquote]

[Felypsa]

oOc| yeah I don't know why it was doing that for me ><;

The truth was, no one had agreed that Kruor was any sort of heir. Not Goth or Raven, not Wyndbain. It was just that Rakurai was getting hyped up and worried now that there was an older son around…and Kru’s only interest in it was in amusing himself in how much it bothered Rakurai. Rak’s other siblings, like Celtic, knew that it was a somewhat overrated title that Rakurai was irrationally proud of at this point, which was why the mute brother was cringing slightly at this display. But to make it even better for Kru, Oki was just as adamant and serious about this yet-inherited title, and stood by Rakurai absolutely.

“Oh, Rak, you managed to find yourself a number one follower already, I see,” Kru commented with a ruthless grin. It was too good already, but it got even better when Oki started at him, and changed his form. Kruor blinked as Oki was suddenly standing on two feet instead of four and had hand-like paws. “And he’s a total freak too,” Kru mentioned to Rakurai. Not that Kru had never seen an anthro before—he was a couple centuries old himself and had traveled quite a bit and seen a lot—but he wasn’t expecting to see one in the very traditional, snobby pack that Shinkou was.

Before Kruor could rise to Oki’s new challenge, however, his sister changed as well and, of all things, held him back. The roguish wolf stared at the other sibling conflict occurring right under his nose, and after a moment of listening to them argue, he started laughing, his whole body shaking with the sound.

When they had ceased to argue and returned to their wolf forms, Kruor was still laughing, but he finally came to a stop and shook his head, tears glistening in his eyes. “That was beautiful, both of you. Thank you for that, that made my whole day,” he said to them with a wide grin. “Aw, buddy, you should see I’m quite harmless. I mean, if it was a fight I wanted, you’d be able to tell.” Kruor winked. He might not be bursting with flame or electricity but he had a few tricks up his fur (so to speak) for when taunting and mocking was not enough. Fighting was not his favorite activity—he would rather sneak and dodge—but if it came down to it, he knew how to be a threat of his own.

“Be nice to your freaks,” Kruor said to Rakurai. “I’m rather fond of them now.”

The whole display was just enough to make Rakurai want to dig a hole and stick his head in it. Celtic’s overall disapproving, silent glare did not help things, in part because Rak could not help feeling that his younger brother was glowering at him as much as Kruor. Yet there was no telling what was going on in Celtic’s mind right then.

He was equally as surprised as Kruor to see Oki and Shu transform. Like his older half-sibling, he had seen anthros before, but he had not been aware of any of them in his pack. He really did need to get out more. Of course, Kru had to be himself and call them freaks, which made Rak frown. For whatever reason, brother and sister were loyal to him, even though they had just met. In turn, Rakurai supposed he had better defend them, or else risk looking weak in front of his brother’s taunts.

“I thought the definition of ‘freak’ was someone who had lost his mother and came wandering to his father’s pack like a lost little puppy,” Rakurai replied, trying to add as much bite to his voice as he could. Unfortunately, to his dismay, Kruor just let out a loud laugh.

“No, brother, that’s a bastard, and I’m fully willing to admit I am one. Nice try, though you might want to stick to muscle and brawn. Clearly brains is not your forte, but hey, that’s okay! That’s what I’m here for.”

Rakurai just groaned. “Fine. Kruor, stay or go, but Celtic and I are leaving.” He couldn’t deal with this anymore and started to storm off deeper into the woods, Celtic hurrying to stay at his side. He was unsurprised to hear Kruor trailing after him, no doubt with another big shit-eating grin on his face. No escape; he was having too much fun.