ALAKI:
An eerie silence filled his chambers, the air holding a chill and the fire he'd started before turning in for the night had long since burnt out, leaving the Rakeebs chambers pitch black. As if the darkness had seeped into him, his sweet dreams began to sour; from loving memories of his Daughter, Friends and Tedros his mind began flashing images of the white one at him; happy, funny times, their stupid fights, irritating habits that both of them would nag each other back, all a prelude until the memories of the letter flooded his mind, the paper looking so out of place in the near empty room, the dread that filled him as he haltingly made his way towards it, picking the letter up as if the paper was coated in deadly poison and in a way it was; each word told him he wasn't good enough, not worthy of another’s lover, not worthy of anyone. He was trash, weak, pathetic. Noise began to build as the insults swirled around his mind, eyes flashed from everywhere he looked, full of pity, fear or ones that simply looked right through him. And then he saw himself, smirking mockingly, his own maw opening slowly to reveal blood soaked teeth that were slowly licked clean before the words were spoken. “Who were you to think you could protect anyone? Nobody needs you” the aspiration of himself began to laugh unmercifully as the nightmare slowly began to fade away.

Clenching his fists he felt a sharp pain in his hands and shot upright, grasping for breath and twisting around to grab the concealed dagger from underneath his bed. Sitting there wide eyed he waited for himself to adjust to the darkness, breathing heavily while his heart thundered in his chest. Calmly he closed Carolina blue eyes and ran his free hand through his hair to push away the nightmares, dark grey hand only shaking slightly as he pulled it free from the mess that was his hair while he placed the dagger back to where he kept it; others may call him paranoid, but with his temperament he was aware others often didn't take a liking to him and having weapons scattered around his chambers seemed both logical and sensible to him. Hesitantly at first and then with more confidence he rose to his feet and lazily padded over to his make-shift box where he stored all of his clothing. Reaching in he rummaged around until he found a black pair of jeans and tugged them on; moving next to one of the larger tables located alongside the training space he had within his quarters only a few paces from his bed. Scattered across the tops of the two tables were an assortment of weapons he had gathered since he'd moved to these lands, others he had made and one or two he had been gifted. Moving to the closest table he grabbed his Katana and the belt he'd adjusted so that it held the Japanese blade's sheath securely. Considering the other weapons, he quickly concluded it would be too much effort to attach any more to him; things had been peaceful recently and as far as he was aware he hadn't pissed anyone off recently so that they'd be after him... probably.

Stepping back from the tables he made his way towards the wall that separated his training and sleeping quarters from the rest of the Rakeeb's chamber. Looking at the door his mood fell; all over the door were red marks, hand prints painted onto it's back to remind him of what happened when the white one had left him. A warning message to himself so that every time he came and went from his room he knew not to trust anyone, not to love, never to let anyone in; doing so would only hurt him, leave him open for betrayal and loss once more. Passing through the door he entered into his workshop and flinched slightly; the air was bitingly cold, the fire had burnt out there too. “Miwa!” he barked the child's name aloud, standing there in wait to give the girl a lecture again about leaving the front door open. Straining his ears he heard nothing and with a huff he turned left and pushed open the girls door and barged into her room only to find it tidy and without Miwa in it. Turning back sharply on his heels he made his way out of his cave, ignoring anyone and everyone he may have passed and left the howling caverns, hot on the girls trail. “Just wait to I find you, Gaki” he practically hissed under his breath.

ALEXANDER COLLINS:
Breathing out heavily, ghostly pale eyes noted the puff of white smoke and eyed it with amusement. The last time he had made his way to these lands it had been winter; a snow storm in fact, during which he'd almost died and lost his memories for awhile. His time within the lands were short lived, for encountering his sister whom lead a pack of his own he felt small, pathetic and came to realise that although he left the security of his parents in search of adventure, all he had achieved was becoming an useless substance abuser and gambler. Over time he had managed to stop the drinking and with even more self perseverance he had managed to give up the drugs too; the gambling and near compulsive need to throw himself into dangerous and thrilling situations was incurable. The buzz of barely escaping with his life, challenging that that others would cower in fear from... such a rush; it was safe to say the ghostly Collins was an adrenaline junky. No matter how he scolded himself and told himself he wouldn't give into such a need again, in a couple of days he'd find himself up to his neck in trouble. Just last week he'd ripped off a couple of exceptionally large loners in a card game and managed to snag himself a new set of tattooing equipment; safely wrapped up in the leather bag that hung over his shoulder. All had seemed to have gone to plan until the cards he'd been slipping into his jeans pocket decided to timely fall out and so he'd gotten the equipment he so desired for the price of a crap load of bruises.

Gingerly he rubbed a hand down the length of his left arm, poking at the more sensitive spots for the simple sake of poking bruises. Confirming that his arms was still battered and sore he sighed heavily and pushed himself up from the bolder he was rested upon; inhaling the scents around him and desperately scanning the burnt and dead lands around him in an attempt to locate where the hell he was. The air sunk of pack lands and with no idea where he was nor how to get to his sister's pack he reached the decision that for once in his life he'd have to ask for directions; as much as it hurt his pride. And so he set off, walking at a brisk pace and following his nose in hope of reaching the pack borders and finding someone willing to assist him.

As he walked he began to sing, “My tongue’s turning back, but i'll take you back” the ghostly male sang the lyrics in an upbeat fashion compared to the depressing feel the words gave. Pierced ears and face lighting up with humour; amused by his choice of lyrics and tune. “But i'll take you back, you're still the best, more or less. I guess” he continued, projecting his voice more and more as he continued forward, oblivious to anyone whom may be close enough to hear his singing. Instead of continuing the lyrics he swapped to humming a pleasant tune, his mood surprisingly light and full of good humour.

MIWA
“Move it, move it. Ladies first!” sPushing her way forward between Naniko's too kids, Miwa attempted to take the lead on the basis that she was the oldest and the most mature. Turning back she glanced at Severous and Judas, smiling sweetly towards the grey male and pulling a face at his darker brother “And when I say ladies I mean myself, not you Sev” he howled with laughter, picking up the pace and concentrating solely on running; not bothered to hear either of their responses to her little jav towards the grey boy. After having spent some time with Sev when he and herself travelled with her father to various packs in search of the evil Matteo and Gemma, she had found she quite liked the company of the grey one, or at least; he didn't annoy her as much as the rest of Naniko's lot did. So far the group had done little more then sneak out while everyone else still slept on the search of adventure; for when there were no grown-ups around there was no one to say 'no' or put a stop to their fun. Despite her fathers many warnings about sticking close to the caves if she had to leave them, the young Itou couldn't understand what her father feared; within her mind she saw herself as indestructible, for she was Miwa, daughter of Alaki, the Rakeeb of these lands and no one dared to lay a hand on her.

Bounding forwards with a show of endless energy all three youths seemed to possess, they made quick progress towards the borders. As the scent of their home lands began to fade all three hesitated and paused, three pairs of eyes staring out towards the lands that did not belong to their parent's.

Flashing a smug look to the two boys, Miwa lifted a grey paw to continue forward only to see the two brothers had beaten her to it. Frowning she let out a low growl and bounded after them, glaring at both as she finally caught up. Making their way forward they reached the a rocky ledge and peered over the side; a sharp drop was revealed, too high for the young trio to jump down without damaging themselves in the process, but beneath was a flat landscape that lead out into the lands beyond Anathema. “No way down that. Let's turn back; we're still in pack lands... but if we go any further” Sev spoke, a voice of reason amongst the three children. As she lifted her head to agree with the grey boy she spotted something, “There” she indicated to the path just off to the side that led down from the ledge to the terrain beneath them. As soon as she had pointed it out she felt regret, seeing Judas instantly head towards it and begin to descend towards the lands beneath them.

“Babies” Judas muttered loud enough for the others to hear clearly. Determined not to lose, Miwa bumped Sev's shoulder and swing her head in the direction of the trail; a non-verbal way of commanding the other to follow. As she approached the rock trail she froze slightly as she noted it's uneven and crumbling surface. But as soon as she saw the darker male before her all hesitation evaporated and she quickly made the decent, beaming with pride as she made it successfully down to the bottom having only slipped twice; once less than Sev and Judas. Once more with solid ground and grass beneath her paws, the young Itou felt confident and more secure; discovering she wasn't one for heights and unstable rocky trails.

Now that they were down there, all three spread out slightly to explore for a few minutes before re-grouping back where the rocky path had ended. “Ya find anything” she asked to two boys, noting Sev's blank expression and guessing he'd found nothing, before turning to his brother and noticing the smug look on the lads face. “What? What ya find?” she asked, curiosity flaring up. “Follow me, i'll show you...” he answered, keeping up with mysterious act.

ALAKI:
With each step his temper flared, his mind racing and conjuring up more and more dramatic and disastrous situations his daughter could of gotten herself into and worse; after following Miwa's scent out of the caves for awhile it had been joined with two of Naniko's children. There was no doubt in his mind who's stupid idea this entire thing was and when he caught her scraggly grey tale he planned to lecture the ears off her. Although he was quite possibly the worst and more irresponsible parent out there he had tried to at least teach his daughter common sense and from what he'd seen in her she was smart, adaptable and more then capable of looking after herself despite her young age. And yet, there was this damned rebellious streak of hers that liked to flare up now and then where she'd do something unbelievably stupid and the grey Rakeeb would be once more remind that his daughter was just a pup; a pup whom he neglected greatly and undoubtedly had inflicted a crappy childhood upon. Often he'd hide from the truth by telling himself that Miwa looked happy and that she didn't need him to be constantly looking over her shoulder and running her life; but without him, who did she have?

His head throbbed and he gritted his teeth, irritation practically radiating of his dark form; so caught up in the moment of storming after his defiant daughter he had left his hair unbounded, dark thick strands sprayed out behind him catching on anything and everything. One day he may eventually bring himself to cut the mess shorter, but whenever he considered how he'd look with short hair it simply disturbed him enough that he'd rather tolerate long hair then look like some mutated thing. With his right hand he tugged at the leather strip tied around his left wrist until it came undone; placing the strip and gripping it carefully with his teeth he pushed the black mass away from his face and gathered it at the top of his head; holding it up with one so that he could truss it with the other, he quickly fastened the mess into a high ponytail and then reached to his belt; unravelling the navy blue material that was wrapped around it and tying it round his head so that his fringe was kep from his face.

After having left without means of tying his hair up, the Rakeeb had quickly learned to carry a bandanna and leather strip on him at all times just in case. All the while doing this he continued forward after the young trio, noting in the back of his mind how close they were getting to the border and then planning the burial site for all three; for when he caught up to them they were all dead meat.

Before him the border drew nearer and nearer, the territory morphing from lush grass and trees into a more rocky and treacherous one as he grew closer to then edge of the Halcyon Mountain. With the grounds growing more uneven, with random towering crags and hidden drops one had to tread more carefully as they descended the mountain range too the lower landscape; which it would seem the pups had managed to successfully do somehow. No blood or obvious sign of injury littered the scent trail he followed and so he could only hope the kids were in good health and managing to navigate through the lands okay; sure, they’d all grown up on the mountain and within the caves, but as far as he knew they had little experience descending the mountain.

Padding forward he reached a ledge, but before he could peer down it he heard and all to familiar ear shattering scream. “Miwa!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, twisting his head in the direction the scream had come from, his heart racing within his chest as more screams followed it. Glancing down the ledge he judge the drop and then threw himself down to the terrain beneath it, landing heavily and loudly he rolled with the motion to lessen the impact and quickly sprang back up to his feet, pulling free his Katana and racing off in the direction the children were in.

MIWA:

Following Judas she grew impatient; the pest wouldn't give anything away despite hers and Sevs constant nagging and as they walked aimlessly forward she felt more and more tempted to take a chunk out of the darker brother and force the information out of him. Yet before she had a chance to take a bite out of him, the darker boy came to a halt with a triumphant look sat upon his face, “Look” he spoke the single word, drawing the other two attention towards a dark cave; hidden neatly out of sight where it could easily be missed by someone unless they were specifically seeking it out. Cautiously the grey duo pulled up alongside the darker boy and stared into the seemingly never-ending depth of the dark entrance. Opening her mouth it took her a few attempts to form a understandable sentence. “What's in there” she asked, not daring to look away from the cave, fearing is she did so some demon would sneak out and eat her alive.

Tense as she was, she was still curious about the haunted looking cave and wanted to know what was in it. When Judas did not respond she finally pulled her eyes away from it and pointedly looked at the male, who simply done a wolfy shrug. “Dunno, didn't go in there yet.” he explained, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips. “But I bet you two are two much of scaredy cats to go in there” instantly her hackles were up and she growled at the male “I ain't no scaredy cat. My dad's Alaki, I ain't scared of 'nothin like he is” she responded, turning to Severus and not giving the more sensible of a three a chance to say anything. “Come on, let's see who has the most balls out of all of us. Bet I do” she provoked the others, repeating the words she'd heard her father say once without truly understanding their meaning.

The game had been set and all three made their way to the cave entrance; taking it in turns to see who could go the furthest each round. Choosing to go first Miwa managed a whole ten steps before she started feeling skittish, not liking being so far away from the others. Following her Judas managed sixteen and Severus managed fourteen and so the game had began. Further and further the delved into the cave, growing more and more cocky as their sight adjusted to the darkness. With each round Miwa found herself falling behind the younger boys and so when her next turn came she kicked of and ran forward at full speed, laughing as she passed the boys at the top of her lungs.

Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two.... twenty-seven.... thirty. She was now tied with Judas's best score and the sense of triumph filled her; full of confidence she continue forward, no longer fearing the darkness that surrounded her. “Thirty-five, thirty-six” she began to count aloud and turned back to see if she could see the others still and hit something solid.... and furry. With a loud yelp she jumped back and was pleased to find the two lads having followed behind her, one standing on either side of her as the trio tried desperately to make out whatever she had ran into.

Movement sounded before them and yet no matter how they strained their eyes all they saw was darkness. So far into the tunnel no light reached them any more; and judging from the fact whatever it was was moving and in a heavy footed manner the kids soon realised that whatever it was was big and that sticking around wasn't in their best interest. Slowly Miwa stepped back, her body stiff with fear, her slim frame shaking slightly as she repressed the whimpers that begged to be released. The managed a few steps back before whatever lay before them moved again, the sound of sniffing caused her body to freeze, eyes huge as they stared into the black depths before here. Then the beast released a low, throat rawr and she screamed at the top of her lungs and turned tail and fled; followed up by a screaming Severus or Judas, she wasn't all that sure.

ALAKI:

Pain erupted in his lungs, his thighs complaining at the sudden pace he was setting but he cared little; something had happened to his little girl, his daughter whom he should be protection, whom he should be there for and wasn't. Making a sharp turn he stumbled a step as he brought himself to a stop, pin pointing the screams coming from a cave hidden along the rocky crag, staring at it only for a second he started to go in after the kids on to see the panic stuck forms of the three children emerging the cave, relief flooding him and his muscles starting to relax until he saw what had caused their distress. Emerging from the darkness of the cave was a black coated bear, the beast padding forward in a somewhat sleepy manner, irritation and anger radiation from it's dark form as it continued after the pups, only pausing as it's eyes fell upon the Rakeeb. “You lot, get the fucking hell out of here this instant” he commanded the children, not bothering to watch his language, nor bothering to check if the children had listened. Taking up a fighting stance his eyes remained fixed upon the bear all the while his mind raced to find a way to kill such a beast armed only with a Katana, for there wasn't enough time for him to shift to his Secui form and yet he simply wasn't confident a blade would be able to deal with the bear. Still, with the children present or close by he had to at least try something, if only to give the kids a chance to get away.

The main problem would be the range; could he successfully strike a vital point on the bear before one of the creature's powerful paws struck him? Despite being a smaller species of bear, the black one before him did not look stupid; grumpy and just woken up maybe, but from the easy confidence the creature seemed to hold himself with the Rakeeb could only guess that things were gonna get messy and painful fast. Inching forward he watched as the black bear yawned, it's mouth lined with saliva in a grotesque manner and then the beast stood and released a harsh growl before falling back to all fours and charged forward; leaving him no more time to think, only time to do or die.

Holding his ground he watched the other approach, waiting for the creature to enter his range; no point recklessly going for the other, better to keep his cool and not slip up, or so he hoped. Closer and closer the bear reached towards him, the growling emitted from it's maw becoming increasingly louder and harsher. There! Stepping forward he dipped the katana's tip down and swung the blade upward in an arch, but as he felt the edge connect the creature moved too the left, his blade striking shallowly against the bears chest. As if in slow motion his arms continued to move in the arc and he desperately tried to bring them down quickly to defend himself. Kicking hard on the ground he jumped back and felt claws snag and drag their way through his right thigh, the wound burning and causing the young samurai to hiss in pain.

“Dad!” a high pitched squeal sounded behind him and horror filled him; they hadn't left, merely moved a few paces away judging from Miwa's voice. Ignoring the pain in his leg he jumped forward and caught the bears shoulder with the tip of his blade, once more not moving out of the wasn't fast enough and finding himself a matching set of claw marks upon left thigh. Pain seared through him and his legs shook slightly, he wanted to collapse give in; the bear was too much, too strong and he was too weak, to pathetic. The nightmare flared up within his mind once more, taunting him, demeaning him, informing him of how worthless and weak he was.

“Dad... Dad.. dad...” the pleading voice of his daughter reached him and then he realised; if he lost now, if he gave up and didn't bother trying... who would save the kids? No one knew they had left, no one would be able to get to them quickly, maybe even find the place. Staring at the bear he squashed all fear he felt about facing the creature, killed all the insecurity that had been building within him for such a long time and he steadied his blade and when the bear charged, so did he. Through his hands he could feel his blade connect upon the bear, his eyes watched as it swiped across the black beasts face, slicing through it's eye and the following spray of blood; licking his lips he looked down smugly at the beast and was then thrown to the side, head smacking against the rocky wall and his body falling limp. Then the darkness swallowed him and for once, within his mind …. there was silence.

ALEXANDER:

Humming as he went, the pale coated male traipsed leisurely through the dead lands, completely dumbfounded as to where he was and wondering why it was taking him so long to reach the borders of the pack he had scented awhile ago. Padding slowly in the direction of the packs scent he moved mindlessly until the scent intensified, clearing his throat he was about to howl for someone's assistance when screaming follow by a whole hell of a commotion. Hesitation and anxiety pinned him to the spot; whatever was happening was happening within the pack lands and despite it sounding bad there was no way of him knowing what was going down until he crossed the border and if things weren't as serious as they seemed he'd have to do a whole lot of explaining.

Stupidity struck him and he crossed the border, picking up speed and following the sounds of cries and screams. Soon he found himself running; the smell of blood filled the air and his body filled with excitement and expectation. Although unarmed the ghostly male was confident in his hand to hand combat and so he'd lend a hand one way another; or so he thought. Stumbling upon the scene his eyes fell upon the form of a dark male in a growing pool of blood, a bear poised over him maw open to make the final blow, while lingering in the background were three distressed children. Bending down he felt for the largest rock he could find, grabbed it and threw it towards the bear; earning himself a welcoming growl and the bears complete attention.

Anxiously he watched as the bear pulled itself of the fallen male and seemed to stare at him then charged; so he did the only thing that he could think of. He rank like hell and when the bear caught up to him, he dodged and doubled back upon himself heading back toward the fallen male and repeating as such in an desperate attempt to tire the creature out; although only succeeding in frustrating the bear further.

Eventually the bear tired of the Collin's game and stopped between Alex and the fallen warrior; the bears attention solely on Alex and so when the male seemed to wake up he relaxed a little in the knowledge he wouldn't have to take on a bear unarmed in his optime form alone; yet the male started shifting, causing and agitated frown to settle upon the pale male's face until he realised that the other must either be unarmed to or something along those lines. A lot of guess work going on, but with nothing more to go on he decided he would continue distracting the bear until the other had a chance to shift; and then see if the dark male would return the same courtesy. In his optime form he was useless, in secui he could at least be of some help... probably.

Foolishly though he'd paid to much attention to the other and found himself flat on his back with a bear looming above him before he could actually do anything. So much for being helpful; you're just adding to the body count.... the single thought came to him, followed by a single word. “Bollocks”.

Then the alarm went up; caw single crow caw'ing loudly over the scene was soon joined by another. Staring at the crows he couldn't help but wonder why the hell they were making so much noise.