[Falco]

The moon was a sliver hanging low in the night sky, barely lending its light to the sparse grass at the god-child’s paws as he trod along toward wherever his dark-furred sister slept. He walked softly, but not so quietly as to startle her in his approach and reached his paw to prod at her. They were young, still, but he was growing into that massive paw; he could do so much damage to her, but he was gently firm as he shook her.

“Aves, wake up,” He whispered over her shoulder. “I have…news. It’s about mother.”

Aves enjoyed her sleep. Perhaps a little too much. Sure she was young and needed plenty of rest to grow, and roses know how desperately she needed size. But as of late getting up was becoming harder and harder. The one sure fire way to raise the mini beast was to hear her brother's voice. Falco always knew what was best for her, and he did not approve of laziness.  When first jostled Aves pressed her eyes shut. But the voice that followed caused her head to lift. Green eyes looked up at her brother with some concern.

"Mother? What happened?"

Falco looked at his sister in that silent, knowing way. Beyond the safety of the borders, the wall where the Youth were kept tucked away, a war with Tortuga raged on. Heathens! Ragnarock! Blah, blah, blah. Honestly the boy wasn’t finicky about the details. He suspected it was all bullshit. If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t be here. He let the silence hang on a foreboding note.

His silence was deafening, only the incessant chirp of insects filled the dark night air. Why didn't he say something? Was she supposed to guess? Aves considered it for a fleeting moment, but she didn't want to say something stupid, thus subjecting herself to correction. The young wolf pulled herself up to a sitting position. Aves looked concerned, cocking her head slightly.

"Falco? What's wrong?"

“You know what’s wrong,” he responded. They both knew that a war raged beyond their borders. That mother left to fight in Tortuga. Apparently, he needed to spell it out for her. “She died, killed in the war. They say she tried to protect the Red Rose from a fire. Sounds convenient doesn’t it? I can already hear them whispering about replacing her. They can’t wait to install a new power and undermine ours.”

Her breath and voice were taken away. The mortality of their gods was always taught, that's was the seuor was for. But the young one's mind  never accepted the thought it could happen to her rose...no, her mother. And she had no reason not to believe her Falco. Aves racked her brain now, trying to remember her voice, her smell, anything she could hang on too. But in this moment her thoughts slipped away like sand in an hourglass. She just stared into her brother's eyes, ears back and eyes wide. She needed direction, and Falco was always there to provide it.

Falco’s piercing eyes met his sister’s and they stared in silence for a long moment, hers a shocked expression, and his watchful. Then he looks away, into the cool dark night, as if avoiding the sight of a terrible accident.

“Why do you look so surprised? She was the Warlord,” he muttered in disgust. “Did no one tell you war was dangerous?”

"I know, it's just..." Aves swallowed a lump in her throat, "I just thought she was..." She looked away trying to contain her composure. "I know Roses are not invincible. I just never thought I'd lose mom."  A part of the wolf wanted to lean forward, to find comfort in a quick cuddle, but she was unsure how well that would fly over.

“She was a warrior, she died a warrior,” Falco responds coldly. “Or she died betrayed. I suppose we’ll never know. They weren’t happy with her, I suspect that much.”

He lets the implications of what he’s saying hang. Perhaps Aves was too stricken with grief to think straight. That was fine if she followed his lead, which she would. She always did. She didn’t want the responsibility, the weight, of paving her own way. Following was always easier.

“We leave. Tonight. Right now.”

The ultimatum was enough to snap Aves back to the hear and now. Falco's words were now coming to the front of her mind. With their mother gone, he seemed to imply they might be the next heads to the chopping block. Was that even logical? She pressed her eyes shut for a moment. Why wouldn't it be? Her brother had no need to lie.

"But how? We don't know the way out, I've never gone into the trees. What if we get caught?"

“There are breaks in the maze from the old fires. It’s not easily recovering. That being said, if anyone tries to stop us…”

If anyone tried to stop them, Falco would kill them, and what could they do? So many of their people were fighting a war. Their numbers were thin and he was a big boy. They were spawn of the Warlord. They could manage well enough.

“The alternative is staying here and dying,” his head gets closer to hers as he studies her. “Mother may have represented honor and there is no honor in lying down and dying, no matter what the filth of the Valley tell themselves.”

Falco didn't need to finish his sentence. Outside of spars and play Aves had never been in a true fight, but she also felt the two of them could hold their own, as long as the deck wasn't stacked against them.
The wolf had always been devote, the perfect child of a god. The phrase 'filth of the valley' rubbed her the wrong way. She was of the valley, down to the blood in her veins. Aves tried to hide this thought as quickly as possible, especially as he leaned closer.

"Okay."

Falco watched his sister carefully. She trusted him, but her hesitation proved to him he may not be allowed the privilege of feeling the same. He disliked how far she was from enthusiastic regarding his plan and perhaps it was a sign of doubt. He would kill her first if she showed signs of dissent at the borders; if she was going to foil his plan and get him murdered she wasn’t going to live to feel anything about it.

He turned and left her, expecting she would follow, leading her towards their escape, “Let’s go. Now.”

The light was dim, the moon not in her full glory and it seemed that even the stars has retreated. Perhaps busy guiding their mother. But Falco's eyes were clear through the gloom. The bore right through her, a talent they had had since they first opened. Could they see right into her mind? Could he know? For now, she wouldn't know. He turned his back on her and she got to her feet, padding after him as he spoke.

Green eyes wandered around her, realizing this was the last time she would see her home. She'd never see her other siblings again. Or her parents. Her mother. Aves' mind wandered. Could she be proud of a mother who died proudly protecting a fellow god? Or...her brother's suggestion crept into consciousness. Could she have possibly been betrayed? Could they be next if it wasn't for Falco's intuition? Eyes hardened at the thought.

]Their steps were silent as air as they followed warn trails, the scent of the sweat on their paws mixing with the sweat of many before. The night cool, dark, and perfect for escape. Occasionally a breeze rustled the foliage covering any sounds their steps might have made. Falco had an easy, liquid gait, each long leg effortlessly carrying his bulk forward without any sense of hesitation. He did not linger on what they were about to leave behind the way Aves did. There was only forward momentum and he would seize it; regrets bogged one down.

No one stopped them. Ragnarok, someone had cried once, and supposedly the whole of the valley would be swallowed up with the chaos and all of them would die but some of them would be blessed to move on to the next life. That’s what they told themselves to not fear death, to think of it as something better, but Falco doubted. No one went into death peacefully.

He had gained some feet on Aves before he noticed the young she-wolf who had seen them and paused in her tracks. Her mixed eyes fixated on Aves for she had somehow missed even Falco’s glaring white fur in the dark, a luck of the draw. Her mouth opened slightly. Falco spun back suddenly, and the she-wolf’s mismatched eyes darted to notice the sudden bulk of his form before her shocked expression went back to Aves. She was likely to ask them an innocent question, not stop them, not raise an alarm. Her tongue began to shape the words.

Falco seized her by the throat, his upper jaw crushed into the soft pillow of her neck fur, but his lower jaw latched against her jugular. He could almost fit the whole thing into his mouth. He pressed down with all his might, choking the air out of her, throttling her voice from speaking or screaming. The bigger youngling used all his weight to press her against the ground and in the darkness his eyes shot up to Aves. Run, they silently screamed at her.

Aves started getting lost in her thoughts, obviously not as disciplined as her brother. Pinning a particular thought down was as impossible as counting the stars above them. One moment it was memories at the lake. The next it was the old stories of her faith. Her faith? Could it be hers anymore? One does not turn away from religion so easily when godliness dwelled in her very blood. In this time turning to the guidance of the Roses would be a comfort. But one rose had wilted. The others had choked her out. There was no comfort there.

A bug flew into her ear. The surprise brought her back to the real world, flipping her head to dislodge it. It was then Aves discovered how far behind she had fell. Her pace increased to catch up, and just as she made it behind him he froze. It didn't take long to see why. Aves froze in turn, not recognizing the female. The stranger was about to speak when Falco took things into his own hands. His sister watched as he easily overtook the potential threat. Her first instinct was to help, to make sure he was in no danger. But there was no need. Those piercing eyes turned to hers and it was easy for one who had grown up with him to read his command.

Run.

There was no hesitation. Be it trust or be it the fact she was witnessing him crush a smaller wolf in his jaws like it was nothing was hard to discern, but she flew towards the burnt remains of the woods. Falco could track her, she had no doubt, but she only hoped he would follow soon.

Falco hadn’t meant to kill her, only to disable her, and when he left her choked out unconscious body he thought that she would wake later. She never would, her trachea crushed in his jaws, but Falco would never know that. As soon as she lost consciousness, two pinpricks of blood on her throat, the young wolf dropped her and bolted after his sister. His heart was racing, pounding in his ears, and he tasted the tiniest bit of blood against the tip of his tongue. His footsteps were no longer quiet, but it didn’t matter; he was certain now more than ever that they would escape because he had done the worst and now he knew how to keep himself from hesitating. Now he knew how to win.

She wasn't sure how long she had been running on her own. She felt like it had been forever. But Aves trusted Falco could handle himself, trusted he would find her. And he did. Pounding pawsteps alerted her she was no longer alone and a quick look over her shoulder told her the hapless female last scene dangling from her brother's jaws had no opportunity to alert anyone else. Aves had never been more relieved to too see the hawk eyed hulk. It was clear steady stealth was not the game plan anymore. Together they raced to freedom.