Will'o's ears flicked to and fro for a moment as he listened intently to his surrounding before poking the end of his muzzle around the edge of the cavern's opening to sniff the air. The young shifter currently in his more feral form of a sleek black fox made use of his ability to blend into the shadows as he snuck into the cavern shared by the adults of the pack...well used to be shared by all of them. At this time his father Jack, like the twins themselves, had been banished to find lodgings in the surrounding cave systems.
Still, that was not the issue today! Today he was going to find Morana and make that damn witch pay for taking their mother away from them!!
His nostrils twitched as he nosed about for any fresh scent of his mother and finding nothing sadly, Will'o paused when he came across a container of...something. It wasn't quite a liquid nor was it fully solid but by the gods did it smell good! Surely this was the witch's lunch! Well since his mission to find Morana seemed to be a bust for the moment at least he could ruin her day! Without another moment of thought, the young fox snatched the container up by the slender neck of the vial bolting from the cave in search of his twin to share this treat with.
Wisp was currently amusing himself, in his non-feral form, by chewing on some bones. If he could just get through them, he could get to that sweet sweet marrow inside! He had realized, after a while, that there was nothing he could do to get the witch to let him and Will'o see their mother, so why freak out? Shifting around, Wisp tried a new tactic to crack the bone open. He'd hidden away in a cave, escaping the heat of the day, but still had a good view out the entrance to the desert beyond.
He paused, looking up and at the horizon, watching in case the hunter came back. He'd made sure to tell their dad about her, in case she came back, so he could help fight her off. Large ears flicked before he went back to gnawing on the bone. Wisp heard something, though, looking up to see who approached. "Will'o, what've you got there?" He licked his teeth, then went back to chewing on the bone a bit more.
Will'o padded his way inside the cave he shared with his twin before carefully sitting his prize down so that he could shift. "Don't know but it smelled really good so I brought it so we can share!" He studied the cork in the neck of the vial trying to figure out if he could get his teeth around it without breaking the neck of the bottle. Rhiannon's rage at her missing lunch would be nothing if he accidentally broke one of her crystal bottles! Hmmm, maybe he should have stayed in his feral form to try to open it? He couldn't have answered Wisp then though! Still, he could always just shift back!
Watching curiously, Wisp stopped chewing on the bone he had to tilt his head. After a moment, he got up and went over to sniff, then pawed at the bottle a bit. "Where'd you get it?" He had to admit, it did smell good. But with its origin being a mystery... He could see Will'o struggling with it and considered how to open it, before looking at the bone he'd been chewing on. A rock nearby caught Wisp's eyes and he went and picked it up in his mouth, carrying it over to drop on the bone until it finally broke in two. Wisp had to resist the urge to get the sweet sweet marrow out, instead grabbing the part with a sharp point and bringing it back over to Will'o, offering it to pry the cork out.
"Rhiannon," Will'o responded absently as he tried to nose the vial open. When Wisp brought over the broken bone he yapped happily, "Oh that's perfect! You're so smart Wisp! Here, I'll shift and hold it while you poke and pull!"
Not waiting to hear the response, Will'o once again resumed his fox form. It was easier to tuck the vial between his front leg and chest while wrapping both paws around it firmly to keep it standing upright and steady in this shape. He nodded his head at Wisp to go ahead with the bone pry.
Wisp dropped the bone, eyes wide and fur fluffing up. "Rhiannon. You got it from Rhiannon." Starting to back away, Wisp looked up at the cave entrance, ears shifting to listen. Would the witch hear them speak her name? What if she showed up? What would she say? What would she do? A million thoughts ran through the young fox's head at the thought, worried about the witch finding out.
He looked back at Will'o, ears moving back. "Why would you take something from Rhiannon, Will'o? Do you have any idea how much trouble we could get in from her?!"
Giving his twin a cross look then he dropped the bone, Will'o yapped at him sassily to get on with it! If he would just come on and open it, they could get rid of the evidence that much faster! Still, when Wisp didn't, the young fox gave him a cross look before huffing. Fine, he'd just do it himself!
Grabbing the cork in his sharp little teeth, Will'o continued bracing the bottle as he started knawing and tugging at the top determined to get it open on his own since Wisp wouldn't help. One way or another he was getting what was in that bottle!
Doing dancy paws, Wisp looked around, then back at Will'o. "Why are you so determined to drink that...?! Think about what she'll do!" She could turn them inside out! Wait, COULD she? Wisp shifted into his fox form, hurrying to the cave entrance to look around. He didn't see Rhiannon... Not yet, at least. And the only scent of her at the moment came from her own cave. Returning to his brother, Wisp watched with worry, then finally sighed. Grabbing the bone again, he pawed his brother on the head to get his attention and to stop chewing on the bottle for a minute. It'd do no good trying to get the cork open if he chewed it up to where it was stuck forever, would it?
Blinking at the head bap, he snorted but yipped happy that his twin finally saw the light. He wiggled a bit to adjust his hold once more, bracing the bottle against himself so that Wisp could pry it open.
Working together, it took no time at all for the twins to pop the cork out allowing the rich, inviting scent to spill from the bottle. Will'o's eyes nearly rolled back into his head getting such a concentrated whiff of the smell being so close to it. Whatever Rhiannon might do to them, at the moment he figured it might be worth it!
The smell that hit Wisp's nose had him perking up. Okay, maybe this wouldn't be so bad... Maybe it'd be worth the trouble. They could also hide the bottle somewhere, let Rhiannon think she'd just lost it somewhere. There was a spot in the cave he could dig out, right? They could just dig a hole, drop the empty bottle in, and go about their business. He shifted back, sniffing the bottle more. "Okay, now what do we do, we just... Drink this? Why did you even grab it in the first place?" There were many questions to be had, but those felt like the two most important. Plus Wisp still wasn't sure what they were about to get into with this mystery bottle full of mystery liquid with mystery results made from mystery ingredients. It was a mystery.
Rolling his eyes at his twin, why did he always forget Will'o couldn't reply to him in his feral shape? He would have assumed by now his fellow shifter knew that but the more high-strung male never failed to try to hold a conversation while they wore two different shapes.
Looking about for a moment, Will'o spied the other end of the broken bone with its exposed marrow as an idea formed. Getting up with the vial held carefully by its neck between his jaws, he padded over to the bone. Tipping his head slowly, the fox poured some of the thick potion onto the marrow. He propped the vial up against the cave wall so it wouldn't spill before turning his attention back to the now-made 'treat' and his twin. He looked from it to Wisp head cocked as if to say 'You wanna try it first or me?'
"Why do you insist on staying in your feral form, Will'o..." There was a level of exasperation in the question. "I'd rather you use words than gestures." Still, the point had come across, and Wisp went to sniff at the bone. Oh, the sweet sweet marrow inside... It was delicious looking as ever. And the added stuff from the bottle...! His mouth watered at the thought.
Finally, Wisp sank down onto the cave floor as he'd been before, going at the bone. Between the already delicious taste of the marrow and the taste of the potion, the taste was simply divine and Wisp found himself trying to get as much off it as he could, even going so far as to suck on it.
That got him another sassy yip as Willo' looked smug at the bliss on his twin's face. Looking about for the other piece of bone they are used to open the bottle, he trotted over to grab it before dosing it as he had the first for himself. He eyed the bottle before snorting and offering Wisp a bit more. He tipped just a wee bit more onto the bone for him before taking it to pour over the second bone for himself.
Oh! O,h this was...there weren't words for how delicious this treat was. Will'o whined happily as he lapped, chewed, and sucked at the rich treat. Whatever the witch might do to them later, this was definitely worth the trouble!
When the marrow was gone (there was more in Wisp's bone than his but that was fine. He'd rather his beloved twin have more of the rich marrow) Will'o turned to try and lick into the bottle not wanting to miss a single drop.
Somewhere along the way of chewing his bone and getting the rest of the marrow and the thick potion, Wisp became lost in the sauce. He watched Will'o try to get the remnants from the bottle, then rolled over and giggled. "Oh, this was... Good..." Wisp stared at the cave ceiling, eyes dilating some, then slowly turned to look at his brother. "What was in it?" Maybe he'd try and learn how to make it, so they could have it again...
The one downside was that Wisp's senses were impaired. He couldn't hear if anybody approached, nor was he paying enough attention to smell if somebody was coming closer. What if Rhiannon came and found them? What if their father did? None of it would register for Wisp until they were literally there. Outside, a rabbit wearing a bonnet did look in on them, baffled by their behavior, and then it was gone again, off to wherever it came from.
Will'o blinked big dilated eyes at his twin, tongue still stuck in the bottle. He knew Wisp was speaking words to him but what were words?? Giving a last slurp, he let the bottle drop to weave his way over to Wisp in a stagger before flopping on top of his twin. Making a happy noise, Will'o started trying to wash his twin's face. He loved Wisp so much! He was his favorite being in the world!
Outside the cave, two figures approached with a sense of dread. Chaos's ears flicked this way and that as he scented the air. The trouble twins hadn't been seen for hours which meant trouble. He paused seeing the rabbit, offering a warning growl at the stranger lingering around his kit's cave.
The rabbit stopped and gave a warning thump at the wolves, then continued on. Strife huffed, then looked in the cave. "I smell them in here... And... Something else?" Slowly, she started in, then stopped and huffed. "Oh, kits, what have you gotten up to?" Wisp was completely zoned out, not seeming to care what his brother was doing, and Will'o was... Grooming? Wisp. Turning to Chaos, Strife gave him a long-suffering look. "This makes me wonder if we should ever have pups..."
Chaos sighed sitting down and staring at their two charges for a moment before closing his eyes in annoyance. "I know now why it's called a life debt because these two are going to get me killed." Shaking his head, he scanned the cave till he saw the emptied vial. "You keep an eye on them, I am going to slip this back where it should be."
He licked his mate's cheek before padding over to pick up the vial carefully. He had to pause though when Will'o made a chuffing sound and wiggled off Wisp to come nuzzle up on him all loving and affectionate. It was a drastic change from the young shifter's normal attitude. Chaos found himself fond of the little idiot but he had to get this handled quickly. Nudging Will'o back towards Strife, he made sure the kit staggered over to flops at her feet trying to lick her muzzle like a pleading pup before he ducked out to sneak back into the main cave.
Strife sighed, then started grooming Will'o. "Oh you silly kits..." Where he'd been left, Wisp sneezed and shifted into a fox. He lay there for a moment, then slowly rolled over and crawled over to curl against Strife. Dutifully, she turned and groomed him, too. "Both of you are so silly..."
