"Mommy, you weren't lying when you said it'd be cold," shivers Victory, still snuggled up in her father's back tufts. Actually, that's a rather poor description; She's /wrapped/ around in them, anchored like a little otter against the biting cold.
Passion was snuggled up to her brother, gray and black against red, and utterly silent for once. "It's okay, Valor." She mewed quietly, rubbing a paw over her cold nose before draping it over his shoulders.The 'big' brother couldn't help but smile as his normally bullying sister extended him a kind paw around his shoulders.
"The portal's only a little ways away, baby," soothes Champagne, not only at Victory but to all of her kin. Valor was wrapped up in Champ's thick trail of her dress, being sledded along on the cool ice. At least he had his other sister to keep him warm. Champagne walked alongside her mate, but the giddiness of their fun bantering and the booty-bumping and sense of adventure had worn off. Now, her ears swiveled and sheared this way and that, filtering out the screaming winds. White... everything's white. Everything's too pristine. It's hard not to feel vulnerable when you are literally glowing against the absolute bleak backdrop. "Demon... something's not right," she whispered to him. Her heart would sink into her stomach now and then, fur raising under that dress in momentary alarm. Her instincts said that they weren't alone.
"What do you think it is?" Demon murmured, pausing to sniff the air. Everything was just cold, cold, cold. He could barely scent them just beside him.
"I don't know," she answered, careful only to speak just loud enough to be heard over the howling winds. Their manes whipped wildly in the tempest, and Champ's dress billowed now and then when the blows shifted. There's seriously nothing around. Penguins a little ways off, the occasional non-sentient arctic fox, but otherwise nothing. She might have said 'Oh, I'm just overreacting' but, truth is, these things rarely misguide her and it's been proven in practice. Fuck... it could be any number of their enemies.
Demon's chocolate eyes shifted back and forth, blinking rapidly in the wind. The blizzard was picking up and his first tinges of regret for bringing the cubs along in this little adventure. He stopped in his tracks, turning his head against the wind and listening. Something in his gut said they were being hunted, and his skin was crawling, and not just from the cold. "...Let's get a move on." Demon's paws picked up to a trot, crunching over the snow and ice that numbed his pads.
Indeed something was watching the little family. The parents that had struggled so hard to bring those three little urchins into this world, and for what? To drag them along on some insidious adventure to freeze to death? 'How morbid of them...' Fang thought with a quiet chuckle, just a shadow slithering along the icy landscape, following the wind towards his prey.
Demon suddenly stopped, feeling his heart thump painfully in his chest. Not just his gut was calling to him, or his instincts, but his very soul was crying out. "...Fang."
An ancient enemy, stowed away in the body of the newborn Demon, now freed by horrible magic of a slaughtered innocent. He stands seven feet at the shoulder, with solid black fur, giant wings, long saber fangs, and a horrible sneer. The beast materialized on the hill overlooking the frozen lake where Demon's family had paused, staring up at him in horror. Fang was utterly quiet in that moment, deducing their escape routes, fighting patterns and everything else that might hinder his plan. Sure, he had been watching them, waiting for the time to strike, but this? This was too perfect, like that had /wanted/ to get caught out in the open like this, exposed and isolated.
Passion's eyes had turned into perfect round russet circles rimmed with terrified white. "M-Mama...?" Something in /her/ gut clenched as she stared at the nightmare. It was like she had /seen/ him before, in a dream, or... but where?
Champ's glowing markings flared like the arcs on the sun as she felt the newfound panic radiating from her mate. She followed his gaze, and she was immediately in the same state of mind. Fang. "D... daddy?" Even the fearless Victory, who'd greeted T-Rex and dragon alike knew instinctively that this wasn't a friend. It's like she already knew who that was. "A... Azaleon," she whispered, heard only by Demon who's ear was by her mouth.
Demon's body felt frozen in fear, but not for himself. Rarely ever was he worried for himself, and this was no exception. His children and his mate were in mortal danger, and as Victory whispered the name in fear Demon felt his heart /stop/. He didn't have time to question why she'd know that name; he had never said it aloud, and few mortals alive knew it. So how did she?
The compartmentalization that had saved Champagne so many times before was failing. The calm she'd been able to achieve in protecting herself and her friends was /very/ different than the mothering need she had ferociously harbored. It consumed her, and she did what she almost knew that Fang believed she would. "Valor... Passion... Victory... get in the cave. Now." Those last remnants of stoicism were laced with panic, and Victory and Valor did exactly as they were told. If Passion didn't, it wouldn't matter because Champ's first move was to pull that protective fabric over her head and throw it to the cubs. They'd need it more than her. Champagne's eyes immediately ignited against her will, illuminating the valley in harsh fractals of light every which way. A strange contrast of hot and cold.
Fang was walking casually over toward them, the icy wind flowing right around him, as if he had his own shield from it. "I thought it about time to introduce myself to the little ones." He said quietly, eyes shifting toward the little cave, then to Demon has he stepped to Champ's side protectively. Teeth bared, yadda yadda. He was such a bore, always the same routine. But the vibe he was getting from Champagne really had his interest, and he swiped his long, snake-like tongue over his fangs as he eyed her. He was regretting his choice to 'save' her for Arinzel, but it was probably for the better. Besides, even if he couldn't /kill/ her, there were certainly much... /much/ worse things he could do to the new mother.
"No. No, no, /NO/." Demon muttered, swinging his hips back toward the cave, keeping himself between his children and the nightmare.
"They seem strong. Spritely. So they made it after all." A low, drawn-out chuckle vibrated from his parted maw. "I hope you didn't get attached already." That smirk widened into a sickening grin.
Everything. /Everything/ about him made Champagne sick. The tongue. The smirk. The casual walk. Her /babies/ were in that cave. The one's that she had sobbed for, fought for, would have DIED for and will gladly do it again.
The calm Champagne isn't here. The one who believed that she needed to live for her pride wasn't here. In her place stands only a mother, who will willingly sacrifice herself to keep her children alive. Anything, /anything/ for them. "You knew all along," she growled, recalling Fang acting as though he believed her when she told him that her unborn children had died already.
He'd /planned/ for them to live so he could kill them after she'd grown to love them. Truly, openly, wholeheartedly love them. Or, maybe, even for them to kill her in childbirth. Did he know /everything/ about her? Her lip flared, something she rarely does in battle until she'd launched an offensive. She was terrified, but was failing to transform it like she had in Gehenna, or against the bloodwolf in the Flame Grotto. No. The last bit of the real Champagne showed through when she suddenly turned, covering one eye with a paw until it was super-heated and then slamming it as hard as she could against the side of the snow-face. It caused a small avalanche, sealing the exit to the ice cave. And that was it. That's all she had.
Fang was only a short distance away, where he paused, eyes locked on Champagne. After years of tormenting Demon, this was, by far, going to be the most fun. Trying to kill May, his closest friend? Not even a close second to what he was going to do in front of the young parents. Dagger drawn, eyes alight, and with a ferocious roar Champ leaped directly at Fang's face, ready to sink it between his eyes and incinerate whatever she could. This wasn't cold and calculated. It was fiery, and impassioned, frenzied, and furious. The beast turned his head from Champ's enraged attack, allowing her to sink her blade into his shoulder, the smell of burning fur and flesh rising up through the frigid air. A rippling laugh echoed through his bones and Champ's knife as Demon clamped down on his other shoulder, sinking teeth and claws and dripping acidic black tar-like blood onto the ice. "Of course I did," was his response as he unfurled one massive, clawed paw to slice down at her, aiming for her eyes. Maybe he could blind the bitch; that'd make this just that much more fun
It was a strange, silent fight. Even with the roars, with the shrieks and whimpers and grunts of exertion and growls and a few words spoken, it all seemed to drown out in the wind. When Fang made a swipe at her eyes, the skin above and below them was well and sliced open, but the suns remained unharmed and would incinerate up his attacking arm. Hopefully, it'd get him off balance enough to knock him over before it regenerated because she launched again at the nightmare. He'd known all along. He planned this all along. He knew this would happen. She was going to do /everything/ she knew to stop him. "Filthy vermin!" she snarled around her dagger, reaching out with both paws at his face to try and incinerate him into oblivion like in Cave of Sacrifice. Careful, Champ... all of that heating up is dangerous, when you're on ice.
Fang's laughter only grew into a loud cackling at Champagne's words. Oh this /was/ fun. More fun than he'd had in /ages/. So what if he was getting all roasted and toasty? It was worth it just execute his ideas. Demon was ripping and tearing chunks of flesh from his side, which was quite annoying, and frankly, not as fun as Champ's bitter words.
Demon knew going for Fang's side was a risk; those fucking /wings/ always got in the way, and they were /strong/. But he was used to getting knocked away, but this time Fang did something different. Fang's wing unfurled and wrapped itself around Demon's whole frame, squeezing and smothering him into his side. Demon couldn't breathe, but it was only for a moment before that wing unleashed and beat hard at him, smashing him into the ice. A shuddering crack rippled out from the frozen lake, slicing little tendrils of smaller cracks under Demon's body.
At the same time, Fang had prepared for Champ's attack, and lifted into his back paws, wings spread wide and massive, before he brought his paws and snarling muzzle down at Champ. Her paws hit his chest, but it wasn't enough to move him much, and in a swift move he bit down on her upper foreleg and twisted and slammed down, trying to force her leg back in an unnatural position, hopefully break it. Another CRACK shook the thinning ice below them. "They should have never had a chance, anyway." Fang said calmly.
And he knew her next move too! Was he the one that circulated the rumor that there was a Guardian in WolfSoul? It's hard not to think that, when this omnipotent asshole is not only planning her life for her, but anticipating her every move. In Champ's mind, it was unthinkable, because she'd always kept him guessing before. This? This was predictable, and she didn't even realize it. She stood there, seeing nothing but an expanse of sheer blackness, literally and figuratively, trying to incinerate his chest. Even with that working, she hadn't even a portion of the strength to hold him back and she was slammed down onto the ice with a terrible cracking of her ribs. Her leg was pulled back unnaturally behind her, and would have snapped clean off if she wasn't as flexible as she was.
His words chilled her to the core. Was she a terrible parent? It sure as hell looked like it. Perhaps the nine before them were a signal from someone up above, mocking her, telling her she never deserved that kind of happiness. She's not cut out. "Kill me... not them." While her heart and body panged, the splits in the ice jarred her back to reality. Demon's cry. She tried to call out to him, but her eyes had melted the ice and she was suddenly aware that she couldn't breathe. Not with Fang holding her down and the ice quickly growing thin. She couldn't boil it all, not in this frozen wasteland. It'd take the sun itself to do that, and it seems that even she had abandoned this family to die too. She dared not unclench her jaw from the dagger, but took a deep breath and beluga'd free of Fang's grasp into the ice-water below. The cold was enough to stop her heart, and it made her lungs jar so hard she nearly breathed it in and drowned herself.
Up above, she could see in the spiderweb of the ice Demon's figure, and knew that Fang's next move was for the cubs. She couldn't let that happen. She'd sooner drown down here than let that happen. So she swam under his feet, melting the ice to keep it slushy enough for him not to walk. Come in after me, or I'm going to at least annoy the hell out of you.
Fang watched her splash into the ice, and he stepped back, watching her with amusement. Perhaps watching just a bit too much, as Demon had time to get up and launch himself at Fang's back, ripping at his left wing 'shoulder'. It was enough to catch Fang somewhat off guard, and as Champ melted the ice, the gray and black wolves fell through the ice with a loud CRACK! Champ's hole had at least been decently small, but the mass of Demon and Fang combined sent the chunks of shattered ice turning up and sideways, jagged and spreading the cracks further and further.
Demon felt the cold like a punch, crushing in on his ribs as he released his grip on Fang, trying to get to the surface and scrabbling at the ice. This wasn't going to work. One of them needed to get the cubs away and the other distract Fang. And while Demon would normally never abandon Champ to such a fate as to fight Fang alone, instincts and fear tugged at his heart. But he was dragged down again as another massive shard of ice broke from the 'surface' and pushed him back under.
Holy fuck its cold. Some small, distant part of Champagne was screaming that it's too cold. In fact, the only thing keeping her mind working in such frigid ice-water was her eyes keeping the fluid around her head mostly temperate. Bubbles of boiling water rose out of that little sphere, only to be frozen in some surreal time-lock that bumped against her enemy. At that point, her rage against Fang was tempered only by a concern for Demon, father of her children, as he'd likely die of hypothermia in here. So would she, but that's not a concern to her.
It's okay, Champagne, to die here. It's okay. Just make sure your cubs are safe. May will be an excellent leader. Pyrrhic will go on; Demon will go on; The cubs will go on without you, just make this your final mission. With this thought burning hard into her mind, Champagne saw Fang shark his way over to her, knowing exactly what he was about to do. And she embraced it. She's okay with it. Running low on breath and her muscles beginning to rigor, she ducked her head into Fang's jaws as they splayed to bite her, her front claws digging into the sides of his neck to anchor herself. She'd willingly look into the belly of the beast, her eyes alight and dagger drawn along with her. She couldn't breathe. Her chest convulsed, but her anger alone fueled the suns in her head to try and incinerate him from the inside out. Force him into mist form so Demon and the cubs could escape.
Fang's jaws parted like a snake's, looking almost unhinged as they clamped over Champagne's face. It was glowing, literally, from the inside out, the silhouettes of his teeth against his cheeks illuminated by Champagne's burning eyes. It was like Hell all over again, suddenly, and Fang felt both pain, fear, and a strange pleasure from it all. She was searing into the back of his throat as his fangs dug into the back of her neck. /Ohh/ how he wanted to rip her head off and have her blood taint the water, right here, right now. But that wasn't the plan; never had been. His deal with Arinzel was more important, and besides... he wasn't finished playing games yet. His eyes turned directly towards Demon as he held Champagne's life in this moment.
Demon's heart stopped. His motive to save their children had suddenly been put on the backburner, and he stood there, dripping and freezing, frozen by this moment. 'Oh god no... please...' While he knew Fang couldn't hear him, Demon wanted to plead and beg for her life, to drop to his paws and give his life for her.
This is it. She could feel his jaws around her throat, and the sickeningly comforting feel of his warm throat encompassing her in the cortege to take her to Hell. At least there, she'd be warm. It's okay. Fang will sever her head from her body, but the suns will burn down into his throat, and he will be forced into his mist form long enough for Demon to grab the cubs and leave. It's okay. So she fought, and she fought, but only to keep him from releasing her under the water. She'd give her life for the man she loves with all her heart. Her cubs mean more to her than taking this next breath. It's okay.
Ohhh the look on Demon's face right now was priceless. While it was barely a few seconds, it would forever be engraved in his wicked mind. But, alas, he didn't want to let her cause -any more internal injuries than necessary. With a flap of those massive wings underwater, he'd propel them both out of the water, dangling Champ midair before dropping her on the precarious and cracked but unbroken piece of ice where Demon was. "Are we having fun yet?" Fang laughed as he flew above them.
It's okay. Something tells her, you know, perhaps Hell isn't fire and heat at all. Maybe it’s a place of cold, of loneliness, of desolation, and of sorrow. A mother's sorrow, and undying love, cut short. She'd been expelled from his throat, but the twilight of life and death kept her still unawares. Oddly, it was much like with Gehenna, where she saw no bright light, but only bits and flashes of happiness, her life told as a visual anecdote. Her body was ragged, blood pouring forth from the gaping wound ringing her neck, along with shattered ribs and various scrapes. The odd part was that her eyes were still suns, and therefore unable to close. Whether she is dead or alive could be anyone's call, because she wasn't breathing.
Demon was trapped in this moment, unable to think of anything but Champ. Champ, Champ... "CHAMP!" He screamed, a hoarse, choked sound. He ran to her side, seeing the blood and water mingle on the translucent ice. What could he do?! Panic shuddered through him like the wind freezing his wet fur to his body as he went to her side. Her chest wasn't moving, and Fang's eerie laughter and the howling wind were the ambiance of this moment. Was she dead? He wouldn't get to find out yet.