it's been days, she thinks. in truth, she doesn't know how long she's been running - and she's long since lost her way. she knows if she sticks to the coast that her mother will be quick to hunt her down and so her little paws turn inward to the deeper parts of amaryllis. night has long since fallen when solvi's weary feet lead her to the base of the distant mountain range and she throws herself dramatically to the base of the first boulder she sees. "stupid vellen." she hisses, ears flay and eyes welling up with tears. why did he even want their brother? was he somehow better than the rest of them? was he having more fun than she and hillevi and velkan were, wherever he was, with the god? and if the god was so great why didn't he do something great. like kill whatever "great enemy" the adults keep snapping about and threatening the cubs with. if they didn't stay at home the bIg BaD rIkEs will get them. ugh.

_{ART — CODE}

Sunníva simply can't help herself. It's in her nature to want to know what their enemy is getting up to, and they'd left such a nice trail to follow back to their home. She's not stupid enough to go that far, however -- not alone, anyway. She's a tenacious bitch, and the extensive damage to her eye socket has done little to deter Sunníva from her intentions.

Hidden along the coastline, she finds the entrance to the caverns, her attention pulled by a fresh path of footfalls leading inside. The Rike follows, her head slung low as her singular eye adjusts to the darkness, ears pitching forward to catch the angry mutter from the girl. "Has he forsaken you, child?" she coos, sickly sweet with a lilting purr. She pauses where the tunnel narrows, conveniently poising herself between the cub and her only possible escape route.

you said you wanted revolution

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the woman that arrives she thinks, at first, is her mother. the gleam of a single eye - the slouching way she approaches. but she's smaller than her mother and darker, too. and the way she speaks is different. solvi perks up her ears and narrows her eyes, sitting up to face @Sunníva. "no." she says, sniffing softly. "just my family." and that is, at least, true. she feels as though he's forsaken her mother, her brother. and that maybe he might forsake her, too, if she's not careful. that she's not good enough to enter his realm.

and, then, a thought.

"how do you..." know about him, she wants to ask. but she trails off, her little brow furrowed in concentration.

_{ART — CODE}

Oh, to be a child with such fickle whims. If there had been much left of Sunníva's heart, she might have found pity for the girl, sympathy and understanding about a rough upbringing. But she sees only a babe who isn't strong enough to weather the storm -- who will flounder when the oceans rise.

How do you... A soft and knowing smirk toys across the Rike's lips, prowling a singular step closer to @Solvi -- testing the waters. "Oh, Vellen and I are old friends," she lies easily, her teeth glinting with the flash of a smile in the girl's direction.

you said you wanted revolution

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she smiles and solvi tips her head slightly, almost suspiciously. but she's always been the wild child to shirk what her mother has warned. hillevi is the dutiful one, obligingly allowing herself to follow what the sigrun elder decrees. but solvi? she wants only to dash through life with a carelessness that is sure to get her killed one day. but when @Sunníva promises she is good friends with vellen and slips a step closer, her eyes widen. something like disbelief and delight war in her gaze and she sits up a little straighter, leans a little closer. "oh yeah?" she challenges, though she can't deny her curiosity is piqued. "what's he like then? how come he never shows up for mom?"

_{ART — CODE}

Curious children are almost never cautious ones; it's something she can take advantage of, and Sunníva fully intends to do just that. Devout children are even easier manipulated by the idiotic belief system that's been instilled in them -- she relishes in the game, even if @Solvi doesn't know she's playing one.

"I'll tell you all about him," she promises with a convincing smile, leaning onto her belly beside a shallow stream that trickles down the hallway. "You have to come here, though," Sunníva insists in a stage whisper, glancing around them as though to make certain they're alone. "He doesn't like it when outsiders hear his secrets," the Rike says, as though holding the girl's religion near and dear to her heart -- trying to protect it.

you said you wanted revolution

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the woman promises to tell her about him and again solvi is stricken with how very strange this is. for a moment she hesitates, looking beyond @Sunníva to the place she'd entered the cave through. she chews her lip and then, as if making her mind, her brows furrow in renewed anger and she stomps her way over to where the rike woman lounges by the stream. she nods sagely, agreeing with the idea of vellen hating outsiders knowing. about him, about the religion, it never occurs to her to clarify. "ok." she says, settling close by the adult's foot and looking up into her face. "ok, tell me?" she asks - almost demands, but manages to hold onto what little properness she's had instilled in her.

_{ART — CODE}

This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of drowning, attempted murder

It's almost too easy -- how simple it is to convince @Solvi to encroach into her space and surpass the boundary of safety. But perhaps it's for the best; Sunníva's injury has left her in a considerable amount of pain and with shorter patience than usual, and she would hate to make a mistake and lose something so easy to catch as a little girl.

"Okay," she acquiesces softly at the child's insistence for the secrets she claims to have, her skull dipping lower towards the ebon babe. "The thing about Vellen is--" but before she can even work up the effort to formulate some lie, Sunníva is moving rapidly, lashing out her forepaw with extended claws to try and slam it broad-side down against the side of the girl's skull, trying to daze her and pin her into a submissive pose at the edge of the shallow water.

you said you wanted revolution

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and it's easily done.

the child is young and leans ever closer as @Sunníva's tongue begins to spread the secret. but before she can blink, the woman's paw slams into the side of her skull, unsheathed claws slicing through the thin flesh of her face and eliciting a desperate screech from her tiny jaws even as she's being thrust to the ground. she hits it hard, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs, and the hard hit against her head leaving her daze and confused. the world spins and nausea churns in her gut. she thrashes weakly beneath the woman's paw, little legs kicking, as she tries to clear the fuzzy vision enough to see to get away.

_{ART — CODE}

This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of drowning, attempted murder

The shriek prompts a grin to unfurl across the Rike's lips, her claws catching in flesh and sending the babe tumbling down to the cold stone flooring. Her struggle is meager and useless now, though Sunníva does have to give her some credit for trying, at least. Just not hard enough.

Her muzzle dips low to the base of the cub's ear, her venomous smile widening, "--he isn't real," she hisses, finishing what she'd been about to say. And then she shoves, pushing the weight of her forepaw against @Solvi's skull and attempting to face-plant her into the meager trickle of a stream. "He isn't waiting for you." He was never there. No one is coming to save you, little Sigrún.

you said you wanted revolution

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