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Bijou knew closing the gap between where she had birthed her litter and the Brotherhood's lands was dangerous. She had purposely seen fit to birth the litter of four while on assignment away from the Tomkin lands. They must never know there were any more than the two female pups she would return with. The boys...they were fated for something far greater.

Swift and almost silent paws raced over ther land. The thought that she might be caught thrilled her, but she didn't want her life to come to conclusion just yet. Somehow she carried bit pups by the scruffs of their neck on her jaws, never paying heed to hurting them. She just knew she couldn't afford to let them slow her down and follow her. They were young. Too young really to have been out of the den, but they were beginning to eat solids now, and she was ready to be rid of them.

Bijou came to a halt as she felt she was close enough. she dropped the two, litterally, and her golden eyes scanned for a not-so-descreet hiding place for them. There was a log - hollowed and feeding the mushrooms that drew atop it. It was damp from the previous night's rain, and the grass was over grown. Good. Very good.

Bijou ushered them over, demanding their silence. Often times she'd shove them with a paw. Her green son would even find himself face first in the muddy puddle that surrounded the log's entrance. Grinning, Bijou made sure the other one found his way into the puddle as well. It would dillude her scent from them. Also the mud might very well mask some of her green son's resemblance to the Shadowclan's traitor. Yes. Their pup napper would come and find a dilver and brown pup with two different color eyes, and a dirty little mudball. By the time they got him within their lands and cleaned up, it would be too late. If they put two and two together, then the pup napper would already be shitting himself once the realization was made.

Would the pup napper, in trying to defend his mistake, defent the young ones citing that with the propper upbringing they would no tprove to be like their father, or would he try to dispose of them quickly? Or, better yet, would no one notice, and with any luck later on their father's curious nature shine through, bringing turmoil to the clan? The possibilities made Bijou grin. But, it wasn't like she'd ever know. She would just have to entertain herself with the possibilities.

With the pups now wet, dirty, and hidden, Bijou demanded the two stay there. She made them mistakenly believe she would be back with their sisters. Bijou would never return though. She'd head in the other direction with the two girls, and if they were lucky they would live to see the Tomkin lands.

Collier's eyes were huge as they surveyed the inside of the dank little shelter, mother's order to stay put echoing in his head. Though Bijou's grasp had never been gentle he fancied that she had been rougher than usual today, and he couldn't help but wonder why. Was the family in danger? Were the demons after them?

The pup squeaked and darted towards the back of the log. Only Rory was here! How could mother make such a mistake? Nissassa or Reggie should have been with him, and the other with Rorret! Now there was no one to ward off the shadows.

That must have been why mother had pushed him in the mud, to camouflage his fur and make him harder to see against the log! Collier was relieved to have solved that puzzle, and suddenly the cold wet against his pelt wasn't so terrible. He hoped Rorret had enough to cover him. Deciding that his brother's pelt still looked too conspicuous, Collier padded over to his brother and nudged him towards the puddle with a headbutt to the shoulder.

Collier stopped moving and frowned. It wasn't the words themselves that upset him, Rorret's usual sneers and disdain gave the green pup the impression that his brother found their whole family to be made up of idiots, but the tense bite in his tone. As far as Collier was concerned Rorret didn't do fear, but it was fair to say he was at least uneasy.

"Is it mother?" Collier asked quietly as Rorret started forward. "Does she have Reggie and Nissa?"

David had meant to be patrolling with Satoru, but they'd gotten separated -- which was fine; David wasn't exactly sure just how helpful the younger omega would be if they actually found something. All the gammas from the youngster's "class" seemed to be doing fine in their roles, eager to hunt out the traitor, but shiny Satoru was much like David himself -- a bit unsure of his role. It didn't help that there'd be absolutely no new blood to bring into the pack, and it didn't seem like Rummy would be ordering a raid any time soon. The alpha probably knew what he was doing, trying to reassemble the pack before bringing in new members, new variables. David didn't much care; he never tried to follow pack politics. He just felt that maybe he didn't feel so listless if he had some pups to care for.

He heard Satoru's voice through the trees, but was too far to hear the accompanying tiny squeaks of the pups. "Satoru?" he called, changing his course to meet up with the other omega. "Did you find something...?"

Rorret thrust his head up, staring without fear at the figure before him with mismatched, calculating eyes. His thoughts whirred rapidly, faster than words or movements, and he struggled to keep up with them as he attempted to decipher what he should do next. Cloak. Demon. And now, another -- he could hear the voice, although the scent was muffled by the dreary weather. Demon...this certainly didn't look like a demon, he thought, feeling particularly bold. It didn't look like much of anything other than a gold-colored wolf sulking about in sopping-wet fabric.

Oh, how he wished his brother would stop that god-awful whimpering! It was damaging his quiet, and he needed quiet in order to sort out his thoughts.

He pushed himself to all four paws and glared defiantly at the wolf. "Mother left us here," he said, choosing his words carefully. He narrowed his mismatched eyes. "Was it so we could be found by you?"

David approached the trio slowly. Pups? Why here, and why now? Why males precisely, without even their damned female mother? It was a dream situation for a pupnapper which made it all the more wrong -- their life was meant to be a hard one, having to slink and steal pups from mothers whose lives were built around defending the helpless balls of fur. When something this good came along you didn't accept it. You questioned and feared it. Because eventually the scale was going to even out, and you would find it was not as good as you had bargained for.

David didn't say any of this. Even for an omega Satoru was simple minded. It was clear from the way he was talking to the pups that he wasn't considering any of the implications of this find; trying to explain to him would probably be useless.

"Mothers always leave eventually," he said casually. Water dripped off his nose as he looked down at the pups. In this rainy season, these woods became a dangerous swamp, and he desired to be out of there as soon as possible. "Maybe you should come with us." The only way to take a pup was to convince them it was the best thing for them. Otherwise they would have to be eliminated by the gammas when they rebelled, and David never wanted to be responsible for a pup like that.

Rorret tilted his head, looking now between the cloaked wolves. Yes...they certainly were nothing to be afraid of, at least not as far as he could tell. "Something to eat?" He responded back loudly, as if clarifying he had heard it properly, but he was doing it for Collier's benefit. "And a bath?" He looked back over his shoulder at his mud-covered brother and gave him the exasperated look of one who clearly realizes he's dealing with an idiot. "She's not coming," he said to his brother, in a low voice. "C'mon, they'll take care of us."

And he believed it. He looked between the two wolves again, and chose to speak to David, seeing an intelligence he liked behind his eyes, deciding this wolf was the closest to an equal that he would find in this little gathering. Rorret had a very high opinion of himself. "Who are you and where would you take us?"

It was as though David couldn't even muster the strength for a shrug and a few words to the muddiest pup. He'd already said mothers leave. While perhaps being born of a female left one with a brief high opinion of them, David knew the beasts couldn't be trusted. In a dream world they would merely serve purpose to breed -- and for food in slim times. Not that he knew much about breeding; it was sort of a murky topic. Young, hot blooded Brothers were warned of its desirable dangers but he had never felt that particular pull. He knew that it was strong enough for some members to be enticed away by it. Perhaps they missed their mothers too much.

"Our pack can take care of you," he said, the words he didn't say implying their mother was no longer going to do the job. "You'll like it there," he said, trying to put a little encouraging enthusiasm in his voice. Then he locked eyes with the gray one. He would be trouble. A gamma, for certain, or David was a pigeon -- which he wasn't. "We will take you to our alpha," he said. "And then you will be cared for by Satoru and I, and others of our rank." He nodded to the shiny wolf as he said his name.