Vivarium - Spirited Highlands

destined to fall

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 23:27:44 -0400

Váli had very few things that made him unique.

Born only to avenge, there was little else in his existence that truly mattered. Sword, flesh, blood. Rinse. Repeat.

Anger brewed beneath the surface of his skin, blood boiling with rage. He used it, this anger. Every word cut like a blade, and every blade swung cut that much deeper fueled by his fury.

It kept away most companionship, and Váli liked it this way. Liked being alone, craved the way others would turn their heads and stare elsewhere when he entered the room.

None could get close, and Váli preferred it this way.

Except one...

But he was gone, too. Driven away, repelled by Váli like all of the others. And the solitude that followed was unlike any Váli had experienced.

Perhaps this was what led to his inevitable downfall.

The blade cut him from throat to the bottom of his ribs. Ichor splattered in a macabre painting across the floor. Agony laced with the anger draining from his body.

He wanted someone to be there. Wanted to take the hand of his companion. Reached for it, even.

But no one was there.

Awakening was hell.

The wound stitched itself up, closing over muscle and bone and sinew. Inch by agonizing inch, it sealed together, and Váli could not help the gasping, guttural cries of a man disemboweled from slipping past his lips.

His paws - paws - scrabbled in the bloody mud beneath him, his body flaring white hot with pain.

And then it was over, and Váli was left in a trembling heap on the crimson earth, breath leaving him in ragged gulps as he attempted to orient himself

Fair Daffodils

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 21:31:27 -0400

\o/

Running through the moorland, a favorite activity, had changed lately into more of a... loping through the moorland. Liss's stamina was much reduced, her appetite bolstered, her wanderlust diminished.

Diminished, but not absent entirely. Though she kept her treks to the borderlands of Camhanaich, she continued to make them. The only thing worse than overexertion these days was sitting still.

She followed grasshoppers through heather, tail wagging, and hummed an old Havir song to herself that floated across blooming fields into the wind.

my ego is already bruised

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:37:20 -0400

For but any others welcome if they wish

The sun was beginning to make its descent, casting the earth in its warm, golden hue, enhancing the colors surrounding Jarek as he limped through this vast field. Sunflowers loomed tall above his shoulder and swayed in a gentle breeze. The dog snorted at their laughing faces. Such happy flowers. He, on the other hand, was absolutely not happy. It wasn’t the pain - he relished the sting of it - but rather how absurdly slow he was moving and the rumble of his stomach.

Jarek felt the air as it passed the open flap of skin in his throat, an odd, tickling sensation. The blood clotted soon after he’d escaped the devil wolf, leaving his tan fur tinged the color of rust. The wound in his thigh, however, continued to seep periodically, the deep red blood breaking through despite his body’s attempts to start its healing process. Pink muscle protruded from the opening, shredded between teeth, and scraps of skin and fur hung loosely at the edges. He’d kept an ear out for the sound of water in hopes he could properly clean the wounds, but had been unsuccessful so far.

He knew, from his previous scouting, of the wolf pack to the west, and he’d seen glimpses of water near where they resided, but Jarek couldn’t guarantee that the devil wolf he’d encountered didn’t live among them. If they were all as psychotic as that one, he’d be torn to shreds. He may not have been the brightest of his family, but he was no stranger to assessing risks, and that was certainly not worth it.

Jarek exhaled loudly as he peered at the treeline in the south. It would be another day or more of travel to reach them, he supposed, but it could take longer at the rate he was moving. His belly growled again. Oh, for fuck’s sake.

In a straight line,

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:03:25 -0400

⚔︎

It was raining a lot nowadays. Strange clouds formed within the sky and made him think something was brewing up there that shouldn’t be. Everytime he’d lift his muzzle to take in the scents around him, everything around him smelled of fresh petrichor and wet grass. Then again, what did he know about the weather? As long as it wasn’t slowing him down, he’d keep going.

Just up ahead, a small stream flowed through the crack of low rise hills looping onward, and the man took this as an opportunity to stop his journey for now and take a breather. He could probably walk for days on end without stopping, with how accustomed he was to scouting by now. Though even he knew when it was time to stop.

The Tundrarian dipped his crown towards the surface, lapping up the water that flowed through the stream. His ears twitched slightly at the sound of something — or someone — nearby. Yet it was hardly close enough to take notice of it…for now.

Fuck That Shit.

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:52:24 -0400

Skill:

For
Set on 6/26/2026

She'd interacted with a few of the younger dragons, some of them weren't too bad, they kept to themselves and some were overly aggressive. She liked that, but some of them were different than the others, some of them were colored differently than the monochrome older beasts. She didn't like that.

She missed .

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she left the den housing Mama, Pappa, and the runts, eyes roaming through the jungle as she furrowed her brows in anger. She didn't like these little dragons, not really, but she had to put up with them didn't she? They were her kin and she couldn't deny blood.

Cairo stomped heavily through the jungle and towards the shores. Her eyes burning brightly in the darkness, her scars shimmering vibrantly in the shadows. She snarled and turned her head to snap at the blue and golden-white glittering accessories attached to her skin. She didn't latch onto herself but the motion was enough to be seen as aggressive and ferocious. Her actions screamed "Don't fuck with me".

As she reached the sands and found a spot on the shores she growled and kicked at the grains, sending a spray of sand flying before her and towards the waves. She stared down at the water that chased at her and she took a few steps into it. Further and further till she was nearly halfway up her legs in it.

Cai took a deep breath and held it for a moment, closing her eyes and tilting her head towards the sky to point her nose towards the moon. Into the winds. She exhaled and did it again, trying to still herself without having to head to the hot spring to find one of daddies caches.

Seek the roses along the way Just beware of the thorns

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 02:46:41 -0400

Backdated to June 24th, for but family welcome

The blue flame was extinguished with the turn of summer, but in its absence, flowers. Great masses of them, blue in vibrancy here but purple to the west and gold to the south. They were strange, and being too close made him feel.... even more strange. Not always bad, but overwhelming. Part of him wanted to make a bouquet of them to bring back for Mintaka, but it wasn't like she was trapped in the house anymore. She seemed healthy again, if not quite the same. Could anyone still be as cheery when they lost children? Too many mornings did Penny himself sit hunched over the little grave, wondering what could have been.
Maybe it was just Penny who wasn't quite the same. He couldn't be sure. All his life, he'd always been the different one. The one who couldn't mesh with others. At least now he wasn't totally useless -- be it real pressure of losing another whelp and familial responsibility or the hope to impress, he'd been learning. Coyote's lessons had stopped when the pups were born and Mintaka nearly died, but he'd picked up enough to defend himself, to give him somewhere to start when sparring with Verbena. She still usually kicked his ass, but it was less pathetic these days. He still wasn't very good at tracking, either, but hunting was growing easier as he plied himself to work with his sister. Bit by bit, he was growing less wretched, and yet....

There was a distance between him and the others he wasn't sure was there by the circumstance of fate, their own will, or his own doltish deeds; nor did he know how to close that gap and keep from drifting further away.

So he remained steadfast. He brought back what prey he could catch from river or land, he fetched flowers, pretty rocks, and feathers for Minty and the whelps alike, found fresh moss to add to the nest, paced about keeping an eye on things outside sometimes so Coyote could have a break. He tried to be loving and careful and supportive even when the doubt in the back of his mind, constant and nagging, insisted he was doing something wrong. That they pitied him, hated him, even when that didn't make any sense. What had Penny ever done to earn ire anywhere, least of all from Mintaka and Coyote? Their shared children?

He wouldn't blame Verbena for being irritated with him sometimes, he thought, but that was his sister. She was allowed. She loved him anyways -- he would never doubt that, not after she'd come with him from the comforts of home to help navigate this fresh new life. To be an Aunt. To travel with strangers and help out.

All the ginger Nightshade could do was work harder. Put all of himself, pour all of his heart, into the task at hand: making sure Mintaka and the pups remained alive and well. Healthy. Happy. Whatever that took!

The day was shaping up to be a hot one, and while he enjoyed the heat, he wanted to make sure his family was taken care of. He cut his sparring lesson with Benny short and they went hunting instead so that he could bring back a meaty leg of deer for the silver woman back home. Now that winter was over, there seemed no shortage of prey, and Penny was keen to fix the sunken bellies they'd all been struck by. His, in particular, showcased the sharp curve of his ribcage still, but Minty would always be priority. Her and the kids were all that mattered, for now.
All he could think about, when so many months of his life had been purely survival.

The lanky man chuffed around the leg before padding into the room, tail wagging, dual gaze sweeping -- first, in a pup count, and second, for Mintaka.

elderflower

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:44:31 -0400

beside the First Ward, lestan unfurled a wrapped leaf, dropping pebble in the next instant to weigh down the tufts of fur he had taken from the site of destruction.
this was the last. he had brought red flowers, three antler tines, and a piece of fresh rabbitspelt.
in magick there was always a balance. the events of the past year had unbalanced the world, and now it seemed righted again. round clouds gathered above, heralding rain, and it started to fall as druid called out.
balance must be in all things. the ones who had attacked meant to disbalance camhanaich, and he meant to show the young how this was to be fought, how an enemy might be barred and trialed from a distance, if something of his had been left behind.

As we walk,

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:29:51 -0400

⚔︎

The moon's light casted a gentle glow on the meadow that night. A calm breeze blew through the sunflowers, which stood tall and proud in the summer's reign, and set the scene for a peaceful sleep. Azon hadn't slept that night, however. Bright eyed and wide awake from dusk till now to watch the sky change from dusk till now with an uncharacteristic patience about him. His ribs rose and fell steadily beneath his furs, his haunches planted to the ground and forest fire gaze set against the sky's constellations.

Judal would've liked this — wherever he was within the sky. But he wasn't here anymore…hadn't been in a long time. Fuck, Azon was lonely.

He knew it for a while now, but deep down he hid it. Even creating a habit out of striking up random conversations with strangers just to feel something. What purpose did he serve other than simply existing, though? The man never knew, never truly figured his shit out. Which was probably why he was here, staring at the sky and having a midlife crisis.

He titled himself back, eventually, to fall on his back and trace the stars with his eyes. Calm and steady was his mind in the moment, but not his heart. It wandered somewhere — he just couldn't figure out where it was leading him to as usual…..

I don't need the city, it never cared for me.

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:45:23 -0400

Skill:

For

She'd spent a while in the den interacting with one of the pups, Kek, and she sighed. She didn't really feel much better about being here and she scrunched up her face as she stood to leave. She had wanted Mother and Daddy, but neither of them were around. I mean they were there but, they were really there for her.

Was this weakness?

She didn't know, she was confused and frustrated with herself and the girl stood at the entrance of the den letting the breeze roll across her fur. Cai closed her eyes and tiled her head back, pointing her nose towards the sky, the roof of the den, and took another deep breath inwards.

As she exhaled she opened her eyes and turned her head over her shoulder to look at the pups again. She really had to get used to them, they weren't going anywhere. Frustrated she let out a low growl and turned around to face the little dragons.

Eyeing them each individually she wondered what it would be like to squish one of them in her jaws.

Expressing Velocity.

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:23:23 -0400

Skill:

For

The large girl, no, teenager, trekked the island by herself a lot lately. With the new pups in the den Cairo felt like there wasn't much room in there for her anymore and had decided to start sleeping in the sands under the stars. She woke early with the sun and stayed up late, the island life she'd found on her own was near paradise.

But she missed Mother and Da, their scents, she missed , she even missed , and yeah possibly even . It was lonely out here by herself.

Today she woke early in the warm sands to the quick moving waves on the shores. The way the shushed and hushed their way across the grains towards her paws that were mere feet away this morning light. Letting out a loud yawn, the sound a squeak with a clacking of closed jowls, her eyes clenched closed before they opened and squinted at the horizon. The sun brought colors of bright orange and red, purples and blues, and the girl smiled at her quiet awakening.

It was kinda nice though, waking up silently, without anybody protesting against the light or fighting over a scrap. Though she did miss those times.

Cai rose to her feet, her paws gripping the sands beneath them as she decided to take a trip back to the home den and visit her siblings. She hadn't really interacted with them since they'd been born, nothing more than poking her nose in from time to time and ignoring their tiny, though actually enormous, presences. She trotted her way there, taking her time to sniff around and search for anything that might have proved dangerous to her younger kin.

She didn't find anything, to her dismay, and she frowned as he neared the large stone cavern they once all lived in. Her heart grew heavy, her stomach felt like she'd swallowed a massive rock, her throat felt tight and her mouth dry.

The teen stopped outside of the mouth, staring into the darkness as her duo-toned optics searched the shadows for something that she might know, but sadly she didn't find anything other than the scents of her parents. The aroma of family made her homesick and her heart wrenched in her chest for a moment before she was smacked with the scents of the growing puppies and she felt those emotions rush in and become paired with anger, resentment, Cai let out a small growl as she stared off.

After a few moments of panic and homesick woe she let out a loud bark to announce herself and the monochrome female stepped inside. In the darkness her scars glittered on her left flank, a brilliant blue that shifted into a golden white, she noticed the light it gave off and frowned at it, growing increasingly annoyed with the shimmering marks that Mythris had "gifted" her with.

Sometimes she wished she'd gotten the smoke like Mother and Da had, it wouldn't have given her away during hunting, and she sighed heavily with her frustrated frown lacing her features, no longer hidden in the darkness the girl sniffed around for someone to talk to. She was hoping for the Dragons who'd sired her and her littermates, but in this den of dragons you never knew who you'd get.

You always try to blame me, But you're the fool.

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:25:55 -0400

Skill:

Open to all Howff members but looking for Lyra/Myna/Mal for acceptance into the Howff <3

There was darkness. A spinning twirling mist around him, white and hazy, spun like silk. Welcoming, inviting, warm. He felt weightless, lifted, energized. Zel suddenly felt like he was growing dizzy, the spinning growing in intensity and speed. He spun and spun head over heels.

Suddenly there was a light in the sky, the moon hung heavy and bright, and he felt like maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t that far away. He opened his eyes to stare at it, it really wasn’t that far away…?

That's when he noticed it, the breeze on his body like a rocking arm, but all these lovely feelings didn’t last long. Suddenly he was hurtling towards the earth at high intense speeds. The man let out a sound, something that was a mixture between a yelp and a screech, and he extended his neck as if trying to grasp the moon.

Slamming into a bush he let out another yelp and came crashing down. The rustling of the branches was loud and alarming to everything around him, if he had wanted to hunt now would not have been the time, chasing away all prey and smaller creatures.

Azazel groaned, laying on his side in the branches and brush beneath him. His head spun and his jaws ached from the impact. His ribs felt bruised, his limbs felt like he’d been running for years from some unknown monster, his eyes felt full of sand.

He opened his optics anyway.

It was dark, though the moon above illuminated the scenery around him, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness around him he realized he’d been tossed into a forest of unknown proportions. The Demon rose to his feet and shook out any branches and leaves that might have attached themselves to him, his eyes closed as he extended his neck outwards and shook his head.

After his motion finished he pulled his head up and stumbled clumsily out from the bush, silver eyes scanning the forest for something familiar.

get up

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:09:55 -0400

[ ]
(backdated a little for other thread purposes.)

Iero was rarely a creature prone to fits of spontaneity, but he must've had a nice, refreshing sleep the night before, as he was in a mood very uncharacteristic for him.

He had awoken that morning and decided it was time to learn how to fish.

Which found him, currently, knee deep in the cool water of the river, head soaking wet with the multiple failed attempts of his tasks. He was beginning to feel irritated, hunger only accelerating his frustration as he continued, time and time again, to unsuccessfully catch his breakfast.

The boy was surely glad he was alone, or he'd most certainly die of embarrassment and shame. He looked like a drowned rat.

Settle down itll all be clear, Dont pay no mind to the demons

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:03:33 -0400

Wendigo had not yet returned with Selkie, nor had any other of her whelps turned up. Grim and Honor were both missing, and for all Wisp ranged from the Howff as far as she could before needing to return by the end of the same day, there were no signs of any of them. From a litter of six to two. Two. Heavy was her heart, and yet there was nothing she could do about it. Lichen and needed her here. Sarge could afford to roam a bit further than her, but she didn't dare leave her kids so much as overnight.... not even if they were growing so, so fast. Half a year old -- sprouting like weeds, filling out, looking more like teenagers than her babies. She longed again for the days where they were all too little to walk, nestled against her belly and safe. Content.

When they didn't make her glad the Fae-Queen made her grey-faced in this life so she would never see when she started sprouting them.

Still, she could appreciate those good days, right? Even if they had gone by too fast. Even if so many had been colored by death and chaos and bitter cold.

Vibrant blue flowers had bloomed across the Row, and Wisp thought back to the flame. Each petal bobbing in the wind made her think of the dancing blue depths of the magical flame, and as she meandered aimlessly through the pine forest, she stopped to sniff at one. It didn't... really make her feel good. Made her feel strange, even, and she frowned at it. She'd always loved the smell of flowers, and it was only in mortal bodies that she could get so close to them without scorching the bloom.
This one wasn't unpleasant, but she stared warily at it for a moment before carrying on with the faint limp to her walk. She was not so foolish to believe they were not magical in their own right, but they didn't seem dangerous, even if she couldn't figure out what they were for. Did? Who knew, in Mythris. They could heal, they could kill, or they could make you see what should not be there. Maybe they did nothing at all, and were merely borne from a world heavy with magic Wisp often could not feel.

Her pale pelt glowing faintly beneath the bright moon, a warm breeze against her face, Wisp wandered the woods without much aim - only knowing she could not go much further and would need to return soon, lest her family start to miss her and worry.

And I miss my lover, man

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:24:57 -0400

He was nothing but a shell of a man, now.

His sisters long gone, Izumi long gone, and the Dynasty — nothing more than a memory. Everything went astray as soon as he'd been reincarnated. Perhaps he should've resented his cousin for leaving him and the rest of the pack high and dry to who gods knows where. To curse her for promising him the start of a new life, only to leave without so much as a goodbye — but that was merely his despair talking. If he'd ever actually seen Izumi again, even if she did leave, he'd hold her tighter than ever before. She was his dear cousin after all, and she was one of the only pieces of family Yoshi had left.

Yet there was no chance of that happening, since the woman was nowhere to be found.

Nor his siblings,

Nor any sign of the Dynasty.

The sire practically dragged his paws through the expanse of hills that night, fur riddled with debris and various foliage he never bothered to groom. The light of life drained from both his eyes and soul, a dead-man walking. His family was gone, and he had no one and nothing else to live for — spending his entire life trying to prove his usefulness to others, only to be abandoned again and again. He had many opportunities to end this suffering once and for all, by testing the tempting heights of a cliff's edge, or swallowing poisonous herbs. Yet he never did go through with it because he was none but a coward. A useless one at that. His father was probably looking down at him from the spiritual realm right now. Disappointed, as Yoshi always suspected him to be…

He collapsed onto his haunches in the middle of a grassy expanse. Looking aimlessly up at the sky.

I've Come too Far to Quit

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 09:11:04 -0400

Elizesyn can be assorted to any rating

Standing in a small clearing past a small treeline, a chimera’d wolf. Draped in colors of the midnight sky and sunlight. Dual-eyes gazed up at the mountain before her. It was a beautiful sight. Breathtaking.

A waterfall’s rushing stream carried down the cliffs. Birds circled high up into the peaks. Somewhere beyond lay a border of wolves. Though, it mattered little. She strayed outside of it. Simply this place was too beautiful to step from.

Naturally she moved. Throwing herself onto the closest patch of wildflowers. Warm sunlight bathed her coat as she collapsed into the patch below her. Sweet pollen stuck cleanly to her fur while she rolled on her back. Forelegs stretched out to the sky as if she could reach the peaks of the mountains. A lazily thump of her tail, soft giggles rumbled from her chest.

The mountains would wait. For now. This patch of flowers had her fullest attention.

LANGUAGES;
Common
—