[Elektra]

Mirage let go after a few seconds, remembering that this wasn't a fight for her life, and noticed almost immediately that Pyrrhos had almost blanked out.  Stopping to catch her breath, the hair on her neck stood on end.  Something was here, and quite close to them.  Scanning the walls, she caught a twin pair of shadows.  "What the heck!" she thought to herself, confused and somewhat wary of what might be there.  Using the added heat around her once more, she shimmered, this time her padded paws helping her, and headed over to where the mysterious shapes were.

[AnimeTheia]

The shadows shimmered and moved oddly, they didn't seem like normal shadows, for one thing there shouldn't have even been shadows where they were with the blazing sun shining down on the rock, and there was no other rocks or trees to cause them and no breeze to cause them to move. As Mirage approached a giggle seemed to emanate from nowhere, it had a distinctly feminine sound to it and was soon joined by another slightly different pitch but also feminine giggle.

Pyrrhos watched the shadows from a distance, seeming a little wary of them for some reason. He could have told Mirage exactly what or technically who they were, but had learned that spoiling their fun too quickly resulted in constant torment for him.

[Elektra]

Mirage noticed that the shadows moved in an odd way, but what startled her was the giggling.  There were two different pitches that they came in.  Moving closer to the pair of shadows, she hoped that she wouldn't end up biting the wall, and lunged with her teach directly at what looked like a shadow of a tail.

[AnimeTheia]

The giggling got louder and more intense as Mirage's jaws passed harmlessly through the tail shaped silhouette, the two shadows appeared as if they were hunched down to the ground and the laughter began to turn into uncontrolled hysterics.

Behind Mirage, Pyrrhos finally got up and seemingly got a grip of himself once more, he walked over to the twin shapes and barked in an authoritative tone "That's enough girls! Reveal yourselves, you've had your fun" in a much quieter voice he mumbled to the wall "I'm trying to recruit this Lucain, show me some respect, please...".

Slowly the two shadows began to take on a more solid looking form, fattening out and seperating themselves both from the wall and from each other, after a couple of minutes it was clear the shadows were in fact two Black female Lucain so very similar that it was difficult for those who didn't know them well to be able to tell them apart:

One female was hunched low to the ground her muzzle in her front paws trying, very unsuccessfully, to stifle her laughter, whilst the other one was rolling around on the pebbly floor laughing her head off still. Whilst they both looked to be solid creatures, a weird shadowy mist clung to their frames and whenever a tail or leg went to knock against something, it instead passed through it effortlessly.

Pyrrhos turned to look at Mirage with a slight grimace on his face, "As these two are currently incapable of introducing themselves, i'll introduce them for you" he said with a quick fiery glance aimed in their direction. "This is Morwena" he indicated the female with her muzzle buried in her paws "and Morrigan" clearly the female that was still rolling in hysterics on her back "They are twin sisters and members of my pack".


((Again i'm sorry it took so long to reply, to top it all off I messed up my hand today so typing is slow and slightly painful for me   so typical XD ))

[Elektra]

"Hello..." Mirage stammered a bit.  These two certainly were interesting, but also annoying.  Or maybe that was just her.  Besides that, they also seemed like they knew Pyrrhos, but that didn't exactly surprise her.  Turning to the male Lucain, she asked, "So wait, does everyone else in you pack have an elemental affinity, or what?"

[AnimeTheia]

Pyrrhos made a show of ignoring the hysterical twins, turning to Mirage and rolling his eyes "I'm sorry about them" he apologised on their behalf whilst aiming as sharp kick at Morwena the nearest one to him, not that it did any good, his paw merely passed through her shoulder.

"Actually no, not everyone in the Pack has elemental abilities, obviously I do and the girls have a shadow-like ability, but Reggie my Second-in-command hasn't ever shown any magical talent".

Behind him, the twins abruptly stopped laughing, and stood up flanking Pyrrhos, one on either side. Their tails swayed gently behind them and they shifted their paws about slightly every now and then, as though they were feeling restless. The really unerring thing about the two black Lucain, was that they did everything in perfect unison, their tails swayed together mirroring each other perfectly, and they shifted and moved as one. They had always had a sort of weak mental link, ever since they were born, something to do with their being twins. As they had grown up they had practised and worked together to perfect their movements so that now they didn't even need to watch what each other was doing to be able to mimic them, in fact they weren't even really mimicing each other, they just somehow knew exactly how the other would move and behave.

Two pairs of keen pale blue eyes stared at Mirage, they seemed all seriousness at last... "You just have to meet Reggie!" Morwena said suddenly, both her and her sisters faces breaking out into big grins, "Yes, you simply must!" Morrigan chimed in. "He's the absolute life and""soul of any party" the twins waited and watched Mirage, they were fascinated by the prospect of a new pack member, not least because they were looking forward to weirding her out with their bahaviour and pulling pranks on her.

[Elektra]

Wow...these two really are perfect mirror images... Mirage thought to herself.  Studying them, she listened as they talked about some Reggie.  Thinking about it more, it suddenly popped into her head that these two would probably make great friends with Xandra.  She could always send her a message to join them.  It seemed like Pyrrhos was trying to recruit elementals for his pack anyway, and her crew would be perfect.  That was, if Nyxia would agree, which she most certainly wouldn't.

(Hey, I'm gonna PM you with an idea or two that just popped into my head.  ^3^)

[AnimeTheia]

"Enough Girls!" Pyrrhos spoke quietly, a dangerous edge to his voice, he had been getting visibly more and more annoyed since the twins had appeared, it seemed he could not handle their mindless natter and pranks for very long. Vibrant red flames had sprung unbidden around his paws and along his back.

Both twins stopped talking instantly, they each eyed their leader, noting the flames and sound of his voice, in unison they both stepped a little further away from Pyrrhos, their shadowy bodies seeming a somewhat less solid in the light of his fierce flames.

As silence and order returned once more, Pyrrhos' flames died down a little, taking on a more orange/yellow hue, he attempted a small smile at Mirage, though it looked somewhat more grimace like "Well, I suppose now that you've met the majority of the pack I should ask you if you wish to join us? You don't have to answer right away, I believe you already have some sort of pack? Which you probably don't want to leave if it involves joining these two nuisances" he attempted to keep his tone light and friendly, but his voice still had a bit of an edge to it, he fervently wished the twins hadn't turned up and vowed to himself that he would make them pay if they had ruined his chances of recruiting a promising fire elemental.

[Elektra]

"I can answer that for her, actually."  The voice came out of no where, but suddenly a small group of Lucain stepped out from behind a bolder.  "We've been watching you for a while now, and I believe that we would all be interested in joining your pack."  This time, it was a more light, almost spirited voice that spoke out.  Strangely enough, the Lucain looked almost identical to a Peacer Fellox, which was why she stood out more than the other three.  A calm male walked up, inspecting the twins quitely.  "Greetings, I am Nyxia.  Like I said before, I've been watching you, and would be delighted to join your pack with my own elementals.  I am earth, Myrina is spirit," in a quieter voice, she added, "Please try not to get her mad, as she can use all elements, but has a temper to go with them..." Piping back up, she began again.  "Celestio controls water, and-" she cut off as she started to mention the last name, and looked around.  "Oh, sorry.  I'm Xandra." said a dark, sly voice.  From behind the twins, the last female stepped out of the shadows, exactly as the girls did themselves.  "As you can see," Nyxia went on, "she's our shadow elemental.  If you're willing, we will join you, but on one condition."  "Nyxia will be the Alpha female." Myrina finished.  "Well, thanks for letting me get a word in!" Mirage muttered sarcastically.  "Truthfully, we don't mean to be imposing, but Myrina, Nyxia's second in command, and Nyxia herself, have discussed it, and we find it only fair that Nyxia, who is our Alpha, be the Alpha with you, since we would be adding a vast amount of power to your own pack." Celestio said in a calm, diplomatic manner.



(Sorry for the Lucain invasion, I just thought now would be as good a time as any to add these guys.  ^^


And just a heads up, Celestio is Myrina's mate.)

[AnimeTheia]

Pyrhhos looked up in the direction of the sudden new voice. He watched, warily but calmly with his head held high with dignity, as the group of Lucain made their way out from the rock and shadow cover, however he couldn't help but look slightly surprised at the last female, Xandra, as she drew herself out of the shadows just like the twins.
His attention was quickly drawn back to the first female though as she spoke again. Nyxia, that's what she said her name was, quite an unusual name for quite an unusual looking lucain. Pyrhhos' breath was stolen from him as he took her beauty in, her sparkly pelt, her dark moon and star markings, her enchanting shining white eyes, the flames around his body actually began to diminish as they starved from the lack of his breathing, the lack of oxygen to feed them.
Finally he remembered to take a breath, as he did so his flames rose up once more, it dawned on him that he hadn't been paying attention to what the newcomers had been saying beyond having heard Nyxia and the Peacer Lucain saying that they had been observing them and of course he had heard Nyxia's name, but beyond that he hadn't taken in anything they had said. It seemed like they were waiting for an answer of some sort, he racked his brains trying to think what it was they said - he vaguely recalled something about them agreeing to merge packs - and wishing fervently that Reggie was with him - his second in command would never have lost track like this - Eventually he decided that they seemed to be friendly, they certainly weren't acting in a threatening way, so according to his logic they must have asked him something reasonable. "Of course" he said flashing a smile at Nyxia, he hoped that his vague response was suitable and that he would be able to work out exactly what he had just agreed to soon.

To either side of him, the twins were deathly silent, their eyes were locked on to the new female shadow lucain, their hackles - which had been raised in warning as the first three Lucain had appeared - had relaxed and their both wore a sort of shocked and confused expression "M...M..M." "Mother?" they stuttered indicating Xandra.


((Wow 'cainsplosion! XD, the more the merrier. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back into the RP, also I have to tell you Celestio is Reggie's father - you sure know how to pick 'em XD))

[Elektra]

"Huh?" Xandra finally noticed that both twins were looking at her in a confused way, but that last word surprised her.  Mother.  It hit her with such force, bringing back memories that had been buried deep inside for years.  "Girls?" she said, going over.  Yes, these were definitely her kin, but it was amazing that they recognized her after such a long time.  Their shadow like pelts still held an eerie mist, just as her own did.  Forgetting everyone else, she herded the twins off to see what they could do with the powers they had inherited.

Nyxia's eyebrows shot up when Pyrhhos readily agreed to her request.  It seemed that he had been distracted by, wait, her?  He had finally come to and agreed though, which was a good sign.  Going over to him, she curtsied and stood by his side, Myrina just a little bit behind.  "Well I suppose this is all settled then.  But might I ask what you plan to do with such a pack?" Celestio quired.  Mirage still wasn't able to understand what was going on with everything all of the sudden, since their appearance had thrown her quite a bit.


(You're kidding, right?  o.0  Wow, this is really weird, but hey, it works out.  xDDD)

[AnimeTheia]

Morwena and Morrigan wandered off with their mother giving no thought to the safety of their Alpha, besides from what they could tell the pack was merged now though it did seem odd that Pyrrhos had agreed so quickly to making this Nyxia female the Alpha, then again there were no other females in the pack besides them and it was pretty impossible to raise the rank of one of them above the other, currently they held a joint Beta position though it was likely the pack would have to be reshuffled to sort out the proper pecking order, which probably meant lots of pack fighting to work out the strongest and weakest among them.

They were both silent, walking next to each other as if they felt the need of each others strength to deal with all the sudden changes, not least of all was the appearance of their mother. They hadn't seen their mother since they were pups, but despite their patchy memories it was unmistakable that this Lucain who now walked beside them, leading them away to a private clearing on the slope of the volcano, was indeed their mother, or at least one of them for both their parents had been female. As they walked they exchanged glances full of meaning, their silent looks conveying whole conversations about their surprise and uncertain feelings, they clearly didn't know whether to be pleased or not, they didn't really remember much of their mothers personality at all and neither of them knew what to say to her so they left it to her to speak first.

~~~~~~

Pyrrhos was pleasantly surprised when Nyxia came and stood next to him the way she did, he still wasn't sure exactly what was going on so for the time being he presumed that he had merely agreed to the combining of their two packs. He bowed slightly in response to her curtsey still befuddled by the whole thing, and finally managed to wrench his attention from her as the blue and purple celestial male, that he had missed the name of but wasn't about to admit that to him, spoke. "Well" he started, trying in vain to clear his mind, he was however unsuccessful, his thoughts were crowded by the image of the female who was standing beside him, so close to him he could smell her feminine scent, he suddenly thought that he should turn his flames down so as not to risk burning her and did so until they were nothing more than tiny flickers dancing along the length of his spine down to his two tail tips. "Well, uh" he began again trying to order his thoughts, he was certain he couldn't be making a very good impression as their new Alpha but he had never been very good at all this diplomatic stuff, his strength lay in fighting and tactics not explanations and talking, he never did like talking too much. He sat down with a small thump "Perhaps I should call Reggie in, he's much better at this sort of stuff" he explained, hoping it would explain his hesitation a bit. Without waiting for a response and without making any noticeable movements he sent two fire flares high up in to the sky where they soared and burned for several moments before slowly diminishing to nothing.

They didn't have to wait long before steady footsteps could be heard coming closer, and a new male Lucain came into the clearing:

"This is Reggie, my second" Pyrrhos introduced the newcomer, a most vibrantly coloured lucain. 'Reggie' glared at Pyrrhos momentarily before assuming a face of stoic calm, "Pleased to meet you" the male said bowing with a fancy sweep of his foreleg to the two ladies and nodding politely to the other male "Please, call me Reginald" he directed formally with the slightest hint of a glare directed once more at Pyrrhos; who was now grinning amusedly. "How may I be of service?" Reginald asked casting his eyes about at Nyxia and the others. He was faintly curious as to the whereabouts of the twins, whom he had seen heading up earlier on from his own 'hiding place' - he never strayed far from Pyrrhos unless expressly forbidden - but didn't show it, keeping his face a mask of pure calm and polite interest. As he looked around at the others once more he felt an odd feeling in the back of his mind, something like a memory trying to resurface, it was something to do with the celestial male.


((I know right XD, can you see the family resemblance? I just had to bring him in! XD))

[Elektra]

"Rexxel got your tongues?" Xandra joked.  She could easily see that the two were unsure of her, and hoped that it wasn't because they had both gone with her mate when they were both pups.  She was the daughter of the Grim Reaper, but that didn't mean she had no heart.  Just a tiny sliver of one.  "So girls, what powers do you have?" she said casually, hoping to test their abilities.


"Pleased to meat you, my dear Reginald.  As you know already, I'm Nyxia.  This is Myrina, my second in command, and Celestio is our beta.  Or well, was, until recently.  You see, I'm now Alpha female, as Pyrrhos has agreed."  Smiling, she still wondered what he was planning on doing with such a group of elementals.

[AnimeTheia]

The twins glanced at each other, they weren't really sure what to say or do, quite an odd revelation to the both of them as they were normally boisterous and noisy. Eventually Morrigan spoke, she had always been the slightly more dominant and brave one of the two though the twins took pains not to show any differences between themselves, "We,  uh,  we  can  turn  into  shadows..." beside her Mowena simply gave a little nod.

~~~~~

Reginald nodded politely in turn to each Lucain as Nyxia introduced them to him, he carefully stored their names away in his mind along with any other useful or potentially useful information that he was told. As Celestio was introduced he felt another flicker or memory trying to surface, something from the past that he had buried away beneath all of the pack files he now had stored (he imagined his mind much like an office, with a desk, a potted plant and mutiple filing cabinets filled with reams upon reams of files and all of it immaculately ordered and labelled. All of it barring one thing, a crumpled old cardboard box, within which all of his puphood memories lived up until the point at which he had started organising his mind, and now that box was quivering). He soon decided that right now was not the time to start pulling files 'out of his head' and studying them to find the disturbance, as Nyxia informed him that she was now Alpha Female of his own pack.

He almost didn't believe her, but a quick glance at Pyrrhos' face told him all he needed to know, "It is an honour Mon Cherie", he bowed deeply before Nyxia correcting his behaviour to now be that worthy of speaking to someone of higher rank, "I most sincerely apologise, I was unaware of Pyrrhos' intentions for today, I merely believed he was going caving, but now I wish to make amends by welcoming you to our pack" he explained. "I imagine you will be wanting to know all about us, where we live, what we do, if there are any more of us and so on?". Reginald was slightly put-out at having the pack suddenly more than double in size, but his job was not to complain, it was to smooth things over and deal with all the little details and inticracies and to save his leader from appearing ignorant and stupid, a task that was never ending and entirely difficult.

Next to Nyxia Pyrrhos was doing his best to hold his face immobile, he couldn't possibly let it gape as it so wished to after hearing the news that he had just practically become betrothed to Nyxia, he wasn't entirely sure if it was a good idea or not, but the general winning feeling in his mind was that this beautiful female was now his alpha, his, no-one elses, his! Of course Reginald could read Pyrrhos' face like a book, no matter how hard he tried to hide his emotions and thoughts, to Reginald his face read something like 'I am infatuated, I didn't listen, I was just as unaware as everyone else that I had done this'.

[Elektra]

Nyxia smiled, and if anyone were to look extremely close, they would've seen her perfectly whitened, razor-sharp Vampire fangs.  Everything was going along just as planned.  There were almost five months until the next blue moon, when her kind were most powerful, and the gathering of a small army was already coming along.  Of course, she had to make sure that no one could follow her, seeing as others from her home would be able to open the universal portal, and come after her.  


Bringing herself back to the current situation, she wondered if Pyrrhos was looking at her the way he was because he was proud to have her as Alpha, or if it was something deeper.  Of course, if it was the latter, there would be problems, seeing as Zeru was to be her consort and mate, but that could be worried about later.


Meanwhile, it seemed that Myrina and Mirage were no where to be found, and Xandra had gone off with the twins, leaving her with Celestio and the other new Lucains.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Well, how about you show me?" Xandra replied, her brows raised.  They were so quiet, it seemed that they were scared, but of what?  Certainly not her, right?  "I'm not going to hurt you, though you probably already knew that, so why in Xai're's name are you two so jittery?  And, not to make it offensive, but is shadow stepping your only power?  Or, your only known powers, I should say."