Blacktail Deer Plateau keep a brave face

AW especially intended for those he hasn't met much yet and/or are interested in scouting!

for the first time in his life, aditya was someone of importance. moons ago, he had been invited to stay on this plateau. he hadn't known then whether he would stay longer than the winter; now he was sure of it. for the first time, he had duties. responsibilities. and while they became overwhelming, occasionally, he generally thrived on the new challenges.

he had a mate, a family, and the prospect of children. a beautiful home and a warm den. and with something to finally fight for, aditya had grown up fast, his once ever-jocular nature maturing into something more warm, less silly.

the agouti male stood at the border, the cold wind ruffling the hairs on his nape and tail. the winter was still bitter as ever, but he was beginning to grow used to it, and he knew spring's first song was just around the corner. the moonspear girl's revelation about redhawk caldera had disconcerted him, and his hawkish gaze scanned the horizon, alert for intruders.

clearly, the conflict to the south was more complicated than had first been let on. now, as chief hunter and guardian of this land, a son to one leader and a lover to another, it was his job to make sure morningside was not touched by the bloodshed that would ensue sooner rather than later.

He had taken a small break from patrolling and hunting near the borders of Morningside since the last time he had done so, he'd gotten into two fights and one of them hadn't ended too prettily. It wasn't fear that kept him away but...okay yeah it was fear. He didn't want to even risk getting kicked in the balls again, it was so painful!

but today he convinced himself to patrol and freshen his scent upon the borders, moving quickly against the bitter breeze that ruffled his fur and managed to chill him enough for him to shiver a bit. As he was coming along, he spotted Aditya staring off into the distance seemingly in thought. He gave a friendly chuff to announce himself and approached the man. He knew that Aditya was his sister's mate and therefore a brother to him in a way, but he hadn't really ever gotten to know him. Maybe that could change now. "Hey Aditya...what's up?" He asked curiously, noticing how lost in thought the male had been.

to his pleasure, he saw sunny approach, looking friendly as ever. he gave him a flash of a grin before looking back toward the horizon. "hello, sunny," adi said amiably. "just doing my duty. keeping watch."

he looked over at the boy--curious that he called him a 'boy,' when dawn to him was a woman. the two siblings might look similar, but in terms of personality they were night and day. dawn was mature for her age, while sunny. . .  he wondered where their adolescent experiences had branched off, for them to have developed so differently.

"what's up with you?" he asked reciprocally, thinking it would be best to be kind to his brother-in-law, even if he was kind of a goofball. "i haven't seen you around, much."

It would seem he wasn't the only one that was out to watch over the borders today. He nodded his head and sat down, curling his tail around his haunches. "Trying to get over my fear of the borders" he said grimly. Realizing that nobody knew what had happened the other day he smiled sheepishly "I got into a fight with someone who ruined my hunt pretty close to the borders. They kicked my ass" he said refusing to mention it was a girl. And then on a more bitter note "and my balls. That really hurts you know? I never knew till the other day" he said in a grumbling tone. The memory made him cringe before he shook it off.

"I kinda disappeared for a while. I got caught in a storm, lost my way, wandered too far and got hurt" he lifted his twisted paw. "But I found my way back eventually. Been back for a few weeks but I've kept busy. Hunting and patrolling, sparring, meeting new packmates." He explained with a small smile. "Oh by the way! Congrats on you and Dawn. I'm really happy for her. And you of course. I guess that makes us brothers huh?" He said with a lopsided grin. So long as Aditya treated his sister well,sunny had absolutely no problem with the male. Actually he supposed he kind of liked him, he seemed nice and easy enough to get along with.

aditya laughed suddenly and regretted it, knowing how fragile male wolves--well, any wolf, really, but he was going off his own experience--were at this age. he shook his head, letting go of any mirth in his voice before responding, "sorry. wasn't making fun. yes, it hurts." it had been a while--but yes, it did hurt. "well, there's always next time. an opportunity for you to kick some ass."

he heard out sunny's story, not saying anything in response until the kid brought up his relationship, wherein which he gave his brother-in-law a warm grin. "i'd say so," adi admitted. "you know, i've never had a brother. you'll be my first."

he felt a small pang in his stomach as he spoke, remembering engel. there had been a time when he had once considered the ruddy male a brother. . .and he hoped that he would not have to write sunny off in the same way some day. being a relation of dawn's and grayday's, he highly doubted it. the morningside family had integrity, something he commended.

"what about you?" aditya asked slyly, giving sunny a sly smile. "got anybody in mind for yourself?"

Aditya laughed at him or with him he wasn't quite sure but he didn't dwell on it. He supposed it was kinda funny in a weird way after all, someone as big as him getting whooped by a girl. He flashed Adi a grin "Ah...don't worry about it. I totally will kick ass next time though" he said with conviction. The next words out of Aditya's mouth made Sunny's eyes widen "R..really? I'm your first brother?" He stammered sounding once again like a small boy. Realizing this though he blinked and gave a warm smile "Well...welcome to the family. I'll try to be a good brother to you...I kind of" he cut himself off. He'd almost said he kind of messed that up with Dawn. He wouldn't go there, to those dark memories of the hatred once held in Dawn's eyes for him.

snapping out of it he caught Aditya's last question and sobered up a little bit. His thoughts went to Keoni immediately, the silent but beautiful girl he'd left behind in Easthollow. The one who tolerated Sunny's babbling and went on hunts with him, putting up with what he supposed was obvious fawning. "Keoni...I liked Keoni alot. She's beautiful. This soft coat of white fur and the prettiest blue eyes. Even though she can't talk i always see what she means..." He murmured, feeling his heartbeat quicken. Then he thought about who he had at home here in Morningside. "Sorrel Too...but she confuses me. Intimidates me a bit too. It's like...I try to be nice and help her and stuff and one minute she's being friendly then the next she doesn't wanna talk. But she's interesting and sweet...there's this frightened way about her though that makes me want to always look out for her" his eyes had glazed over a bit as he spoke but suddenly he came back to attention and stared at Aditya. "Sorry....I babble alot"

"yes, my very first," he said, nodding seriously. "my mother didn't have any more pups besides me." he noticed that sunny cut off whatever he was going to say, and chose to not press the boy--he would share it if he wanted to. he didn't know his new brother-in-law to be anyone shy of speaking his mind; it was refreshing, in a way, to know someone so honest, so unguarded. neither grayday nor dawn had that same quality: they both had had to grow up too fast.

adi smiled as sunny spoke of his crushes, first a girl he wasn't familiar with, then sorrel, with whom aditya was definitely familiar. "keoni," he repeated for starters, canting one ear in curiosity. "does she live back in easthollow?" he knew that dawn and sunny had been born in easthollow and that the boy had lived there longer than his sister; he hadn't exactly been clued into the entire story.

"koi baat nahin," he said coolly to sunny's last sentence, throwing off the apology with a flick of his tail. "no apology needed. i talk a lot, too."

his smile faded a bit as he thought of sorrel. she was a tough nut to crack, but it was clear that some trauma in her past cloaked her present in fear and distrust. even aditya had a hard time interacting with her, and he considered himself a seasoned counselor and friend. sunny, many seasons younger, might have been in over his head with the complicated girl.

"sorrel has gone through a lot," aditya murmured. "i'm not sure what, but she's been hurt before. i don't think she knows who she can trust. all you can really do is be a good friend to her." he gave sunny an encouraging smile. "i'm sure she appreciates your kindness."

Sunny nodded when Aditya asked if Keoni was back in Easthollow. "Yeah. She's Valette's daughter. Valette is the alpha. Keoni's brother is a friend of mine too, or at least he was when I was there" he said looking both sad and kind of happy to talk a bit about Easthollow. It was obvious that he liked that pack alot but unless Aditya knew that Sunny was more familiar with Easthollow than he was with Morningside that would seem a bit odd. 

He watched Adi's smile fade as Sorrel was brought up and wondered why, but then the man began to talk and he understood. "I'll do my best...I'd never hurt her. I mean...at least not intentionally, I kinda have a history with doing things that upset others" he said looking down, his ears flicking back in an ashamed way. "Me and Dawn weren't always friendly with each other. After momma left I kind of became overprtective and overbearing. When Dawn started growing adventurous I would shadow her and try to prevent her from exploring. She hated it and we fought alot but I was just trying to keep her from hurting herself. I get that it was wrong now, but all the fighting ended up making me run away to Easthollow again. I chose my birth pack over my family...and Dawn hated me for it. Almost every time dad would visit and she'd be with him there'd be this look in her eyes. Anger and just..hate..and I thought we'd never fix it." The story was spilling out of his mouth before he could stop it and once he began he found that he couldn't stop talking.

"Dad was nicer to  me but I know I hurt him a lot. Then he had Khoe and they had kids and shortly after that I guess Khoe ran away just like me and Dawn's mom did. Dad sent Dawn to get me because the kids were upset and ever since then me and Dawn have kinda reached an understanding and a kind of peacefulness. But I still regret Everything that happened...and honestly I wish maybe I'd stayed in morningside in the first place because now I miss everyone at Easthollow despite loving this pack." He slowly came to a stop. There was a sense of relief that washed through him after he had blurted it all out but he looked up at Aditya with an almost fearful expression. What would he think of everything Sunny had done? Would he call sunny a fool?

sometimes you just needed to get it all out. sunny sent a torrent of words his way, full of guilt and sadness and regret. adi sat and nodded through it all, absorbing each and every syllable. though it felt like a very long time, he knew it wasn't that far in the past that he was this age, young and learning and vulnerable. god's sake, the boy was barely a year!

"i would have done the same, if i had a sister," aditya responded after sunny fell silent, adding, with a half-smile, "probably. it's only natural that you would want to keep her safe." his face grew solemn, then. "she's adventurous. so am i--but it's different, when it's someone else. someone you have to look out for besides yourself."

he didn't share with his brother-in-law the own fears that lie dormant within him. he knew dawn was a strong, capable and independent young woman, but that didn't stop the worry, every time she ventured off. and he knew she worried similarly for him. sibling worries and lovers' worries differed, though; it was well within dawn's nature to grow angry with her brother for--at least what she saw it as--holding her back. especially as a younger, more volatile wolf.

"you're all together now," adi said, smiling once more. "and you seem to get on fine. and you can always visit your friends back at easthollow. . .it might be easier in the future, if we ever move closer to them." he had no idea what grayday had in mind as far as potential summer homes, but it would make tactical sense to shift nearer toward their closest allies.

Sunny smiled fondly when Aditya said Dawn was adventurous and a small chuckle left his maw "That's an understatement. I once found her climbing a tree" he said with a grin. She'd made it up onto a branch and then...and then she'd fallen and yelled at him when he tried to ask if she was okay. He left that part out but his face fell again. It was the past and he knew she wasn't that foolish anymore so he could let it go, but for some reason the memory still held some sting to it.

Then conversation turned  to visiting Easthollow and he nodded eagerly "I'd love to...they're like a secondary family to me. Allies too, so I'd probably be more than welcome to visit. Maybe I'll ask Dad if I can visit sometime after we've moved, I don't want to leave and travel now when I should be helping out" he felt his mood brighten at the possibility, seeing Valette and Keoni, seeing how much Easthollow had grown. Or at least he hoped they had grown...he expected that they were doing well.

he was about to offer a cheeky remark on this latest tale--he hadn't heard this one, yet--when sunny's face fell yet again, and aditya kept his mouth shut. there was clearly some sour history between the siblings, though they had made up, supposedly. best not to stir that pot. the past was the past, after all.

"i would love to visit easthollow with you," aditya said, smiling. it was clearly where half of the boy's heart lie, though of course part of it was here, too. "i've never been up that way--but have heard nothing but good things."

he thought back to sunny's earlier statement, and he grinned. "getting over your fear of the borders, now?" truth be told, after all that had come to pass, he had more than a little fear of the borders, himself. not the line itself--but what was beyond.

Sunny perked his ears at the idea of visiting Easthollow with Aditya. It excited him and he decided sometime when the weather was warmer and less snow covered the ground that he would suggest a trip to dad. They'd probably need to figure out a reason to visit because Valette may not appreciate them randomly showing up all the time, but it was still a pleasant idea.

When it changed back to the fear of the borders he looked outward and sighed  "I dont really fear our side. It's more outside. If I get into a fight inside I can call for help if needed, but outside? Whatever I get myself into is my fault.He said with an uncomfortable shiver. "I Do think I'll continue patrolling though...we can continue talking later?"he suggested as he stood up. If agreed he would say goodbye and walk off to finish his first patrol in a while.

aditya nodded, watching the boy leave with a smile lingering on his face. for all his youth, sunny was an intelligent young man, and a clearly talented hunter. he felt in this moment that he'd been a little unfair in his internal assessments, not giving the boy his proper due. he wouldn't make that mistake again.

at the end of the day, adi was overjoyed to have a family, and to have sunny as a brother. that was enough for him. with a sigh of contentment, he returned his gaze to outside the pack lands, sitting in quiet meditation as the sun began to sink below the horizon.