Wolf RPG

@Atticus

It was a nice and warm spring day and Osprey, who had been running on various errands lately (which mainly involved hunting, eating and stashing food, as well as a bit of scavenging for the unfortunate victims of winter), had decided to take a morning off. Crete had left their shared den earlier, ever so careful not to wake his sister up, therefore it was a slight disappointment not to say him "good morning" and give him a loving nuzzle on between the ears.

It had been pretty cloudy during the past days, therefore it was a nice surprise to get out of the den and be greeted by the sunlight. "Morning to you too, you big ball of fire," she said, squinting her eyes against the bright light and then yawned. After casting a quick glance around, she found no desire to go anywhere yet, therefore she lied down and rolled on her back to expose her belly to sunbath, closed her eyes and dozed off quickly again.

Ever since he'd made amends with Peregrine, Atticus had felt much better about things. He felt like a boat sailing on an even keel, rather than one tossed about by chaotic winds of anger and bitterness. As long as there was some semblance of harmony among his family and himself, everything else could go to hell and he'd be fine.

On that note, he was on his way to visit Crete this morning. He had been so occupied with his own issues of late -- even leaving the packlands for several weeks in the midst of it all -- that he felt that it'd been ages since he'd last seen his brother. He made his way through the sparse forest, enjoying the bright patches of sunlight that passed warmly over his back and the cheery melodies of birdsong that sprinkled the air around him. He regretted being such a self-absorbed asshole these past weeks, but he had resolved to apologize to Crete for not being around.

He sort of remembered where his brother kept his den, and was rewarded for his vague memory by the sight of his littermate sprawled out on his back in a brilliant pool of golden sunshine. He smiled, gladdened by the sight of his brother comfortable and happy. But then he noticed something. The way the sheen of sunlight danced and shifted over curves rather than angles, the paler, more sterling hues of silver fur rather than the stark contrast of black and white that Crete wore. Atticus halted as a scent, at once familiar and yet different, came to him. And then it dawned on him and the name tumbled out of his lips before he could think, "Osprey…?"

ooc: Osprey's 100th post goes to you. :)

Osprey dreamed of flying. First she was running a narrow mountain path, going faster and faster with each step and all of a sudden the edge appeared. But she didn't stop there, didn't even give a second thought - she closed her eyes and made the leap of faith. At the back of the mind it occurred to her that this brief moment of freedom would not last long and would probably cost her life, but the feeling was so exciting and overwhelming at the same time, that she was willing to trade everything for that. The fall didn't follow, she hovered in the air and looked around. The sight was so different from above. Then...

"Osprey..." this was not a voice in the dream, this came from reality. The realization that this wonderful dream would be taken away from her seemed so unfair that she whimpered, trying to grasp the last bits and pieces of it to keep it together and yet failing miserably at it. She opened her eyes and blinked against the bright sunlight. Much to her disappointment - still lying on the ground, while the sky was as unreachable as ever.

She rolled on her belly and looked up to see, who had awoken her and froze. "Atticus..." she said slowly, but didn't get up to her feet to go and greet him. Osprey had made Peregrine promise that he wouldn't try to solve the odd situation between her and their brother, that she would do it on her own and yet... now that she had met him face to face, she didn't know, what to do. Unlike when she had had her reunion with Perry and Crete, she didn't feel like she had met a well-known and loved friend now.

Atticus looked just the same, but over these two months, since she had been here, every little thing she had heard about him here seemed to tell that she hadn't known him at all. Let alone the fact that he had had time for so many people and had never come to say a hello to her. He was a stranger. "So you finally came," she said, her voice cold. "Had a good time solving complicated stuff?"

Her response to him was less than friendly, which puzzled him. He hadn't known she was even here. When had she arrived? He'd missed so much these last several weeks that he'd been busy with his own issues. He'd never been especially close with his sister. Peregrine and she had always been super-tight, and Crete and he -- particularly he -- had always sort of been on the sidelines. But even in spite of that, he had still expected some happiness on her part at being reunited. Not this cold, arctic chill he got from her now.

But being that she was Peregrine's pet, he went ahead and assumed she knew about the issues between the two brothers and was pissed at him over that. Fine then. Two could play that game. His recent issues with his brother and all the bullshit he'd had to deal with had hardened him quite a lot, so the sense of joyful affection he had felt blossoming within him at the sight of her was quickly doused and was replaced by something colder and more indifferent. "Yup," he replied flatly, returning her level stare. "A blast. Nice to see you too, Sis."

Yes, it was true that Osprey was closer to Peregrine than to the rest of her family. That they shared secrets others had no knowledge of, that for up until lately she had been the center of his world as well as he had been hers. He was her best friend and kindred spirit in many ways. But that didn't mean that she had knowingly shut out other members of the family out of her life. The relationships with them were simply different, but not of any less value to her. She got on well with Peregrine, because he was ready to involve in every kind of adventure she came up with. She got on well with Crete, because he listened, he was consistent, one of the strong pillars that her world could lean on. She had got on well with Atticus, because they were closer on a spiritual level. They were all important to her missing only one of them meant as if a significant part of her life puzzle was missing.

So, why had Tyrannus wrong decisions had split them apart? Why all of a sudden there was this anger, resentment and hurt feelings, when they should have been happy and grateful to have each other again? As she lied there and held Atticus' gaze Osprey understood that she was tired of drama. She didn't want to be angry at him, she wanted to have him back. To be happy for this reunion, even if it was hard to get over the disappointment so quickly. Always and forever, family above all. It meant that you had to forgive. That no matter what happened, you had to stick together.

"Atticus, why the silent treatment?" she asked with a tinge of sadness in her voice. "I have been here for more over than two months - I have caught your scent now and then with Peregrine, Crete and even Hawkeye - but there hasn't been a single moment, when you would come by and say "hello"," this was not an accusation, rather a fact that reflected, how hurt she had been. "I mean, I understand that you had your reasons to be cross with Peregrine, but what did I ever do wrong?" she asked. "I haven't changed, I am the same old Osprey. I am your friend, I love you as a brother, by why do you make it so goddamn hard to do?"

Though her tone had softened, her response just made him angry. He was so fed-up with everyone's butthurt bullshit. By taking time away from the packlands to sort out his feelings and get his head straight over Peregrine's promotion and the loss of his chance at a relationship with Hawkeye, somehow Atticus had pissed off Peregrine and inflicted wounds and scars that would probably never heal. And he still didn't understand that. Now here was his sister, whose existence in their pack had been a mystery to him before now, and because he wasn't omnipotent and hadn't magically known she was here the moment she arrived and hadn't been there to throw a welcoming party for her, now she too was pissed off at him and giving him shit. He was tired of his siblings being such pussies lately.

"Would it make any difference if I told you I didn't even know you were here?" he asked, putting particular emphasis on the last part. Sure, maybe her scent was around the lands…but so were the scents of like fifteen other wolves, and they were all scattered around hundreds of square miles. He couldn't really recall coming across hers at any point. Or maybe he had, and simply hadn't recognized it. It'd been a long time since he'd sniffed her ass, after all. "Or is it just more fun to hang out with the 'I'm Pissed Off At Atticus' club? I hear that's growing in popularity these days. I haven't even been in the lands for most of the last two months. Get over yourself and chill out with the guilt trip act. "

Osprey had not expected Atticus to get this angry and, frankly speaking, she had never seen him the way she did now. The fact that he hadn't know she had been here all this time hadn't occurred to her, because it was so obvious. How could you not notice a new packmate? She could understand, if Crete hadn't said a single word, because - well - he could not, but what about Peregrine? In all his conversations behind the scenes with Atticus - it was impossible that he wouldn't have mentioned anything. He wouldn't be like that - maybe it hadn't occurred to him either. Stating the obvious...

When she looked at the situation from that perspective all of the pain and hurt seemed unneccessary and confusing. She cringed away, as if trying to shelter herself from the angry accusations, which weren't fair. It had begun the wrong way and, if she didn't find out a way to change it, she would end up in the same pit her brother had been before. After waging all her prospects (it didn't take that long to do it) she decided that it was not worth going down that way. Better start it over.

She lifted her muzzle up, drew in a deep breath, exhaled and looked her brother in the eyes. "This won't go well," she said quietly. "Let's begin again." As a creative kid she had been very keen on playing out some of her favorite fairy tales. Those, who she convinced to play the game, would be bossed around of what and how to do, where to stand and, what to say, what intonation to use etc. Now... it was easier to imagine that this was just another play, a scene that hadn't worked out. So... you rewound and did it again.

"Imagine you standing there, me lying here. You say "hello", I open my eyes and I say - "How very nice to see you!"," she closed her eyes, as she spoke, replaying the situation in her mind, all the while wishing that it would be easier to take back the angry words she had said. "Imagine that this didn't happen and... I am very sorry for misjudging you," Osprey finished now looking Atticus in the eyes again. "Will you forgive me?"

He saw the look on his sister's face and felt shame prodding at him from within. He realized in that moment just how bitter and defensive the last few months had made him. Not just since he'd arrived here, with all the drama and upheaval that had occurred at the Plateau, but going all the way back to Tyrannus's betrayal. And there was the death of his mother lingering on his mind that he still hadn't really dealt with yet…

He'd always been an emotional and reactive guy, quick to anger and long-burning with grudges, but he'd never been this much of a dick. He was embarrassed and sad that this was how he and his sister were reintroduced after months of missing her and wondering how she was. She had every right to be angry with him, and he deserved her stinging words.

He closed his eyes and stayed that way for a moment, forcing himself to chill out and take responsibility for his lack of attentiveness as a pack member -- and a highly-ranked one at that -- and as a brother. Osprey's voice, the anger gone out of it, came to him as she attempted to back up and re-set the scene. In that moment he remembered the bossy girl who would insist every scene of her games be played out perfectly, and if they weren't, well, they'd just have to do them again. The unexpected bit of nostalgia brought a small smile to his face, and he opened his eyes and looked at her again, in a new way, his vision unclouded by anger this time.

"Oss," he said, his voice soft. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who should be apologizing. You're right. I've been slack. Real slack. It's been a hard few months for me since Tyrannus wrecked everything, and I haven't been in a good head space at all. I'm trying to fix that now. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you arrived, and I'm sorry you felt like I didn't care. I just didn't know. But now that I do, I'm…damn, I'm so happy to see you."

From the first words Atticus spoke, Osprey knew that everything was going to be alright with them. And it didn't matter, what he said or that he apologized or that he took all the blame on him. The moment she heard forgiveness and mutual understanding - nothing that had happened in the past mattered. What happened here and now was the most important thing. She smiled sincerely at him, her face alight with happiness.

"And so am I!" she got up to her feet, closed the distance between them and pressed her head against his neck, showing her affection to him. "It is good to have you back," Osprey said, "and I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen between us." She stepped back, looked her brother briefly in the eyes and then gave a loving wolfish-kiss on his cheek.

"Aw, come on, Oss!" Atticus exclaimed as she kissed his cheek, as all brothers did when their sisters planted a big wet one on their faces. But with his cry came laughter and a big smile, because he really didn't mind. In fact, the relief and delight he felt at seeing his sister safely here with them again was so immense and overwhelming that he felt giddy in the wake of their momentary standoff. He couldn't believe she was here. Wrapping an arm around her neck and shoulders, he pulled her into a tight hug and returned her promise, "And I promise to be a better brother to you in the future."

Releasing her, he sat back and suddenly realized how good the sun felt as it beamed down on his sleek black back. She'd had the right idea to lounge around with the sun on her belly earlier. "So I know a lot's probably happened since I last saw you, but I gotta ask -- what have I missed while I've had my head up my ass?" He grinned again, both at his own silliness and at the happiness it brought him merely to be in her presence again.

"How I love men, who have been everywhere," Osprey teased him light-heartedly about his choice of words to describe his past situation. Swearing and "exquisite" epithets were that made the language all the more colorful and expressed emotions, she wasn't opposed on using those words too time from time and yet she liked to pretend to be the good girl among rowdy boys.

She lied down again, thus inviting Atticus to do the same. Osprey wasn't up for much action on such a sunny and lazy day. "I don't know, where to begin," she replied after a little contemplation. "What do you already know?" because surely he had had a conversation with Peregrine and he could be quite a chatterbox when it came to siblings and friends.

He grinned at her jest regarding men who'd been everywhere. He'd always enjoyed Osprey's subtler sense of humor, that much at least had not changed. She reclined into a more comfortable position again and invited him to do the same, and he took the invitation, sprawling out beside her with his belly up toward the sun. Feeling its warmth suffuse his body, he couldn't help feeling sleepy and relaxed.

Osprey asked him what he knew already, and he shrugged, "Well, since I didn't even know you were here until just a few minutes ago, I guess I don't really know anything at all. So much has changed since I last saw you at home…" By 'home' he was, of course, referring to the Flightless Falcons. And indeed, much had changed.

ooc: in the next few posts maybe?

"Oh," Osprey furrowed her brow, realizing that Atticus still might not know that their mom had died. She hated the role of being the bearer of bad news to people and hoped that by now she would be able to give up the role. "The sole reason I left our home was because mom died," she began. Time had passed and the idea of March owl not being here anymore didn't hurt that much as it had in the beginning, still it was a memory she hadn't liked to return to. "It didn't feel the same there after that. With you all gone and few of our former family left. So I began the journey of a lifetime and... now I am here," she finished. Her inner story-teller would have wanted her having a lot of adventures during that journey, but that hadn't happened.

"I know that Peregrine and Crete were banished, but you disappeared without a sight," she returned to the events that had taken place many months before. "Did you leave on your own or you were banished too? No one knew anything of your fate."

When Osprey mentioned their mom dying, Atticus's ears drooped somewhat and a somber expression came over his face. Peregrine had given him the news not long ago and he still hadn't quite figured out how to deal with it. He'd been a lot closer with his dad than his mom, and Aether's passing had been hard. Really hard. His mother's passing was difficult, but it didn't hit him the same way. It still hurt, and he was still grieving, but it was just…complicated for him.

But otherwise, he was glad to hear that the events that had led her here were mostly uneventful. Certainly nothing like those that had resulted in him being here. And Osprey inquired about that, too. He was surprised she knew nothing of his banishment. He thought that Tyrannus would've wanted to be loud and proud about having gotten rid of all the younger brothers. "No, I was banished too," he answered, his voice thoughtful and a slighty troubled expression coming over his face as he remembered that awful day. "Tyrannus ran me out, like he did to Crete and Perry. I waited a day or two and tried to circle around to the opposite end of the lands and sneak back -- I wanted to find you and Mom. But Tyr caught me and we fought, he beat the crap out of me. He was always stronger and faster than me…" He trailed off for a moment as memories of warm summer afternoons spent running and wrestling with his older brother flashed through his mind. It hurt to think back on those times. He and Tyrannus had been so close once. "Anyway, he made sure I left after that, so I never got a chance to tell you or Mom. I followed Crete's scent here."

He fell quiet for a moment as he chewed on those memories, both bitter and sweet. Tyrannus was dead now. He had a harder time processing that death than he did March Owl's, for no matter how much of an asshole his older brother had been, Atticus had loved Tyrannus dearly. They'd been close friends growing up, and Tyrannus had taught him a lot of things in his youth. "I miss home a lot. I like it here, but it's not the same. It helps having you guys around, though."

ooc: my plans changed a little - due to amount of work in RL and leadership responsibilities in HR, I will be taking Osprey off game for a month or two. It's a getting too hard for me to keep two characters active. Therefore it would be very nice, if we could finish this thread during next week.

"Sometimes I miss home too, but not that much anymore," Osprey said. "Because the one thing I learned from all of that was that the place is important to you as long as there are people you care about. Once they are gone... it isn't the same." She had left because of that and was happy to be here, because she was together with those people she loved dearly.

"And the other - Tyrannus was a... very bad apple," she had wanted to use a proper swearword, but decided against it. After all she had made an impression of being the good girl here and she didn't want to change it. But for the sake of being fair she added: "A very rotten one."

"But he is dead now," Peregrine had told her that, even though he hadn't revealed, how he had found this out. "And I do hope that he is in a better place and is the same good old Tyr we once knew," whatever their brother had done wrong, part of Osprey still loved him and didn't wish him ill.

"Yeah," Atticus said, agreeing with everything she'd said. She was right, of course. As always. She was the sensible one out of all their litter, it seemed, and Atticus smiled with affection. Gone and forgotten was the tension of their initial meeting, at least in his mind, and as he reclined comfortably with his sister in the sun, he almost felt as if things were normal and they were back home with the Falcons again. With no shortage of laughter and enthusiasm, they passed the afternoon talking of the various experiences they'd encountered during their time apart and catching up on lost time.