The dark young wolf climbed the stony slopes of the mountain pack until he had found himself at a reasonable perch on a large rocky outcropping. The rain still had not let up. This had left the dark predator in a foul mood that had latched tightly to his mind. He had not found much success in his hunts and he become something of a moody sentinel to the edges of their claim. Atlas still could not shake the feeling that danger would come to their mountain and if they did not suspect it, it would devastate them. He felt his place was to guard the pack and to keep the edges of the claim safe.
With a weary sigh, the yearling ducked beneath the rocky overhang and searched the cloudy skies for a sign that the weather might clear. The rain had been good for the foliage, but it had made many of their simple tasks much harder. With a pensive stare, the shade watched the gloomy world pass on while he waited for the rain to cease.
It was a dreary day—nothing out of the ordinary for the deluged wilderness. The rain didn't deter Osiris from wandering; he hadn't had the chance to re-acquaint himself with the sights and smells of the territory since he had returned. Osiris recognized Atlas' scent through the petrichor, and he decided quickly to pursue his brother.
"Atlas," Osiris greeted, stooping low to steer clear of the overhang. "It's been awhile," he added, situating himself at his brother's side. Feeling unexpectedly fatigued—which had been caused by the wight of his damp coat and the difficulty of navigating the slick mountain-side—he sat with a sigh.
"This rain needs to end," he mused darkly, watching the storm.
Sighting the figure of Osiris approaching his spot, the dark yearling moved a few inches to allow for his brother to sit comfortably. The shade reached with a probing nose, searching his sibling’s ruff with a few prods and taking in the scents of the journey that still lingered in his cloak. It was good to have the green-eyed figure home, on the mountain where he was needed. It was the first time since Osiris had left that Atlas found himself feeling more at ease, less wary of what laid beyond the borders of their safe home.
’This rain needs to end.’
The sound of his voice pulled Atlas from his thoughts. He glanced toward his sibling and lowered his muzzle in a nod. “How was your journey?” the shadow inquired with a curious glint to his lamplight stare. Osiris appeared in good health as far as could be seen with a few glances, but Atlas could feel something different about his brother. He felt older somehow, which left the young boy with a strange mixture of emotions that ended on melancholy.
"It was good, but I'm glad to be home," Osiris replied; he was a homebody through and through. "Two packs out there seem to be causing trouble for everybody—" Osiris paused then, glancing sidelong at Atlas—he was unsure of what his brother knew in regards to the threats. "—they call themselves Ursus and The Saints. Have you heard of them?"
It would be unwise of Osiris to withhold what he had learned from Atlas—the information was vital for all of Moonspear's guardians.
Osiris was not one to hide away his thoughts and feelings, opening up somewhat quickly about his fondness for home and offering just enough so that the darker of the two could be satisfied. The journey had gone well and that was all that really mattered – that, and Osiris had returned home without having endured any harm. The mountain had missed his presence, that was easy enough for Atlas to have known in the green-eyed brother’s absence. They were certainly safer with more skilled warriors among them.
When his brother went on to mention two difficult packs, Atlas seemed to take interest in this. The shade cupped his ears and pointed his muzzle at Osiris intently. The fur along his neck seemed to quiver at the premise of these fiends and what disaster they might be capable of. “I haven’t heard of these packs. Tell me what you discovered about them? What threat do they pose to us?” Atlas answered and then inquired in the same breath, his golden gaze searching his sibling.
"They're dangerous," Osiris warned,
"They've been causing trouble for every pack that Desdemona and I spoke to—apparently they've kept wolves hostage... and out-numbered Neverwinter's leader, Simmik when she tried to confront them..." he couldn't entirely remember the nitty-gritty details, but he had gotten the gist of it.
"Simmik had also mentioned another dangerous wolf to keep an eye out for—though, she didn't explain why. He's large, white with a brown streak on his nose..." he drawled, recalling the description in a drawl.
"We need to let the others know, too—especially our guardians," Osiris added after a brief pause, glancing at his brother.
"And especially @Anatares and @Vega."
‘They’re dangerous…’
Atlas felt the spike in his heart and the rush of fear that flooded through him. He remembered the cougar attack on the mountain, the heartache and terror that it had sparked through the wolves of Moonspear. To think that there were other packs nearby that might have ill intent sparked both rage and fright within the yearling. He did not know if he was prepared to fight off another pack, certainly not if they were well-numbered.
“Do the two packs have an alliance? Do they seek the same goal?”
The dark young Ostrega inquired of his brother. His brow was creased in a stern and thoughtful frown. For all the fright that had filled him, he did nothing to show it. Osiris would have been able to note the worry and the tension in Atlas, but the boy did well to smother those other emotions as well as he could. He did not wish to be left behind. He could not help but feel the spike of envy; Osiris talked like a man returned from scouting in a war. And what had he done while his brother had been away? Atlas did not like this realization of cowardice.
"Do the two packs have an alliance? Do they seek the same goal?" Atlas asked.
Osiris paused, retracing his memory for any recollection of any information he had. "I don't think so," Osiris replied eventually, misinformed. "I didn't hear anything about any alliances with them—they both seem like they're just causing trouble."
"But, I do think that it'd be good to find out if they have any alliances," he drawled then, his brows creasing in consideration, "Perhaps you and I should go find out the answer for ourselves."
A modicum of relief washed through the dark brother when Osiris mentioned that he had not heard of any alliance between the two troublesome packs. It would surely do them little good to go up against two packs with limited morals. The shade could not help but feel the clutch of nervousness at the thought of any Moonspear wolf coming to harm in an attempt to protect their home. The information that had been presented to him had left him with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“I have been working to perfect my tracking skills and I would like very much to test that,” the shade answered his sibling. The nervousness that had filled him seemed to settle in his stomach and he turned to look at his green-eyed brother with newfound determination. There were many things in their family pack that he wished to protect, and the threat of the unknown frightened him deeply.
"I think that this would be a good chance to do so," Osiris considered as the ends of his lips curled into a smile. He was already plotting their strategy a few steps ahead, his mind racing despite his leveled stare. "Just know, it is too dangerous to go alone," he reiterated, wanting to make sure that his warning was understood, "These wolves do not have any honor—they will do whatever they can to get their way."
Sensing his sibling's unease, Osiris offered: "We will go when the time is right. Perhaps in a fortnight or so, when it's least expected." They would use the element of surprise; Moonspear's scent would need to fade from the neighboring regions before they acted.
The warning of danger that was issued by his brother had left him with a churning stomach. Atlas did not want to shy away from such things, but he was not a fool and he did not think himself capable of facing such things on his own. So, it was safe to say that he would not be venturing there to best their foes with only his youthful frame and spark of aggression.
“I wouldn’t dream of going alone,” the inkwell responded with a small smile and a daring glance to his ochre-touched sibling. Though he was eager to prove himself and his worth, Atlas was not prone to acting out of his comfort zone. He would much rather keep to the shadows and wait for his chance to strike; Osiris could take the lead.
“Come, let’s go patrol and discuss our next course of action,” the inky yearling commented and gestured with his muzzle on a path for the two of them.