Herbalists' Cache perjury and defamation

Whitebark Stream wasn't far from here. Valiant had made a day trip to what he considered the halfway point between there and the willows just to see if he could detect any familiar scents. There were a few he thought might amount to something if he followed them, but his father's scent was not among them.

This was met with something like relief from the strapping young man; after meeting Alejandro, he wasn't sure he wanted to see any of his family. Except, of course he did. He just wasn't quite ready to face yet another of his aunts, who would probably welcome him, but who would maybe also be wondering what he thought he was doing with his life.

He didn't want to marry any of Aunt Dawn's daughters, either.

So he left a scent marker in the area, just so that he could say he was doing his due dilligence, and then began heading back the way he'd come.

Hoping for cousin @Brave

Spring had a way of affording the natural world a shift in color and consequently a shift in mood. The cache could have been smelled several miles before having reached it. The wind had carried the scent of herbs for a stretch, reaching the inky young ranger and luring him there. Of course, Brave had followed willingly. His lanky gait shifted into an easy trot as he corrected his path and began making his way toward the unfamiliar greenery. Birds chirped from overhead, drawing near to flutter where he could not reach and then off into the cloudy and endless sky. Until they could no longer be seen, his squinted jade eyes followed. All the while, he trotted forward with a sway of his frame – a worriless boy.
 
Once in the cache, Brave found the aroma of something far more interesting. His ears drew forward, cupped intently toward the thickest of the shrubbery. The swarthy young wolf’s whiskers all but quivered at the new scent. Without hesitation, he began to follow and track until he felt as though he had made his way far enough into the densest portions and stepped through to a clear path. Ahead, there was a figure that stood startling contrast to the vivid green backdrop. The pale frame moved almost like a spirit.
 
Without hesitation, the dark voyager barked in greeting. His hope was to pull the attention of the stranger, if only for a moment. Three steps toward the ghostly beast and he paused, peering intently toward the nameless man.

Even though he was sort of glad not to have run into his father, Valiant couldn't help but feel guilty and melancholic as he began plodding back toward the willows. Truth be told, he would much rather spend time with Alejandro — or even daydreaming about him! — than face cold, unpleasant reality: A father that didn't remember him. A family that expected more from him.

So he couldn't decide if he was glad for the interruption, or irritated at his self-imposed loneliness being broken when a bark attracted his attention. It was a male voice — Oh no! — so Valiant was ready to be surly and unimpressed, just in case lightning decided to strike twice.

He really, really hoped this wasn't going to be a habit or something.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice a little more gruff than usual as he turned to face the stranger.

Yikes, that was a gruff sounding guy. For a fleeting moment, Brave feared the pale figure that was nearly facing him. It had been a pretty demanding sound, sure he could understand where the needed bravado could be seen. Still, nothing could stop the peculiar pounding in his heart. There was... something about him. Like things were moving too fast but he had just passed his grade school teacher in the grocery aisle. He swore he knew that grey- 

And then it struck him in the form of sunset eyes. Brave halted in his tracks, chin dropped in disbelief and awe. That fiery beating of his heart had turned to something of realization and fluttering. The dark warm chocolate crown of his head canted to the left before a spark struck like lightning in his jade green eyes. 

"Well, well... well," he growled in a voice of sheer familiarity. The inky, leggy thing knew exactly who that ghostly figure was. "If it isn't Val." Coy as he would like to be, nothing could clear the joyous glow that had reached his face. Treasure really could be found where he was least expecting it. This find? This was exactly what he needed to brighten his day.

It took a ridiculously long time on Valiant's part to recognize who he was talking to. He was doing a very good job of not looking too hard at the other man, just in case — but that well, well, well captured his attetion easily enough, and when Brave said Val he had just made the connection.

"What are you doing out here?" he nearly shouted, swinging to face the other male more fully and bounding forward to greet his cousin danger-close. "It's been a couple months, huh? You're huge!"

He didn't realize how much they'd both filled out since they'd last seen each other — only that Brave was near unrecognizable when he looked anywhere but his face.

"Is anyone else out this way?" he asked, half hoping, half dreading. "Nothing — nothing happened, right? Everyone still alright?"

A gleeful bounding motion was made so that the minimal space that separated them was closed and his dark nose was searching the pale coat of Valiant with a curious poke here and there. Only a small handful of months had passed, but it seemed that it was enough to make a show of the change that had occurred in his large frame. The other male was no different – he had grown out of the awkward and clumsy puppy paws and into the body of a young man.
 
“You aren’t a pipsqueak anymore either, you know,” Brave remarked with a wistful smirk and a quick fluttering of his tail.
 
The conversation was quick to move away from their physical changes and toward the subject of everyone else’s wellbeing. It all circled back around to why they were there, really. The inky young wolf settled himself some before shaking his head in answer. “Everyone’s alright, Val. Journey and I came out this way to experience some of the world for ourselves. See if we could find some family in these wilds,” the jade-eyed boy assured his cousin with a nudge to the other’s breastbone.
 
“How have you been?”

Despite his intentions to remain unimpressed by the male physique, Valiant knew he had to make an exception to admire his cousin. He knew of Brave's mixed heritage, of course — it was impossible to miss, with his mother looking the way she did — but he couldn't help but think that Brave modeled the standard of their pedigree that Sunspot used to have her daughters recite, so that they would know a good mate when they saw one.

And Valiant himself, of course, was no slouch. He struck an obnoxious pose when Brave declared him to be out of the pipsqueak life stage — but then, of course, it was down to business, so Valiant shoved away all his pride and worries so that he could focus on their reunion.

"Thank goodness," he sighed, giving a little shake of his head. It felt, sometimes, like every time he left a place, disaster struck in his wake. Or on the way, sometimes, as if he was a lightning tree that could both draw trouble away from others unto himself, and neglect to protect them in his absence.

And how was he? "Same as always," he said, trying to add some chirp into his voice, but feeling that it fell a little flat. "I'm looking for my Dad again, I guess. He's about our size, maybe four years old. Silver all over with orange eyes. His name's Sunny, but I don't know if he remembers that. Or me. Or anything."

Being such a bummer appealed to his moody nature, but at the same time, he was embarrassed to be so emotionally vulnerable with Brave. Even though they were practically brothers, having been born on the same day and given almost the same name and all. "How are you and Journ? Have you found anyone yet? Aside from me, anyway."

The relief that seemed to wash over Valiant’s features was not missed by Brave, who realized it must have been alarming to see him there – of all places. His cousin had always had a heart that was capable of caring for almost anyone. It had always been something that Brave had admired in his pale counterpart. Even in their days of youthful troublemaking, Val had been the type of guy you could rely on. It made getting into trouble much more appealing when one considered that it wouldn’t be a lonely road.
 
The swarthy yearling listened intently as his cousin recounting his journey to find his father. He offered a few words that would describe the male in question. Brave tucked the details into his mind, hoping that he might cross paths with the infamous Sunny at some point in his journey. When his final words suggested that there was a chance his father wouldn’t remember much of anything, the dark boy felt a sadness sweep through his stomach.
 
“Well I’ll look for him too, Val! Two sets of eyes is gonna be better than just one, right?” Brave offered to the slate-dappled wolf. He wanted his cousin to have hope. It was hard to search for something without a light at the end, or so he would assume. The inky yearling had a feeling that he wouldn’t have been so eager to trek out of Round Valley if they hadn’t had some idea of what they were searching for. Journey had done well to keep him focused on their task.
 
“Journey is great. Sometimes I feel like I can’t keep up with her, you know? And you’re the only one that I’ve found. I’m sure she’s got a whole lot of our family lined up, though.” Brave chuckled at the idea. If anyone was capable, he knew it would be his sister.

Oof. Sorry for the wait <3

If things had been a little different, Valiant might've confessed his misgivings about finding his father at all. But he felt, in that moment, that it would be cruel to deny Brave a chance to reunite him with his own father, since Brave had no chance of ever seeing his again. At least Valiant could close his eyes and imagine his father being happy and alive somewhere else — but he imagined, privately, that this was more hurt than comfort.

He imagined, privately, that the separation would be easier to bear if Sunny were flat-out dead.

But Valiant was ashamed of these thoughts, and knew in his heart that they weren't right or proper things to feel. He offered his cousin a brittle smile and a wag of his tail. "Thanks, Brave," he said with feeling, and then he listened with ears pricked as talk turned to Journey.

"That would be nice," he said wistfully, thinking that he was rather jealous of Brave and Journey's bond. He wished he'd managed to forge that with Minnow, and especially that he had the chance to reconnect with Aeryn. But it occured to him that he might still, one day, especially with his cousins on the hunt. "Will you let me know if you find Dad or Minnow? I'm camping out in the willows just this way — in between looking, I mean."

He hadn't actually done much looking.

"Have you met anyone interesting?" he asked, cocking a brow so that Brave would know that he meant more pretty than interesting.

I never mind waiting! It's totally okay <3

The dark young wolf was touched at the genuine thanks he had received from his cousin. It had only seemed right to him, that he should help Val search for his father. Even if the other boy did not have high hopes for finding the man, it was worth their effort. More than this, Brave felt certain that if he mentioned it to Journey, she would have no qualms with offering her aid. Before long they would have a search party for Sunny, which felt like a humorous thought if only it hadn’t felt like such a tender subject. The yearling wasn’t the best with topics involving fathers. The wound still felt fresh after the loss of his own.
 
Swishing his tail a few times, Brave was glad when his cousin inquired about his interesting finds. At least, he was pleased until he had realized that this area of his life was an incredibly dry one. The young wolf furrowed his brow thoughtfully and shook his head once or twice. “You know, funny enough I ran into your mug not long after Journey and I got here,” he admitted with a coy smirk that slipped across his features effortlessly. “Haven’t really run into many of the natives. What about you?”

Being a native himself, Valiant had to smirk at his cousin's words. He understood the question, however, and opened his mouth to answer: "Well..."

And then abruptly realized that he could not, under any circumstances, tell Brave about how he'd met a really pretty man. Still, he was bursting with the news — even though there was not much to say, on that front. "There's this... girl. Her name's Baby, and she's really, really beautiful," he said, feeling sick and ashamed both over the subterfuge, and his stupid attraction. "And it seems like... like maybe she likes me back," he added, his heart turning over in his chest.

Perhaps he should've kept his mouth shut after all. He let out a breath disguised as a laugh. "But I mean — it was stupid, really. I don't think it'll amount to anything."

It couldn't. He had to put all this behind him.

It hadn’t taken much prying to get his cousin to start spilling about a certain special… somebody. Within moments of hearing Valiant’s remarks, Brave was hooked. The jade of his eyes locked onto the features of the other with a devilish intensity. His ears were cupped forward, and his frame seemed to have ceased all movement. The dark yearling fell into the tale about a girl named Baby who had seemingly swept his cousin’s heart out from under him. In the time they’d spent together, Brave was certain that he had never seen Valiant behave in such a way. Something about it was endearing, but he wasn’t certain if it was the show of emotion, or the tender way in which he was recounting his experience with this mysterious girl.
 
“Well… look at you, lover boy,” Brave finally remarked with a creasing smirk and a fiendish laugh. Life returned to his limbs, and the dark yearling seemed to lift his legs with energetic pomp as he made a half-circle around his paler companion. Then, the inky wolf moved to bump his shoulder against Valiant’s in a show of comradery. It was good fun to tease, but Brave could not help but to take interest in the individual that had been described. Smitten as he was, Valiant hadn’t provided too many details. It had left his dark cousin thirsty for more.
 
“Are you gonna see her again? Did you make plans? You know I’ve never seen you like this, Val… you’re downright stricken aren’t you?”

Valiant flushed beneath his pale fur at being called lover boy. That came a little too close to boy lover, which had been jeered at him in his dreams not long before. He couldn't imagine Brave ever being that awful to him, but there were a lot of things he'd never imagined until meeting Alejandro St. Clair — he wasn't about to write anything off.

Still, it felt good to get at least some of these things off his chest. When Brave asked, he admitted with a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I think I will. H-she... we said we'd stick around the same area, so that we'd run into each other again. So I guess when I head back, I'll see if she's still around."

He didn't know what to say about being stricken. This did feel an awful lot like the thunderbolt that was rumored in their family; he'd set eyes on Alejandro and had felt suddenly and irrecovably changed — but that didn't happen for two guys, did it?

"I don't wanna talk about her anymore," he said, trying to play off his discomfort as disinterest. "How are you doing? Have you met Aunt Dawn yet? Her pack isn't far from here. It's beside a stream kinda near those mountains — you'll know it by all the birch and aspen trees. You just have to get to the other side of the forest there, and you'll see it."