Moonspear and i sing as a songbird

a song whistled him close to the familiar structure of a towering mountaintop. it greeted him like a lost friend, a gentle breezing whisking along his side as if it were a kiss welcoming him back home. home — it was different now, in more ways than one. 

the scent of anaa was faint, yet this did not deter him from crossing the border in long strides of confidence. it felt awkward to knock at the door of his childhood home, and so he did not. his nose took him to the first of many caches, as if he were a child returned to raid a parent's fridge. 

he plucked some slab of meat from the ground and sat contently to gnaw on it while he waited for who would be the first to greet, or rather intercept, his path.

Alaric had watched from the edges. Perched atop an outcrop of stone that just hid him and offered shade from the heat. He had stared as the brazen youth had crossed borders as if he had belonged. And it had taken him seconds to recognize the face. Older now. More weather beaten, but a lost son all the same. 

Alaric took a minute to think and then he shifted and leapt from his outcropping to land near the youth. 

You know thievery is usually frowned upon.

A glitter of amusement in his gaze.

She was nearing the end of her patrol and already daydreaming about what she would do when she was finished. Tiuttuk had just decided a bath might be nice when she came across a scent trail crossing the borders and ascending Moonspear. She blinked, sniffing, trying to place the familiar smell even as she hastened up the mountain.

Pie slowed to a halt as she came upon a stranger raiding a cache. Alaric was already there, though he didn’t seem upset. There was amusement dancing in his eyes. The Regent observed this, lips pressed together, and then turned a squint upon the young man feasting on their meat.

Who— she began to demand when a memory surfaced from the murk of her earliest childhood days.

His name escaped her. But Treepie’s yellow eyes widened now as she beheld the man. Not a stranger, but her own older brother.

molars gnawed away at the dried piece of meat he'd stolen when a familiar face quite literally jumped into the scene. a smile formed quicker than what his tail had swayed. alaric! "is it still thievery if the owner allows it to be taken?" he teased before aiming to pull the man into a wolfish hug should he allow it. 

he took a step back then, eyes roving over the man as he sought any differences between now and the last time he'd seen him. another figure emerged, though acrux did not stray his attention from the sovereign. "i think you might be even more gray than the last time i'd seen you," another jest to the man accomplished by a friendly bump to the shoulder this time. 

his attention shifted, now coming to rest on the yearling who had joined their company. "and you...look vaguely familiar." he couldn't quite place where he'd seen her before, but given his time had mostly been spent in the company of the sunshine people, he assumed she was family. a cousin perhaps?

Alaric chuckled. I think they it is called borrowing and a debt owed. He pressed a paw into the dirt. Face morphing into a small thoughtful gaze.

What shall i make you do in repayment?

But he pulled the boy tightly and closed his eyes. Glad to have the young man return. He remembered well why he had left and it made him ill. But He looked no worse for wear now.

Alaric glared at the boy teasingly. I beg your pardon. I am still black as Coal. With my fox brown. You bite your tongue.

Alaric smiled sweetly at the younger girl. Acrux, please reaquaint yourself with your little sister. Tiuttuk. Also second in command here.

She shot Alaric a grateful look when he introduced Acrux, filling in the blank in her memory. Her yellow eyes quickly flitted back to her brother’s face, roving it. Pie smiled at him, head lifting slightly when Alaric mentioned her rank. She was proud of herself and her loyalty to this mount, which made her wonder what had taken Acrux from Moonspear.

Saving that question for later, she said instead, It’s good to see you. Are you here to stay?

Tiuttuk didn’t bother hiding the hope on her face, though it was tempered by a particular tightness in her eyes. She wanted him to stay, though only if he would swear his fealty to the village. The Regent didn’t take such matters lightly, no matter what her anaa had made of it previously or how Alaric felt about it now.

there is laughter exchanged for each of alaric's comments, along with a friendly bump to a shoulder as the man reintroduces brother to sister. sister, that's right! "tiuttuk, jeez," he let out in a breath of air, a step back as if he couldn't believe the words. "last time i saw you, you were like..." he began as he raised a paw off the ground some odd inches, "this big."

"i guess you kinda always stayed that small in my head." how long had it been since he'd left the mountain? surely not long enough for her to have grown so much! "what about the others? there were three of you, weren't there?" memories of watching over their tiny bodies flooded his mind as he looked around, half expecting the rest to jump out any moment. 

but his sister's question refocused his attention. "just visiting for now, though i hope you don't mind if i crash here for a bit?" he asked as his attention flickered between alaric and treepie. "i was hoping to catch up with anaa and my mom. are they around at the moment?" 

Alaric frowned at the questions. He wished he could spare the second leader to answer. But As Acrux was asking, He didn't say anything. Though he looked to Pie if she wanted him too, he would. So he watched her carefully. 

Alaric was about to leave the siblings to a reunion. But a question was asked. One he didn't mind. I am fine with it, if Tiuttuk is.

he didn't know how the young girl might take it. She may grow angry at his question. She had a different way of thinking about loyalty than Alaric did and there was nothing wrong with that. But the way she thought about it sometimes could make her bitter or leave her saddened with each leaving pack member.

His mention of her siblings pulled a shadow across her face. Yes, there had once been three of them—and two mothers, as well—and now it was just her. Treepie wondered if he had any idea how much that question ached, though the next one told her he didn’t. Acrux didn’t know that literally everyone had left, pardoning the two wolves standing in front of him and Tikaani.

If Alaric allows it, then I’ll allow it, Pie said, her tone falling a little flat. And no, they’re not. Both of them have left the mount, along with both of my littermates. I could tell you where to find anaang but… I’m not sure about the rest.

She drew in a deep breath, deciding then and there to keep her distance from Acrux. They barely remembered one another and he didn’t plan to stay. She wouldn’t ignore him, of course, but she didn’t want to get attached if he would eventually leave.

Didn’t you leave around the same time as Maggak? she asked a little abruptly, the recollection hitting her like lightning.

She possessed even fewer memories of her elder sister than Acrux, though Sialuk had spoken of them from time to time. Had they gone away together? Was she going to come back for a visit too? Pie peered at her wayward sibling, curious almost despite herself.