Moonspear Count to ten

if you have time? :B

Charon hadn't seen Jorunn face to face for a while, and today he decided to figure out how his brother was doing. Truthfully, Charon wasn't that impressed with him so far; he hadn't seen Jorunn around the pack as much as he would like. Perhaps he was paranoid, but Charon wasn't quite convinced that Jorunn would remain loyal. And if there was one thing he didn't like, it was having to check his back everywhere he went because someone might put a dagger in it.

And so Charon decided to seek Jorunn out today. He trotted through the snow along Moonspear's base, but decided to howl for @Tevinter in lack of any fresh scents that would lead him right to his brother.

I thought this might be interesting! If you'd rather Floki not be here, just let me know! <3

Floki stiffened at the sound of Charon's voice requesting Tevinter's presence. Curiosity and jealousy battled for prominence in his heart; he still hadn't come face to face with his twin since their argument, leaving his feelings to fester like an open wound. It wasn't healthy, but despite countless talks with Wildfire he still couldn't shake the hurt.

Although he knew that the message wasn't meant for him and that he should be on his way, Floki couldn't help but track down Charon. He looked to the left and right as he approached, but it appeared that Tevinter hadn't arrived just yet. Rather than speak to his older brother, he simply offered Charon an inquisitive glance, raising his brows as he asked a wordless question.

don't mind at all! :) if Tev's still around and you want to join, feel free to pop in at any time, Victoria! :D

A smile etched along Charon's face as he saw his brother approach. He hoped that they could finally put all the heartsore behind them and start anew, somewhat; and he could ask Jorunn how he was doing in the pack and if there was anything he could do to help, or whatever. Charon didn't really think that his brother deserved the help he was going to offer, but whatever, someone had to be the bigger wolf and since he was the Supreme Emperor of the pack, he might as well be the one. As the figure approached, Charon called out: "Hey, Jorunn!" But as the familiar figure approached further, he realised by his brother's reaction that this wasn't the brother he had called out for; it was Flóki instead. He felt kind of dumb for calling the wrong brother's name, but Flóki hadn't been too close yet and well, they did look pretty much the same, especially from a distance.

"Sorry, thought you were the brother I'd called for," he said with a grin. "I figured I'd check up on Jorunn to see how he's doing... You know, talk." Charon sounded like he wasn't really sure what he was going to talk about yet, which illustrated how he was really just trying to get on Jorunn's good side, if it was possible at all. If need be, maybe he could exert his dominance by force to prove that he was a worthy leader -- that's probably what Ragnar would've done, anyway, and what with Jorunn idolising their late father so much... -- but he preferred the more civil approach. You know, the one where they'd talk about shit and then Jorunn'd realise that Charon was a pretty cool guy after all and he'd apologise, or whatever.

Floki laughed as Charon called out Jorunn's name and then quickly realized his mistake. It wasn't the first time and likely wouldn't be the last that he was mistaken for his twin. Although it would have been a funnier mishap a few weeks ago, as his chuckles subsided he was left with a feeling of bitterness that he tried to dismiss with a shake of his head.

"Nope, it's me," he said with a wry smile. His ears pricked when Charon said he wanted to talk with Jorunn -- although the older brother insisted on calling Floki's lookalike by his given name, Floki still had a hard time reconciling the wolf that Tevinter used to be with who he was now. In his mind, Tevinter was not Jorunn. "I haven't seen him at all lately," he said flatly, glancing around as though the scarred youth would appear out of thin air. He didn't.

Flóki didn't seem too happy to be reminded of Jorunn, which didn't surprise Charon. While his brother saw his twin as an entirely different wolf than Tevinter, the wolf that'd joined Moonspear after reappearing out of nowhere, Charon saw him as the same wolf, as Jorunn. But Jorunn had changed severely, and Charon didn't like him as he used to now.

"Me neither," said Charon. There was a pause then, which hung in the air heavily between them. Eventually Charon spoke of what he felt it implied. "Do you think he's left?" he asked, though somewhat incredulously -- if he were to leave, then surely he'd at least say good bye to them. He knew that they had searched for him when he had gone missing as a child, so he had to know that they would look for him, now. And even though he did not like Charon, obviously, Jorunn did not seem the type to just up and ditch Thistle Cloud, Kaylan and his own twin. Then again, his judgement had perhaps been clouded by the fond warmth of family. He might've been wrong (or rather, right, on a more subconscious level, from the moment they'd re-met and Jorunn had throw accusations at him).

It turned out that Charon hadn't laid eyes on Jorunn-slash-Tevinter either, and a heavy silence settled between the two brothers. After a few seconds, Charon broke the tension with a question that caused Floki's ears to tilt back. "Do you think he's left?" He thought back to the last conversation he had had with his twin, which had also been an argument -- and he had ended it by abruptly telling Tevinter that he didn't need to stay at Moonspear if he didn't like the leadership.

"Maybe," he replied after a moment of consideration, casting his eyes downward. He sighed, then admitted, "We had a pretty big fight after my promotion. He was pissed about it, and I told him if he didn't like it then he could leave. I didn't think he really would, though."

Flóki seemed upset about something in relation to Jorunn's disappearance, and soon he spilled the beans. Charon's eyes narrowed as the information was shared, though not in regard to Flóki -- instead he felt resentful towards Jorunn, for so many reasons. He hadn't been happy for his twin's deserved promotion, had probably put himself in the role of the sad victim whom wasn't loved by anyone -- no surprise -- and now he was making Flóki feel guilty about that moment, regardless of whether or not he'd run off. If he had run off, Charon was going to be pissed beyond belief, especially since he was teetering on the edge of looking for Jorunn or giving up on him and disowning him for good.

Unable to hide his resentment, Charon hissed: "What a dick! I can't believe he would do that to you!" Flóki wasn't the most outwardly confident wolf to start with -- Charon actually appreciated his humbleness a lot -- and Charon felt instantly protective of his favourite brother knowing that someone had tried to break him down so shortly after his promotion. Anyone with a set of eyes and a brain could see that Flóki deserved to stand beside Charon as Beta, and so anyone who disagreed, much less gave Flóki, of all wolves, shit about it, didn't deserve to be in this pack in the first place. "Looks like there's more than trying to reconcile and see how he's doing to talk about if we do find Jorunn." Charon looked broody and annoyed, and it was clear that if he would find his brother he'd give him a good piece of his mind. It was likely that Jorunn's fragile ego couldn't take such a beating and that he would leave even if he hadn't already left now, but Charon couldn't help it. Anyone who touched Flóki was in big trouble with the young, self-centered Alpha, for his little brother was probably the only thing that he could be selfless about.

He wasn't sure what sort of reaction to expect from Charon; his older brother could be unpredictable, at best. He half worried that Charon would be annoyed that he had insinuated that Tevinter could leave Moonspear; maybe he didn't have the authority to suggest something like that. But when Charon finally spoke -- only after his expression darkened considerably -- Floki was relieved to hear him taking his side.

Once upon a time, he might have jumped to Tevinter's defense if someone bad-mouthed him the way Charon did. But now, he nodded his head vigorously in agreement. Tevinter was being a dick, and it was easier for Floki to accept that when he separated Jorunn from the equation entirely. Jorunn never would have reacted that way to his twin's promotion, or so Floki thought. Perhaps he hadn't known his flesh and blood as well as he thought.

He huffed out a sigh, hunching his shoulders. "Yeah. I doubt we'll find him, though," he said gloomily. "Maybe he went back with his other family." Floki wasn't sure what hurt more -- the thought that Tevinter had other wolves that he considered to be his kin, or that he would have left his own twin behind without a word.

Flóki had a point; they could search, but if Jorunn didn't want to be found, then they'd get nowhere anyway. He sighed, feeling frustrated already, that if Jorunn had left, that he hadn't even had the guts to come up here and tell them he had.

It wasn't until Flóki mentioned Jorunn's other family that Charon suddenly wondered about the possibilities. What if he had? "Maybe," he said, eyes squinting in irritation. "I don't understand how someone so horrible could ever have such cool brothers," Charon said, casting Flóki a grimace that expressed both his sadness and disappointment as well as his grattitude that Flóki (and himself, of course) was so much better than that.

"I don't get it either," Floki admitted. From his point of view, Tevinter was in the wrong. He and Charon had welcomed him into the pack -- okay, Charon's greeting had been a little less than warm -- but everything else that had happened had transpired because of Tevinter's attitude. Rather than feeling happy for his twin, he had grown bitter and resentful when Floki was promoted. Maybe they would be better off without his negative influence in their life.

He sighed again, exhaling his frustration. Attempting a smile to lighten the mood, he glanced up at Charon and joked, "I guess he didn't get the good genes like we did, huh?" Never mind the fact that he wasn't related to Charon by blood; while Floki's natal family had all but fallen apart at the seams, Charon had always been there for him.

Charon couldn't help but grin when Flóki mentioned genes. He knew little about such things, but enough to know he and Flóki shared none. He decided to forget about Jorunn for now; if he didn't return soon, maybe he'd have a look but truthfully, he didn't feel it was worth it. The only reason he'd want to look for his lost brother was to rub in his face when he found him. But, considering the other duties he had, he didn't really have time to upturn every stone for a disrespectful dog.

"Hey, do you want to spar?" Charon asked out of the blue now that the subject of Jorunn'd fizzled. He leaned to the ground with his front in a play bow and pawed the ground in further challenge. He could use the change of subject as well as the practise.

In response to Charon's sudden question and change in posture, Floki dropped into a matching play bow. He was not very experienced when it came to sparring, but he figured he could learn from Charon. It was probably something he needed to at least have a basic knowledge of, in case he ever encountered trouble at the borders. He wouldn't always have Charon and Amekaze nearby to help, as they had with the coyote.

With his tail lashing back and forth, Floki eyed his brother, waiting for him to make the first move. He almost stood back up and verbally asked Charon to give him a few tips first, but then decided that it would be more effective to learn through experience. His muscles tensed as he anticipated Charon's actions.

Charon was pleased that Flóki dove right into the game rather than asking him about anything in advance, as he had expected the latter. A guttoral growl rumbled in the depths of his throat, though it was clearly intended for the game. Flóki looked tense and ready for action, but he was waiting for Charon to make the first move.

Charon dove to the left, and then moved to the right (Flóki's left) to try and catch Flóki off-guard. He intended to roughly nip at Flóki's left shoulder to make him aware not to let his guard down, while pretending to attack on the other side instead.

The silver-haired boy kept his gaze fixed on Charon as the Alpha leaped towards him. He tried to anticipate Charon's direction and attempted to feint away from the strike on his left side. He wasn't quite fast enough, however, and felt Charon's teeth graze his shoulder. There was no intention to harm, but the nip left the area smarting as Floki darted to the right.

Rather than adopt another defensive stance, he pushed off immediately with his paws and moved towards his brother. Although he wasn't particularly skilled, he let his instincts guide him as he aimed to circle around Charon and land a false bite on his flank.

His attack hit and Flóki didn't waste any time to jump away. Charon woofed playfully as Flóki moved in on him again and moved to his side to nip at his flank. Charon tried to catch Flóki off guard by, rather than waiting for the attack to land, trying to jump at him head-first. He hoped that he could push Flóki off his balance and that he could throw him to the ground or at least find another opening for another attack by knocking him back.

Charon's sudden forward motion did indeed catch Floki off guard, and he nearly lost his footing as he lunged at his brother. He faltered, his paws fumbling for purchase as he fell away from Charon. Luckily, he managed to keep himself upright, though it wasn't the most graceful maneuver.

This time, his response was to sling his body low and aim for Charon's chest. They were of a comparable size -- both fairly average in height and weight -- which meant that he wouldn't have a particular advantage when it came to knocking Charon over. But he gave it his best effort, driving forward with his shoulder.

A grin spread across Charon's face when Flóki nearly lost his footing due to his maneuver. He managed to stay upright though, which was admittedly admirable, and then came at his brother again, aiming lower this time.

Charon tried to get out of the way as best he could, but he didn't fully manage and got hit on the side. Deciding to try his best not to lose balance, Charon reached out to try and grab Flóki's scruff, hoping to pin him down and win (if he managed, he would immediately let go after his claim of victory).

Floki was successful in upsetting Charon's balance, though of course the Alpha wouldn't go down without a fight. He was surprised to feel Charon's teeth sinking into the thick fur at the back of his neck -- not hard enough to break the skin, but with just enough force to take advantage of gravity and pull Floki down with him.

From the angle at which Floki fell, he was unable to gather his feet beneath himself and had no choice but to go down in a heap. Charon was triumphant but quick to let his brother up. Floki got to his feet, panting but grinning. "We'll have to practice more so I can get better," he said between breaths.

Adrenaline still gushed through his body while he claimed victory and Charon smiled confidently at Flóki, who said that they should practise together more. "Yeah, that'd be great," said Charon, who had lately been focussing more and more on his warrior skillset, too, so he didn't mind practising more at any time. "Want to grab something to eat?" asked Charon, his tongue lolling from the side of his mouth, panting from the exertion of the spar. Assuming Flóki'd say yes, Charon got to his feet and lead the way to one of the nearest caches where he would get something to eat for himself and, if Flóki was interested, his brother.