Moonspear with that silver dagger in his hands

♡♡ AW - set for 4/3

the distance between firebirds and moonspear was short, but to arcturus, his exodus seemed interminable.

all of his life was on a crash-course to inexorable change. it seemed there was only one path -- the impetus that guided the stormcloud like a streaking comet to the spear could not be altered, could not be swayed.

it seemed his limbs were weighed down heavier with each passing step -- until at last, the ostrega paused at the spear's borders and took in the stony fortress in solemn silence.

breathe.

hydra's leering face parted from the gloom of his minds' eye. the kinslayer, the tyrant that would never release control over his life until she was deposed or driven out.

in arcturus' mind there were only two options: fight and rid the spear of the black rot that set within it, or live forever in exile.

he could not see his parent's legacy abandoned. taking a breath to steady the adrenaline that sent his nerves singing, arcturus slipped to the rendezvous. here he loosened a howl that cut above the jagged peaks in challenge.

two weeks before, revui had come for arcturus.

and now, arcturus came for @Hydra.

Minor participation for now, skippable once things start taking off.

The call wasn't for him, but when Arcturus' voice echoed up to the higher peaks, Dragomir rushed to attend.

He'd spent the last few days combing the borders for evidence that either the Beta or Praimfaya had returned to Moonspear, and every day was met with frustrating failure. He'd spent those days wondering why a search party hadn't been formed yet to look for the missing Moonspear wolves. In the case of Praimfaya, perhaps it was because she'd been a low ranking member who wasn't very involved with the pack, but even then, Dragomir would've sent someone out to look for her. Arcturus was another matter, an important figure in the pack whose disappearance should've been very concerning. It made Dragomir uneasy that he'd heard nothing of a search effort yet, so he'd resolved to search for them himself starting on the morrow, which was made moot by the sound of the Beta's voice on the airwaves.

Arcturus! he shouted against a rising wind when he reached the edge of the pack's rendezvous. Where were you? What's going on? The tone of the Beta's howl was unmistakable, but the Delta simply couldn't believe that Arcturus meant it. Dragomir was woefully out of the loop on the events leading up to this, so he couldn't comprehend the wounded man's behaviour now. All he knew was that deep inside him, he respected the Beta more than he respected anyone in the world—Arcturus had always seen him for who he was and treated him accordingly—and there had to be an explanation for this.

- How did the story really end? - 

This that the question that plagued Wraen's mind, while she followed Arcturus tracks. Unable to deter him from leaving, when they had met at her home, she had decided to break away from the set and comfortable path of her fate and head into the unknown. 

Her mind kept returning to that story she had told him all those months ago. About, how a single decision can change the course of one's entire life. And whether it was possible for another to interfere and shift it away from the path of doom that was obvious to everyone except to the hero itself.

Arcturus had decided to take on the dragon itself, but you could not win it by brute force alone, you had to be smart about it as well. And Wraen really wished that she could hammer that truth in the thick skull of her friend's - what he was going to do was anything but smart. It was suicide. It was murder. 

She lamented the fact that she had not volunteered to go with him earlier. He probably would not have let her to do so. Yet she followed him still and only later would she wonder, why did she think it was so important. Many people had come into her life and left just as easily, she had accepted it as something that just happened.

And yet... the very thought that Arcturus could leave like this as well was unbearable. Aside from Maia she realized that he was the only other person her heart clung to so fiercely. Therefore she could not stay and let things unfold. Give up without even trying to interfere. To change things for the better. 

Wraen stopped briefly at the heavily scented borders of her former home. Moonspear. Then she pushed aside fear and cowardice, she trespassed and followed the trail Arcturus had left, until she caught sight of his form and then that of another. "Arthur, please," she called out to him, out of breath. "Don't do that," she came to a halt few feet behind him, her eyes trained on him, silently pleading to come and leave, while there still was time.

skip meeee

arcturus' thundering challenge broke over moonspear and kukutux wearily lifted her head. it had been half a moon since she had seen revui — the memory of the harsh words they had exchanged still was a spearpoint of pain in her chest.

the little waterbird had grown fatigued in those times. she kept to the den she shared with jarilo now, filling her days with endless strips of hide and the curing of fish, the drying of herbs, digging a new cache. 

but kukutux would rise now, rise and drag her sickened limbs to the clearing where arcturus stood terrible and scarred. her own hackles flared to see a stranger there, another trespasser, but she knew her weakness was great in this moment. and so the duck only turned doeful gaze to the returned beta of the mountain, shouting for his sister.

was this the price of peace?

windsong rushed into the beta's ears as he waited.

the fickle calm before the inevitable storm.

he tensed as he heard his name, expecting hydra and instead, receiving dragomir. how his heart rose and then fell to see the yearling hail him -- would he understand at all?

it caused arcturus great agony to be subjecting dragomir to the inevitable hurt and fallout that would come of this all. he had always liked the boy -- had always thought dragomir knew what it was to be moonsperian.

like with wraen, the words died in his throat as he tried to explain. "dragomir." a stark seriousness overtook arcturus' voice, the likes of which dragomir would have never heard from the beta before. "i want you to go -- " his face contorted in brief pain to be so dismissive. "i have come to fight hydra, and you should not be here." you should be safe.

it was then he heard -- and realized -- there was someone behind him. he turned rapidly, muzzle wrinkled in a half-snarl as he expected resistance and instead, was greeted with the inconceivable.

"wraen," the mountaineer blurted in disbelief, the hackles along his nape prickling. "you should not be here -- you can't --" again came that conflict of interest - stay, and insist on fighting, or flee before the pack turned upon his best friend.

moonspear would set in like wolves once they knew an intruder was in their midst. thinking quickly had never been arcturus' strong suit, a wolf who had largely had the luxury and time to look at problems from all angles.. but now, he must think fast and swift, for wraen's life depended upon it.

a pair of eyes set upon him reproachfully. the mountaineer grimaced as the wind picked up, raking past his hackles in thundering bursts. kukutux. she was silent, but her cold expression said it all. he had always liked kukutux, too -- but if she made a move for his friend he would rip the tender throat from her pale craw, so help her gods.

"dragomir --" he turned to the dark-furred yearling, an edge of desperation darkening his gaze. "please, escort wraen home before she gets hurt." how wretched he felt, to say such words. a bitterness curled like an asp in the pit of his stomach.

When Arcturus' golden eyes found him, Dragomir lurched forward on unsteady paws, but stopped abruptly at the sound of grit and gravel in the Beta's tone. He was right. The young Delta had never known Arcturus to be so earnest. It shook him to his core even more than Arcturus' announcement that he meant to fight Hydra. He shook his head so vehemently in response that his ears flapped against his temples hard enough to dizzy him. A hundred questions crowded his mouth and begged to be asked, but in the end, Dragomir could manage only one: Why?!

Where had he gone? Why had he come to fight Hydra? Arcturus wanted him to leave, to not be a part of what was to come, and the Delta met the Beta with a stubborn, steely look. Vercingetorix would've been proud. No! He refused to leave. He refused to be kept in the dark. He already lacked a lot of context for why this was happening in the first place, and maybe that was because it didn't concern him, but shouldn't it? At what point did it become his right as a pack wolf to be involved in pack matters such as this?

Before he could respond, he and Arcturus simultaneously noticed the third wolf among them. Arcturus responded with shock while Dragomir lunged for her, a deep and guttural snarl bubbling in his throat. He stopped just short of hitting her, choosing instead to fix her with a piercing stare, huffing breath and flashing teeth. If not for Arcturus addressing her, Dragomir would've torn into Wraen for violating the sanctity of a pack's territory, and it was a very tenuous thread holding him back even so. If she knew what was good for her she'd turn and run. Leave, now, he snarled in her face.

Arcturus asked him to escort her home and Dragomir snapped his jaws, producing a loud clapping sound as he turned furiously from Wraen. No! I'm not a kid anymore, Arcturus, I deserve to know what the hell is going on. You just disappear and then come back intending to fight Hydra? I was worried about you! Wraen could find her own way home and count her lucky stars she wasn't dead. There were more important things going on and he felt a right to be present for it. If she was lucky, she wouldn't run into any Moonspear patrols on her way down from the mountain. And if she wasn't, then it was the least she deserved. Dragomir was not going to risk his hide and his rank escorting an idiot trespasser through the territory, not even if Arcturus pleaded for it.

Jarilo was drawn up the mountainside as well, effectively abandoning his patrol elsewhere and turning upwards to their heart. First by the call, concerning enough all on its own, then urged along faster by scents that told a little more of the story--though it was far from enough. His strides lengthened and distance ate away beneath him, dread, frustration, and downright worry very much a part of him.

Hackles spiked tall, and the pointed stare he entered with pinned on Wraen first, her involvement in this not exactly anticipated. His brother's very presence in the flesh with his howl and the message it carried was yet to be addressed, though far from forgotten. He certainly had no appreciation for the stench of Firebirds tracks right on up their slopes, though, bold enough to approach their rendezvous. Dragomir and Arcturus' exchange, however, he tailed in on the end of, but he was busy quickly gathering what else he could from the scene--Kukutux's presence included, noted, and flashing a new fury over this intrusion, knowing what he could.

His tail rose, as did the rest of him. I hope there is a good reason for this, he snapped as he came striding closer to Dragomir to bolster the young delta's command to leave and simultaneously angling to place himself between Kukutux and any who stood in opposition to the mountain he protected.

Arcturus was alive. 

But there was little joy to be felt for that when his message translated. 

The matriarch marched her way down at a slow clip, and saw Wraen at his shoulder; instinct demanded the trespasser be dealt with, with teeth. Approaching the scene, she acknowledged Dragomir with an appreciative chuff. He had known what to do, and acted properly; Arcturus present rank was likely the only thing that kept him from following through. A trespasser was a trespasser, and a cold, hard look was given to Wraen: leave. now. It shifted back to her brother. She kept a distance from him so that should he advance, she could react accordingly. Her eyes reflected the hours light as she honed in on her brother, and the matriarch snarled: will I be the second sibling you seek to kill, brother? Her hackles lifted, and she felt rankled as her defenses set. You abandoned us. All of us. We looked for you. While Revui healed here, I thought you might have died elsewhere. What else might keep you? 

Hydra could not imagine he thought that she would ever kill Revui, or manipulate him to believe that. Her question, now, was asked in earnest. And what cause is your challenge of me? What have I done to deserve such? Hydra had never once led their pack astray; through her guidance, they had made it through the famine. Forged new allies. And through her guidance, they would be rid of ones that set to tear apart their family... much like Arcturus himself sought to do. 

Her eyes did not leave Arcturus as she rumbled to Kukutux with a flicked ear: escort Wraen from this territory. Jarilo, aid Kukutux so that your brother touches none of our subordinates in favor of his preferred allegiance. Dragomir she did not expect, or wish, to leave. He knew, as surely as she did, the ashy taste of disappointment. She was not exempt to it... especially in the matter of Arcturus. 

He always disappointed her most of all. She should have known that some things were simply inevitable.

When (and if) reflecting on this later, Wraen would realize that she had jumped too fast and too soon without realizing that there was a huge, black void beneath her. Following Arcturus inside Moonspear's claim had been easy, she had not given a second thought about hostility that would await her here now. Somehow, making peace with Charon and Hydra, making friends with Vela and Arcturus, an acquaintance with Jarilo and some other former subjects of the pack, had given her a false belief that this pack was less dangerous than it actually was. 

And perhaps she was not mistaken - when met alone and away from their claim, they were decent people. When banded together, they changed entirely. Lernean Hydra. Oddly fitting. Though - again when (and if) thinking about this fateful day later - Wraen would realize that Firebirds would not act any less defensive. She flinched, when the young wolf yelled and snarled at her, and unknowingly her body pressed lightly against Arthur's. She sensed the many pointed and unfriendly stares at her and it took all her will-power not to show that she was afraid.

This was not her fight and deep inside she knew that it would have been for the best never to have got involved in the first place. There was so much more than just her life at stake now. Not just Arcturus's well-being, but also her pack. On the bigger scale one young man's misguided attempt to seek justice was not worth the safety of the whole pack. And yet, how could you put one friend above another, if you cared about them just as much? It took great deal of courage to stand up to one's enemies, but just as much to stand up to one's friends.

Wraen paid no mind to the yearling, or Hydra, or anyone else, who had come to witness the scene. Her gaze was for Arcturus only. Intense, calm and pleading. Be wise, boy, be wise!

dragomir was right.

in arcturus' singular goal to protect the spear, he had hurt those he cared about most. it had been shortsighted and selfish to treat dragomir as if he were a cub. in realizing so, the mountaineer's shoulders sagged. "you are not," he admitted with a certain rueful pride. how could he explain what was going on in a few short words? "hydra turned on revui - my brother." a sadness lingered in the beta's tone, his gaze traveling to the lurking shadow cast by jarilo. "i'm sorry, dragomir."

would this be his final hour? his family come to collect his bones, as their wayfaring, wrongfaring child? a chill crept down his spine as he felt wraen press against him, and felt the combative glare of the collective.

and then she came, wasting no time for pleasantries. hydra, sovereign ruler, bloodkiller. arcturus' hackles rose in a rift to be accused so callously. had he abandoned them? he was here, wasn't he? had they searched for him? "i was just next door." arcturus supplied, unflinching under the burning gaze of the matriarch.

they could have found him, if they so wished.

but they hadn't.

the beta's visage faltered as hydra broke the news -- revui, not dead.

revui, alive.

and out went the metaphorical winds under his sails of vengeance. disbelief first, then a quick glance to those around to confirm she was not lying. it did not change much - if anything, it only further hammered home arcturus had been played the fool.

but she had turned on revui - he had seen it, with his own eyes.

all it took for her to turn on him too, was that one question. was she truly fit to lead? "you attacked him when he was defenseless." arcturus answered; no sovereign ought to strike down the subjects that trusted them. someday she might do the same to him, to dragomir, to anyone.

arcturus came to a revelation as he peered back into the maddening chasm that was hydra's glacier-cold gaze. "you're insane." it all came clicking into place: the whiplash he'd received when she went from his throat to revui's, all the little times he'd been controlled, manipulated for fear of her disappointment.

suddenly, it didn't matter what he said to hydra, to protect the legacy of the spear. she would always refabricate reality. he would always be wrong. stupid little arcturus. she would always twist what had happened, and make it out like she had been right all along. she'd attempted to manipulate him by using revui as a ploy -- and now, she was playing the doe-eyed victim when it was he that had everything stolen from him.

what mattered were the wolves that had never made him feel that way. that had never made him feel childish, or manipulated, or made him fear one misstep. wraen.

they were surrounded by a council of reproachful eyes, and hollow stares. arcturus turned to his friend, filled with an overwhelming gratitude she had stupidly followed him here.

"fuck this place." the mountaineer's tail arched over his broad back as he motioned for wraen to follow him. arcturus felt a daggerprick of fear as he turned his back on the kinslayer, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of ever once looking back.

the only thing he felt sorry for, was leaving those who did not understand. osiris, atlas, dragomir -- maybe even dirge.. but the rest..

fuck the mountain. and fuck the queen.

Then you blatantly ignored my calls. Osiris was maimed, Arcturus. Jarilo, just attacked by a cannibal that trespassed. I could not leave the Wilderness, she rumbled. He was a full-grown adult, not a child anymore... contradictory though his actions were. She shook her head, eyes not leaving him, though not for lack of wanting to. Revui had knocked the good sense out of her brother. And Arcturus, in turn, had knocked the good sense into him. How the tables had turned! 

Hydra snarled at him. You did that. That was you. I was atop him, and you sought to drag him out from under me. Arcturus, she rumbled, I stopped the fight. You were bloodied, beaten to a pulp; so was he. I would not have you kill him, or him kill you. Not that senseless way. For what? Her muzzle wrinkled, her ears pressed forward. Whether or not he heard her, he listened to her, she realized he had come to his own decision as he worked through and processed what he would. His words came: you're insane. 

Her eyes flashed as he turned. 

Was she? Insane? ...Was it insane, to want to keep the peace? Was it insane, to hope her siblings would not kill one another on their very doorstep? Was it insane to expect her brother to be halfway decent and let them know, I am alive and healing?

...No, no she did not think so.

Her ears pricked forward as he turned from her, and Hydra rumbled lowly: you delude only yourself. I would never turn my back upon my family, her tail lashed at that. Even Revui she had not cast out for his leaving, and she would not do so to Arcturus either. His choice was his own, and she would not prevent him from it. 

She found she did not want him here... Not anymore. He sought to tear apart the fabric of them all with these delusions, and it sickened her that he could think this of her. That he saw her in such a way, and had not once voiced to her these beliefs. How had she not have known? How could she not have seen? And what had she done to make him see her in such a light? 

The light struck him and she remembered him as a boy. I have only ever wanted to protect you. 

There was a deep sadness that welled within her soul as he made his way down, a piece of her going with him. She wanted anger, she wanted hate, but none of that came then. Hydra bounded down, tail lifted above her hindquarters as she breathed, Arcturus, hold on, before attempting to swing into his path, granting herself some distance to prepare for an onslaught if that was truly what he wished from this. But for her own part, I spoke with Revui. I know that I got in the way something I ought not to have, she acknowledged, but I did fear for the death of either one of you then. Bloodl—it does not matter. That does not matter, there was no need to justify. No desire to, either. Hydra cared more for Arcturus than she did right, or wrong; family always had come first to her. 

I am sorry for... for what I have done, to make you think that of me. I would never... she shook her head, struck more by this belief from her brother than any physical blow he could dole out. The rest around them mattered plenty to her; all but Wraen were family. Wraen, who she thought nothing of. I have been more on edge lately. But that would never make me turn on you, on Revui, on anyone. Dacio is dead. There are wolves that are being hurt, killed—I did not want that to be you, or him, and... and she got in the middle. She intervened. I am sorry. I wanted it to stop. I did not want him to die, or you to die, why—how—could you ever think that of me? 

It would be likely the last time such words came from her; but with that, she did step aside so that he might go. But she would not leave him; she could not fathom it, here and now. 

posting out of order just 2 .... get this lil guy in ... bc i will be away this weekend! but, if anyone has an issue with me posting out of turn, lmk and i will remove her <3  

For a lengthy second, everything seemed suspended and Dragomir had time to burn with shame for his outburst. But then Arcturus conceded, providing a succinct explanation that created more questions than it answered. Dragomir scowled. He knew they were harboring a stranger in the territory, but he'd been kept in the dark on the details. They all had. Jarilo's arrival bolstered Dragomir's confidence and distracted him, causing the boy to take a menacing step closer to Wraen, shoulders hunched in preparation to take a chunk out of her face if she didn't get a move on.

All of that was halted by Hydra's arrival. Dragomir stumbled back, away from the tawny outsider and away from Arcturus, in an effort to avoid becoming a target himself. He splayed his ears and shrank back to the sidelines as the siblings sized each other up, but the fight Arcturus had called for never came. Thank god, he wasn't sure he could handle watching two wolves he respected so deeply tearing each other apart.

What he witnessed instead was much worse.

Not only did Hydra begin with a blatant lie—Dragomir had been at home the entire time and there was no search party sent to look for Arcturus, so he didn't know who the "we" she referred to was—but then Arcturus was saying she attacked a defenseless wolf, Hydra was calling him deluded, Arcturus was calling her insane and denouncing the mountain, they were all snarling and shouting and...

Dragomir's carefully constructed vision of Moonspear as a united and stable pack crumbled right before his eyes. These wolves were no more stable than his own family had been, and his family had been more royally screwed up than Dragomir thought possible. Brothers attacking brothers, potentially killing each other? Hydra attacking her subordinates, the wolves she was meant to protect? It was insane, all of it. As Arcturus turned to leave, resolutely forward-facing, and Hydra bounded down to try to reason with him, Dragomir felt his heart pull apart at the seams. On one hand, Arcturus treated him like an individual rather than a pupil. Arcturus worked to foster and grow his confidence and his interests, not just to expand his knowledge. Every occasion spent in the Beta's company was a cherished memory. On the other hand, Hydra had taken him in, provided him a home, showed him what a proper family could look like, soothed the anguish of Aurëwen's carelessness, and was helping him become a fine young man.

There were too many missing puzzle pieces for Dragomir to know whose word to trust in that moment. Now they were too far away for him to hear what was said, and that was for the best. His hazel eyes were vacant as he stared after the two dark wolves, torn completely in half with his heart broken by what he'd just witnessed. Arcturus was leaving. He was one of Moonspear's pillars and he was leaving. He was Dragomir's favourite mentor and he was leaving. Vehemently. He'd never seen Arcturus moved to such passion before, whereas Hydra remained as level as ever, which only made it more difficult to tell who was in the right. But she'd lied, and Dragomir caught her red-handed in it, and that alone rattled him to the bone.

Wordlessly, the boy turned on numb legs and walked the opposite way. He walked past Jarilo, past Kukutux, past spindly mountain trees, past cracked boulders and budding shrubs, right past the borders and out into the valley below. He needed to be alone with his thoughts and he couldn't stomach any lecture or lesson Hydra attempted to make of all that. His heart couldn't take the inevitable command to treat one of his beloved mentors like an enemy, and he couldn't presently think of Moonspear positively without Arcturus, so he left the territory entirely.

There had to be a proper explanation for all this, and until he understood, he couldn't handle being around the fracturing pack. It reminded him too much of what he'd been trying to escape his entire life.

Exit Dragomir!

She watched from the mountains' peaks, watched as Arcturus appeared with a woman by his side, as he boldly called for their sister, as Dragomir and Jarilo raced to meet him head on, and she watched as finally Hydra approached. Their voices rose from the borders of their home, though Lyra could not make out what exactly was being said, despite Dragomir's outburst, despite Hydra's booming voice. However, even from this distance, she could tell nothing good was going to come from this. Tempers flickered and flared, and already she could see Arcturus was at the end of his rope as his tail arched high over his hindquarters, turning his back on his Queen.

A scowl crossed her face as she finally rose from her perch and began the descent down the mountain. While it had been proven her sister was plenty capable of holding her own, Lyra was glad they hadn't come to blows. Healing Revui had been enough, and she wasn't about to waste her stores on yet another foolish brother.

She came upon the scene just as Dragomir departed, and she watched him go with a critical yet curious gaze, following his emotionless walk away from the mountain before turning to see Hydra standing before their brother, pleading with him. She respected Arcturus, truly. He had grown to be a duty-bound and enduring man, though the traits he shared with his wayward brother seemed to run far deeper than she had thought. Perhaps it was best their memory were erased from this place; becoming yet a simple black mark against their family's legacy.

"Let him leave," Lyra said lowly, staring straight at her brother now. Go, and don't ever return.

When the call had first been raised, Dirge had been content in spending time with @Osiris purely to bolster his spirits. There had been enough turmoil—too much, in fact, for his tastes. Yet the way of Moonspear was that it was never quite over, but far from it. And as excited as Osiris had been that Arcturus had returned, Dirge would soon realize the wisdom in telling his son to stay behind while he investigated.

Like Lyra, he had been on the outskirts of a budding situation. He watched as it came to a head, ultimately festering like an untreated wound that had been perpetually rubbed with salt. The anger that coursed through gave him reason to stay out of it; he didn't fear the threat of a fight, and was confident that it would not come to that. It couldn't come to that, he thought, and thought better of the duo that had led with him.

But the stones tossed cast a powerful ripple.

He saw Dragomir tear away from all of them, spied the emergence of Lyra to follow in the wake of Hydra and the hushed words that came from the dark-haired duo. His eyes trailed over the unfamiliar wolf in their midst briefly, then sought out Jarilo and Kukutux in measured amounts, ever assessing the situation. It was not anger that stirred within him—disgust may have been more an apt description. The infighting left him weary, and they had far worst things at hand to contend with. A headache dared to bloom like a thunderhead encroaching the peak of their very mountain.

He dreaded the fallout, and suddenly dreaded the gloom he would bring back to Osiris.

Let him leave, he heard Lyra utter, and he too turned away.

Better to handle this when cooler heads prevailed.

His dark sister arrived not far behind him, and though he did not spare the focus on finding out the exacts, he sensed others were soon to come. Moonspear wouldn't brush aside a note like that from one of their misplaced wolves, or the scent of an intruder no less--which, loathe as he was to have to admit this in times like these, may as well just about make that two considering the nature of the words he heard them exchange already.. though he knew that was not all to it. His eyes narrowed, skimming from one, to the next as it escalated, him trying to keep up, understand, and keep himself tempered all the same as heartbreak threatened to grip him.

That Wraen chose to foolishly ignore them all, even as they pressured the situation on their home turf that she had so clearly fouled, struck him as well--quickly, and freely souring the opinion he had before in an instant. She was lucky, then, that his snarl stayed silent, and he only showed his teeth beneath the curled lips. This was wrong, and his irritation rippled through his spiking furs, anxious and angry that this would even need to come to this.. But, some innate part said not to be surprised. A happy, easy reunion was simply asking too much.

When Arcturus turned to go, Jarilo watched him and Wraen carefully to see that they followed through with this exit without help, and Dragomir was gone from beside him not long after he realized. Now with an icy frown as he simmered, he stayed put for the time, but chanced a look back for Kukutux, then returned to Hydra--ready to change this if need be, but largely waiting this out for the dust of it to settle--assuming it didn't take a fresh new turn for the ugly before then. If so, he would simply have to follow the intruders out, and regroup afterward.

ach lmk if this is out of order :o

why was he here? 

kukutux suddenly felt a cold knife of anger in her gut. for once she was not merely some piece of flotsam to be carried about on the emotions of those around her. it was an organic sensation, one that rallied her ailing body to flush with a new zeal. the boy soldier rushed into the scene, confronting the older man and the woman he had brought into their midst. what did arcturus believe would happen to her? why was he so selfish even with a creature so devoted?

kukutux saw their strife, the expressions between them, and further did rock begin to crash upon the edges of her heart. his face would forever bear that scar, she believed, even as her pained soul recalled how she had treated him. he had lain upon skins in her den and she beside him; she had come to the glen to fetch him after the first.

and that had not been enough for arcturus. now he had come back a second time to struggle for things he did not truly want. 

a flash of black fire, and jarilo in his silver-jet briskness arose. kukutux had only seen him this way when they had driven the first stranger off the mountain. his voice cut through the tense air, and her springmint eyes watched him take up a stance — against his brother. her own teeth flashed; the duck would have surged forward had not her mate had not been between she and they. 

an order, and then a swift change. the challenge drained from arcturus and he turned his foolish back upon them all. oh, her heart ached to see the blackbear follow him, plead with him, seek amends. lyra's words echoed within her ears, for it was her own mantra. the man did not deserve moonspear. it was not only that she was new wife she made this pronouncement — he had ever been unkind to her, giving the duck only a glimpse of what he had been before. and then revui — and now they had both bruised her irreparably.

she came to jarilo's side now; frustration and anger wreathed from him like a cutting aura. they had not even begun to settle into a routine as husband and wife before the mountain had grown chaotic yet again. she met his eyes for a long moment, following the line of his gaze to hydra, but hers soon fell upon arcturus' retreating form.

the gods will humble you.