Redtail Rise and the earth was without form, and void;

Azrael is here to ask if anyone has seen his brother. He is not here to join RR, however, if anyone wants to try to recruit him regardless, feel free. @Avicus @Prophet

It had taken a few days to travel from the river pack to this new one among these few mountains. Azrael took a moment to stop and breathe and gaze upon the faces of the mountains, and smile, for he missed his home. He took in a few lungfuls of clear air and then titled his head back and howled. In the back of his mind, he wondered when he would stop looking for his brother, and when he did, what would he do then? Would he return home as he was meant to, to prove his worth to his family? Or would he take up residence somewhere new and leave his past behind? Such questions did not matter yet, but he asked them nonetheless.

Cameo!

After pressing her paw against the scuttling beetle and both feeling and hearing that satisfying crunch, she slowly lifted her foot to peer at its remains. Masque bent to sniff at the flattened insect, its shattered carapace oozing lymph into the dirt. Her nose wrinkled at the peculiar scent, nothing like the tang of warm, red blood.

Before her brain actively registered the distant howl, her ears quivered and stood up straight. Masquerade’s spine stiffened and straightened as she blinked at the faraway sound. Still operating by instinct, she raised her ruddy muzzle skyward, throat rippling as she let out a wavering rejoinder.

A figure, dark and swathed, nearly startled his heart into his throat.

But this figure was all wrong and their voice too. For this he found relief, ears splayed as one of the children howled in the distance in return. It was that sound that stirred the protective frenzy within him back to life.

He approached the borders with a hard stare in his eyes and a not uncommon dominant posture.

Why do you call?

One ear flicked at the sound of the child's call, but Azrael remained silent afterwards, simply waiting. He did not expect a child to come to his aid, after all. A few minutes passed, and then a man approached him, all dominance and flinty stare. Azrael was used to this, and was not bothered by it. He was not known here; territorial behavior was to be expected.

Keeping his eyes downcast, he dipped his head in greeting. "Hello. My name is Azrael. I am looking for my older brother, Eremiel, who went missing from our pack almost a year ago, now. He looks exactly like me." Azrael lifted his head again, so that the man who had greeted him could get a good look at his face.

This was not the first time somebody had come to him looking for another — and now he had to imagine it would not be the last.

I have seen nobody like that. And he imagined neither did any others. Augur, perhaps for all his traveling, but the man was mute. He could hardly offer directions without simple gestures or guiding the man. Prophet refused to let that happen.

Why do you search for somebody gone for so long? Only curiosity, for now.

Azrael glanced away and down in slight disappointment, though he had not been expecting much. "Thank you for your time, regardless," he said, dipping his head in respect of the man. And then he paused at the question. The man wanted to know why he'd gone looking for someone gone for so long.

Azrael felt a wry smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "The truth?" he began. "My journeying far from home has little to do with finding my brother, and everything to do with going away and coming back, proving that I can live on my own away from the protection of numbers. There was no time limit set for this search, but in something like four months, if I return home alive, it will have proven much to my family."

Of course, I could choose not to return home at all, he thought, though he did not voice this last out loud.

He appreciated the man for his honest bluntness.

Too many times Prophet had answered those who were wordless or cryptic. His distaste for those affairs grew as the Rise did. But there was obvious strength in this stranger in his dedication to prove himself.

You can prove yourself here, if you hunt or fight. There is no coddling of safety in numbers among us. An open offer, one he gave with a half-warm smirk. But I understand the...motivation to brave a new world alone.

He waited now for what the man might say.