Heart of steel starts to grow

For anyone in BDP, preferrably anyone Dante hasn't interacted much with but all are welcome!

Dante had been marking the borders even more, if possible, since claiming these lands as his own. He had just finished another pass of the western edge and was paused at the ledge, as he often did, to gaze out on the lands below. It was one of his favorite spots to be, especially in the evening. The sun had already faded, but the light was not quite gone, so the stars were only faintly visible in the sky.

He was coming to terms, however slowly, with his new standing. Really, he hadn't found it all that different so far from being Beta. It did require a bit more attention paid to affairs and more initiative when it came to hunts, but times were peaceful. He imagined when tensions ran high between packs more stress would be on him, but hopefully that would not happen.

A little over a week had passed since Peregrine had left them and Osprey had come to terms with his departure. There was still a sour spot for the way her brother had handled things but she had forgiven him everything. She longed to see him again and planned to head to the Caldera in the next few days, unless something unexpected happened.

Before heading back to her den, she had taken a little stroll around the plateau. It was early autumn evening, the air was crisp and clear and she enjoyed the changing of seasons. The end of summer had made her a little sad, however, when autumn had come in "full bloom" she was happy again to witness the beauty that came along with it.

She spotted Dante at the edge of the plateau and being cheerful in spirit approached him and asked: "Daydreaming?"

Hey! I'm gonna bring this up to present with Atticus if that's ok <3

He hadn't been expecting company, but he wasn't adverse to it either. Osprey's cheer was catching, and he turned to her with a smile. "I guess so." He was the introspective sort so it wasn't so odd to catch him doing so. He quickly sobered, though, and looked down deferentially. It was an odd move, perhaps, for an Alpha to make, but it felt right.

"I'm... sorry about Atticus' disappearance. I should have kept a closer eye out. I was lax, and... I'm sorry." He felt really badly about it, for he was so new to leadership and one of the first occurrences had been to lose one of their own. Peregrine had always kept everything so tightly under control it seemed. Had he still been here, Dante had little doubts this wouldn't have happened.

At the mention of Atticus Osprey's face fell. She hadn't been a very good sister and hadn't visited him after that one time, when Peregrine had shown her, what had happened. His condition had struck her in a bad way she hadn't dared to return to that den and see that empty look in his eyes. She had heard that he had got better and she had been glad for that, albeit for Willow's sake. Because it seemed that the time she had spent away and his illness had destroyed the last shreds of close sister-brother relationship they had once shared. They were strangers and Osprey felt very guilty for feeling that way.

Therefore, when she had found out that he had wandered off, she hadn't been sure, what to do. One part of her yearned to go looking for him, but she remembered the last time she had gone on a search party and, how that hadn't gone as planned. Crete was still missing, but she had stopped to care. The other didn't want to leave the plateau, which was her home now, and she hoped that Atticus would turn up eventually. "Don't feel that way," she closed the distance between the two and leaned over to give a reassuring nudge on Dante's cheek. "You can't herd us all. Besides there is always a hope that he might return."

Dante watched her happiness disappear as if someone had switched off a light and his guilt only increased. In order to make himself feel better he had brought up probably the last thing she wanted to hear right now. Shit.

"That's kinda in the job description. But you are right. There's always hope." He didn't mention his doubts, though Dante's mind was often opt to explore the worst-case scenario. This was a result of constant analysis, and it was the reason for his somewhat cautious nature. It wasn't something he could control, but it was something he could keep under wraps.

"I know that Junior has gone and I've been meaning to ask some of the other outriders to go look. Perhaps some of the neighboring packs have seen something."

Dante was right about one part of his job - he was responsible for them in many ways. On the other - the pack consisted of strong individuals, all of whom had a mind of their own. The alpha could rule only as far as the packmates allowed. No further. Therefore is someone decided to leave (in this case, however, given Atticus' condition it was disputable, whether it was his choice or because of his unstable mental condition), then there was nothing to be done. Perry had known this and, therefore he had set the rule of not welcoming back those, who left once.

She nodded, when he told her, what he had already done, but her mind now focused on her friend Willow. "How is Blue doing?" she asked with worry in her voice.

Dante's ears fell sideways when Osprey asked about Blue. Another discrepancy on his part, as he hadn't been able to check in with her yet. "I'm not sure. She's strong, always has been, but she left so soon after to let Perry know that I haven't seen her much. I worry though. She gives so much." Blue was the type who would put others before herself other time, an admirable trait but also a worrying one. Everyone needed help sometimes.

Dante sighed. "Sorry to unload on you a bit." She had a friendly, straightforward manner about her that made her rather easy to talk to, but she had enough to deal with now without listening to his worries. His guilt over this situation would last a while, but it was a mistake that he would learn from. Hopefully they wouldn't run into such a situation again, but he would try harder not to let members go overlooked.

While Dante felt guilty for what had happened to Atticus, Osprey couldn't find any valid reason, why should he feel the way he did. There was no fault of his - people got up and left all the time. She had seen many of her siblings wander off in their own lives after they had reached adulthood. There had been pack members that had disappeared without a trait at Flightless falcons and they had had a very rational attitude about it. If you weren't careful, wilds swallowed you whole. That was it.

It may have been the lack of experience on Dante's side - the novelty of the situation had surprised him unprepared. So, Peregrine probably knew about this already. She was glad that she didn't need to be the bearer of the bad news again. Two times were quite enough for her. "I'll see, how I can help her through this, when she comes back," Osprey promised in a soft voice and looked tenderly at her alpha. "Don't feel bad for this - shit happens all the time. We can't let it bring us down every time."

Dante knew the feeling would pass, and if it weren't for her brother's state before departing he would be rather more indifferent. But there was no use dwelling on things you can't change. It was the present where he was needed now.

"Thank you. I'm sure she will appreciate that." It was no secret to him that the two shared a close friendship. Blue Willow had spoken of Osprey to him before she had even arrived back at the Plateau. "And you are right. Which I am guessing isn't a rare occurrence for you. Therapist and adventurer, eh?" He gave her a small, genuine smile. Then, because he did not wish to dwell on the subject for too long, he led the conversation into another domain. One that, to him, seemed much more favorable. "So, dear Osprey, have you had any more grand adventures of late?" This time the smile widened. He took her for the type who, with the right spin on it, could turn a trip to the stream into an epic.

"Don't know much about therapist, but an adventurer - sure thing," Osprey agreed with a smile, happy for the change of the subject and hoping that this way she would be able to take Dante's mind off the sad and serious things. Redleaf-DiSarinno bunch was a colorful one and you could find all kinds of traits in the offspring of the great pack founders, but there was a certain trait that was common to most of them - the wanderlust. For some the call of the wilds and adventures was stronger, for some - it sparked up now and then. Osprey was a prime example of the latter - whenever the routine got too dull and boring - a day spent exploring the lands beyond the safe boundaries helped her to return to her spirits.

"Well... it depends, what you consider grand," she said, and turned her gaze to the sky above, thinking, what was interesting enough to share. "I found beavers the other day, for example. And got a nasty hit by their tail. It's sure a deadly weapon," she winced, remembering the encounter. "You know what - we could go adventure hunting right here, right now. What do you say?" Osprey sprang to her feet her eyes alight with excitement.

Just as Dante had imagined... rather literally, a trip to the stream into an adventure. "I'd call that pretty grand, even though the outcome might not have seemed so. That must have stung. Can't say I've ever had the pleasure." He'd never tried hunting beavers before, though now that she mentioned it, it may be fun sometime to give it a shot. He'd have to keep that in mind.

"I say that sounds like an amazing idea!" It would be good to get his mind away from serious matters and such fantasy as adventure hunting seemed like just the ticket. Her enthusiasm in the idea was rather catching and it was nice to see her smile again after he had extinguished her joy earlier. "Lead on, oh knowledgeable one." He gave her an exaggerated bow. When it came to adventure hunting, he was definitely the apprentice here. Dante had been called many things in his lifetime and adventurous was certainly not one of them.

"Well... they say - never tickle a sleeping dragon - I can paraphrase this - never attempt to grab the beaver from the wrong end," Osprey lifted her paw and rubbed her muzzle, remembering the initial shock of, how hard the blow had been and how much it had hurt afterwards. Now, of course, these were just some foggy memories, but it was certainly an experience she wasn't willing to repeat ever again. She didn't wish Dante to make the same mistake she had either.

Dante got some extra points on her mental list of "great and memorable people", by showing genuine enthusiasm in the very idea of adventure hunting. She looked him up and down for a moment, as if trying to decide something, but then simply shook her coat and with that, whatever had come to her mind. "Excellent," she said. "But before we go, we have to decide, what are we going to be. Uniorns and fairies are forbidden!"

Her saying brought an amused laugh, and he committed it to memory. A good lesson indeed. She seemed delighted that he was willing to come along, though he wondered how anyone in their right mind could go without catching some of her enthusiasm. He couldn't help it if he tried. Her scrutiny of him didn't go unnoticed, and he watched perplexed as her expression cleared, presumably taking with it whatever thoughts she had been following.

Unicorns and fairies? Well, that knocked out two that he had knowledge of. Dante's knowledge of the fantastic was somewhat limited, as tales from his homeland weren't exactly rife with the beasts. They contained more individuals and gods than anything else, but he had some ideas. "Well then. Griffons? Dragons?" He paused, thinking, then decided to throw in a little variety. No one said they had to be pleasant creatures. "Minotaurs? Or perhaps banshees," he said with a grin, picturing the two of them running about the Plateau shrieking. That would give the pack something to talk about for sure.

Of course - it would have been easy for Osprey to simply name the roles both of them were going to take, but in that case it would be a one-sided game. She would try to control the rest of the adventure hunting too, but in order to make her packmate happy, this was not the way to go. Therefore she was glad that Dante had some knowledge in magical creatures, which gave more opportunities, but she wouldn't have minded, if he had offered to choose from more down-to-earth beings - such as grasshoppers or frogs. That could be fun too.

"Banshees!" she made a decision on the spot. "Except banshees are all females. You could be a banshee-man? Or banshoon?" she played with the words.

wah sorry if it isn't much but I wanted to get something up ^^;

Apparently she had similar inclinations, for she latched onto the banshee idea with a gusto. He hadn't considered that banshees were female, a tip off to his own lack if expertise in the area. "A bansho?" He added, considering the conundrum. He was already rather enjoying this conversation and the adventure hadn't even started. She was top-notch at disgracing from worries, that was for sure.

Whatever she wanted to call him was fine in his books. Osprey was the master here, he the pupil. And he would possibly come away with some further adventuring knowledge.

ooc: I think that with all the injured folks at the hospital wing, this could be a good time to fade this out. I would love another thread with Dante, however.

"Bansho - brilliant!" Osprey exclaimed and made a little jump, while remaining, where she was. She then found a reason to sit down again, because now they had to hammer out a plan of, what kind of adventures would two banshees get into. The usual kind - rescuing, looking for treasures, doing great and noble deeds, fighting the dragons - didn't work, because these creatures usually were very self-confident and didn't think that they needed to prove anyone, how perfect they were. They knew that already.

"I know - we could make a "Banshee of the year" contest," she said, realizing, how silly the idea sounded. "Like, who can make the most horrifying howl," Osprey jumped to her feet, cast a sly glance at Dante and then dashed past him in full speed, managing to scream-howl-yodel something ear-splitting and horrible at the same time. Then she stopped and called out to her leader: "Beat that, banshee-man!"

definitely when she gets back from her adventure!!! He's gonna have to fess up to banning her brother ^^;

They apparently had some serious planning to do, for after her excited response she sat down and they got to business. Dante was still rather amazed at the speed her mind worked. He wasn't an idea man generally, his mind more suited to analyzing than creativity. She was right on par though, rattling off ideas almost before he realized what was happening. Which was a good thing, since his suggestions probably wouldn't have been in the proper banshee mindset.

Dante jumped as her ear-splitting yowl let loose, than laughed, unable to help himself. Normally he shied away from anything that involved raising his voice (he wasn't one to draw attention or enjoy it) but he found himself wanting to let loose on this one. Sometimes it felt good to just let to of reservations. "Oh, you are on!" Meeting her challenge, he sent up a yell of his own, not nearly so earsplitting but as high as he could reach. Then he took off after her, ready to follow her lead into a world where he could shake off some of his responsibility for a time.