Silvertip Mountain that's a bad sound

Grayday returns to Silvertip with a bit more than he left with. @Steady

Day arrived on the borders not quite exhausted, but certainly hoping for a bit of rest. It was a good feeling to cross without having to announce himself, and to know all the twists and turns that would bring him to the heart of the land. He thought, briefly, about taking a nap before he sought out the alpha, but he figured he'd been gone long enough already.

Lifting his muzzle, he gave an announcing howl. Anyone who knew he'd been gone would now know that he was back, and if Steady wanted to talk to him right away, he would show up before too long. For now, he spied a gristly bone on the floor and pulled it toward him with a paw, lying down and setting his teeth against it at once.

Somehow, he didn't feel too much like eating. Maybe it was nerves or maybe he was just tired, but either way, he chose to stay with bone and gristle rather than visit one of the caches or go out hunting for something of his own.

Steady had been eagerly awaiting Grayday's return, hoping for some good news, both about Eden, because the pack really needed a healer, and about Broken Antler Fen. So, when his call rang out, Steady quickly abandoned his patrols and changed his direction to head towards him.

He came upon him, his tail wagging, every part of his being hoping that Grayday would tell him what he wanted to hear. Welcome back, he greeted. Did the travels go okay? he asked, first wanting to know how his brother was before moving on to the reason for said travels.

It was not long before Steady arrived, and Day picked himself up off the floor for propriety's sake and went to meet the man as he came. "Steady," he greeted, voice warm as he regarded the alpha. "Everything was fine - I got a little lost, but I made good time, other than that," he explained, leaving out the minor spot of trouble that he'd encountered on the fen's borders. Grayday yawned and sat down beside the alpha, body feeling heavy after the exertion of his travels. Knowing that the man would probably be eager to hear the news, Day went ahead and cut to the chase - they had other things still to dicuss, after all. "Sebastian met me at the borders - he's glad Eden found a home in us. No hard feelings there, but..." And it was one hell of a but. "But, uh, there was a little girl with him about Addie's age... when she heard where I was from..."

His voice trailed off as he remembered the look in her eyes. What happened here? he wondered.

"Well... Sebastian said we shouldn't send anyone else down that way," he continued, letting the silence speak for itself. If Steady asked, he would explain, but if not he'd be glad to think as little as possible about the poor girl. "He wasn't angry, but he said he'd send for you if... if Odette was ready to see someone from Silvertip again."

He still burned to know the history of this, but it seemed a delicate topic to broach. Instead, he offered silent comfort to the alpha and waited for his reaction before deciding whether or not to ask.

When Grayday rose, Steady extended his neck in an attempt to give his shoulder a nudge in greeting. I'm glad to hear you had no trouble. Steady would have felt bad if he had. The first piece of news he got from the meeting between Grayday and Sebastian was positive- Eden was good to go. His expression changed, however, when Grayday mentioned a female about Adeline's age. It must have been Odette- right? It was almost hopeful, until Grayday delivered the damning news.

It took a moment for Steady to process what he said. It seemed the friendly terms of the alliance had changed. Steady stiffened in his posture, his head raising with his tail as his hackles rose. He was done. No, he said firmly. We are no longer in an alliance with Broken Antler Fen, and if any of their wolves try to come here, they are to be met as enemies, and ran off. He was done being punished for doing everything he could to keep his family alive. Odette would get her wish- she would never be apart of this family again. And Odette is one of them. The clipped tone of his voice conveyed he would not humor any defiance in this matter.

The stubborn set of the alpha's jaw was warning enough for Grayday, who wisely did not press the issue - even though he had some sympathy on reserve for little Odette and her stoic protector. He hadn't exactly been met with smiles at their border, but he'd been treated fairly and had parted without bad feelings toward their lot. Regardless, he didn't know the whole story behind the alliance-turned-fued, and it didn't seem likely that he would get the history on it, now.

"I can spread the word," he said under his breath, leaning his shoulder against the other male's. Clearly, he didn't do this without feeling, and Day wouldn't begrudge him the comfort without knowing for sure that he didn't deserve it. He'd never known Steady to be violent or unfair before, save for when they first met, and that had been a stressful time for everyone. Having long since gotten over that first impression, it was impossible not to feel sympathy toward the man - his brother.

Part of him wanted to leave his next announcement for a later date, but keeping quite about the development felt akin to lying to the plain-speaking male. "There's something else," he began, even less certain about how this news would be taken. At the very least, it hadn't been someone from the fen that he'd met in the mountains. "I met a girl, and, well... I said I'd find her again in a few weeks. To see if I'm going to be a father," he explained, deciding to bite the bullet.

Steady hadn't even thought about the fact that Grayday didn't know the history of what happened during the famine, or why Odette wasn't living with them. Had he asked, Steady may have told him. His anger was momentarily put off by the touch of Grayday's shoulder to his own. His head lowered in a show of friendship and trust. I would appreciate it, thank you, he responded, the clipped tone now gone.

Steady's gaze turned to Grayday more fully as the other male admitted there was more. What more could there be? Did Steady want to know? But, it turned out not to be related to Sebastian and his pack. He opened his mouth, and shut it again as he let the news sink in. The dark Alpha took a deep breath before he spoke. You know, Niita and I have been mates for several months now, and we made the decision to wait to have pups until spring so that we don't have them to feed during the winter. You know, in times where food is scarce, and the pack struggles. He looked pointedly to Grayday to see if he understood what Steady was saying. Who is she? he asked, wondering what pack they might soon have ties with.

Despite his clear disaproval, Steady seemed disinclined to blow his top over Day's news. A resigned sigh puffed out of Day's mouth as he nodded, conceding to Steady's point. He'd come from a place with harsher winters than most, and though they'd never lost a pup to starvation, they'd often seen hard times. Admittedly, it'd not been his best idea to take up with a perfect stranger, but there was nothing to be done about it, now.

"Her name is Amber Ciel," he said when asked, a frown on his face as he tried to remember the name of the pack. He'd had other things on his mind when she told him. "From... the Silver Creek pack. In the sourthern Hinterlands. Hopefully the winters down there aren't as harsh."

He listened as his brother told him of the female that he had possibly impregnated. Steady looked thoughtful as he tried to remember if he had heard of that pack or not. Hmm, I don't think I've heard of Silver Creek, he commented aloud. Hopefully they're a friendly pack. It would make things a lot easier. I don't leave home very often, so I'm not sure of the weather conditions down there, he admitted. Valette may know, he added, knowing how she liked to scout. Maybe she had been down there.

Then, it occurred to him. Is one of you going to leave for the other's pack? he asked. He supposed it would make sense, at least if they wanted to raise the young together. Maybe Steady was getting ahead of himself. Grayday didn't even know if she was pregnant yet. But, if Grayday thought he might leave for the other pack, Steady would have liked to know sooner rather than later. 

Grayday's ears went back as his alpha continued on with the conversation, speaking as though this was just another thing he would have to deal with. Day appreciated it, and the sentiment behind it - but it just didn't sit right with him to think that Steady would need to clean up his mistakes - and to Day, this wasn't a mistake. Maybe it wasn't the best timing, but this was something he'd wished for so hard, and for so long...

"Steady," he began, uncertain, "you don't have to have anything to do with them. This is - I know it's not what you would've wanted to happen, since it'll probably take me away for a lot of the winter - and I'll pick up the slack where I can, but I know it's not convenient... but you don't need to worry about it, other than that."

Somewhere in the confusing string of words, he'd meant to add a 'thank you' or 'it means a lot', but he wasn't even sure he and Steady were on the same page. Maybe he was reading too much into this. Day looked away.

"It's not too far to go in-between, I thought," he said in a low voice, though truthfully, he'd rather Amber come to Silvertip than anything else. "She'd have the cubs there," he said, because he assumed that was what she planned. "I'll go back and forth during the pregnancy, and then stay for a few months while they're growing, and then when they're strong enough... if you didn't mind... I thought we might come to Silvertip," he explained. "If not, we'll just stay over there."

Grayday began to go off, and Steady's expression changed to from confusion at first, to annoyance, to a simmering anger. He held it in check, though, letting the other male go on. When he had finally stopped talking, Steady began, his voice clipped and short. Are you finished? he asked, rhetorically, of course. I don't know where you get off saying all that to me, especially when all I asked is if one of you were going to be moving packs. As Alpha, I believe it is well within my right to know if one my subordinates is intending to leave or not. 

It was rather clear that the two males were not on the same page, and while Steady might have been open to the idea of Grayday bringing the female here, but he was no longer feeling generous. It was obvious the Epsilon wanted none of Steady's help or advice, so he wouldn't give it any longer. You figure out what you want to do, then let me know. With that, the Alpha turned and trotted off, with no intention of turning back.

Last from me! Sorry for cranky Steady :-/

It didn't eactly shock Grayday when his words didn't go over too well; he'd been expecting anger and indignation in the first place, and he'd never been good at talking his way out of situations. Better just to roll with the punches and hope none of them landed harder than he could take. But... if he was being honest with himself, he might admit that it hurt to have the alpha look at him like that.

He tried to tell himself that it'd been a stressful day, and that Day had just piled bad news on bad news on bad news, but that still didn't make it feel any better. Wordlessly, Day watched as Steady walked away, feeling as though he'd done something terribly wrong.

And maybe he had. Maybe it was the worst thing he could've done to his friend, but Grayday was almost four years old, now. If his eyes were anything to go by, he was about to be past his prime. If he didn't have kids now, when would he?

"I'm sorry," he muttered, too low for the man to hear. But there was nothing he could do right now that could fix it, and so he decided to wait a bit longer and see what might happen. Maybe Steady just needed time to get over the Fen and it's apparently betrayal. Maybe Steady would never look at him the same again.