Sun Mote Copse Today's the first day of the rest of your life

@Arcturus 

The fact that they had been able to leave Moonspear in one piece still puzzled Wraen. She was back alive at Sun Mote copse, when things could have turned out so much worse. It felt unreal. Even more surprizing, when she heard the news that Niamh had given birth to three healthy children, to realize that her dangerous adventure had not thrown life off track. It had kept it's flow, as if nothing had happened. 

She had not said much at all to Arcturus, when they headed back to Firebirds's claime. She had not even asked him, if he intended to stay here or go anywhere else. In the aftermath she had wished to be in her safe place as fast as possible, where Moonspear and her fears associated with it, would be far behind. It was only after she had left him at the den and, when she had been alone, would she let that terror take over her.

Wraen trembled and wanted to cry, fought against sobs, but tears gave her away. She had walked the borders until the sunrise and only then would she find Maia, cuddle up to her and fall into a restless slumber. One day and a half later she felt fine again and after checking up on the new mother, she set out to find Arthur. There were important matters to be discussed and understood.

arcturus had never understood an out-of-body experience so cleanly, as he had the night they walked from the spear. what came after -- what was said, and what was done -- was all a meshed blur.

he found he could not sleep that night, and kept replaying it all over and over. his first interactions with ying. his earliest memories of hydra. his father's, mother's faces. revui. over and over, until the lamplight glare of the moon dimmed and mealy rays of sunrise shone through the den.

he shook his fur and stood. if his mind would not let him rest, he would roam until his mind at last begged for respite. finding the borders was easy, and it was then he started to trace the unfamiliar terrain, missing terribly how familiar the pathways of his home had been.

hearing the tread of another, arcturus slowed and turned to investigate. finding wraen alone on the trail, it was all arcturus could do to keep from blurting how sorry he was for all of it. he thought maybe she looked tired, or simply worn out -- swallowing a nettling sting of regret, arcturus waved his tail. "wraen."

Wraen, who had never been so attached to one place and circle of family, could not even imagine, how Arcturus was feeling now. Cutting all ties with Hydra did not mean just leaving Moonspear behind, he had turned his back on his family and friends he had known all his life. Quo vadis, friend? She had had faced that question many times before, she did not give it much importance anyway, having accepted that life kept twisting and changing constantly and that there was very little that she could affect, save adapting to the knew circumstances. But, what about him? If she was made of clay and river sand - then he was built of stone. It does not yield to the elements readily, it takes time for them to shape it and yet it's vulnerability lied in the severity of crash. How deep were the cracks now, what would happen as time passed?

Asking, how he was doing, was not necessary - in due time he would tell her himself. Instead of delving deep in the emotional aspect of the whole unexpected ordeal, Wraen decided to take the easier route by dealing with the practical side first. "Arthur..." she began. "What are you going to do now?"

arcturus would never cease to admire wraen. for her ability to think free of any constrictions, for her ability to be pragmatic as well as emphatic, for her ability to tackle things when starting seemed insurmountable.. in that minute, arcturus was struggling with how to even begin, when it all looked so overwhelmingly impossible.

wraen gave him an out by asking after the practical side of things. the side of things free of emotion, of judgment. "live, i guess." he supplied with a quietly bitter mirth. "maybe make my residence a bit more permanent." the badger den had always been something temporary; a bolt of something cut through him as he thought of living there the rest of his life. "wraen, i owe you a lot -- more than i think i could ever repay. what is it you think, or want me to do?" for even though moonspear was no longer underneath him, there would always be a little of the spear in him -- enough that, even now when he had fought against control, he was looking to wraen for guidance.

Wraen arched an eyebrow, when Arcturus mentioned finding something permanent, but he did not elaborate on the subject and she did not yet dare to hope (or instill a notion in him) that he would (or that he should) stay here with her and never leave. That was selfish, especially since her friend had just ended a serious relationship, where selfishness and immense pride had been one of the chief components. 

"You do not owe me anything, Arthur," Wraen told him levelly and it was clear that she meant it. Again - with him offering do do anything for her - it was tempting to use it right away. She could not be sure, but Towhee in her place would have handed him a list of jobs to do right away. "You have your freedom - you can stay here, if you so wish, and you can leave at any point. I won't hold it against you and no one else here will," she explained.

"You will probably need more time to think things through and, if honest work is something that can help you along the way," she paused, "then you can aid Bronco and Figment in mercenary duties, while Niamh and Towhee are caring for their little children. Both are young and eager and they would benefit from someone with a different background training them."

"But that is your call, Arthur," Wraen finished and looked at Arcturus expectantly, waiting to hear his answer.

on the contrary, arcturus believed he owed wraen a great deal -- including at the very least, his life.

if she had not followed him up the mountain, he could not say for certain he would still be breathing.

it was a sobering thought. arcturus breathed deep, trying to clear the buzzing thoughts which clouded his mind. honest work -- hard, grueling work -- sounded like exactly what he needed to set his mind to bed.

"honest work seems like just what the doctor ordered." arcturus tried to joke feebly, grimacing as he smiled through the cuts on his face. "i can seek them out -- what do they look like? when would be a good time?"

"We can go and look for them now," Wraen invited, thinking it would be better, if she introduced Arcturus to the rest of the group rather than he mistaking Bronco for somebody else just because she had given not detailed enough description. "Should be either at the borders or hanging around Niamh's place," she mused. The third option was that they were outside the territory, but the Sovereign was in no haste.

With that an awkward silence settled between them and Wraen felt it keenly, because usually she was the chatty one, she had no problem finding subjects to talk with any of her friends. However now she did not know, what was safe to ask Arcturus. "Umm... since you are going to be my subject for... a while at least, maybe you should know some ground rules?" she began, looking at her friend hoping that he was not going to contradict her or cut her short.

arcturus nodded at the prospect of going off and finding these two wolves: anything at all to keep his legs busy and his mind from wandering or thinking too hard of what had all just transpired.

wraen's tone took a turn for the serious, prompting the ostrega to slow his easy stride and glance upon her curiously. groundrules, she said -- of course -- in his self-involved pity, he had forgotten wraen wasn't just a friend, she was a leader.. and this was very much her turf. "of course." he slowed to a halt and gave her the benefit of his full attention, fully intending to follow whatever rules she dictated important.

as long as they weren't crazy like, child sacrifice or anything.

"Don't be afraid, we do not worship blood-thirsty gods and sacrifice virgins to them on ful-moon," Wraen teased Arcturus a bit, because seeing him so solemn, when she just wanted to explain the rank system of the Firebirds. But - perhaps - it was good that he took matters seriously and had not made any assumptions regarding his position here. 

"All in all we try to be very democratic about things here - it means that every voice counts and is taken in consideration," she began. "I and Towhee share the leadership ranks - Sovereign and Regent. If I am absent or I am unable to fulfill my duties, she is there to fill in the role for me. We have "Honoree" ranks, reserved to long-term members, who are in charge regarding certain branches of the work that needs to be done. 

For instance, Niamh is our Sargeant-at-Arms - she is the authority of all existing and would-be mercenaries. Even you, if you decide to continue pursuing this path. Eljay is the resident expert in caregiving and healing. And then follows "Entourage", which consist of Tradesmen or people, who have a trade or are in the process of acquairing it. Young wolves and those undecided of their path in life belong to "Assembly". 

There is subordination, when it comes to the big groups: leaders first, then Honorees, then Entourage and then Assembly and puppies, however within their respective groups every wolf is an equal," she finished her brief tour in the convoluted system of Firebirds' ranks. "We value hard work, determination and good comradeship. Higher positions are earned not fought for. I believe that ascending to power is a lot more rewarding, if it comes with the support, trust and respect of other members of the pack."

She gave time for Arcturus to process all of the information she had given and then asked: "Is this something you can live with? 'cause we do not consider traitors those, who sooner or later decide to seek a place, where the grass is greener and sky is bluer."

despite all the inner turmoil, it felt good to be teased again. arcturus spared a light smile, the corners of his mouth creasing as he listened.

so far, it all seemed reasonable. logical. perfectly understandable. it was a very radical departure from moonspear, which was anything but democratic.. having been born in that rare realm of upper hierarchy, it had never occurred to arcturus how unfair that was -- until one day, he had found himself thumbed to the outside.

and now, he understood. now, he realized the life he had been born into was not the only life to live..

or the only one worth living.

he nodded, mouth set in a determined line. he could live with it all, as long as wraen lived besides him. he wanted to say that, too, but found he lacked the courage and the eloquence to say anything at all about his feelings. "with niamh whelping, is there something i should do to help even the load?" he assumed she might not be patrolling as heavily - whether or not that was true remained to be seen.

"Well, I don't meddle much in the mercenary tier. I think that you should first report to Niamh as your Seargent at arms and then get to know the boys," Wraen said. "But, when you no longer feel like a macho-man, you are welcome to hunt for the kids and even baby-sit them. As much as mothers love their kids in their first month, they are very keen on getting away from them on the second and onwards," she smiled knowingly.

"But I do not need to tell you, how sharp and ruthless puppy teeth are, do I?" Wraen said and suddenly wondered, how old Arcturus was. He certainly had not been around, when she had lived with the Moonspearans. So - two years - three years? Did it matter?

it was solved then - he would make the daunting journey to report to niamh himself. he tried to hide the little fluttering of unease he felt -- he had not forgotten his last scrape with the confident adonis.

hunting was something he could easily do; while not something he boasted about often, arcturus enjoyed the single-mindedness that occupied his mind as he hunted. it was just as purposeful as guarding, if not more so -- for there was a certain satisfaction in marching back into camp with a kill in tow..

thinking of kills and children, arcturus looked up to find wraen's expression seemed rather critical -- as if she were studying him. "i'm a great babysitter if that's what you need, just ask ---" the cheeky grin fell from his face as he remembered. "..dirge."

nevertheless, he had spent many hours with osiris and atlas, with dragomir -- they were grown now, but he remembered them when they were but little devious sootsprites, mantling the mountain or sinking little daggerteeth into his arms.

Sootsprite is such a nice word! :)

"That's good and well, just don't play all your aces right away - word of advice," Wraen chuckled and winked at him. As much as Arcturus was bent on "repaying the favor" she did not think that he should take extra measures to prove his worth. It was enough for her that he was a guardian and trained mercenary. There were others to do the full-time baby-sitting and child-rearing. 

Talking about this and that they arrived at the borders and Wraen went ahead to quickly go over the scent marks left by others and to add one of her own. Then she lifted her muzzle, sniffed the air intently and listened carefully. "I will call for them, okay?" she told him and howled for @Figment and @Bronco to come if convenient, if inconvenient, come anyway.

Fig hadn't been by the borders when Wraen and Arcturus went searching for him. He'd finished his patrol a while ago and had busied himself since by rooting around for a snack. He thought he'd left part of a muskrat somewhere nearby, but he couldn't seem to figure out just where. He was on the verge of giving up and going hunting when he heard the call.

Pleased to be distracted and curious to know why, the yearling cantered off to answer the summons. He was closer to Wraen now, but still not close enough to have any real guess as to what she needed. Perhaps she'd come up with an odd job that needed done. He was going to ask her just that when he saw, until the moment he discovered she was not alone.

Fig stopped before the pair of them, his posture relaxed and respectful, though slightly wary. He didn't know who this other guy was, but he was quick to take his cue from Wraen, who seemed perfectly comfortable around him. He settled and offered a smile to them both, his ears shifting forward and back as his tail gave a soft wag. "Wraen," he said by way of greeting, his bright green eyes flashing to her and then to the other male, to whom he gave a polite nod of his head.

As per usual, Bronco had taken to patrolling the borders about as often as his mother had, though it took him longer to complete a tour around the pack's borders as he tended to get distracted more often than his mother did...And his legs still weren't quite as stilt-like as hers, either. Still, he wasn't terribly far away when he heard Wraen call, and he stiffened as he wondered for a moment why she might be calling for him...And Figment. It couldn't be an emergency, he decided; otherwise, she might've called for someone stronger or tougher than the two yearling boys. 

On his journey to meet her summon, his adventurous mind procured several different scenarios in response to being called alongside Figment. Maybe she was going to choose an heir of sorts- but was Figment even interested in being a leader? Maybe she wanted help with a hunt, and didn't want to bother one of the three parent-throuple-thing that involved his mother, Phox and Towhee. Of course, he imagined being pitted against Figment in a few different challenges- and while he saw himself as the victor in most physical situations, he did worry if he possessed even half the amount of brain-power that Figment had. Unfortunately, the other yearling beat him to the meeting, though he still earned a friendly nod from Bronco. Maybe it wasn't a competition. He reassured himself that he'd had a longer distance to go; and that was why he came in second. 

Wraen was with someone who for some reason or another, made the fur along Bronco's shoulders prickle, though it took him a moment or two to figure out why. He was reminded, then, of the male who had attacked Sugar Glider...Which didn't make a tonne of sense, as the only shared feature was the colour of their pelt. The other had been an adolescent wolf, about the same age as Bronco, though perhaps not quite as large- and this one here definitely would have easily been able to fight Bronco off in a spar, or a serious fight. But there was something about his scent that gave Bronco reason to associate the two- though he pushed the thought aside, and offered the stranger a lukewarm smile. Clearly, this fellow was a friend of Wraen's. 

"An' here I was," He started, turning his warm bourbon gaze to his Sovereign, "Thinkin' I had a chance. Yer just tryna make me jealous, aren't you?" He teased, before flicking his ears forward- an indication that he was done being a shameless flirt, and ready to be a bit more serious.

credit goes to ghibli!! but i love the term also <3

standing alongside wraen, arcturus inspected the sundry scents laid across their path as he waited for the wolves she called to arrive.

the first to come was a long yearling dragomir's age or close, studiously dark and the beholder of a pair of sharp apple-green eyes. arcturus was reminded painfully of revui, but hid that stark memory deep and offered a plaintive smile in response to the boy's polite demeanor.

the second to arrive was more poignant in color and in speech, possessing a pelt of copperfire that reminded arcturus starkly of niamh. he was the other boy's dramatic foil in every sense: in pelt, in mannerisms, in speech. his quirky salutation earned a perplexed look from arcturus, who looked to wraen not in jealousy but confusion.

having been raised in moonspear, where there was little time for jokes of any nature, it was often that the punchline managed to elude arcturus entirely and today was little exception.

Figment arrived soon after the call - quiet, polite and inquisitive. Wraen smiled at him and before she managed to begin he introductions, Bronco came on the stage - outgoing, confident and cheeky - he stole the spotlight and the Sovereign blushed a little at his boldness in his address to her and chuckled as well. There was a bit of confusion in Arcturus's eyes, she had a good guess of why it would be so, but did not offer a verbal remark, instead shaking her head lightly and shrugging. That's, how it is here.

"Well, the job "sovereign" entails some privileges that others do not have," she replied, looked from Bronco to her friend from Moonspear, as if evaluating, comparing them and then added. "I could have you both, you know?" But jokes aside there had been a more important matter, why she had called the two. "Arcturus - this is Bronco - son of Niamh - and this is Figment - Phox's son and Towhee's nephew," she explained. "And - boys - this is Arcturus, our most recent claim and recruit. He is a trained and experienced guardian and he has expressed his wish to join you in the patrols.

Treat him nicely and you may learn a great deal for him. He has been raised and trained among by the very best in the trade," Wraen finished with a hint of pride in her voice. "You two could show him around the perimeter and get to know each other."

The strange male didn't offer speech, but Fig smiled appreciatively of the small gesture he did receive. He tended to be on the quieter side himself, never really feeling the need to fill silences with useless chatter (unless there was a pretty girl nearby making him nervous as crap). The silence didn't last too long, though, for Bronco soon was stepping to his side and bringing all of his boisterous personality with him.

Fig glanced back at his stepbrother as Bronco approached, giving him a smile in greeting before turning his eyes back to Wraen. He paused for a moment to listen to Bronco's comment to their Sovereign, and turned his eyes slowly over to glance sidelong at the other yearling in a subtle but notable bro? before casually turning back to Wraen to see what happened next. He was not unused to Bronco's sense of humor, but he'd definitely never seen him to try flirt with Wraen before. How odd. And weirdly timed.

But anyway, Wraen didn't seem perturbed and so Fig moved past it mentally. He looked between the two older wolves, noting all that she said about their newcomer and what was expected of his new position in the pack. He noted the bit of pride she showed as she proclaimed he'd been trained by the best, wondering if she meant herself and then wondering if she was secretly a guardian and he didn't know it. But, he let that one go too and merely nodded his acceptance of the order.

This paragraph has been here the whole time. "Towhee's son," Fig corrected gently, offering a smile. Their family was weird, yes. But being called a nephew of the woman he treated as his mother made it weird for him. It was technically the truth, though, so he didn't make a big deal of it. But he totally didn't overlook it and let it stand because he's a good boy and I notice everything.

"We'd be happy to," Fig said, glancing over at Bronco briefly as he spoke for the both of them (maybe kinda sorta somewhat trying to keep his friend from saying anything stupid while knowing there wasn't much hope), "Welcome to the pack, Arcturus." He smiled again and wagged his tail.

Bronco studied Arcturus for a moment, with a tomboy smile on his features, as though measuring the other male up- though of course, he was half joking and he already knew that in a spar, Arcturus could likely spank him. He wasn't terribly interested in seeing how that would go, as he was afraid to lose his title as the strongest male in the pack. Of course- this was simply a title he'd rewarded himself for being the sturdiest of the yearlings, and he figured that both Phox and Eljay were too gentle to ever be able to really fight. (Of course, he also failed to remember that he, too, was too gentle to really fight, but that was a discovery to be made another day.)

The subject of Figment's lineage wasn't something that confused Bronco, nor did it make him balk when Fig corrected Wraen. Even from childhood, Towhee had been referred to as his aunt, but also as Fig and Fennec's mother as he had been told at an early age that their biological mother had passed away. He nodded when Fig spoke, and added a detail of his own, without thinking about it beforehand. "We're cousins and step-siblings," He said with a grin. There- let the new guy figure that out. Figment's hope of stopping Bronco from saying something stupid likely fizzled out like a match dropped into a puddle. "But like...No incest or nothin'," As if that made things better. 

Regardless, he was eager to prove himself, and was willing to do what Wraen was asking them to do. While it meant that he was now expected to defer to another authority figure, he didn't figure it could be all that bad. Echoing his step-bro-sin, he nodded. "Yeah, welcome to the pack, dude."

how did he feel when he saw a blush steal across wraen's features? arcturus quickly hid whatever that strange sensation was, glancing neutrally at the quieter of the two boys as if trying to read from his composure if his friend's demeanor was normal. given how at ease wraen seemed, he surmised bronco's cheekiness standard bearing -- all the same, something felt disgruntled deep within him.

he flashed a brief smile at the golden yearling, feeling a bit more of a kinship with figment at the moment than the yearling that might serve to disturb his carefully sown relationship with the sovereign. he did not miss a beat as figment offered a polite correction: towhee's son. he hid the confusion he felt to learn this -- he had thought meerkat was towhee's only offspring, but there was much he needed to learn about firebirds and their unique familial relations.

bronco's elucidation of their relation to towhee didn't help arcturus, who simply received the news with a knot in his brow. he accepted both of their welcomes with a noble dip of his head in silent thanks, his tail held loose along his hocks. "two fine guardians," arcturus commented to wraen, keeping his questions at bay. "i am ready to be shown the perimeters; i imagine the two of you have much insight to share about our territory's range? i am sure i have much to learn from the two of you."

Wraen rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh, when the boys complicated the family matters, which she had initially laid clear and simple. The last thing she wished was for Arcturus to think that just as he had fled from one mad-house, he had landed directly in the other. With all due respect to the mixed and complicated Redhawk-Blackthorn family lines, did the intricate details that would confuse many people from outside really matter ont he first meeting?

Well, good thing Arcturus was on the slower side to grasp things, which also meant that he would not run for the hills even at the mention of "incest". It would take him few days to ruminate on this and then he would probably warn her beforehand that he was running off. She humoured herself with this thought, but did not believe for a second that her friend would be so easily scared. "I will leave you three then to get to know each other - I have some other errands to do in the meanwhile," Wraen told them. "Behave well," she said and was off.

Wraen's out. :)

Fig had to resist rolling his eyes as Bronco continued. He might've added And friends, for whatever reason to the list his brother-cousin verbalized, but held his tongue. He could see Arcturus's expression shift, and he had no reason to drive that frown deeper. Besides, he had Bronco to do that. Incest, really?

He shook his head, but let it go as they continued to talk and it came time to go. Fig smiled at the compliment and gave a nod of farewell to Wraen before turning to go. He leaned towards Bronco as they moved to whisper, "Maybe we can also teach you a little something about not being creepy, hm?" He smirked.

Wow- he had to hand it to Arcturus, the guy certainly wasn't ruffled easily. Bronco's bold words, and then the reference to incest didn't seem to make him visibly uncomfortable- at least, not enough to concern Bronco, who was inattentive at best. This led Bronco to believe that since he could withstand a bit of immature humour, he could probably deal a bit of it as well. Maybe this tough guy wasn't going to be too bad; though he hadn't had many doubts to begin with. Wraen was an excellent judge of character, or so he believed- and if she'd more or less recruited him to join them, or whatever the story was (Bronco wasn't good with details), then he'd welcome him as well. 


He turned, simultaneously with Figment, and caught the comment with a smirk. He replied with a low voice, though he obviously couldn't have cared too much if Arcturus overheard. "Yeah an' maybe you can mrr-mrr-nrr-merr-nrrrrr, nerd," He teased lamely, sidestepping suddenly in an attempt to shove Figment in retaliation, as he obviously lacked in the wit department. He laughed good-naturedly, before he turned his attention back to their new companion. "So, Arciturus," He said, the slight mispronunciation of his name both unintentional and unnoticed. "What's the biggest non-wolf creature you've ever had to fight off?" He asked.

WHOOSH -- not for the first time did a comment pass over the stalwart's head. arcturus, much like his brother, tended to take things at face value.. only, he tended to ruminate on them later. much as wraen suspected, he likely would think little of it until later.

how he hated seeing the sovereign go -- he hid it with a slight smile and a dip of his head. she was going to leave him in the capable hands of two (okay, one) big mouthed rogues? did she wish for her newest recruit to perish?

jokes aside, arcturus missed fig's digging comment directed at bronco, and only barely caught the gilded boy's mispronunciation of his name. "arcturus." he corrected without a hint of annoyance. he knew his name was a mouthful -- such seemed custom on the mountain.

as far as the largest thing he had fought..? images of his terrifying sister loomed in his mind and he mentally grimaced, pushing the unpleasant memory down deep. how could he explain to them that in every sense of the word hydra was anything but a wolf? "a lynx." he had stalked after bear and cougar, but had luckily never had to fight them. "what about you two?"

the trio carried on easy conversation, arcturus telling them what he knew, while he listened in turn for anything they might share. it was good to be needed again, and arcturus laid to sleep that night with a sense of purpose he had not felt in some time.