Blackfeather Woods i'd rather feel pain than nothing at all

Flecks of memories were beginning to polish the clouded days that had gone missing from Cicero's life. At times he did not know if these were real memories, things that had actually happened, or if they were more bad dreams. He could not really decipher one from the other. All of his thoughts surrounding his missing days were clouded by something that mattered more to him than anything else, however; the moment with Damien in which he had lost himself to lust and, so it seemed, so had his brother for a moment. Damien had not spoken of it since, and Cicero had left him to his space.

But the longing that he carried for Damien had not left. Every step he took, Cicero longed to be by Damien's side. At times he regretted what he had engaged, but he knew that he shouldn't. Damien loved him, and so surely he would come to see that there was no need for shame soon enough. Perhaps he would seek Cicero out to talk of what bothered him. Cicero feared that Damien would choose a different path, one where he would never speak of it again. If he chose such a path, then only a repeat

Cicero looked at the den where, presumably, @Pietro and @Kendra were sleeping. He remained in the shadows, not intending to actually engage with them, but since he had no @Damien to look over, Cicero decided to stay with the rest of his family to watch over them from the darkness in which he belonged. Perhaps in part he also did so in hopes that it was the likeliest place that he were to run into Damien.

Pietro stirred a bit when the presence of another filled the room. He lifted his head, and looked at the figure with squinted eyes. He was still half asleep. He yawned and stood up. He walked over slowly to Cicero and laid down, resting his head on the almost shadow figures large paw. He yawned again and licked the shadows paw. He drifted back into a light sleep, slowly slipping into the unknown darkness the world knows as sleep.

Pietro was first to come into view, and the Scout watched him in silence. Cicero watched as the youth approached him, looking sleepy. He could not help but wonder if the youth was sleepwalking, or if he was actually partially awake and aware of what he was doing. A tickling feeling spread through Cicero's foot as Pietro licked his paw, and he looked at his half-brother as he slumped and seemed to fall asleep again.

Almost like a statue, Cicero sat and waited. There was no need to awaken Pietro yet, and so unless the need for him to depart, or the need for Pietro to be brought back to the safety of the den's confines would come, Cicero would stay here, with a pup half-asleep on his paws.

The pup stirred a bit. A nightmare awoke him, and he whimpered. He woke up a bit, and a lump formed in his throat. He swallowed it down and looked up at his half brother. "Thank you for watching me and Kendra." he said and smiled. His eyes were still glazed when he yet again lowered his head down. He scooted his body close to Cicero as the winter bite caught ahold of the pup. Pietro yawned once again and closed his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep, but he stayed still. He was comfortable, and the adult wolf was willing to give shelter. Cicero could probably sense he was awake, but Pietro didn't move, thinking that he was doing a great job at faking.

Cicero looked down at his brother at the whimper. His brother remained at his feet, but Cicero sensed that he was more awake than before. He did not ask for the dream that had doubtlessly caused the sound; perhaps it was because Cicero himself did not wish to tell anyone of his own nightmares, and so he was not too nosy about anyone elses'.

A smile came across his face as his brother thanked him for looking over. Cicero realised that although it felt that he knew them, for he often watched over them from the darkness, he did not really know them in-depth, nor they him. Perhaps, now that they were no longer tiny blobs, it was time to change that. "What things does Pietro like to do?" Cicero asked his brother, curious what personality his brother was developing.

Pietro looked softly at his brother. He was still a bit woozy. He thought about the things he liked to do. "Daddy took me to mark borders." he said, and his eyes lightened up. "I also like to run around and see plants." he paused for a second. "I love spending time with Kendra and Daddy the most of all." he look away for a second. "I like you to." he said and turned back to his brother and smiled.

Marking borders. Cicero wondered it Pietro would be anything like Damien. Cicero did not know what his and Damien's father had been like, if he'd been anything like Burke (aside from the fact that he had abandoned them where Burke had stayed). It seemed that Pietro's interests extended quite far, and Cicero smiled down at him as he said: "It sounds like Pietro likes a lot of things. That is good." The smile expanded slightly when Pietro said that he liked Cicero, too. Being loved was a good thing. "Cicero likes Pietro too." He wasn't really sure why he said it, for Cicero had never been one to indulge others by telling them whether or not he liked to spend time with them. Then again, Cicero had never had younger siblings — or pups, to start with, aside from Baldur — in his life to start with.

Judging from Pietro's excitement over marking the border, Cicero guessed that he had not yet been taken outside of Blackfeather Woods. It would come, in due time, but for now Cicero was not going to take Pietro to do anything Burke might disagree with; or that would worry Burke, were he to return and find his son gone from the den. Furthermore, Pietro seemed sleepy anyway, and so Cicero simply remained in silence, allowing Pietro to do as he pleased: talk some more, drift back to sleep, or suggest an activity for them to do.

Pietro touched his nose to Cicero's paw and smiled. He thought in silence for a moment, thinking of what to suggest. He thought of all the possibilities. "Wanna play hide and go seek?" He paused for a moment. "We could only go as far as the clearing outside." He said. He cocked his head and looked at his brother. "Im really good at it." he said and smiled.

"Alright," Cicero was easy to agree upon when the game was suggested. He guessed that Pietro intended for his words to mean he was a good hider, but perhaps he was a better searcher. Therefore Cicero asked: "Which is Pietro best at, to hide or to seek? Pietro can do that one first." And Cicero, ever easy, would fill in the gap and play the other role first.

Pietro quickly nodded to the acceptation of the game he proposed. His face lit up quickly as he was giving the choice of roles. When he played with his sister, it was chosen by Pietro giving in and saying he would be the counter. He kinda liked the role of counting, and he could sharpen his skills with smelling. "I will count. Pietro said confidently. He felt proud for giving up the prized position in hide and go seek: the hider. Pietro turned around once he ace Cicero a moment to respond. "1...2...3..." Pietro began counting, only giving Cicero a little while to hide, because Pietro wasn't the top counter in his class.

Cicero was surprised that his half-brother would choose the role of seeker rather than hider, but he accepted it with a nod, liking Pietro's quick resolve in choosing a role. Once Pietro started to count, Cicero was quick to move from the clearing. He hid behind one of the first trees along the side of the clearing, on the forest side, where he pressed himself up against the tree so he would not show as much. While Cicero often watched from the shadows from vantage points like these and often went unnoticed, in this case he knew his half-brother was searching and his white patches might just give him away in the end.

"20!" Pietro shouted and turned around. Cicero really was gone. He smiled and dropped his nose to the ground. There were a lot of smells, his own, his father and sisters, Damien's. A few others he couldn't pick up immediately. He finally caught onto his brothers scent and he moved very slowly towards the tree his brother was behind. He walked slowly so he wouldn't run right over the scent. The scent trail got intermixed, and led him back to the opening of the den. He let out a frustrated huff and followed the scent back out. The scent led him to the tree, as he avoided the section of scent that got him confused the last time. He spotted his brother behind the tree, and he stopped smelling. He sprinted towards him and looked up. "Haha! I found you! I found you!" he said and jumped around his brother.

In silence Cicero waited for his half-brother to find him. Cicero had loved playing hide and seek when he was little, he remembered now that he was hiding for his own half-brother. He heard Pietro call out '20' in the distance, and then silence accompanied only by the sound of Pietro's footsteps ensued.

Eventually Pietro winded up in front of Cicero and proudly exclaimed that he had found him. Cicero smiled down upon his half-brother and said: "Yes, well done." Cicero was not sure if Pietro wanted to play more, but as children usually let show if they did not want something, Cicero said: "Cicero shall count next." Without waiting for confirmation Cicero closed his eyes and started to count: "1, 2..."

Pietro snapped out of his victory dance and bolted. He found a small bush and laid under it for a moment. He quickly thought of a sneaky plan, and ran off to a different bush, and settled under it. Hopefully the decoy bush would work and it would take Cicero longer to find him. Pietro slowed his breathing and watched him, waiting for him to get tricked. The thought of his playfully tricking an adult made him excited. He flattened his body down hard and waited. He wasn't very visible, you couldn't just run by and see him. He giggled a bit as he waited.

Pietro was gone in a flash, ready to hide. Cicero waited patiently while he counted, until he reached '20'. He looked around at first, not immediately jumping the gun to get searching. Seeing nothing, Cicero sniffed the air. He started to go towards the first bush, but was distracted by a giggle. One ear twitched to pick up the sound and Cicero changed direction. His nose helped him find the last bit as he went in the giggle's direction, and Cicero pressed his nose into the bush until he'd strike fur.

Pietro didn't hear Cicero's footsteps at first, then he went off, his footsteps going the way Pietro's plan hoped. Then his giggle sold him out. Cicero's steps started coming his way. Pietro scrunched up, making himself smaller. He saw a nose poking into the bush. He had to hold back a fit of laughter. He reached out and licked Cicero's nose, and laughed. He materialized from the bush, shaking off a few stray leaves. He looked up and laughed. "One more round? I will count first!" he said, giving his poor brother an out if her wanted to.

Even though he had been found, Pietro was still having fun. It amazed Cicero how cheerful his little brother was. He guessed it came from Burke's side of the family. Cicero did not remember how cheerful a boy he had been when little. Perhaps because he did not receive the same stimulation to bring forth the laughter now as he did then.

He could have easily allowed Pietro to count while he departed, but for a mysterious creature, Cicero was surprisingly honest. "No," he said. "Pietro will enjoy the game more next time if it is stopped at a high." Cicero nosed Pietro's cheek in a silent farewell before he turned around and started to slip away into the shadow; provided the child let him, anyway.

Pietro was a cheerful pup, there was nothing that could really dampen his spirt. He was most happy when he was around family it seemed. Pietro looked sad when his brother announced his departure, but he nodded and went back into the den. Maybe Kendra would like to play. He walked in to see she was asleep, so he did the same. He curled in a ball next to her and closed his eyes. He drifted off into a light doze, then to a good solid nap. He would be rejuvenated later that day for sure.